Michael Lebowitz:
Let's begin, though, by asking Julio, Alejandro and David to identify concrete conditions and problems in Mexico that need to be addressed to ensure that any proposals made are rooted in the concrete conditions of Mexico rather than pulled out of our back pockets. Eg., I'd like to have some idea as to whether proposals offered will be equally applicable in North and South... and whether they think the ground will be equally fertile.
I wasn't expecting people on PEN-L to do a lot of research on Mexico's local conditions (or to expect that from us). I was thinking that, using the knowledge and information you *already* have about Mexico's or about countries with similar conditions and problems, at that (perhaps high) level of generality or abstraction, you made your points. The point of the convention is to socialize and synthesize the wealth of local and topical information people *already* have, from wherever they are, and turn it into "actionable items" (thanks Don Rumsfeld for these terms). People on PEN-L have their own individual perspective, their own "pet topics" -- said with all due respect. That's a lot of topical knowledge, specialized or not, that may be useful to the people who will be deliberating in the CND. Let me list issues in which information people on PEN-L already have may be useful: technology, the environment, foreign policy, international economic relations, dealing with the U.S., development, macro policy, finance, political organizing, etc. Of course, the political dynamics will determine the course of action. But thinking aloud of these things, whatever the level of generality of the discussion, may be useful to an alternative government with a popular base. I can tell you that a lot of people in Mexico are eager to learn from you. So don't be shy. They'll decide what helps them and what doesn't.
