The frenzy of wanting to create Northern Republics as an answer to our frustration and impotence when facing the blind leadership of the "Great Tenochtitlan" (Mexico City), it is nothing new. Every time the Tlatoanis (leaders) of the capital bring up some new centralist decreed that affects us, the temptation of seceding bursts from our northern hearts, an it's perfectly understandable.

Although we are furious and the desire to leave this inequitable federal pact, deep down we know it is not a serious idea and we understand that to create an independent republic you need something more than 10,000 signatures on Facebook.

Talking seriously for a moment, let's put all the cards on the table: What would be the first step to create a Republic of Baja California? Raising signatures on Facebook? To call a public meeting where there will be an 85% of abstentionism like it happened with San Quintin? That the elected governor Fransisco Vega agrees to become it's first president, first minister or emperor of the new National State? To start a war of Independence taking customs, military camps and federal dependencies with fire and blood? Seriously, how are we going to do it? Deep down you and I know that it is not viable, that it is a hallucination; a well intended wish, yes, but in the end something unreal. Hell, we haven't been able to successfully maintain a new county, just take a look at Rosarito, which after 5 city halls it doesn't have half a cent in it's treasury, and is deep in the claws of the frugal lords depending on hand downs from the state government. What would a Baja California currency look like? How would our government work? What would our territory be like?

The imperfect embryo of the Mexican Federal Pact, was born like a forced shoe in the constitution of 1824. We wanted to bet on an amorphous federalist Frankenstein copied off the constitution of the United States of 1789 and the Spanish Constitution of Cadiz in 1812. A very liberal constitution the one from 1824, so much so that it only tolerated the catholic religion. Our federal fetus took many years to learn how to walk and in the process ended up mutilated. In fact, I believe that to this date, it doesn't know how to walk correctly. With a centralist tradition of three centuries, were absolute submission to the Spanish monarchy was the norm, Federalism quickly became "Feuderalism". Fray Servando Teresa de Mier warned Ramos Arizpe and Lorenzo de Zabala on time, both of them promoters of the Federal Frankenstein.

During the first few years of independent life, our republic could have ended up dismembered like a leprous body and lose itself in a thousand tiny republics like it happened in Central America, which saw the unifying dream of Francisco Morazan go down like a sinking ship. Yucatan separated and reincorporated itself to the nation, it had it's own flag and it's constitution, in fact it was the constitution of Yucatan where the amnesty judgment was born. Chiapas once became part of Guatemala; Tabasco had 3 different separatist attempts; Texas was a republic for 9 years, and even inside Texan territory there was the ephemeral republic of Fredonia, while Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas and Coahuila created the republic of Rio Bravo in 1840 as a response to the centralist constitution of the 7 laws. The History of secession in Mexico is very long. Without going too far, a faction of the Magonist revolt in 1911 proposed the creation of the Republic of Madero and have a secessionist flag which barely lasted a few days in the Territory of Baja California.

Of course there is no point of comparison between the pretended Mexican separatism with the deep historic and social-cultural roots of the nationalism of Vasco and Catalan in Spain. Much less with the balcanic separatism which dismembered an artificial Yugoslavia formed by nations with antagonistic tongues and different religions, orthodox Serbians and Slavs; Catholic Croatians with western influences; Bosnian who were mostly Muslim, etc.

It is obvious that we cannot speak of a Baja Californian Nationalism. There are no racial elements, no religion or tongue that make us any different from other Mexicans, even if we have values, customs and life styles that are different from the center of Mexico.

What is interesting is the feeling that exists and manifests itself in this unique channel of expression which is social networks. However I believe that instead of promoting the formation of impossible republics that will never exist, we take other types of more grounded and viable measures. For starters I think there has been a great gain obtained from this war against the VAT Standardization, it is that we have showed Los Pinos and San Lazaro the proud muscles of Baja California.

Entrepreneurs like Karim Chalita, Ariosto Manrique, Juan Manuel Hernandez Niebla among others, are doing the right thing, what an aware free Mexican citizen is supposed to do for their rights: Demand them in front of those who make the decisions, camping in the Department of Treasury and San Lazaro.

At the end it is very likely we will lose the battle against the VAT Standardization and that the human garbage like Chris Lopez gets away with it, but in the end we still have dignity and the awareness that with the adequate pressure, changes can be made. This is a great lesson for the future; to show unity as citizens of Baja California, to remember theses things, to not let forgetfulness and conformity impregnate everything we know.

Something that without a doubt will disgust me, is that when Enrique Peña Nieto comes to visit Baja California, all the business owners, citizen leaders and journalists will be there at his feet, withstanding the humiliation of the Presidential state, sitting in the front rows applauding the speech of a mannequin that signs as a leader. It has always been the same. I have covered dozens of Presidential tours in Baja California and nothing ever changes. With Zedillo, with Fox, with Calderon, it is always the same. We can be furious about insecurity about the SIAVE, for the dollar control, for the Standardized VAT, however, there we will go, submissive as always to receive the lord President, to pay tribute to him in applause and first page news. It was always disgusted me how the local media always believe that a presidential visit is always worthy of a first page just because it happens, even though there is no news or anything new to report. I find it repugnant by the amount of lackeys the governors, mayors and local leaders show when the president comes. Are we really that mad at Los Pinos (the presidential house)? I propose something: next time Enrique Peña Nieto comes to visit Baja California, which sooner or later it will happen, leave him talking by himself. Have not a single local media cover the event or publish anything. Have the governor not show up to greet him at the airport, have not a single business leader show up at his events. Show him our distaste, leave him talking by himself, being applauded only by the sycophants who throned him. In Monterrey they did the same with mexican ex president Luis Echeverria. The business leaders of Monterrey had the integrity and the courage to run out the president from the funeral of Eugenio Garza Sada in September of 1973. Imagine that, running the president out, to publicly disgrace him. In 1976 in Chinpinque there was a plan of breaking the federal pact. The war of the Monterrey Group against Echeverria was openly declared.

On November 30th 1976, in the companies affiliated with the Monterrey Group, the secretaries answered the phone with "Good morning, Echeverria is leaving". The business leaders of Monterrey had the Integrity and the courage to defy a corrupt and centralist president, of openly showing how much they despised him, make him feel the hostility. Will the citizens of Baja California have the courage to show our rejection to the Federal Government? Will we be able to stop acting like humble servants every time a president decides to show up in our northern corner? Let us start with the symbols and ways of submission we have suffered with for years. Before we can start making little republics out of thin air, we need to show what our dignity is made of. I believe the Baja Californian war against the standardization has left it quite clear that we have courage. Let us hold our heads high and never lower our sights again. It is all up to us.

danibasave@hotmail.com

daniel.aguilar@sandiegored.com