UUFSMA: “The Mexican Presidential Election”

UU Service

“The Mexican Presidential Election”

Hector Ulloa

Sunday, Nov. 4, 10:30 a.m.

 La Posada de la Aldea, Ancha de San Antonio #15

by Jon Sievert

At this week’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Service, political scholar Hector Ulloa offers his views on the recent Mexican presidential election, including what happened before and after the election and what might be expected when Andrés Manuel López Obrador takes office on December 1.

Mexico is a complex country, riddled with cases of overt corruption. For decades, this was a topic people only talked about within the safety of the circles of family or close friends or after a few drinks at the local bar. Today, mostly thanks to the immediacy of social networks, it seems to have become a malady hard to hide anymore, even when part of the media is trying hard to do so. How will this all change? Will it change at all? Will it affect the current relationship between Mexico and the United States? Will Mexico regain its once famous status as a peaceful, hospitable place to be? Is it true that Mexico might become “another Venezuela,” whatever that means?

Hector has a longstanding relationship with San Miguel de Allende. He studied ethnology at the National School of Anthropology and History in Mexico City and communications at Monterrey Tech before moving here in the mid-1990s. He quickly progressed from a volunteer to assistant editor to the first Mexican editor-in-chief in Atención San Miguel’s history. This gave him an edge when writing editorials, since, being Mexican, he was not limited by law to express his views regarding Mexican politics.

Following his stint at Atención, he was named Press Secretary to then SMA Mayor Jaime Fernández, where he got to know how Mexican politics work from the inside and the dire conditions in which most people live in San Miguel’s rural communities. After that, he was the academic director of the Instituto Allende. Hector moved to the State of Mexico in 2011, where he established Iconofilia (iconophilia.hectorulloa.com) to teach the art of digital photography.

The UU Fellowship meets every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at La Posada de la Aldea, Ancha de San Antonio 15 and welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientation, and gender identity. For information about our Children’s Sunday Program, contact us at chris.chase1955@gmail.com. Visitors are invited to attend the service and then join the UUs for hospitality and discussion afterwards. Wheelchair accessible. For additional information, visit our web site at uufsma.org.

Our fellowship was born in 1987 when a small group of expatriate religious liberals came together to meet as Unitarian Universalists in San Miguel de Allende. The fellowship has been active and thriving ever since. Every UU church has it’s own flavor, and we are no exception. We are a combination of expats and visitors, each actively engaged and contributing to this wonderful Mexican community we love. Because there is a coming, going, and returning aspect, our spiritual community is extremely fluid.  There is a magic in San Miguel which draws us in and binds us together—both as members of the church and of the larger community. Our programming is led by visiting ministers, community leaders, and church members, so the variety is lively. We have opportunities to meet as UU’s each week at discussion groups, breakfasts, luncheons, and in various other ways. Depending on the season, attendance fluctuates between 40 and 140. Our primary focus is on funding social action within the surrounding community. We love good music, good discussion, good food, and having visitors. We invite you to join us any Sunday morning.

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