“ And get your butt off the FEAR GRID”

“You can enjoy a higher standard of living in Mexico. With far less money- you can enjoy greater freedom and security than in the United States of America.”

GET OUT OF THE RAT RACE AND INTO THE TURTLE RACE
“ And get your butt off the FEAR GRID”

“You can enjoy a higher standard of living in Mexico. With far less money- you can enjoy greater freedom and security than in the United States of America.”

LeRoy Jose Amate, born in Oakland – Baja resident since 1985

Get out of the rat race

The United States is filled with fear. Fearful of a relatively small army of Islamic fanatics, spread around the globe. Like “illegal aliens”, unstoppable in penetrating her borders. But unlike undocumented workers, they come not to live, but to die. Infiltrating borders is unnecessary, given the omnipresent U.S. fanatics, known and unknown (i.e. James Read). An attack from within, is perhaps more probable.

Fifteen of the eighteen 9-11 suicide-terrorists, were living and taking flying lessons in several different U.S. cities. Fanatic Islamic clerics and jihad are recruiting homeboys in neighborhoods throughout the Western world. Recruits, who will martyr themselves, with equal zeal, as their brethren in Pakistan or Yemen.

Thirty to forty million Americans are afraid of dying of a disease, or an uninsurable “precondition” that could be treated if they could afford it. If they have health insurance, they live with reasonable fears of joining the uninsured. And, the added fear that no health reform protection is likely; given the power of the insurance lobby and partisan politics.

Fear of job loss has been replaced by the fear of not finding a job. One half of the folks unemployed have been without a job for four months or more. Loss of homes, insufficient food and family integrity has affected Americans, in numbers, not seen since the 1930’s depression.

Fear of natural disasters has transgressed into fear of unnatural disasters. Climate change and over development, has created unnecessary risk to residents in flood plains and hurricane zones. The destruction, resulting from compromised urban planning and poorly maintained infrastructure, is a national disgrace.  Developer profit and the municipalities’ hunger for property tax revenues, has taken priority over safety and consumer protection. Fear increases in direct proportion to greater and more frequent devastation from ‘mother nature”. And, the inability of government to prevent or minimize the consequences of these disasters.

Trust, in America, has been replaced by fear of “big government”. Bureaucracies have become bloated, uncaring and incompetent. Many are obsolete and unnecessary, providing no measurable benefit. Government appears unable to manage anything right: the economy, medical care, wars, foreign diplomacy, political and corporate corruption (Bernie Madoff, Enron), response to disaster, education, security, transportation, infrastructure, social services, the environment, you name it.

It would be humorous, if not so pathetic, that an Anglo couple, with all the appearances of wealth and power, could clear security and gain unauthorized access to the President during his first state dinner at the White House. The incompetence and mismanagement in our institutions and “protection agencies” scares the hell out of all of us. If someone, potentially dangerous, could get that close to the President, or board an airplane with an explosive in his underpants, our fears of more security breaches in the future are real.

The impotence of government and it’s dependence on the “military-industrial complex” has created a real fear that corporate America rules and the man on the street had better just “suck it up”. It ain’t gonna get better. We now practice a form of “passive complicity”, expecting to suffer more avarice from those wielding the power.

Fat cats get fatter while citizens are deprived of more rights, less public service and increasingly onerous taxation. Warren Buffet complains that his secretary pays a higher percentage of her income in taxes than he does because of tax loopholes and welfare benefits allowed the rich. Don’t get me started on the banks.

The above fears are real, based on facts. And the subsequent results of these grim realities are everywhere. There are solutions – but don’t hold your breath. The fear about Mexico for U.S. citizens is different than those outlined above. The fears of visiting or living here are based on hysteria, enflamed by a media that is no longer committed to balanced and factual reporting.

Despite the yellow journalism , that surrounds the reported violence in Mexico, U.S. and Canadian citizens are retiring here in record numbers. Prime reason – simple economics. You can enjoy a higher standard of living in Mexico with far less money, greater freedom, and far less risk to your health and personal security than you can in the United States of America. Don’t believe me, ask the one million retirees who live in Mexico.

Rosarito, Baja California, depends almost entirely on tourism and vacation – retirement, condo developments. The economy of Rosarito has been ruined by press reports about police corruption and the encroachment of drug related violence from Tijuana. What the press doesn’t report is that Mayor Hugo Torres, a non politician, won election in 2,008. Entering office with commitment and a plan to “clean house”. To eliminate criminality in the police department. And to create a secure Rosarito. He has succeeded.

Mayor Torres immediately fired the police chief and one half of the uniformed officers. The former chief’s replacement is Jorge Montero. A former Captain in Mexico’s special forces. He graduated first in his class at the Mexican Military Academy and has an impeccable record of honesty, discipline and dedication to service.

Police Chief Montero recruited new young officers, who were not contaminated by the previous corps. In addition to the replacements, the force was increased by eighty additional officers. The entire department has now been trained by the San Diego Police Academy and the FBI. Stricter discipline was resisted by the officers, in the beginning. But, Montero has demonstrated its effectiveness and has won the respect of his officers. With the support of the mayor, salaries were raised to prevent the seeking and acceptance of bribes. And, the officers have been adequately equipped, for the first time, with state of the art surveillance technology.

The “good news” results are in, but not likely to be reported in the San Diego Press. The Union (I call it the S.D. Onion) and the Channel 10 “investigative” news team, focus only on drug violence. In 2009, Rosarito’s incidence of crime lowered more than any previous year (21%). The lowest crime rate in five years. Mayor Torres and Chief Montero are duly proud of their accomplishments. And, the citizens of Rosarito, including a large ex pat community, are grateful for the improved security they now enjoy.

U.S. media have not reported the major advances that have truly made Baja safer than ever. No news about Rosarito dedicating a special force of English speaking tourist police. English speaking cops trained to truly behave as a servant to the public, especially visitors. A patrol car and “tourist officers” are assigned to every two kilometers of the 17 km. Rosarito tourist corridor. Response time is incredibly fast. Video cameras record every intervention. Video recordings re enforce quality of service and help identify training needs. This special force is on duty three shifts per day, seven days a week.

Violence in Mexico is not aimed at tourists or foreigners. The victims are rich Mexicans. They are kidnapped because the kidnappers know their net worth and which family members to call in order to assure ransom payment.

Of course a drug war exists along the border. Drug dealers and police are the targets not tourists or U.S. retirees. There are three other wars that affect U.S. citizens: Iraq, Afghanistan and the streets of your town – U.S.A. Sorrowfully, in Iraq and Afghanistan five thousand soldiers have been killed in the last five years. During this same period, twenty seven thousand Afro American males were gunned down and killed on our streets. And, additional thousands more Latinos, whites and Asians. They would have been safer had we sent them to Baghdad. I, my family members and friends, feel safer and are safer, on the streets of Baja Califonia when compared to any city North of the border.

Get into the turtle race

Baja Calfornia homes, in a middle class and safe neighborhood, begin at seventy thousand dollars. Beach homes, in secure, gated communities start at $150,000.00. Property taxes on my six bedroom 2 bath Baja home are one hundred dollars per year. Costs for dental, veterinary and medical care are one half to 80% less in Baja. A foreigner can purchase full coverage health care from the Mexican government for $341.00 per year. Mexican physicians, dentists, surgeons, and nurses provide quality care at 50% or more savings. Hospitals are 70-80% less for a stay. Doctors and Vets still make house calls. Mechanics, home maintenance, servants, public transportation, hotels, travel, electricity, restaurants and entertainment are a fraction of the cost when compared to what our NAFTA neighbors pay.

What are you waiting for? Your 401k has been slammed and you can’t have a decent lifestyle on your paltry social security benefits. Give me a call – I’ll set you straight and set you free. Or, if you just want a Mexican adventure weekend, with protection guaranteed by the government and business community , you can enjoy: Hotel (2 nights), transportation from the border (leave your car on the U.S. side), quick re entry to the U.S. and six gourmet meals included – $225.00 per couple.
Call me, Jose Amate 619 819 9369

In comparing public transportation between the United States and Mexico, the third world-first world dichotomy is thrown on its ear.  For example, bus transportation in the U.S. is expensive and routes are ridiculously limited. Consequently, bus travel in the U.S. is time consuming and inconvenient.  Mexico’s buses, on long routes, make no stops.  Getting you there almost as fast as driving yourself.

Mexico’s buses on long routes are luxuriously appointed with seats that allow you to lean back and comfortably sleep.  These luxury vehicles have toilets on board and en route movies.  The last bus trip I took from Autlan Jalisco to Guadalajara (4 hours), they served us soft drinks and you could hear the movie on bose like headphones.  Not those uncomfortable, in the ear, headphones.  The cost for this 150 mile trip was eighteen dollars.  Much cheaper than the gas I would consume in my automobile.

My most frequent bus trips are from my home in Ensenada, Baja California to the border crossing into San Diego County.  From my home to the bus terminal I can take a micro bus, ten to twenty passengers. The cost is less than a dollar.  And,  these micro buses come by every five minutes or so.  I have never waited more than ten minutes.  There are also “taxis de ruta”.  Cabs that pick up passengers traveling the same route and are also less than a dollar.   What an amazing concept.  Instead of passengers who don’t know each other sharing a cab-the cabbies do it for you.   I usually take a “radio cab” that picks me up at my home and delivers me to the bus station for $5.50.  The same cab ride (eight miles)  in the states would cost $15 – $20.00.

Greyhound buses are expensive and uncomfortable.  My Mexican bus ride to the border is in luxury: reclining seats, toilet and a movie during the two hour trip.  I could make it in one hour and a half hours in my automobile but would spend $60.00 for  gas and $15.00 in highway tolls.  My round trip bus ticket is $22.00, but with a senior discount card, the cost is $12.00.  Can’t beat it.  Often, I just go to Tijuana on business,  without crossing the border.  It is cheaper for me to take the bus and then cabs to whatever destinations  in Tijuana.  I don’t have to fight the traffic and have never spent more than ten dollars for a day of cab rides.  And, I avoid getting lost.  Something I’m proficient at.

If I continue my trip into downtown San Diego or the airport, I can walk across the border in half the  time it takes to cross in an automobile.  Actually, I cross without waiting in line when I show the credential I carry indicating I have bi lateral titanium hips.   Upon crossing the border, I board the very efficient San Diego trolley.  I can ride the trolley to the train station for $1.25 (senior fare) and the shuttle to the airport arrives every ten minutes.  On occasion I must travel to Los Angeles on business.  The Amtrak from San Diego and return is $55.00 for seniors.

The reasons for public transportation being so convenient and inexpensive in Mexico is because there are fewer restrictions on folks operating a micro bus or taxi, especially a “taxi de ruta”.   And, Permits, insurance, maintenance are much less expensive in Mexico when compared to the United States.   In Mexico public transportation is efficient, comfortable, convenient and inexpensive – First World.  In the U.S., public transportation is uncomfortable, expensive and inconvenient – Third World by my criteria.  So if you fear driving into Mexico.  Do what hip ex patriots do: take buses and taxis.

Also, I want to put a plug in for Volaris Airlines with routes throughout Mexico.  If you book a couple months in advance you can get incredible deals.  My wife and I are flying to Puerta Vallarta and back to Tijuana for $80.00 each round trip.  Volaris has great service, free alcoholic beverages and friendly attendants.  Flights to most major Mexican cities from Tijuana and now the San Francisco bay area and Chicago.

This has been a tough year economically for Mexico and nations around the world. However Mexico, with 50% of its population below the poverty line, is facing more dire consequences than its NAFTA neighbors. And, like governments everywhere, efforts to improve the economy have proven futile.

The three major sectors of the Mexican economy are: petroleum, tourism and Mexican nationals in other countries (especially the U.S.) sending money back to their families. Oil prices are down, the swine flue and drug wars have decimated tourism. And the decreased demand for labor in the U.S. spell triple trouble for Mexico’s economic recovery. Add to the “perfect economic storm”, the closing of foreign owned factories plus employment cuts and the crisis deepens.

As a foreign investment consultant, I depended solely on clients from other nations. My revenue from these investors dropped 80% in 2008. I could not sustain my family and meet debt obligations without liquidating asset. I decided in 08 that I needed another source of income. And the most obvious alternative was selling my services to my Mexican friends as a marketing consultant.

Fortunately, my friends in Baja California are mostly small businessmen or professionals who need my marketing skills. Marketing is still in its infancy in Mexico, especially internet marketing. The internet is used mostly by younger folks (high school and college) and is primarily a social networking tool not a marketing tool. This will change when these younger folks enter the workplace and apply their internet skills to trade.

My websites: www.mexicomatters.net and www.ensenadarealtos.com together appreciate 5000 visitors a week. Listing my clients as a provider of services (medical, dental, financial, legal, real estate and hosting of tourists) on my sites
directs prospects to my new Mexican clients. In addition we are building websites and “search engine optimizing” websites that already exist.

Because most professionals and merchants in Mexico do not understand how the internet works to sell products and services, the benefits of the internet go unrealized. The majority of Mexican businesses do not have websites and if they do, search engine optimization is not exploited.

Mexican universities are also lagging in providing students search engine optimization skills. Education, like the rest of the culture, does not fully understand or appreciate marketing as a science to the degree that we do as U.S. citizens. We are, without a doubt, the greatest sales people in the world. While Mexico, did not enter the free market until 1989.

Prior to 89, Mexico’s autocratic government owned all: banking, communication, transportation, natural resources, and major manufacturing. As a result, Mexico is still playing catch up as an entrepreneurial nation, including sales and marketing skills.

This is an .advantage to me as an internet service provider. I can guarantee placing my Mexican clients on the first pages of google, msn and yahoo search engines. The competitors to my clients have not become internet savvy, leaving a vacuum for us to fill. In the U.S., I could not accomplish the same for clients because internet competition like all media competition is brutal.

Like most businessmen in these times of crisis, I have had to rethink what I charge clients for services. We are a peso economy and pesos are what I must charge. Mexicans do not appreciate marketing and sales as we do. Therefore it has less perceived value. I am now charging about 30% of what I formerly billed to foreign clients. But, I am having more fun.

Building a successful website is primarily a writing process. If your text attracts the search engines you provide a successful result to clients. I love to write and I love sales. This “vato loco” (crazy street kid) from Oakland is one lucky homey to be in Ensenada Mexico in these difficult times.

I have made lifestyle cuts like most folks. But the future looks good. I have a beautiful and caring Mexican wife and my adopted 16 year old son is not jaded like most U.S. adolescents. He thinks I’m cool. He’s a musician and I have been able to nurture his love for Jazz with the extra time I have not attending as many foreign clients. I also have time to support my love for Jazz and Blues with my own radio program over XS 92.9 fm in Ensenada.

“Viva Mexico y especialmente Baja California”

There is no doubt about America’s leadership as the country created by immigrants. We massacred or fatally infected most of the natives. But one normally does not think of Mexico as a country of immigrants. We tend to believe that Mexico is a homogenous, catholic country where only Spanish is spoken. Not true.

To begin with, unlike the United States, 65% of Mexico’s population is indigenous. A significant percentage do not speak Spanish. The Naramuri tribe, in the copper canyons of Chihuahua, are an example. The Spaniards called them Tarahumara. Young Naramuri learn spanish in government schools. But, older generations speak only their native dialect.. In the Maya region of Mexico, especially the state of Chiapas, there are over 14 different native dialects spoken in lieu of Spanish.

The approximate racial make up of Baja California is: forty percent European, thirty six percent Mestizo, nine percent east Asian (predominantly Chinese, Japanese and Korean) and the remaining fifteen percent is Native American. Mostly of Mexican and Central American origins, and includes Cherokees from the U.S.. They settled in Northwest Mexico in the 1850s. Less than one percent of Baja’s population is Black African.
In the 15th century there were more black slaves in Mexico than in North America. Mexico being the central marketplace for slaves sold and sent North to America and South to various islands in the Caribbean It is estimated that a third of all Mexicans have African descendents in their lineage. The African influence is most apparent in the states of Vera Cruz and Guerrero.

Aside from indigenous languages of Kumai and Pai Pai spoken in Baja California, you can hear fourth generation Russians in the Valle de Guadalupe still speaking their native tongue. A sect of The Russian Orthodox church, referred to as Molakan, they fell out of favor and were being persecuted. Fleeing Russia in 1860, as farmers, they intended to settle in the fertile valleys of California. But, were blocked from migrating to The United States. The alternative was the nearby Ensenada Valley of Guadalupe. An ideal match for their skills as knowledgeable agronomists. The church today, maintains a devout and active group of parishioners. And, services are still performed in Russian.

One of the oldest cantinas, in all of the Californias, is Hussongs in Ensenada. Johan Hussong, along with two of his brothers, immigrated to New York from Forsham Germany in 1880. After ten years of big city life, in 1890, Johan set an exploratory course to the Southwestern frontier. And, found the fishing village of Ensenada to his liking. Five thousand inhabitants, at that time, mostly North Americans and Europeans. Johan became John and in 1892 he opened the restaurant and stage coach stop known as John Hussong’s Agency and Diligencia where he welcomed the Southland Stage Company and its passengers. In addition to food at Hussong’s, you could get a nickel beer and a dime whiskey. While travelers enjoyed food and drink, their horses could also be fed, watered and shoed out back – now the Hussong’s parking lot.

From the rich and famous like Bing Crosby, Steve McQueen and Marilyn Monroe, to the average Baja tourists and locals: sipping a Margarita at it’s birthplace and singing along with the live mariachi, in a joint over a 110 years old, is a Baja tradition. I successfully relive the Hussong’s experience as often as possible. The drinks are cheap, never watered down, and the entertainment a bonus. The best people watching on the Pacific Coast.

In October 1941, the famous Margarita was invented by Hussong’s bartender Don Carlos Orozco. He was constantly experimenting with liquors to create new cocktails. His original recipe was tequila, lemon juice and Damiana (a native Ensenada plant). At that time, the daughter of the German Ambassador lived in Ensenada at Hamilton Ranch. Her name was Margarita Henkel. She was the first to try Carlos’ new concoction so, in her honor, he named the drink Margarita.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, over 90% of the population in Mexicali, State Capitol for Baja California, were Chinese laborers consigned to turn desert lands into farmable acreage. The Imperial Canal, which diverts water from the Colorado River to irrigate California’s Imperial Valley, also serves Baja’s Northern desert. It was completed in 1902, mostly by Chinese labor. And the resultant crops, were also planted by the Chinese. Today, the basin is Baja’s bread- and fruit-basket. The capital’s ethnic mix still reflects the history of the region. In La Chinesca, the city’s Chinatown, numerous shops serve up chau men (a variation on chow mein), while others sell all of the expected oriental curios.

I immigrated from my native Oakland to Ensenada in 1985. Just another expatriate escaping an uncomfortable reality at home. Oakland became Cokeland in the 80’s and consequently too tough for this old homeboy. I joined the law firm of Juan Antonio Sanchez Zertuche in Ensenada. Zertuche’s grandfather, of Italian ancestry, was a general in the Mexican revolution. This allowed him the privilege of carving up Baja California with two other generals, Rodriguez of obvious Spanish heritage (most of San Felipe was his) and Clark of English parentage.

My favorite Pizza joint in Ensenada is owned by a third generation Mexican -Lebanese by the name of Elias Saad. The Saad family came as haberdashers in the 1920’s and now, heirs of the family permeate the political, legal and commercial landscapes of Ensenada. My closest friend is Arturo Novelo, of Spanish origin. Arturo’s uncle is one of the most respected hotel owners in Baja. And Arturo is the Remax broker in Ensenada.

Baja California, Mexico: A state and a country where foreigners have always been drawn too and welcomed. So from just another émigré: I say welcome ya’all. (Bienvenidos). And enjoy it to the best of your ability.

In 1984, I went from being a gringo, of Spanish heritage, to living and working in Mexico. I thought my Spanish upbringing and speaking the language, would prepare me for the Mexican culture and it did not. I thought I understood “machismo” because it is ingrained in all Latin cultures, including: Spain, Italy and Greece. The following are observations and generalizations, based on my personal experience after three decades in Mexico. Most of my male friends in Mexico are not “tipico macho” (typical macho). And, for those friends, in reading the following: if the shoe or guarache fits – wear it. If not, then don’t be offended.

As a result of propinquity, my high school and college girlfriends were Italians and when I moved to Chicago, my closest friends were Greeks. I was fascinated by the fact, that among my Greek and Italian –American friends, their matriarchal upbringing gave privileges to males that were denied female siblings. Their sisters, who I wanted to date, required acceptance from their mothers and brothers. Somehow the father was excluded from such mundane decisions.

Among my Greek and Italian friends, their brand of machismo, like my Spanish upbringing, came with responsibilities. A leadership role and decision making privileges, that carried with it – a primary concern for the family’s well being. When my uncle Manuel was on life support, my father, the next in line of brothers by age, was the one who decided when, if it all, to pull the plug. His wife, who legally had the right to end his vegetative state, succeeded that right to the cultural norm of the eldest brother’s decision.

Mexican macho, in my opinion, carries privilege without responsibility. Their mothers and sisters act as semi servants. Bowing to the capriciousness of their male sons/siblings. One of my Mexican lawyer friends explains it this way: “I visit my mother at least twice a week for breakfast. I enter the kitchen and check the refrigerator, seeing there is no milk for my cereal. I complain to my mother, who immediately sends my sister, also a working professional living at home, to the store. She vigorously complains that she is late for work and that I should fetch my own milk. Mamma trumps her objections by flatly ordering – “ve por la leche para tu hermano”. My sister gives me “the finger” as she reluctantly exits for the milk. I laugh and say yeah, but hurry up with the milk”. My Greek, Spanish and Italian friends had special male privileges, but their primary responsibility was to protect not exploit their sisters.

My paternal grandfather was a womanizer. My father and all of my uncles and aunts were aware of the fact but hid same from my grandmother. She probably knew, but it was never discussed openly and she did not complain. Womanizing Mexicans are much more open about their amorous adventures. It is more than an acceptable standard of behavior, it is expected. And they practice it shamelessly.

A wealthy macho Mexican friend of mine (who leases a new Cadillac for his wife every year), recounted an experience he had visa via extramarital behavior: “I found myself, the only male, in a group that included my wife and several of her female friends. The other women began complaining about their womanizing husbands. Out of respect or embarrassment, my wife remained silent. One of the women finally asked, “Maria (not her name), why are you so quiet? You share the same problem.” Maria responded softly, “I have my cross to bare”. I immediately blurted – Your friends bare their crosses. You carry yours in the trunk of your Cadillac”.

This arrogant and cavalier attitude carries over into all aspects of Mexican life. Especially if you are a “junior”, the term used in reference to the sons of rich Mexicans. An attitude that the world is your oyster and that your family will cover your ass no matter how badly you mess up. This is not the exclusive domain for rich Mexicans. Even poor Mexican males grow up without suffering the consequences of their capricious behaviors. But if a crime has been committed, and the family has money, they will buy their kids out of trouble. Allowing the “junior” to act with even more impunity.

Mexico has one of the lowest conviction rates in the world for criminals. Corruption in the judicial system permits buying your way out of prosecution. Not much different than in the U.S., where money buys you the best defense council. However, in Mexico, the process ends with a payoff before indictment.

I don’t have statistical data to support my claim that women are more responsible than men in this culture. However, most of the families I know have responsible and capable female offspring; while the men are less likely to succeed academically, in a profession or occupation. Most Mexicans agree with me, that if you want something done get a woman to do it. This “irresponsible incompetence”, among far too many Mexican males, comes by being coddled from the realities of life.

Generations of Mexican mothers can’t seem to avoid instilling irresponsibility in their sons. Daughters, on the other hand, are expected to be disciplined, hard working and selfless. The Payoff for a Mexican mother is that she gets to keep “her boys at her bosom” forever. Mexican mothers don’t kick their “boy chicks” out of the nest. Robbing their sons of the opportunity to fly. They “clip their wings” by keeping them in the nest, with or without contributing to the family’s well being. Even if their behavior is destructive to the rest of the family.

These boy/men suffer only their mothers’ verbal reproaches without the consequences of “fending for themselves”. Too many grown men live off the family in Mexico. With obvious results: ineptness, low self esteem, depression, drug dependency and dead beat father hood.

After a lifetime career of working with businessmen and professionals, on both sides of the border, I believe machismo is the cultural defect that most impedes Mexico’s growth and success. An attitude of win- lose in business is typically Mexican. If, “I get over on you” that is ok because you should be more “cabron” like me. Being cabron (ruthless, hard and self serving), is respected in the culture. If you allow me to get over on you, then you are a “pendejo” (literally translated -a pubic hair), you deserve to lose. A doctor friend of mine, for example, tells me everybody takes advantage of situations. Stealing bed clothes and other supplies from the general hospital is standard operating procedure among his medical colleagues.

Mexican gay men have told me about experiences with macho men who pick them up in bars and have anal sex while insisting they are not gay. If they penetrate, rather than receive penetration, they can rationalize retention of their heterosexuality in the committing of a homosexual act. Another form of “cabron” referred to above, except in a sexual rather than business context.

Bribes in Mexico are common practice in gaining a personal objective. In politics, mayors serve a brief three year term without opportunity for reelection. This combined with the “I gotta get mine” macho impunity leads to big time graft while leaving the city bankrupt at the end of each administration. Mexicans expect their politicians to reward themselves, friends and family while in office. Major infrastructure priorities and much needed services, often lose to projects that are over priced and include kickbacks. My Mexican friends accept this type of corruption as inevitable and make jokes about it. Most Americans become indignant and find corruption in Government unacceptable. Mexicans simply shrug and say “ni modo” – unavoidable. Irresponsibility and exploitation is expected. A god given right to Mexican men and especially politicians.

The most obvious and immediate harm, macho men cause, is abandoning the children they foster. Mexican women expect that their men will be “rolling stones”. Their training of selflessness leads to accepting their plight of raising children alone. Justification is- “we are better off without the rogue father in our lives”. This is tragic and pathetic. And government addresses the problem with social services instead of prosecution.

There are child support laws but enforcement is almost totally lacking: resulting in an epidemic of indigent families without a responsible father to help provide support. Abused children universally have a higher risk of becoming abusers as adults. And, so it is with abandoned sons. They tend to perpetuate their father’s legacy.

I have hopes for the future fathers and mothers of Mexico. My Mexican friends are good fathers and husbands. I find the trend toward responsibility more apparent among younger Mexican men. Maybe this generation, of educated mothers, are doing a better job of preparing their sons for a future of success and contribution. Viva Mexico y a la chingada con machismo.

Throughout my life in the U.S. of A.,  my name has been LeRoy  Amate.  In Mexico, my name is LeRoy Jose Amate Perez.  Here, your father’s surname does not suffice on legal documents, you must include your mother’s maiden name.

The reason is pretty simple and practical.  There are so many Hispanics with the popular Garcia, Perez, or Martinez etc. surnames that we need our mother’s maiden name to legally separate  our identities.  Mexicans, more commonly than yanks, also use their middle names to distinguish the multitude of Juans, Robertos and Jaimes from all the others. You will often hear men referred to as Jose Manuel or Juan Antonio as if it were a single name.  Women who share the most common name of Maria are always referred to by two given names: Maria Elena,  Ana Maria, etc. etc..  Nick names are also used with more frequency in Mexico. Further assist in  identifying who we are discussing among our peers: “Hey I saw Luis Manuel today”“Which one?”  “El pelon (baldy)”  “Oh him”.

Married women, especially in the more macho past, use their given names followed by their maiden name, the word De (possession of) followed by their married name.  My wife, for example, would be formally addressed as:  Maria Xochitl (Mayan/flower) Espinoza De Amate.  Belonging to Amate – I like that.  In Oakland we would say: “She be my woman”.  However, I’ve never heard my wife utter the possessive De.  She must be a liberated woman.  I can testify tu dat ya all!

I like the fact that mother’s maiden names are as important as the paternal surname.  For me, I feel doubly proud of both my ancestries – Amate and Perez.  It is confusing, however, for Anglos who immigrate to live and work in Mexico.  On any legal document or identification,  both paternal and maternal names must be used   When filling out Mexican immigration forms, even the maiden names of your grandmothers are requested.  Most U.S. citizens do not know their grandmothers’ maiden names.  As a consultant to foreigners investing in Mexico,  I assist by making up those names.  I hope Mexican immigration is not reading this.

I know my grandmother’s maiden names: Otto and Rueda. Unlike most young people in the states, I grew up with my grandparents who only spoke Spanish and thus enabled me to be bi lingual from jump street.  My parents immigrated  from Spain with my grandparents  to Hawaii to cut sugar cane.  Passage was paid by sugar producers.  From Hawaii they migrated to the San Francisco Bay Area; harvesting crops throughout the San Juaquin and Sacramento valleys.

My parents blessed me with frequent trips to Mexico where they felt at ease with the language and culture.  I moved to Mexico in 1984 and almost immediately felt more at home here than  in my beloved  hometown (chocolate city) Oakland.  Language, culture, religion, and family values  surround me with the roots of my childhood.  Do you know your grandmothers’ maiden names?

What are your roots dear readers? Please share them with us here at mexicomatters – We love immigration and family name stories.

Email Jose at leejose@mexicomatters.info
For a free consultation on buying real estate, title insurance or establishing a Mexican corporation call us at 619 819 9369

Latinos and afro-americans

Growing up Hispanic in Chocolate City Oakland, with both brown and black brothers, I somehow felt more at home with the darker of the two groups. The music – black music has always been a major force in my life. I was never happier than when I was dancing in clubs and later as a dancer in Everybody’s Creative Jazz Dance Company. When my daughter joined the company we had the awesome experience of dancing together for the public.

My library in Ensenada Mexico, my home for twenty years, is jammed with the biographies and autobiographies of musicians and the history of black music as seen through the eyes of music historians, critics, poets and fans. My home, office, and cars are wired to the music. My friends in this town tend to be Mexican and Cuban musicians who play Jazz, Son and Salsa.

Compact discs, Long Play Vinyl and satellite radios are constantly in play (I even have a satellite boom box for the beach): Straight ahead jazz, soft jazz for my baby at night, 1920´s New Orleans, 40´s big bands, reggae, hip hop, funk, slow grinds to get ya groove on, zydeco, gospel, blues, rhythm and blues, rap and last but not least LATIN JAZZ.

Tito Rodriquez, Eddie Plamieri, Ruben Blades, my San Fran homey Cal Tjader and my main Chicano man from So Caly – Poncho Sanchez. These cats all cause me to “heat up” and dance.

My soul is black and speaks Spanglish mixed with Eubonics!

I have been in the middle of racist Latinos and blacks who wanted to cut each other over bullshit bigotry. When I worked in the war on poverty in the 1970´s, as the Director of a Community Action Program, I was characterized as a sellout Hispanic who worked only for the interests of Blacks. The only time in my life that I carried a weapon as a result of the death threats.

I was betrayed by Chicano “leadership” who promised a compromise over a funding split behind closed doors to avoid a public fight. At the final funding meeting they ridiculed the proposal and me. Publicly acting out what they agreed not to do. They said I was a “Tio Taco” and a sellout to Latinos. After the meeting the Chicano projects director took me aside and said it was not personal – just politics. I went home after the meeting and cried.

My point in all of this is to say that people of different colors can be hypocritically racist. I say hypocritically racist because damn! We are people of color and have more in common than we have differences. We “people of color” have common traits that set us equally apart from the average whitey.

Check it out: We can dance. We wear bright clothes-don’t shop the gap. Wear hats, Wear lots of cologne. Eat tripe and like our food spicy hot. Mucho machismo. Wife’s got a job, we may or may not. Music volume cranked up and with a heavy bottom. Drinking and smoking are major sports. We fill the prisons. Women wear more makeup and use hair extensions. Heavy use of slang and profanity – muthafu*** & hijo de puta. Dogs are for protection and security, typically pit bulls. Don’t say nothin bout our mammas. Wear lots of jewelry, especially crosses around our necks. Lowridin is a common style as are shaved heads, baggy pants, white T shirts and designer sneakers. Both Mexicanos and Blacks love Mexican food and women with some booty. Mexican and Black parents like giving colorful and exotic names to their children, especially girls: Lavonia, Xochitl, Keesha, Candelaria. Curiously enough Blacks often give their children latin names. I have known afro brothers named Juan and Lorenzo-sistas named Juanita and Maria.

When two brothers/compadres pass each other on a two lane residential street they will stop and talk at each other out the windows ya all. Stop traffic-no problem we have to complete the conversation and those folks can and will wait.

So if we have so much in common how come we don’t like each other as we should?
Perhaps it is because we have so much in common that each group reflects back at the other much of what we don’t like about ourselves. Quien can dig it? No yo my brother.

Black Women

I blame my mother calling me LeRoy for my love of the African female form.
Dark skinned Mexican women, Philipino Women, women of color: exotics are my weakness.

Black tourists are few and far between in Ensenada and even fewer buy property here. One of the things I would like to study some day is why such a low percentage of African Americans visit Mexico. I miss seeing my O’town sistas. Miss seeing them, hearing their laughter and watch the way they move their muscular frames with rhythm and grace.

But one day, some six years ago, I was sitting on a Pacific beach called La Salina.
Half the distance between Rosarito and Ensenada, is where I saw this African goddess playing in the surf. I was inspired to write the following poem. Hope you old guys enjoy and understand my feelings while reading this.

THE GIRL FROM LA SALINA
(poem)

A deep blue Baja sky

Bright august sun glows silver off the pacific
In the shallow surf a girl of a woman

Deep black skin bathed in white Sea foam

Leaping onto the waves with dancer perfect legs and buttocks

Arms extended, she enjoins the waves in a joyous ballet

Although a distant image
Her heavenly crafted beauty defies an old man’s visual limitations

The sight of her creates longings

His body memory rekindles youthful desire

He will never know the pleasure of her intimacy

But un-saddened, for her vision brings memories -
Beautiful black women he loved and shared pleasures with

His wisdom prevents him now from acting like an old fool
Content that his age gives him freedom

To flirt with young girls in a fatherly way

Sneaking lascivious looks and concealing his harmless fantasies he is still the romantic

Hopeful that the next life will be like this one

Full of passion, color, dance, beautiful women and miles davis musical magic

Desert Cactus

The son of immigrant farm workers, my bi cultural, bi lingual childhood included; helping harbor “illegal workers” in the family compound and translating for my family with authorities – Immigration and the California State Department of Employment (filing for seasonal layoff benefits).

I can rightfully claim my credentials as a son of the fronteriza (border/frontier culture). With economic and emotional ties to both sides of this incredible border.

In the 1950′s, my parents got me hooked on bullfighting, with frequent trips to visit my uncle in Tijuana. Those holidays always included the beaches of Rosarito and Ensenada. I remember how much more confident and relaxed my parents were when we crossed into Mexico. They could speak the mother tongue to everybody, not just family. Oakland, my birthplace, was predominantly white or afro American iin the 50′s. .

At 15 I was in love with the blues and had no trouble entering black clubs in West Oakland. I saw perform-Bobby Bland, Muddy Waters, Lightnin Hopkins, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker and many more greats. At home, my uncles played classical Spanish guitar while the women danced flamenco. My parents, as jitterbuggers, loved big band jazz and took me to concerts and dance halls. How blessed I was to live and develop amid multiple cultures

The 60′s and seventies I devoted to career and raising a family in the Bay Area.. No trips South of the border. In the mid eighties, tired of corporate amerika and exhausted after two failed marriages,. I returned to Ensenada. To my childhood memories, I believe, for solace.

The sound of the Spanish language takes me to my childhood featherbed, in the bedroom near the kitchen. Through the closed door, I could hear the murmuring of my grandmother, mother and aunties. As I languished between consciousness and sleep, I did – not hear English. The sing song sound of Spanish is what brings me that home grown comfort.

Apart from the Bay Area, I have lived in New York, Chicago and Puerto Rico. I have spent the last eighteen years in Ensenada., That is the longest I have lived anywhere. My type “A”, gringo developed, personality has still not adjusted to manana land (tierra del mañana/Mexico). However, considering the trade offs: less stress, more freedom (fewer restrictions), less congestion and a lower cost of living in Mexico, I’m a happy expatriot living in Mexico.

There is a great deal of amusement for me as I slip back and forth across the border with 45,000 others who cross daily. The realization that most of those folks are going to work with no “green cards”. They are crossing with a card Mexicanos call a “mica”. The mica is intended for crossing to shop, visit friends or family but limits the holder to a 50 mile radius from the border . It is intended as a day pass only. It does not allow you to work in the states or stay for extended periods of time. Enforcement, however, once you cross, is not very effective.

An experienced secretary, who is computer and internet literate, with 70% fluency in English will earn $200.00 per week in Ensenada. As a live in nanny to rich folks in La Jolla and Del Mar, an Ensenada woman can earn $400.00 per week with room and board. covered That means almost all the income is saved for family or future education.

I have placed ads for my secretarys who decided to jump the border. A $12.00 classified in the Union Tribune will generate six or seven desperate families who want Mexican child care. They know that the minimum wage “trailer trash Bertha’s” are the U.S. born prospects for these jobs. Mexican women, typically come from a large family in which they cared for younger siblings with love and tenderness.

What you do need to work (other than child care) is a social security card. They can be obtained easily on the streets of San Diego and Los Angeles. On L.A.’s Olivera street, you are asked if you want just a social security card or a “whole package”. The package includes a driver’s license and other corroborating identification. Usually the social security card is enough to satisfy most employers. In the event of an immigration raid, a photo copy of the phone card is sufficient proof the employer took the necessary steps to assure the worker was “legal” to work.

Along with the thousands who cross the border to work each day are huge numbers of students from Northern Baja who attend classes in the San Diego South Bay Area’s public schools. Riding the border trolley, at the beginning or end of the day, the amount of students is impressive. I enjoy eavesdropping on their Spanish mixed with hip hop slang. Songs of the street..

A new form of Spanglish is spoken in this region. “Word up a tu mamma, ya all”. I love it, a sub culture with homeboy/girl modes of dress mixed with chicano attitude and speech. Musical tastes range from rap to ranchera. The rap tunes are sung in Spanish or the more traditional Player (playa) English. As I look out the trolley window at the chicano murals in Barrio Logan, I think, What a wonderful amalgam of social mores, poetry, art and music.

I can still get my jazz fix in Ensenada from a fine ensemble of friends called Ensenada Jazz. In October, our third annual, public invited free, jazz festival, was again a critical success. The participating artists were from both sides of the border. A few years ago, we had a most fortunate Cuban musician invasion. Ensenada’s music scene has benefited greatly by adding salsa and sontoner to the local cumbia and banda mix of musics.

Border Economy

The border region economies are the best in both nations. The border transfer of goods, services and investments makes Tijuana a major banking center for Mexico. U.S. banks in San Ysidro (the border) have long lines of both Mexicanos, and Chicanos doing fronteriza business. Border employment opportunities attract migration from other Mexican states where unemployment is stratospheric, especially among impoverished indigenous groups. These are quite different cultures than the native Baja Californianos., Another spice to this fronteriza goulash.

Rosarito, San Felipe and the Ensenada coast are booming with new housing for both Mexicano and Gringos retirees or vacationers. The new Baja resident on the scene are those coming to buy affordable housing near the border and commute to San Diego for work. This is a younger generation of Baja home owners who will raise kids in Mexico and will require different goods and services The mix gets more interesting.

Like the old Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times”. I guess I’m among the cursed. This is an interesting place at a very interesting juncture in history. There is, of course, a down side to all of this. Growth brings more contamination and congestion. Older Mexicanos complain that stateside influences are undermining important traditions and customs. I can’t control those things so I can relax and watch the melting pot boil. My mother always said a watched pot never boiled – go figure.

When I transformed myself from an Ensenada vacation home owner into a full time working resident, in the early 1980′s, Ernesto Ruffo was the mayor and the first Mexican politician I met. I had been active in politics in the United States and known my share of politicos. Ruffo struck me immediately as not being a typical politician. Soft spoken and eloquent, he expresses himself with simple logic and language that is easy for all citizens, regardless of education or sophistication, to understand and relate to. There is a sincerity and honesty about the man that communicates caring and dedication. A man called to politics because of ideals not ambition. These qualities generated a phenomenon called RUFFOMANIA that was spawned when he stood up to the centralist, federalist government who was taking almost all the tax pie and leaving only crumbs to manage a growing Ensenada.

Ernesto Ruffo Apel

A member of the tiny opposition PAN (National Action Party) party, with only 60,000 members nationally, Ruffo was a true iconoclast. When he ran for governor in 1988 the most common comment I heard from Ensenada residents, regardless of political party, was that Ruffo would win the votes but not the election. The PRI party, which had controlled the presidency, the congress and all the state houses since the beginning of the Republic, would not allow this upstart rebel from the provinces to become the first non PRI governor. The cynicism regarding fixed elections surprised me. PAN party members expressed their lack of faith in Mexico’s centralist tyrannical system with an air of resignation and PRI party members expressed their belief of a “rigged against Ruffo” vote count with an air of arrogance and scorn.

Ruffo won the election and the respect of the new PRI president, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, who needed a clean election result in a major political race to counter the charges that his own election win was due to vote tampering. Thus a new political movement emerged in which, eight years later, more than one third of the nation’s citizens are under PAN leadership at the state and municipal levels. Ruffo thus became the obvious choice to lead his party to the presidential palace in the next presidential election in the year 2000. At mid year (1996) Ruffo surprised his party by refusing the leadership role. Instead Ruffo is rallying Mexicanos to change the centralist system of government rather than just change titular heads from one party to another. His unorthodox view is that a change in party leadership will not solve Mexico’s problems. That no party or politician can succesfully lead this country until the autocratic, centralist system of government and control over the economy is transformed into a decentralized and democratic model for doing business and managing affairs of state.

The history of Mexico’s centralist autocracy

One reason most folks find Ruffo so credible is that he does not seek to impassion voters with emotional arguments or charge his opposition with commiting political evils. What he is asking his countrymen to do is abandon their cynicism of government and free themselves of a national inferiority complex in order to become responsible for change in, not only in the political arena, but in the business sector as well. To understand, without a sense of shame, the incompetence of their nation and realize that it is a natural consequence of history. He asks his countrymen to abandon an age old fatalism that allows corruption and centralist power to continue as a Mexican legacy. He does this in typical Ruffo style, explaining logically and simply how Mexico evolved into the nation it is. He doesn’t seek political scapegoats or emotional quick fixes but rather provides a step by step process for a true evolution into a competent and truly democratic Mexico.

Ruffo, when speaking to businessmen, challenges their belief that Mexico is a modern nation. He asks his audience to estimate how many of their employees could succesfully complete a simple work project without constant supervision and direction from management. He offers that probably one worker in twenty could pass such a test of self directed job completion and until that ratio of competence is narrowed to one in five, Mexico will not emerge as a truly modern nation. Ruffo insists that it is not a question of inherent inferiority of Mexicanos that is the cause of incompetence but merely a historical reality born out of necessity; to place control and responsibility for many in the hands of a few.

The first government effort to rule Mexico by Spain consisted of a few viceroys responsible for managing a huge land mass that extended from what is now California and the southwest to the Guatemalan border. The region was inhabited by approximately six million indigenous people with a multitude of distinct tribal cultures speaking more than 48 different languages. Out of necessity, Mexico began its history with an autocratic centralist system to rule its vastness and diversity. Continuing Mexico’s history lesson, Ruffo maintains that the first thoughts of Mexico as a nation state were at the turn of this century when revolutionary armies rode the trains across Mexico and realized how vast it was. When the first independent government was established there were only a handful of European trained men who out of necessity continued the legacy of an autocratic centralized form of government.

It is arrogant for gringos to ridicule Mexico’s inability to compete with the United States as a model of modernity. The U.S. has a two hundred and twenty year history as a republic and Mexico has yet to celebrate one hundred years as an independent nation. Ruffo points out that Mexico really did not have a true democratic attempt at leadership until the presidency of Lazaro Cardenas, a 1930′s socialist reformer. Given Mexico’s short history, it is understandable why the vestiges of an autocratic system are still firmly rooted in Mexico’s political milieu.

Another important historical reality is that Mexico, unlike the United states, did not kill most of the native population in the process of becoming a nation state. Mexico still has a huge problem of integrating its native work force into the industrial mainstream of its economy. A third of Mexico’s populace whose cultural traditions are thousands of years old and do not include a 20th century work ethics. Mexico City (15% indigenous), for example, has the largest native population of any major city in the world.

The comparison of Mexico’s centralist history and tradition with that of the United States’ more decentralized history is one of Ruffo’s main themes for understanding Mexico’s needs to change her political and historical destiny. The country must take major steps toward state’s rights and decentralized control. The United States colonies were the first forms of government as our nation state emerged. The founders of the country were very protective of states rights and the spread of the nation in its westward development followed the independent and democratic colonialist model.

Ruffo’s proposals

Mexico Economy

The most important step, according to Ruffo, for improving the stability of Mexico’s economy is to reform the national bank’s decision making process so that it is independent of the president’s executive power. As long as the bank is beholden to the president the economic decision making for the issuance of currency and credits will be based on the perpetuation of power and not the common good of the nation. Ruffo does not have to reach very far back in history for a dramatic example. The 1994 economic policy decisions regarding the peso were based on winning the election, not on the economic betterment of the nation.

A reversal of tax revenue sharing from its current – 82% for the feds, 12% for the states and 4% for municipalities is a Ruffoism that started his crusade to change Mexico’s political destiny. This change of revenue sharing would not only bring more needed services directly to the people but it would also promote more efficiency in a system that, as mentioned earlier, has three times more government workers per capita than the United States. Ruffo’s insistance on greater state (versus federal) conrol over police authorities has greatly reduced corruption and abuse of power. Prior to Ruffo, Baja’s PRI controlled government was transparently corrupt and abuse of power, particularly by the judicial police, was the acknowledged norm.

An overhaul of the sharing of power between the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government is vital to Mexico’s future. Until you live in an autocratic country like present day Mexico you cannot fully appreciate how well “balance of power” works in the United states. Opinion polls told us in 1996 that Americans were fed up with the executive/congressional gridlock that shut the federal government down in that year. My reaction wass Bravo! The checks and balances and sharing of power is what keeps the United states from veering too far off political course and in my mind is the principal reason for America’s economic and social stability. The shutdown in the federalist U. S. system demonstrated that with strong state and municipal governments the nation’s ability to function was not seriouly impaired. In Mexico, such a federal shutdown would cause chaos and national paralysis.

Ruffo insists on the development of new infrastructures within the political parties to assure a democratic and open process for choosing candidates and solutions to issues affecting the country. In keeping with his style of objective and responsible ownership for change, without blaming the opposition, Ruffo chides his own party’s antiquated processes and need for reform. To address the incompetence in government Ruffo suggests his party create a university to train future leaders.

Ruffo knows from direct experience, as the first PAN governor of a Mexican state, that leadership is developed and not just a function of desire for changes in the system. Fortunately for Baja California, succeeding Ruffo, Governor – Lic. Hector Teran Teran recognized the valuable lessons learned by his predessor’s young cabinet and the development of leadership that could only be earned by serving in office. Teran, upon taking office, wisely left most of Ruffo’s cabinet and governmental functionaries in place to exploit that learning and experience.

The above are just a few of the reforms and lessons our previous governor is teaching us in moving Mexico into a new modern era of government and economics. These are my selective observations of Ruffo’s plan to reform his nation before any man, including himself, can govern effectively. I am still a neophyte when it comes to Mexican politics and culture but one thing is for sure: many more Mexicanos are mad as hell and for the first time not willing to take it anymore. It is appropriate that one of Ruffo’s favorite musical artists is Bob Dylan, whose song about change in the U.S. “Blowin In The Wind”, became the anthem for the sixties. Ernesto Ruffo has and definitely still is affecting change in Mexico’s, political, social and economic landscape – RIGHT ON RUFFO!.

WHOSE SCREWING WHO?

Property ownership in Mexico mirrors the multitude of differences in comparing a highly technical and institutionalized U.S. vs a developing Mexico. In summary: a property owner in the states enjoys the security of a highly structured approach to “property rights” and the transfer of those rights. In Mexico property possession and ownership is less structured, less resale driven, and reflects distinct cultural and historical traditions.

Horses on the beach

The differences of maturity and wealth are significant between the two countries and many travelers from North of the border criticize Mexico unfairly; comparing this undeveloped, young nation to the United States. Yankees often see Mexico as simply being “ALL SCREWED UP”. What they describe as being wrong with México is distorted by cultural bias due to a different set of social norms and laws. To further hinder an objective view of Mexico is an ethnocentrism that gringos are famous for around the world. An attitude that shouts – The United States is better than all other nations and why aren’t they more like us? Another unknown to Gringos is how Mexicanos view their own nation. The view that Mexico is screwed up, for example, is acknowledged by Mexicanos. Mexican media is replete with editorials openly discussing the laundry list of what’s wrong and the importance of change, both governmental and social.

At times, frustrated with México, I ask myself why am I more comfortable living in a nation which significantly lags behind the United State’s superior technological and governmental structures? Why did I leave and continue to live outside of a country that does a much better a job at guaranteeing its citizen’s rights and providing opportunities to earn a decent livelihood? I prefer México because it is not so “advanced”. When describing to friends what I like about living here I use a time dimension. Moving here was like turning the clock back forty years.

Entering the 1980′s, in the states, I longed for the 1950′s . The U.S. was more primitive in the 50′s, less organized and regulated – life was simpler. A time when, like current day Mexico, a lawsuit among neighbors or business associates was rare. In México you can still drink beer on the beach, walk your dog without a leash and in Baja California still get fresh: crab, abalone, clams and shrimp that are affordable. In Mexico what you do for a living is not the first question people ask when meeting for the first time. It is still a country where you work to live not live to work. A country in which the extended family is not only intact but living together in the same home; here in México familial generations still live together.

I am embarrassed by the arrogance of my fellow gringos when they disparage this country that they know so little about. The relationship between México and the United States reflects a lack of understanding that belies the proximity of these two countries. Alan Riding, former New York Times correspondent, calls México THE DISTANT NEIGHBOR; also the title of his superb book.

Anyone who must deal with Mexican bureaucracy, as I and other foreign investment consultants do daily, will tell you México’s systems, including those of the private sector, are in fact screwed up. Once you have a phone or bank account in Mexico you begin to understand how “screwed up” things are. Mexico’s political history of a pork barrel, patronage style, single party rule, has promulgated a system that is three times more cumbersome than the U.S. system of managing a nation’s bureaucracy.

Why do I use a multiple of three? I measure a bureaucracy’s inefficiency by the number of bureaucrats employed and México has three times the per capita number of government employees when compared to the United States. México’s historical system of government places first prioritiy on the protection of the bureaucrat’s job followed by serving the interests of political allies and finally the needs of the people.

The United States gets blamed for everything else that’s wrong in the world so lets look at our role vis a vis the Mexican ruling party, in power since 1921.

México’s political history is full of examples of how the centralist, autocratic and brashly undemocratic government (a single party rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party “PRI”) would have fallen if the U.S. government had not stepped in to bail out the troubled nation when its leadership plunged the country into one economic disaster after another. The United States has made huge loans and investments to “assist” the Mexican government. These loans were often renegotiated at a fraction of their original worth.

Carlos Salinas de Gortar

When Carlos Salinas became president he negotiated a fifty cents on the dollar repayment. Uncle Sam has historically bailed out Mexico’s despotic PRI administrations; despite México’s poor repayment record and documented pillaring of the nation’s treasury by corrupt officials, especially past presidents of the republic.

The United States has looked the other way on election fraud and human rights abuses in Mexico since the republic’s inception. A consistent policy of Washington ignoring the realities of a totalitarian regime masquerading as a democracy. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have propped up a system that has used a corrupt federal police force to keep its citizens in line. A nation where election fraud has been obvious to U.S. officials. The most recent example – the 1990 presidential election of Carlos Salinas which, if not lost by the declared winner, was fraught with corruption and electoral abuse. The 1994 peso debacle was the most recent and flagrant example of economic fraud to perpetuate political power. It resulted again with the U.S. bailing out this troubled nation and continuing the reign of the PRI party and its choke hold on the nation.

I am not blaming the U.S. for doing everything it could to maintain stability on its southern border. The United States has pursued a policy of self interest, a practical and geopolitically realistic position. However, U.S. citizens have allowed their government to preach democracy while supporting totalitarianism. Therefore, we should understand the anger of many Mexicanos who indict Washington for maintaining policies that have stabilized Mexico at the expense of the country’s best hopes for democracy. It is an undeniable fact that Washington has consistently supported an undemocratic form of government that will not relinquish a failing, centralist, autocratic, single party rule. Had not the United States bailed out Mexico time and again the PRI would have fallen is the well founded belief.

Who knows what would have happened had not the U.S. continually propped up México? Would Mexico be worse or better off? Would there be a military dictatorship with even more resistance to an open and democratic process? What is important for good relations is that U.S. citizens do not smugly proclaim that we have served the best interests of Mexicanos or that Mexicanos should somehow be grateful to the United States. Why should they be thankful for our helping keep the heel of totalitarianism on their necks?

Mexico, at long last, is moving toward a more democratic and open process. In the past few years we have seen tremendous strides: the pace of democratic reform is increasing and more opposition partiy candidates are winning state and municipal elections.

Gringos should also realize that the U.S. press generally do not report what the average Mexicano is thinking about binational policies and agreements. NAFTA was presented in the U.S. by its opponents as a boondoggle for Mexico and yet a majority of Mexicanos were also opposed to NAFTA. The 1995 loan made to Mexico was also a major concern to Mexicano’s.

The fears surrounding “the bailout” are being realized; the enormous debt repayment has compromised Mexico’s ability to invest in her nation’s future, free of foreign intervention. Mexico’s indebtedness is the largest in Latin American history. The debt service on these loans represents 15% of Mexico’s GDP. That Mexico is becoming a product factory for U.S. multinationals, at a loss of her sovereignty, is not an unfounded notion. Eighty percent of all Mexican exports consist of imported components.

I don’t believe U.S. citizens should feel guilty about Mexico. I do believe that it would be in every American’s best interest (North or South of the U.S. border) if they knew and understood as much about Mexico and Mexicanos as Mexicanos know about Estadodenses (U.S. citizens). That an informed U.S. electorate utilize understanding to influence elected representatives in developing, for the first time in our history, a sane and humane U.S./ Mexico policy. In the process of studying Mexico, perhaps we could absorb some of Mexico’s family and humanistic values. Mexico’s cultural riches might help fix what is “screwed up” in the United States.

It is an objective view of Mexico that gringos need to hear in order to understand Mexico’s political and economic history. An objective Mexican’s viewpoint. The best one I can offer comes from an astute rebel – a man who knows the system well – Lic. Ernesto Ruffo Appel, first opposition party candidate to win a governorship, by serving winning the office in Baja California.