This 4th of July... (Answer to HOT TOPIC: HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CELEBRATE THE 4TH OF JULIO?)

[Silvana]

This 4th of July, besides being the independence day in US, is also ELECTIONS DAY in MEXICO. It is not a colorful and darling date as having a lot of fireworks, in Mexico it's a date for which lots of money have been spent in campaigns and in which the dreams of a few will be broken or made true (the politicians) and of other will be keep on being unanswered (the people).

You may ask: Why so negative, Silvana? Well. A few weeks back, there was this tragedy in my state, which is also having elections. In my city. It made it to international news: the Burning of the Childcare ABC, where 48 infants died. The common feeling in the city of sadness still remains, and no true actions have been done to gain what little justice one can get from this tragedy, if there is any. Walks for justice, public displays of nonconformity, articles and everything has been tried by the public.

I just hope that, as some emails that have been circulating, the next step of this fight for justice against the government (that had $$ inversions in the childcare and allowed it to function even against all its lack in security and non-fulfillment of protocol), is to VOTE BLANK in this elections. More than other years, people are liking less and less what the politicians are offering, sides are not so strong anymore, and with this, many have said "I´m not going to vote". But not voting doesn't send the message accross as strongly as voting blank.

This 4th of July, I would like to see in the news not fireworks in the sky, but white voting papers that vouch for those little angels that made it just too soon to heaven.