Mexico on the scene:

[rmnunez]

Gringoes refer to people with ethnic identity in their country as "hyphenated Americans" ("Italo-Americans", "Irish-Americans", "Afro-Americans", and so on). Hispanics in the US (to deprive them of a more numerous solidarity) are "Mexican-Americans", "Cuban-Americans", "Nicaraguan-Americans" and so on. Since Mexicans are the most numerous among the "hispanic-Americans", it makes sense to forecast one of them will be the standard-bearer for hispanics in that country when they capture the presidency. I shortened the expression from "a Mexican-American president in the Oval Office" to simply "a Mexican" (in that office) due to my notorious opposition to the term "American" in refering to people from the US. The Mexican president I anticipate in the Oval Office will have been born in the US, speak English and all this, but he will ultimately be a Mexican.

[Matt W]

Racially, he will be Hispanic, as opposed to an Anglo-European. If he's born in the US, then he is not 'Mexican', surely?

[rcne]

He will be an American of Mexican decent. When that day comes do you think relations with Mexico will improve, and is he then a gringo also?

rmnunes, how about Americanos rather than gringos when referring to the sovereign nation to your north?

[letxa2000]

I'm wondering if rmnunez is really from/in Mexico. I've lived in Mexico for the last 10 years and I have yet to find a single person that shares his beliefs and perspectives. If he's Mexican, it appears he's essentially racist against his own race.

He's definitely off his rocker if he thinks that someone of Hispanic descent is "Mexican" even though he was born and raised in the United States and is a native-born citizen.

Oh, and rmnunez? The whole "*-American" thing (African-American, Mexican-American, etc.) is a load of B.S. We're all just Americans regardless of where we came from.

[Mr.Vicchio]

Lexta2000, rmunez got his peepee smacked hard for calling any and all American's Gringoes. He went off on the Minutemen as a bunch of Gringo Vigilantes even after it was pointed out there were plenty of minorities, including those of latino decent. He wouldn't relent. Anyone that isn't from Mexico, and shares his views.. is racially inferior to him.

I'm wondering if Rmunez is an Atzlan supporter.

[letxa2000]

Hmmm, maybe I've only seen a subset of rmnunez's posts because the posts I read gave me the impression he was slamming the Mexican people. Guess I'll have to read his diatribes a little more closely.

I would tend to agree that the Minutemen were redneck vigilantes. I agree 100% that we need a stronger border than what we have but I absolutely do not agree that civilians should be taking the law into their own hands, neither in substance nor in appearance.

Atzlan is a very fringe group. Having lived in Mexico for the last 10 years I have never run into a single Mexican that shares the radical views of that group, much less run into a member of Atzlan. In fact, my perception has always been that that group is a purely radical U.S.-based group of malcontents mostly at liberal universities. If rmnunez really lives in Mexico and he supports the views of Atzlan, he'd be the first Mexican resident I've found that subscribes to that nonsense. He's definitely not representative of the views of a typical Mexican nor the views of the government of Mexico.

[rmnunez]

Its Aztlan, and yes, a very fringe group -much more popular among Mexicans in gringolandia, than among Mexicans in the United States of Mexico. I've seen their website, but its not my cup of tea. They got to be very big in one of the universities I attended in California. I don't represent Mexico, its government or the general views that prevail there, unless I explicitly say this is what my posting reflects. Mexico is a place I have cultural afinities with, these, though closer than those shared with the US, are not close enough to suggest I see things as the average Mexican does. Does anyone here think they see things like their average compatriot?

[Milton Bradley]

So you are a bit of a Mexo-phile, interesting.


I would be interested to know which part of the Mexican influence you have gravitated towards, the Spanish, or the Indigenous culture?


off topic


I worked with a fellow who always referred to himself as the Mexican Hitler, and always like to claim brown supremacy. We always let him talk about that subject, (trying to hold back the laughter) because sometimes you just never know if people are serious, or not. I still don't really know if he was doing stand-up comedy, or if he was preaching philosophy.

[rmnunez]

Mexicophile is nice, but seems inaccurate. Cultural afinities aren't the same as love, I like bullfights and soccer more than baseball or musicals, enjoy having time and being able to go home for lunch rather than eat out of a bag at an office, I like the ubiquity of music in all environments here, not found to the north. I find all this spicy food awful and don't like their corn tortillas, but they cook excellent fish and deserts are fantastic. The family is much more important here than north and its much larger and better connected, this is something that appeals too. Most attractive is the relative homogeneity of the people in Mexico where only about 10% may lack any hispanic nexus, so everyone speaks Spanish and has adopted generally Latin social patterns of conduct. In the US they have lots of problems with this, cope with affirmative action quotas and all sorts of senstitivity training for a variety of always very proud groups who magnify their differences.

[Chris]

Mexico on the scene

Raul Llamas inspects the gaping holes gouged in the wall of a house in Nuevo Laredo by a rocket-propelled grenade... ...The bridges which cross the Rio Grande from Nuevo Laredo to Laredo, Texas, tell the story. The stream of people seeking a better life flows one way only. The US side is still relatively free from trouble, while on the Mexican side, there are almost daily kidnappings and assassinations.

[rmnunez]

Nuevo Laredo is the latest front in the battle against drug smuggling in Mexico. Cops are killed it seems daily and the gringoes shut down their consulate there for a couple of weeks to express their concern over public safety, issued some of those "travel advisories" to discourage visiting Mexico. The situation is grave, but I favour Fox's read; national security is not at risk, Mexico is not "colombianizing", strong efforts in law enforcement have shuffled the top leadership in some cartels, they are adjusting accounts on the ground and local dealers are getting cut out and gunned down. This will pass, but it would help if th gringoes focused more on the drug than the human traffic.

[Chris]

Quote by: rmnunez This will pass, but it would help if th gringoes focused more on the drug than the human traffic.

I doubt it. Also thats 2 different problems completely different.

[rcne]

We Anglos watch our neighbors to the south as the try to deal with the corruption at all levels in a lawless environment, and wonder if the government itself is capable of establishing order and the rule of law.

Though the wild west atmosphere in the border towns remains unchecked, at least the government now acknowledges that it has a problem.

It does lend credence as to why Mexicans will risk their life walking through the desert into America.

[Chris]

Hey R Munez, have you seen the movie "Man on Fire"? (Denzel Washington version)

[rmnunez]

Drug and human smuggling are related, both involve the border. The US and Mexico work quite well together in the drug interdiction effort, large hauls are frequently seized thanks to shared intelligence and joint efforts. Mexico is working on its own to interdict human smuggling with PSAs in the media (TV, radio and printed).

There is a serious public safety issue in major cities nationwide. Corruption, lack of public accounting from the authorities and ineffective law enforcement all contribute to this growing crime problem. The Fox administration, closely cooperating with the US, has speareheaded efforts to strongly attack major drug cartels with great success. These are on the ropes replacing slaughtered local drug bosses. It is believed the "Zetas" (a group of elite paramilitary Mexican military who deserted the army after receiving specialized training in the US and Israel) are now working for different drug bosses, 120 are thought to have been deployed specifically to Nuevo Laredo. The US perceives of the crime problem and demands some efforts to curtail the violence near the border, but fails to appreciate how it is symptomatic of inroads against the drug cartels by Mexican law enfrocement.

If the gringoes devoted Border Patrol resources almost exclusively to the suspected drug corridors we'd see less violence in Nuevo Laredo sooner than if they deputize 500 'minute men'.

[rmnunez]

US Ambassador to Mexico on Border Security and Immigration:

In a speech accepting the Distinguished Diplomat prize from Denver University, US Ambassador to México, Tony Garza, said immigration is the most sensitive issue and the least understood challenge between the US and Mexico. “Politicians in both countries hurry to tell their counterparts how to deal with the problem, but nothing much changes and current conditions are increasingly alarming, each day things are more out of control”, the diplomat said.

The ambassador is right, but what is "alarming" and increasingly "out of control" is not the undocumented crossings, rather its the daily shootouts between drug dealers, the growing toll of women found abused and killed in the desert, the corruption increasingly evident among law enforcement.

Garza found that joint efforts to make the border safer and less vulnerable would accelerate Mexican development and reduce migratory pressure, fostering an environment where other solutions to shared problems between the US and México can be found. The ambassador also found that Mexico has a central role to play in keeping North America terrorism-free, he recognized the valuable contributions Mexico has made in US efforts against this threat. “México appreciates, just as we do, how a terrorist incident at a major commercial entry port like Laredo would affect the US economy,” he underlined. The ambassador drew attention to the numerous successes in instituting programs to interdict terrorism and contraband which have made for swifter border crossings free of any illicit merchandise or weapons.

Mexico's relations with the US have been institutionalized and are indifferent to the countries' political leadership. Among the institutional relations between the US and Mexico, those which have always worked best and delivered the most successes are the military and law enforcement. This is why the undocumented crossings problem should not be confused into the issue. There is a crime problem and a drug problem, but these have nothing to do with the immigration problem. The instituions involved realize this, fools fall victims to demagoguery associating criminality with immigration.

However, Mr. Garza appreciated how the increasingly fatal drug-related violence at the border threatened economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries. The ambassador felt drug-related violence in the region were destroying social and economic structures in border comunities. He warned of the adverse impact uncontrolled violence would have on investment, tourism and the quality of life of those affected. “The longer this violence continúes, the harder it will be for people from the US to see the Mexicans as our trusted partners with shared interests,” he added.

The growing criminality is a temporary phase Mexico now undergoes as they shake up the drug cartels, when the dust settles there will be a lot less drug trafficking and other criminal activity will also be reduced.

On the temporary closure of the Nuevo Laredo consulate, the ambassador indicated the measure was aimed at drawing attention to the violence and lack of governmental control in the area. “I’ve been quite clear; my responsibility as ambassador is the safety of US citizens and I will not hesitate to take whatever measures I may when these find themselves at risk.”

The gesture was pointless, its not like the Mexican, Tamaulipan and Nuevo Laredan authorities are unaware of the problem or doing nothing to address the situation.

Tony Garza said he believed both governments agreed “we cannot allow drug bosses and their thugs control this border region which represents the dramatic convergence of our shared vision of a safe and prosperous North America.”

Mexico is tackling the problem by arresting and prosecuting more major drug bosses and this is producing substantial adjustments in their staffing at important drug crossings like Nuevo Laredo. To some extent US institutional pressure on Mexican law enforcement to interdict drug traffic is what produced the increased crime at the border.

http://mx.news.yahoo.com/050817/7/1ho80.html

[Matt W]

Still on the 'gringoes' thing, rmnunez? Thought we'd cured you of that....

[rmnunez]

For those who think economic development in Mexico will automatically resolve the immigration problem:

More than a third of Mexican college graduates say they would come to the US if they could, and more than 1 in 8 would do so even if they had to enter the country illegally, according to the surveys, the first of their kind. "Contrary to what people might expect, the inclination to migrate isn't contained among Mexicans who are poor or poorly educated or with limited economic prospects," says Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington. "They're distributed across the whole breadth of Mexican society." Mexicans' willingness to come is driven by a desire to improve their economic status and join friends and family already there, Suro says. Despite improvements in the Mexican economy, "people with college degrees believe they have greater economic opportunities by migration to the US -even illegally- than they would staying at home," Suro says. Mexicans are coming from richer, urban areas as well as poor, rural regions, he says.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.p...b1_mexicanpoll

[rmnunez]

Quote by: Matt W I believe I saw the term actually pop up in the politics/news forums - if you insist on using it, then I would recommend restraining yourself to using it within the Misc. forum or your neverending 'Mexico in the News' thread.

Therefore I take it use of the term "gringo" and its derivatives is permisible in the Misc. thread and the Mexico thread mentioned, I apologize for its alleged use in any other thread, this was inadvertent.

[rmnunez]

Mexico to the Rescue!

Mexican Secretary of State, Luis Ernesto Derbez, stated that, without regard to their nationality, tose afflicted by hurricane "Katrina" would receive the frank and absolute support of Mexican institutions. In detailing efforts to provide assistance announced by president Fox, he said there had been no reports of any Mexican deaths, though 87 remained missing in the areas hit by "Katrina". In a press conference Derbez announced consular offices had been temporarily relocated, one in Baton Rouge and another in Mobile, to help an estimated 140 thousand Mexicans in the affected region. In addition, Derbez announced an innovation –mobile consulates to assist in repatriation efforts or in relocating Mexicans outside the affected area. The Secretary of State noted how, notwithstanding the fact the US is the financially most powerful country in the world, México has offered the US government material support. Specifically, Mr. Derbez announced 15 army trucks loaded with non-perishable provisions, bottled water, blankets and medicines were en-route and would reach Texas tonight. The Mexican navy has made available two naval vessels, two helicopters and 15 amphibious vehicles to assist in rescue efforts. Derbez announced the immediate transfer of $175,000 to the consulates in Texas and Alabama to help Mexicans there, assist them in contacting family at home and return them if so desired. Free phone calls to relatives in the affected areas were made available at all Mexican Department of State offices across the nation. The chancellor announced his offices would coordinate all Mexican assistance to provide the quick, efficient and opportune assistance the US population demands. http://mx.news.yahoo.com/050902/7/1i2ky.html