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

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and for bringing TED
to San Miguel de Allende.

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My name is Emiliano Salinas

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

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

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I was born in 1976.

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I grew up in a traditional Mexican family.

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As a child, I had a pretty normal life:

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

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

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What I'm about to say,

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

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will cause controversy.

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

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

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And It will make a lot of people nervous

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

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

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It will also make many members
of the criminal organizations nervous

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for the same reasons.

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

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play in this phenomenon, and about
four different response levels

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we citizens have against violence.

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I know many will find it difficult
to separate the fact

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that I'm Carlos Salinas de Gortari's son

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

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Don't worry.

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

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I think we have a problem in Mexico.

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We have a big problem.

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I think there's consensus on this.

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No one argues --

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we all agree there's a problem.

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

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

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Corruption? Poverty?
Or is it something else?

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I think none of these is the problem.

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

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

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

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The real problem we have is

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most of us Mexicans,
we believe we are victims

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of the circumstances.

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We are a country of victims.

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Historically, we have always
acted as victims

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of something or somebody.

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We were victims of the Spaniards.

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Then we were victims of the French.

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Then we were victims of Don Porfirio.

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Then we were victims of the PRI.

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Even of Salinas.

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And of El Peje.

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

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Hold on! Wait a minute!

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What if none of these things is the problem?

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The problem is not the things we feel victims of.

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The problem is that we play the role of victims.

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

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

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our country would change so much!

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

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that acts as a victim of circumstances

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

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in its own hands.

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

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

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

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is denial and apathy.

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These days, most of
Mexican society is in denial

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about the situation we are going through.

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We want to go on with our life

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even though we are not living
under normal circumstances.

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Daily life in our country is,

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to say the least, under extraordinary,
exceptional circumstances.

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It's like a person
who has a serious illness

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

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We want to pretend
that Mexico has the flu.

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But it doesn't.

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Mexico has cancer.

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

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We need to move Mexican society
from denial and apathy

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

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And that recognition will sow fear --

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recognizing the seriousness of the situation.

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But, fear is better than apathy

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because fear makes us do something.

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Many people in Mexico

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are afraid today.

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We're very afraid.

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And we are acting out of that fear.

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

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

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Let's think of Mexican streets:

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they're unsafe because of violence,

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So people stay at home.

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Does that make streets more or less safe?

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Less safe!

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So streets become more desolate and unsafe,

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so we stay home more --

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which makes streets even more desolate and unsafe,

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and we stay home even more.

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

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scared to death.

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

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We need to confront this fear.

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We need to move Mexican society,

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the members of society who are at this level,

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to the next level, which is action.

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

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our cities, our neighborhoods.

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For many people, acting involves courage.

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We go from fear to courage.

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

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Recently ... this is a sensitive figure,

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35 public lynchings have been recorded
so far in 2010

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in Mexico.

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Usually it's one or two a year.

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Now we are experiencing one every week.

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This shows that society is desperate

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

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Unfortunately, violent action --

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though action is better than no action --

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but taking part in it

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only disguises violence.

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

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you become part of the violence
and you just disguise

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my violence.

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So civil action is vital,

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but it's also vital
to take these people

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who are at the level of courage
and violent action

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

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

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

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There are examples of this
kind of action in Mexico.

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Two years ago,
in Galeana city, Chihuahua,

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

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

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to think of the best course of action:

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

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or to ask the government for help.

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

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was to make the community
move and act all together.

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What did they do?

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

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

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They sent a message to the kidnappers:

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"If you want your ransom come and get it,

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we'll be waiting for you right here".

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

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and was able to return home.

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

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a society that acts.

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Of course, criminals can respond.

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And in this case, they did.

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

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However, Julián Le Barón keeps working

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

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

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But he keeps fighting.

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He keeps organizing.

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He keeps mobilizing.

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These heroic acts are present all over the country.

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If we had a thousand Julianes working together,

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Mexico would be a very different country.

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And they are out there!

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They just have to raise their hands.

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

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

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

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not to mention all Mexican people --

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

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I've traveled a lot

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and nowhere else have I found
the passion Mexicans have.

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That devotion we feel
for the national football team.

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That devotion we show
in helping victims of disasters

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

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

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When we thought "Masiosare"
was the strange enemy.

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

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

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is to insult their mother.

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A mother is the most sacred being in life.

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

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

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

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What are we going to do?

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"Masiosare," the strange enemy, is here.

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Where is the soldier in each son?

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

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

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Today in Mexico we're asking for Gandhis.

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

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and who are willing to take action.

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

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

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

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the tequila, the mariachis,
the serenades,

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

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San Miguel, the joy,
the passion for life,

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the fight and everything
it means to be Mexican --

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doesn't disappear from this world.

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We are facing a very powerful opponent.

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But we are many more.

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They can take a man's life.

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Anyone can kill me,

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or you, or you.

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But no one can kill
the spirit of true Mexicans.

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

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

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in the heart of every true Mexican.

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He said, "Count it the greatest sin

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to prefer life to honor,

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

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Thank you.

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(Applause)