Gandhis wanted | Emiliano Salinas | TEDxSanMigueldeAllende

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

In this passionate talk that's already caused a sensation in Mexico, Emiliano Salinas, son of former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, confronts the current climate of violence in Mexico — or rather, how Mexican society responds to it. He calls on ordinary citizens to move from denial and fear to peaceful, community-based action.

Emiliano is general coordinator of the In Lakech peace movement, founded by scientist and humanist Keith Raniere. In Lakech is a civil initiative seeking to restore peace in Mexico by strengthening its society and transforming violence with compassion.

Thank you very much, Klaudia,
for inviting me to this forum

and for bringing TED
to San Miguel de Allende.

My name is Emiliano Salinas

and I'm going to talk about the role
we members of society play

in the violent atmosphere
this country is living in right now.

I was born in 1976.

I grew up in a traditional Mexican family.

As a child, I had a pretty normal life:

I would go to school, play with
my friends and cousins.

But then my father became President
of Mexico and my life changed.

What I'm about to say,

at least some of the things
I'm about to say,

will cause controversy.

Firstly, because I'm the one
who's going to say it.

And secondly, because what
I'm going to say is true,

And It will make a lot of people nervous

because it's something we don't want to hear.

But it's imperative that we listen to it
because it's undeniable and definitive.

It will also make many members
of the criminal organizations nervous

for the same reasons.

I'm going to talk about the role
that we members of society

play in this phenomenon, and about
four different response levels

we citizens have against violence.

I know many will find it difficult
to separate the fact

that I'm Carlos Salinas de Gortari's son

from the fact that I'm a citizen concerned
about the country's current situation.

Don't worry.

It's not necessary for understanding
the importance of what's coming.

I think we have a problem in Mexico.

We have a big problem.

I think there's consensus on this.

No one argues --

we all agree there's a problem.

What we don't agree on
is what the problem really is.

Is it the Zetas? The drug traffickers?
The government?

Corruption? Poverty?
Or is it something else?

I think none of these is the problem.

I don't mean they don't deserve attention.

But we won't be able to take care
of any of those things

if we don't solve the real problem
we have in Mexico first.

The real problem we have is

most of us Mexicans,
we believe we are victims

of the circumstances.

We are a country of victims.

Historically, we have always
acted as victims

of something or somebody.

We were victims of the Spaniards.

Then we were victims of the French.

Then we were victims of Don Porfirio.

Then we were victims of the PRI.

Even of Salinas.

And of El Peje.

And now of the Zetas and the traffickers
and the criminals and the kidnappers ...

Hold on! Wait a minute!

What if none of these things is the problem?

The problem is not the things we feel victims of.

The problem is that we play the role of victims.

We need to open our eyes
and see that we are not victims.

If only we stopped feeling like victims,
if we stopped acting as victims,

our country would change so much!

I'm going to talk about how to go from a society

that acts as a victim of circumstances

to a responsible, involved society
that takes the future of its country

in its own hands.

I'm going to talk about four different
levels of civil response against violence.

I'm going to go from the weakest
to the strongest.

The first level, the weakest level
of civil response against violence

is denial and apathy.

These days, most of
Mexican society is in denial

about the situation we are going through.

We want to go on with our life

even though we are not living
under normal circumstances.

Daily life in our country is,

to say the least, under extraordinary,
exceptional circumstances.

It's like a person
who has a serious illness

and pretends it's the flu
and it will just go away.

We want to pretend
that Mexico has the flu.

But it doesn't.

Mexico has cancer.

And if we don't do something about it,
the cancer will end up killing it.

We need to move Mexican society
from denial and apathy

to the next level of citizen response,
which is, effectively, recognition.

And that recognition will sow fear --

recognizing the seriousness of the situation.

But, fear is better than apathy

because fear makes us do something.

Many people in Mexico

are afraid today.

We're very afraid.

And we are acting out of that fear.

And let me tell you what the problem is
with acting out of fear --

and this is the second level
of civil response, fear.

Let's think of Mexican streets:

they're unsafe because of violence,

So people stay at home.

Does that make streets more or less safe?

Less safe!

So streets become more desolate and unsafe,

so we stay home more --

which makes streets even more desolate and unsafe,

and we stay home even more.

This vicious circle ends up with
the whole population stuck inside their houses,

scared to death.

Even more scared than when
we were out on the streets.

We need to confront this fear.

We need to move Mexican society,

the members of society who are at this level,

to the next level, which is action.

We need to face our fears
and take back our streets,

our cities, our neighborhoods.

For many people, acting involves courage.

We go from fear to courage.

They say, "I can't take it anymore.
Let's do something about it."

Recently ... this is a sensitive figure,

35 public lynchings have been recorded
so far in 2010

in Mexico.

Usually it's one or two a year.

Now we are experiencing one every week.

This shows that society is desperate

and it's taking the law into its own hands.

Unfortunately, violent action --

though action is better than no action --

but taking part in it

only disguises violence.

If I'm violent with you
and you respond with violence,

you become part of the violence
and you just disguise

my violence.

So civil action is vital,

but it's also vital
to take these people

who are at the level of courage
and violent action

to the next level,
which is non-violent action.

It's pacific, coordinated civil action,
which doesn't mean passive action.

It means it's determined and effective,
but not violent.

There are examples of this
kind of action in Mexico.

Two years ago,
in Galeana city, Chihuahua,

a member of the community,
Eric Le Barón, was kidnapped.

His brothers, Benjamín and Julián,
got together with the rest of the community

to think of the best course of action:

to pay the ransom, to take up arms
and go after the kidnapers

or to ask the government for help.

In the end, Benjamín and Julián decided
that the best thing they could do

was to make the community
move and act all together.

What did they do?

They mobilized the whole community
of Le Barón and made them go to Chihuahua,

where they organized a sit-in
in the central park of the city.

They sent a message to the kidnappers:

"If you want your ransom come and get it,

we'll be waiting for you right here".

They stayed there; 7 days later,
Eric was set free

and was able to return home.

This is an example of what
an organized society can do,

a society that acts.

Of course, criminals can respond.

And in this case, they did.

On July 7th, 2009,
Benjamín Le Barón was murdered.

However, Julián Le Barón keeps working

and he has been mobilizing communities
in Chihuahua for over a year.

And for over a year he has known
that a price has been put on his head.

But he keeps fighting.

He keeps organizing.

He keeps mobilizing.

These heroic acts are present all over the country.

If we had a thousand Julianes working together,

Mexico would be a very different country.

And they are out there!

They just have to raise their hands.

I was born in Mexico,
I grew up in Mexico,

and, along the way,
I learned to love Mexico.

I think anyone who
has stepped foot on this land --

not to mention all Mexican people --

will agree that it's not difficult
to love Mexico.

I've traveled a lot

and nowhere else have I found
the passion Mexicans have.

That devotion we feel
for the national football team.

That devotion we show
in helping victims of disasters

such as the earthquake in 1985
or this year's floods.

That passion we put in singing
the national anthem since we were kids.

When we thought "Masiosare"
was the strange enemy.

And we sang, with a childlike heart,
"a soldier in each son."

I think the biggest insult,
the worst way you can offend a Mexican

is to insult their mother.

A mother is the most sacred being in life.

Mexico is our mother and today
she cries out for her children.

We are going through the darkest moment
in our recent history.

Our mother, Mexico, is being violated
before our very eyes.

What are we going to do?

"Masiosare," the strange enemy, is here.

Where is the soldier in each son?

Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest civil fighters
of all times, once said,

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Today in Mexico we're asking for Gandhis.

We need Ghandis.
We need men and women who love Mexico

and who are willing to take action.

This is a call for every true Mexican
to join this initiative.

This is a call so that every single thing
we love about Mexico --

the festivals, the markets,
the restaurants, the cantinas,

the tequila, the mariachis,
the serenades,

the posadas, El Grito,
the Day of the Dead,

San Miguel, the joy,
the passion for life,

the fight and everything
it means to be Mexican --

doesn't disappear from this world.

We are facing a very powerful opponent.

But we are many more.

They can take a man's life.

Anyone can kill me,

or you, or you.

But no one can kill
the spirit of true Mexicans.

The battle is won,
but we have to fight it.

2000 years ago, the Roman poet Juvenal
said something that today echoes

in the heart of every true Mexican.

He said, "Count it the greatest sin

to prefer life to honor,

and for the sake of living
to lose what makes life worth living."

Thank you.

(Applause)