The Eagle's Throne

37. BERNAL HERRERA TO PRESIDENT LORENZO TERÁN

Mr. President, dear friend, I’m writing to you under these new and unexpected circumstances, which must feel somewhat natural to you given that you never respond to messages, only receive them. I suppose that you don’t allow anyone else to read them, so I’m going to be completely honest with you. None of your aides can say anything about the letters written to you because it would reveal their indiscretion and prove them unworthy of your trust.

I’m telling you this so that you’re not surprised by my honesty and sincerity. Let me be your mirror, my dear president. You already know what people say about you. Power makes even the ugliest person look attractive. But we all have an inner mirror of power and in it we can see ourselves fearful, tired, uncertain. When this internal mirror reverts back to the external, we run the risk of people thinking, Apathy, fatigue, uncertainty, fear — and even worse, This is what the president wants, this is his formula for holding on to the Eagle’s Throne. He’s an inert president who governs through inertia.

I’ve always told you that one has to avoid making one’s internal doubts visible. You’ll say that I’m blowing my own horn and painting a picture of the virtues that would allow me to succeed you as occupant of the Eagle’s Throne.

That may be so, Lorenzo. You may be right.

Nevertheless, I’m telling you a useful truth, not only regarding the imminent succession and the campaigns, but with respect to the three years you still have in office. You are no exception to the truth that every head of state must choose from many possible paths, that he’s always at a crossroads, pushed this way and that way by a number of different forces.

“Go this way.”

“No, better go that way.”

There’s no force more powerful than the interior force of the president himself. And yet this force is not so easy to identify, define, and act upon because the most insufferable thing about being president is the fact that everyone looks at you as if they could see their own destiny in your face. Especially cabinet members! Unfortunately, most of them believe that the president rewards loyalty more than ability.

I repeat: I have no desire to blow my own horn. I do not speak pro domo sua. I’m expressing myself hypothetically. Mexicans have a tendency to blame everything on “the system,” no matter what that “system” is. They never blame themselves, not as people and not as citizens. No, it’s always the fault of “the system,” and the head of that system is the president. One of the unwritten rules of our blessed system — since time immemorial, since the colonies — is that the accumulation of wealth while in power is permissible for one reason and under two conditions.

The reason — and it’s an unspoken one — is that everyone knows corruption “greases” or, if you prefer, “lubricates” the system. Corruption makes the system fluid and effective, unbothered by utopian hopes regarding justice or its lack thereof. In any case, Mexico has never had a monopoly on corruption. Remember, if you will, Operation “Clean Hands” in Italy, the Banesto and Matesa scandals in Spain, the alleged corruption of Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Germany, or the virginal Margaret Thatcher’s cronies in England, to say nothing of corporate corruption in the United States — the Enron affair, followed by WorldCom, and then Halliburton, etc., all of which may not have exposed President Bush (Junior, a totally clueless man, a ventriloquist’s dummy), but certainly exposed his inner circle and its links to the world of high finance and oil. .

Need I go on? The difference with Mexico is that, while in Europe or in the United States these things are punished, in Latin America they’re either rewarded or ignored. Let me give you another classic example, my dear friend and president. Let’s suppose that Mr. X is corrupt and he’s caught in the act. Is it wise to punish him for it? What should come first, justice or convenience?

A political system, whatever it is, must create its own taboos to protect the privileged and, more importantly, to protect society itself. Just as there’s no such thing as politics without villains, there’s no such thing as a society without demons. Sometimes the sins of the state must be either tolerated or disguised, not so much in order to protect the state as to protect society from its own diabolical powers.

They say you’re too isolated, and that your isolation has led you to imagine the very best and the very worst of others. The net political result, as you know, is that each of your subordinates interprets the president’s imperviousness in his own way, so that they fight among themselves. While you enjoy what in hushed tones you refer to as “my much-needed solitude to think clearly and act properly,” those closest to you are all squabbling with one another. Can’t you see what a great opportunity will present itself when it’s time for the presidential succession? All the contention and rivalry among your subordinates, encouraged by your supposed passivity, will allow you to become the referee.

Don’t fool yourself, Mr. President: The country sees your passivity as a flaw. Let’s be frank, you’ve lost your authority. But now, if you set your mind to it, you can win back some power. Win the inexorable battle of the presidential succession. The one thing that everyone considers your greatest flaw can become your greatest asset: Storm the castle without waking up the dogs.

Pardon me for saying so, but don’t pay attention to Seneca when he advises you to walk among the people like a king dressed as a beggar. Remember that if you open the palace windows you’ll be letting in both a brilliant sun and a fierce wind. The people will be dazzled, but the government will only catch a cold. Keep your aspirin and your sinus medicine handy.

Add an enema — not for you, but for your disloyal aides. And if you don’t know who they are yet, you will soon enough.