In Defence of Treason

“Knowledge is Power”

    Treason is one of the worst crimes in numerous cultures around the world. In the Divine Comedy, Dante placed people guilty of this crime in the lowest circle of Hell. He divided traitors into four types: traitors to kindred, to country, to guests, and finally to their lords or benefactors. The last type was or is considered the worst kind, and it included Satan, caught in frozen Cocytus whilst chewing Judas Iscariot, Brutus and Cassius.

Closer to our century the list of famous traitors continue: Quisling in Norway, Huerta in Mexico, Pinochet in Chile, Tolkachev in the USSR, Jinwei in China, Ezra Pound in the United States and the list could continue indefinitely.

Betrayal is one of the most painful experiences a human being can suffer, from the loved one being caught with a lover, to a broken promise that meant something essential to one of the parties. Be that as it may, the rank of traitor is only applied in the most extreme cases.

As much as I understand and agree with some of the cases in which an individual is “cursed” with such a title, I don’t support all of the cases in which it is given. Quite the contrary, in some scenarios I find treason as a positive element for a democratic and healthy society.

I believe that some of my country’s problems (Mexico), corruption and impunity; could be tackled if well placed traitors came to the open and spilled all the goods, and by that I mean giving up names and concrete evidence of how corrupt politicians, judges and wealthy entrepreneurs acted against the interest of society.

Recently, President Donald Trump went on a tirade against whistle-blowers and informants. Many criminal cases are built on the testimony of informants, indeed, how many cases against organized crime could be built without the valuable information provided by snitches? They are a valuable source of information for building cases and locking up the guilty parties behind bars. There are aspects that can only be highlighted by people who were involved in the events, and the most successful police institutions around the world understand and embrace the weight of this kind of information. It’s frankly invaluable.

Being loyal to objectivity I must point out that Donald Trump is not the only President of the United States who has carried out an attack against informants. Barack Obama, the left’s favourite, enforced draconian rules and punishments against individuals that leaked information to the populace… yes, he punished whistle-blowers that highlighted condemnable activities carried out by government agencies against the citizens of his own democratic country.

  

Do cases exist in which treason is positive? I have no doubt about that. I will name two  examples for the time being. First comes Moderchai Vanunu, a former nuclear technician who is considered one of Israel’s greatest traitors. His crime? Talking to the Sunday Times about Israel’s Nuclear Programme, giving out crucial information on how they worked on nuclear weaponry technology. He himself was accused by a Colombian whistle-blower, a journalist whom he had been working with. The South American did it for money, Vanunu however, a sturdy opponent of weapons of mass destruction, divulged information for the sake of peace. The Israeli justice apparatus did not hesitate to spirit him away back to Israel and condemn him to numerous years in prison.   By giving up that information, he made the world aware that his country was working on weapons of mass destruction. Another “traitor” is Edward Snowden, exiled in Russia because he leaked his country’s mass-surveillance over its own citizens. A traitor to the government, but a hero to the people. He has a paid a heavy price and he did it for no gain, like Prometheus who risked the god’s ire for sharing knowledge with humanity in return for nothing.

In Mexico we would benefit from a little bit of treason, but not one against country, but one aimed at political benefactors, superiors or political parties. Numerous former governors are being investigated for corruption, many of them owning properties and possessing a lifestyle, which their salaries could in no way could purchase. The ex governor of Veracruz and his wife Karime Macias (who resides in London) supposedly own 90 properties in Mexico and around the world.

The ex-leader of the Teachers Syndicate (SNTE), Elba Esther, spent numerous years in prison being investigated but was recently acquitted of most charges. She amassed a massive fortune that is impossible for the role she had. It is important to point out that the case against her was weakened because the Syndicate never filed a proper complaint of stolen funds against it. Doubtless members of the syndicate’s camarilla knew and had vital information against her but they did not come forward... why? Fear? Collusion? Maybe both. 

What is undeniable is that such amounts of money don’t move without leaving a trace. One single person cannot carry out such a Machiavellian enterprise without assistance and it applies to most of the big corruption cases in Mexico. Low or middle level bureaucrats, with access to some information could give tip-offs or come forward, even former collaborators, but their numbers are few, almost non-existent, and the Mexican judicial system, the most corrupt of all branches of government, drop charges with ease for VIP defendants because of “poorly” built cases or whatnot.

I understand that self-preservation is the strongest motivator of all, and that any whistle-blower in Mexico runs an almost certain risk of being murdered or being framed by the police. But we cannot hope to tackle the endemic corruption in our society without the participation of informants, and this applies to all countries.

We need more informants like Deep Throat who contributed to Nixon’s resignation for his involvement in Watergate. True that the ex-president did not face justice but he was obligated to renounce the presidency of the United States for his crime.

So in retrospective, a bit of treason is a good thing in some scenarios and total loyalty should be analysed critically.