Sabina Berman Goldberg
@sabinaberman · North America
Sabina Berman Goldberg is followed by The State of Israel for journalism and current affairs coverage connected to Mexico in the North America chapter.
The 50 million Latinos in the U.S. could challenge the U.S. political system from within. "The key is to politicize them": @PabloIglesias TRUMP: MEXICO IS THE NEXT TARGET #LargoAliento Thurs. 20:00 @canalcatorcemx Sat. 21:00 @CanalOnceTv
Translated from SpanishWe've been documenting this for years. On X, half of the accounts are fake. And a significant portion of them is paid for by the Right and the Far Right. Thus, their commentators and voters have fallen into a mirage: a predominantly Right-wing Mexico that does not exist. Televisa brings that mirage to its screens. In every opinion forum, it presents 1 person from the Left for every 3 or 4 from the Right. It is the inverted reflection of reality in the streets, where 3 people from the Left walk for every 1 from the Right. And there is a second distortion. That single “person from the Left” is usually a social democrat: center-left. And almost always comes from the university world. They don't know the streets. They don't talk about class struggle or material life. In other words, they are very close to what Televisa wants the Left to be. Not to what it really is. As a Televisa executive confided to me: they don't like intellectuals born IN the Left, because “they aren't telegenic.” And no, they are not what Televisa calls “telegenic.” Thus Televisa has fabricated on social media and then on television a country that does not exist, with the strategy that by seeing the reflection every day, reality will adjust itself to it. It has not happened. I don't think it will happen.
Translated from SpanishWe have been documenting it for years. On X, half of the accounts are fake. And a significant portion of them are paid for by the Right and the Far Right. Thus, their communicators and voters have fallen for an illusion: a majority-Right Mexico that does not exist. Televisa brings that illusion to its screens. In every opinion forum, it presents 1 person from the Left for every 3 or 4 from the Right. It is the inverted reflection of reality in the streets, where 3 people from the Left walk for every 1 from the Right. And there is a second distortion. That sole «person from the Left» is usually a social democrat: center-left. And almost always comes from the university world. They do not know the streets. They do not talk about class struggle or material life. In other words, they are very close to what Televisa wants the Left to be. Not to what it really is. As a Televisa executive confided to me: they do not like intellectuals born of the Left, because "they are not telegenic". And no, they are not what Televisa calls "telegenic". Thus Televisa has manufactured on social media and then on television a country that does not exist, with the strategy that, by seeing the reflection every day, reality will adapt to it. It has not happened. I do not think it will happen.
Translated from SpanishMexico’s response to the Digital Age will move the country forward --or set it back. The dilemmas are existential. a. Legislate against bot farms and other lying agents. b. Subordinate digital companies --or let them do as they please. Traditionally, Mexico has followed the U.S. in this type of decision. Now that the U.S. has become frankly hostile toward Mexico, we need NEW THINKING. Today, the only leaders who know how to order the digital sphere in their countries are two. Lula of Brazil. Xi Ping of China. And Mexico has the circumstances to join them.
Translated from Spanish“Lula’s Brazil dared to challenge the owners of social media networks. It has been the only one in the world to do so.”: @PabloIglesias TRUMP: MEXICO IS THE NEXT TARGET #LargoAliento Thu. 20:00 @canalcatorcemx Sat. 21:00 @CanalOnceTv
Translated from Spanish“The networks working for the MAGA world want to see Mexico’s government fall, the great international reference point for progressivism.”: @PabloIglesias TRUMP: MEXICO IS THE NEXT TARGET #LargoAliento Thu. 20:00 @canalcatorcemx Sat. 21:00 @CanalOnceTv
Translated from SpanishThis week @PabloIglesias joins us, a political analyst and director of Canal Red. On #LargoAliento we talk about how the Fernando Cerimedo case exposed the MAGA network: a network of propaganda operators that, in the last two years alone, brought the far right to government in Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Colombia. In this context, it is clear that Mexico is the next target.
Translated from Spanish—If the far right uses 2 million bots, the left must oppose them with 2 million people. That is what former Colombian president Gustavo Petro @petrogustavo said on Sunday to Inna Afinogenova @inafinogenova, of Canal Red. With all due respect, I don't think so. In any case, it should be 4 million. But, beyond that, the strategy of replicating the worst of the right —its descent into the mire of lies— leads us to... the mire. The left must choose another field in which to fight the cultural battle. The field where it is strongest. Where? In the narrative of the many, opposed to the narrative of the few. Its current mistake is being reactive. The right invents a hoax, the left wants to undo it. The right spreads the hoax, the left spreads its defense. The hoax wins social consciousness, the President refutes it on La Mañanera. Result? The HOAX wins. Everyone talks about it. No. We fiction writers know that a good story never starts by denying another story. It starts from itself. It has its heroes, its villains, its own ending. More importantly: its own grammar. And the left has a formidable story to tell: We are the many. Those of us who work. Those of us who care for others. Those of us who raise cities and the paradigms of science. Those of us who carry utopia in our breast pocket. The far right needs millions of bots to convince the many that the very few should govern. The left needs to tell the story that already exists: the many move the world. In Mexico and Brazil, in particular, the error is enormous, when one considers that the left is currently in government and telling and spreading that story would be feasible. Most creators are on their side, for natural reasons. Both governments have the resources. And if they are not doing it today, it is because they have no strategy. They have defense, not strategy. The far right has already understood that 21st-century politics is won above all by telling stories. Today’s left still believes that it is enough to refute them. No. No. No.
Translated from SpanishWhen a news story shakes all of Latin America — and no commercial media outlet in Mexico publishes it — LOOK, it must be an important story. That is the case with the Cerimedo affair and the subsequent revelation of the MAGA Network of propaganda operators that has intervened in the politics and elections of numerous countries across the continent. In the last two years alone, that MAGA Network brought the far right to government in Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Colombia. Eight countries. Is it exaggerated to suppose that propaganda may have decided this political turnabout? Consider Chile. Evelyn Matthei, the center-right candidate and the favorite to win the presidency for months, was falsely accused of suffering from Alzheimer’s. Armies of bots spread the lie — and manipulated videos that “proved” it. Matthei publicly denounced the operation and blamed groups linked to José Antonio Kast’s Republican Party. Even so, support for her in voting intentions plummeted, while support for Kast rose — and he ended up winning the presidency. Again, did propaganda decide the election: can it be that powerful? Today the Chilean Congress is investigating it. Or consider Brazil. After Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections, Cerimedo spread a report through his armies of bots claiming that the ballot boxes had been manipulated and that the election had been stolen. The report was false from beginning to end. And yet, two months later, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Federal Court, and the presidential palace to reject the election result. I could cite another ten cases that demonstrate the decisive power of malign propaganda. In another post I described how the MAGA Network operates; here I conclude by explaining only what its objective is. The MAGA Network is part of the far-right network that covers the world, whose most powerful political center today is the Trumpist movement, headquartered primarily in the White House. Its ultimate objective in the Americas is to capture the countries of the continent one by one and turn them into vassals of the United States. Again the question: is it exaggerated to suppose so? Consider what the Trump government itself says. In its National Security Strategy, the White House announces a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, declaring that the United States must regain its “preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.” It then sums up its strategy for Latin America in three words: “Enlist and Expand.” Recruit and expand. And it specifies how to do it: “We will reward and encourage the governments, political parties, and movements of the region that are broadly aligned with our principles and our strategy.” This is not an interpretation. It is the official White House document. And consider what Trump himself added after the military intervention in Venezuela, in which he kidnapped the president at the time, Maduro. Trump boasted that the United States is now taking Venezuelan oil, that with that oil it has already paid several times over the cost of the attack, and concluded: “To the victor belong the spoils.” First you conquer. Then you take the spoils. Postscript. If I were Mexican, I would already be investigating whether the MAGA Network has a headquarters in Mexico ... And since I am Mexican, I have already investigated it. It does. Since 2024 it has been operating in these lands through La Derecha Diario México, whose owners are Cerimedo himself and a certain Negre, who has publicly acknowledged that he operates with financing from Ricardo Salinas Pliego. So the question is no longer whether the MAGA Network will reach Mexico. It is already here.
Translated from SpanishWhen a news story shakes all of Latin America —and no commercial media outlet in Mexico publishes it—, LOOK, it must be an important story. Such is the case with the Cerimedo affair and the subsequent unveiling of the MAGA Network of propaganda operators that has intervened in the politics and elections of numerous countries on the continent. In the last two years alone, that MAGA Network brought the far right to government in Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Colombia. Eight countries. Is it exaggerated to suppose that propaganda may have decided this political turnabout? Consider Chile. Evelyn Matthei, the center-right candidate who for months had been the favorite to win the presidency, was falsely said to suffer from Alzheimer’s. Armies of bots spread the lie —and manipulated videos that “proved” it. Matthei publicly denounced the operation and blamed groups linked to José Antonio Kast’s Republican Party. Even so, support for her collapsed, while support for Kast rose —and he ended up winning the presidency. Once again, did propaganda decide the election: can it really be that powerful? Today the Chilean Congress is investigating it. Or consider Brazil. After Bolsonaro lost the 2022 election, Cerimedo spread a report with his armies of bots claiming that the ballot boxes had been manipulated and that the election had been stolen. The report was false from beginning to end. And yet, two months later, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Federal Court, and the presidential palace in order to reject the election result. And I could cite another ten cases that demonstrate the decisive power of malicious propaganda. In another post I described how the MAGA Network operates; here I will finish by explaining only what its objective is. The MAGA Network is part of the far-right network that covers the world, whose most powerful political center today is the Trumpist movement, headquartered primarily in the White House. Its ultimate objective in the Americas is to capture the countries of the continent one by one and turn them into vassals of the United States. Again the question: Is it exaggerated to suppose so? Consider what Trump’s own government says. In its National Security Strategy, the White House announces a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, declaring that the United States must recover its “preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.” It then sums up its strategy for Latin America in three words: “Enlist and Expand.” Recruit and expand. And it specifies how to do it: “We will reward and encourage the governments, political parties, and movements of the region broadly aligned with our principles and our strategy.” This is not an interpretation. It is the official White House document. And consider what Trump himself added after the military intervention in Venezuela, in which he kidnapped then-President Maduro. Trump boasted that the United States is now taking Venezuelan oil, that with that oil it has already paid for the cost of the attack several times over, and concluded: “To the victor belong the spoils.” The spoils belong to the victor. First comes conquest. Then the spoils are taken.
Translated from SpanishI am astonished by those who write to me saying, Capitalism this and that and this. Mexico has a capitalist system --and a government that redistributes money. What do they not understand?
Translated from SpanishAnd what about the corruption of the Morenistas?, my haters ask me. I hate it just as much as I hate the corruption of the liberals. I h a t e it. It distorts the Left project, hollows it out, steals money from it. Returning to the liberal project to combat it would be a mistake: they have their corrupt people too. We need to reject corruption, no matter where it comes from, and wherever it is found. At the airport, on the street, in a restaurant, at the bank. Today corruption is the true great adversary of the Left project, and we citizens are the ones who must reject it.
Translated from SpanishThe liberals—what we today call the Right—said: the solution is businesspeople. They drained public hospitals of resources, dismantled Pemex, and handed the management of prisons over to businesspeople. Their project for Mexico was a country in which an increasing share of public services would be in private hands. This is not an interpretation. It is what they did. The Left has a different plan. The state must ensure everyone's dignified survival. That is why it taxes big business owners with taxes that were not previously collected and distributes part of it directly among the population. The famous social aid programs. Does the plan work? It works. Social transfers and the extraordinary increase in the minimum wage have achieved a historic reduction in poverty: 14 million Mexicans stopped being poor between 2017 and 2024; another 14 million will stop being poor by 2030. It is said quickly, but 28 million is a huge number. One quarter of Mexicans. One in four. The discussion can be about how much is attributable to each measure, how long it can be sustained, and what remains to be done. But the change has already happened. This is not an interpretation. It is what was done. What is being done.
Translated from SpanishSSSHH. They’re talking on TV Azteca against scholarships and social aid. Yesterday they lost another 100,000 votes. Let’s not interrupt them... SSSHH.
Translated from SpanishFor 8 years, liberals have not gone down to the streets, the jungle, or the countryside, and SEEN that social assistance --distributing money-- raises the standard of living of all people. Go down to the streets, gentlemen. Stop staying shut up talking among yourselves on TV. Then they do not understand why people vote the way they vote. As long as they denigrate social assistance, they will remain on television, watched by 10% of the country, and ignored or feared by the majorities. Hey, a project for the majorities, liberal professors! Something, a charity, a nice intention. No, they do not have that within them. And who knows why they imagine that people would vote to cancel their social assistance.
Translated from SpanishSince the pandemic, psilocybin mushroom consumption has risen significantly in Mexico. Why? THE PLANTS THAT HEAL THE BODY AND SOUL #LargoAliento with Lauro Hinostroza Thu. 20:00 @canalcatorcemx Sat. 21:00 @CanalOnceTv
Translated from SpanishYes @paezvarela The revelation of the fake-propaganda network that covers the Americas, from the U.S. to Argentina, and that defeated the far right in 5 presidential elections, is not mentioned in the U.S. or Mexican press. When something this big is hidden, it ends up stinking.
Translated from SpanishCovering with a magnifying glass nonexistent facts speculated by his feverish mind while all of Latin America talks about something different. About challenging the latest elections in Chile, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador.
Translated from SpanishAn event was missing between the first and second sentence: Then came the kidnapping of President Maduro on orders from the United States.
Translated from SpanishCerimedo does not exist for the North American press. Neither does he nor his already exposed connections to Trumpism and the U.S. agencies, the DEA and the CIA. Mmmmm.
Translated from SpanishCerimedo is done. Yes. Those who are presidents today thanks to him are there, presiding over countries. We must publish how and why he was paid. Determine whether his tricks were decisive in their elections. Let's react. Let's stop the far right's Flood the zone with shit.
Translated from SpanishTo what extent did Cerimedo’s intervention—his armies of bots, his smear campaigns, and his digital operations—determine the results of the elections in which he participated? The first response is to shrug. Oh well. It’s over. That’s a mistake. Because the question is not only what Cerimedo did. The question is who hired him, who paid for those operations, who knew how he worked, and who benefited electorally from them. Some are in government today. Those who employed him must be investigated. And if it is proven that a candidate came to power through illegal operations capable of altering an election, then the question is no longer historical. It becomes a question about the legitimacy of the government that emerged from it.
Translated from SpanishDemocracies continue to monitor political crimes conceived in the 20th century, while a decisive part of 21st-century political manipulation is taking place in a new, scarcely regulated space — cyberspace. Europe has already begun to close the gap. The Americas remain enormously behind. In the European Union, since 2025, political advertising must disclose who pays for it, how much they pay, and whom it is aimed at; political microtargeting with personal data requires explicit consent and may not use sensitive data — such as ethnic origin or political opinions — to profile the voter. The problem, although not yet fully resolved, is already recognized for what it is: a threat to the citizen’s freedom to form their own opinion and decide their vote. In the Americas, by contrast, many political actors continue to regard cyber violations of the truth like fools. Meanwhile, in American elections in recent years, the far right has gained power in cyberspace that it would hardly have conquered through the political methods of the 20th century. But there is one notable exception: Brazil. Since 2024, its Superior Electoral Court has begun legislating for this new reality, and in 2026 it has tightened the rules. Today it combats electoral disinformation and networks of inauthentic accounts, regulates artificial intelligence, and permits sanctions for the electoral use of falsehoods and manipulated content. Electoral deepfakes are prohibited, and certain violations can result in the loss of registration or office. Brazil understood that defending the ballot boxes is no longer enough: it must also defend the reality that reaches them. And an extraordinary fact stands out in this decision. Brazil confronted X and Elon Musk — it sued them — and won. Today X complies with the rules governing Brazil. I conclude. So while our liberals in the rest of the Americas believe that the discussion about freedom of expression conceals the dangerous purpose of preventing them from giving their immensely valuable opinions, the real dangers are already operating in cyberspace, and what is at stake is much greater. It is about saving democracy from the technological psychopaths who are destroying it.
Translated from SpanishIn the American continent, it is not a crime to set up bot farms to pass themselves off as hundreds of thousands of real citizens; nor to target each citizen through microtargeting; nor to invent gigantic lies to destroy a person's reputation or inflate the luster of a useless person. You can say that a taxi driver graduated from Harvard and that a university professor suffers from Alzheimer's. You can proclaim that a cocaine addict is a great leader, that a social leader is illiterate, that a pedophile is a genius, and that a genius is an idiot. In short: it is not a crime to twist an election or destroy democracy and language. Damn it! We are behaving like idiots. The barbaric psychopaths have entered inside the walls of civilization, and we are letting them loot and destroy what took us a century to build. If we do not rise up and kick them out, if we do not challenge the rigged elections, if we do not legislate quickly against them, we deserve to lose everything.
Translated from SpanishWe thought Yayoi Kusama was eternal. Now that she has left her body, we know she will be eternal.
Translated from Spanish