The shift to a global economy has affected the plans of all nations in achieving greater economic good. Economic interdependence. is the reality. In this century, markets are more important than political ideologies.

For the 3 Californias: California, Baja California and Baja California Sur (Southern Baja), we are especially connected economically. For example, Baja Californianos, (Mexicanos crossing the border) spend over 3 billion dollars a year in San Diego County. For San Diego, that represents more than the combined earnings of the super bowl and the Conference Center.

This regional economy is especially significant when you consider that the state of California, if it were a nation, would be the 5 th largest economic power in the world. When we compare our shared border economy, with other regions of our two nations, we are healthier as a result of the international flow of goods and services.

Given these tough economic times, what does it mean to us as a three California region ? Also, how does one region’s economy affect the other?

A border economy and culture is distinct.. Tijuana, as a socioeconomic region, has more in common with San Diego than the far off Mexican state of Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala. San Diegans (more than 50% Hispanic) have more in common with Northern Mexicanos than Northern New Englanders. Cinco de Mayo is a bigger deal in Los Angeles than in Ensenada.

The post September 11 decline in border crossings, due to security delays, caused a request for federal economic disaster relief for San Diego County merchants. Their pipeline of Mexicano shoppers that normally flood across the border daily, for “bargains”, slowed to a dribble.

Here in Baja, tourism fell sharply as a result of “return to the U.S.” border delays of four to seven hours immediately following 9-11. Southern Baja, which depends more on airline passengers from the states, also suffered a serious decline in tourism. However, hotels in Ensenada and Rosarito have had a good summer run this year; especially since events like the wine festival and the Rosarito fair grow in importance and fame as tourist attractions.

The “drive from the U.S.” tourists have resigned themselves to long border delays. The problem is Mexicano tourists and shoppers in San Diego have still not returned in the same numbers. Cross border messenger services have boomed as a result of the reluctance of Mexicanos and Anglos, living in Baja, to cross the border. My friend Peter Daly’s messenger service is one such example. He often makes three trips across the border in the same day, moving a variety of mail and product: including the retrieving of sushi quality fish in San Diego for Sushi restaurants in Tijuana. His Sentry pass allows him to cross in less than five minutes. His comprehensive import/export license allows him to cross with almost any product.

There has been a considerable drop in new tire sales in the U.S.. Folks are not trading in their tires as often. Nearly new, used tires, imported from the North, are big business in Baja California. New tire costs are prohibitive for many residents. My used tire dealer claims that the slowdown in tire sales has left him with less inventory, thus fewer sales in a strong demand market. Before the economic decline he was able to satisfy his customers with 1500 to 2000 tires per month. Now, he is lucky to “score” 500 a month.

Another sector hit by the economic slowdown are elective medical treatments: cosmetic surgery, dental implants, vision correction surgery, infertility treatments, etc., etc.. Many U.S. residents come to Baja for these medical procedures because of cost savings of up to 70%. My doctor/dentist friends report a sharp decline in “north of the border” patients.

One bright spot is an increase in the number of homes purchased by U.S. citizens in Northern Baja. However, the area of increased sales is only from Rosarito to Bajamar. There is a reluctance to come as far South as Ensenada.

Realtors report that the current buyers are at the higher end of the demographic scale. Luxury homes are selling better than bungalows. Often cited reasons for the increase in sales are folks who want to secure a residence and a less expensive lifestyle in Mexico. They are “hedging their bets”, given the future economic uncertainties in the U.S..

Whatever your reason for visiting us, ya all, we love seein ya.

I sit here, at mid year, reflecting over my consulting practice that primarily serves gringo investors: property seekers and foreign owned Mexican corporations. The results, year to date, are positive. We are delighted with an increase in new real estate investment clients. However we have seen a decrease in manufacturing, primarily due to a “cooling off” in the maquiladora sector – foreign owned assembly operations.

Maquiladoras are losing their allure because of new import tariffs on production machinery manufactured outside of North America , high employee turnover and Mexico ‘s very unattractive labor laws. Tijuana ‘s maquiladora sector suffers especially from high employee turnover. Folks come from the interior, work for a while and then cross the border into gringoland.

The slowdown in the U.S. economy is also hurting my manufacturing clients, here at the border and throughout Mexico . The saying in Mexico is: “when the U.S. has the sniffles we catch Pneumonia”. A clear example is volkswagen’s “new beatle”, manufactured in Puebla , South of Mexico City. The slowdown in U.S. sales has caused significant layoffs at the Puebla plant and the Daimler Benz plant, in nearby Cuatla, that supplies the Volkswagen cooling system.

The bad news, for my real estate clients, is that most of them come to me “after the fact”. They bought property, paid for it in full and now, are not getting what they were promised: clear title, subdivision services (roads, sewers, water, electricity). All of the things we could have prevented by setting up an escrow – just the same as the good ole U.S. A..

Yes, Virgina real estate title transfer laws and protections are firmly in place here. You can check for title and encumbrances in the public record. You can assure that property lines are secure. You can own it, as a foreigner, in a living trust that extends to your heirs – in perpetuity. Most important, you can protect your investment by not completing payment for the swimming pool, tennis court or waste treatment plant the developer promises but, far too often, does not deliver.

The honeymoon of vicente fox is over and foreign investment may sufferr the consequences

I’m afraid Vicente Fox is suffering from the same kind of prioritzation snafoos that plagued the first hundred days of the Clinton administration. Clinton ‘s overly optimistic efforts, for open acceptance of gays in the military and major health care reform, failed miserably and lost constituents in the process.

Vicente’s efforts to overturn centuries of cultural, political, socioeconomic, racial, tribal, agrarian and religious conflict in Chiapas , during his first months in office, like Clinton , set unrealistic expectations for the nation.

The Fox tax reform plan has been tabled by the politically divided congress until September and support for the plan is not happening. Neither the citizens, nor the opposition parties, support the 15% proposed sales tax on food and medicine. Fox and his revenue disciples are insisting the new taxes are necessary and having a tough time convincing everyone that the increased revenue will benefit the poorest Mexicanos.

I, your humble, foreigner in Mexico and servant, have some suggestions for you Senor Presidente. These are less controversial and are more likely to get multi partisan support.

•  Reform Mexico’s labor laws which pit the employer and the employee in a lose – lose game. All parties agree that Mexico’s labor laws are in deep need of a major overhaul.

EMPLOYER POSITION -“I won’t pay you a decent wage because it costs too dearly if I fire or retire you. The government mandated benefit package is totally inflexible and I cannot afford the ‘percentage of wage” augmentation if I raise your salary.”

EMPLOYEE POSITION – “These paltry wages ($5.00 per day min.) do not justify my working hard. The government medical service system stinks. If I catch my employer breaking labor laws, the law is designed for me to initiate a general strike with my fellow employees so we can get a hefty labor demand settlement”.

Mexico is generally a non-litigious society with the exception of labor demands, they are rampant.

•  Renounce the existing labor unions for what they are: corrupt, unrepresentative of their rank and file and only interested in lining their pockets with member dues and sweetheart contract payoffs from employers. Fox, so far, has been a sell out to labor reform and endorsed labor unions continued use of the voice vote; instead of by secret, written ballots. What happens is that labor “leadership” only permits their supporters to enter the union halls when a major vote is to take place.

•  Keep your promise about removing the military from the drug war. Mr. President, you stated in your campaign, that random drug searches of vehicles was a violation of citizen’s rights, protected by the constitution. To date your citizens and tourists are still subjected to illegal searches by young soldiers who are poorly trained in treating folks with courtesy and respect. It is not their fault but that of uncle Sammy and your bowing down to his demands. Mexicanos are bearing the responsibility for the U.S. drug pandemic,

Why doesn’t the U.S. stop and search their citizens routinely? they are the folks holding the most dope!

•  President Fox, you also promised us, in the campaign, that you would go after “dead beat dads”. The number one obstacle to Mexico’s success, in my opinion, is MACHISMO. The most glaring examples are the deprived children of these machos. They are a non-represented, underclass and their numbers are staggering and on the increase. Both Mexicano women and men are to be blamed for this cultural defect.

The majority of my Mexican female friends are divorced with two or more children and receiving no support from the fathers of those children. Ego centered pride “I don’t need the S.O.B.” stops them from filing for child support. The ex husbands? They have typically started new families and have forgotten those left behind. Emotional and economic Alzheimer’s is what these “sinverguenzas” (sp.shameless ones) suffer from. Vicente you said you would do something to help these kids being exploited by their parent’s egos and acceptance of machismo. Put up or shup up.

In fairness to the new president, he has a tough row to how. He is taking over from a seventy year autocracy. He must, while addressing serious challenges, establish a brand new political infrastructure. His party has never held the highest office in the land. The same difficulties of governing occurred when the PAN party won the nation’s first opposition party governorship here in Baja California in 1989. The political infrastructure had to be developed from scratch and it took some time for a new generation of politicians to put the political machinery in motion.

New political professionals are learning the game without a political conscensus. The congress is incredibIy divided as is the electorate. We should be patient but ever critical. True democracy is being tested for the first time in Mexico. Before this century, true democracy was not even a consideration.

Author’s note:
U.S. immigration law defines undocumented immigration as an illegal (criminal act.) Mexican law does not treat an undocumented foreigner as a criminal. Rather, a person who must cooperate to secure proper documentation. Therefore, whenever illegal is used in this article it is in quotes. The author believes that the pursuit of sustenance for one’s family, without harm to others, is not a criminal act.

In 1993 their were a little more than 3000 border agents assigned to the U.S. Mexican border. In 2002 the number climbed to 9,500. In the same seven year period, “Illegal” immigration increased from an estimated 4200 per year to 6400. A 50% increase in “illegal crossings” despite a tripling of enforcement personnel.

Even before 9-11 the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa border crossings into San Diego had unbearably long lines. Since 9-11, increased surveillance has created an even greater nightmare for tourists, businessmen and those crossing to work.

Why hasn’t this “stepped up” surveillance and tripling of border agents stemmed the flow of “illegal” border crossings?

• It’s only success has been to hamper the flow of border commerce. Ask the San Diego merchant who has seen a drastic decline of Mexicanos crossing to buy goods since 9-11. He’s concerned about this three billion dollar a year consumer sector and knows that harder border crossings means fewer peso to dollar conversions to buy his goods.

Increased border surveillance has not worked because the 2600 mile border is impossible to fully secure. It has always been and will always be penetrable. Like all police work, enforcement is a selective process. Concerns about terrorism, drug and people smuggling has concentrated U.S. enforcement at major border crossings. The more isolated portions of the border are still very porous. .

The “coyotes” (people smugglers) now charge more as a result of the greater surveillance. A few years ago the average cost was three to five hundred dollars now it is $1500 dollars to be guided across. Resorting to more isolated desert trails, the long trek. under extreme weather conditions, the pilgrimages have resulted in more loss of life.

Bribing U.S. immigration agents has always been and continues to be an option. However, like the coyotes, their asking price has greatly increased as a result of internal investigations and subsequent risk.

The net effect is that the increased cost and risk of crossing the border has not reduced illegal crossings. It has, however, successfully reduced the frequency and probability of return visits to Mexico. For many, it means permanence in the U.S. with little or no hope of going back.

Once you successfully cross into the U.S. your chances of getting caught, working or not, is relatively low. The beefed up home security focus (outside of the borders) has been airports and other major transportation hubs. Work sites raids, to enforce “illegal employment”, have actually diminished since 9-11.

In 1998 the number of undocumented Mexicanos, who planned to stay in the U.S., was 59%. That number rose to 67% at the end of 2002. Undocumented farm workers traditionally returned to Mexico in the off season, now they stay. In farming communities like Stockton California, without winter work,” illegals” are turning abandoned buildings into crowded and unsanitary slums.

Stockton’s playgrounds and schools offer a clear sign that Mexican families are staying and not likely to return. Forty five percent of Stockton’s children under age six are Latinos. Hispanic children account for about 70% of the hospitals’ births.

Seventy percent of “illegals” earn less than $10,000 per year Since they are below the poverty line, medical patients from this group has climbed from 470,000 in 1998 to 760,000 last year. California is bankrupt and the feds inability to curb immigration further compromises her taxpayers. A chicano comedian remarked: “I’m just like California, I’m broke and I use to belong to Mexico”. The real joke is that Mexicanos are getting the state back.

The criteria for effective immigration control has got to be fewer undocumented immigrants. The present immigration goal appears to be more agents and longer border delays. A planned acquiescence to the anticipated, increase in “illegal” crossings..

Our immigration department has clearly demonstrated its inability to control the U.S.-Mexico border. Therefore, the focus should be on reducing the economic burden caused by an un enforceable border. Right? Hell yes.

A new paradigm must be developed so that undocumented Mexicanos can work in the U.S. and return to Mexico for social services and family visits. A massive re institution of what was called the “bracero program” (Mexican farmworkers crossed to harvest, then returned to Mexico and family). An unofficial bracero system that can be expanded and enhanced is operating “unofficially” right now in the Tijuana San Diego region..

Tens of thousands of Baja Californianos cross the border daily on a visa, called a mica laser visa. It is like a day pass to visit but is not a work visa. The visa is scanned and the entry recorded into a computer. This allows immigration to monitor the frequency of trips North. If the person crosses every day they can assume the person is working “illegally”. Now the immigration service is threatening to use lazer crossing data for the purpose of “busting” these day workers.

Why repeat the same mistake of forcing workers to stay in the U.S. instead of returning to Tijuana for affordable housing and medical care?. This is a perfect way to secure labor that contributes to social security (a false card or borrowed identity) and pays state payroll taxes without drawing on the benefits.

This system relieves the border employer from paying hefty U.S. health insurance premiums. The cross border employee, in most instances, secures their own health care in Mexico. Either Mexico’s government system, in which they pay low premiums, or private care at a third of what U.S. providers charge.

Everybody wins the employer, state and federal governments, the worker and Mexico. Presently, more than three billion dollars a year is sent home to Mexico by workers in the United States. This is Mexico’s second largest source of revenue. Pemex, the state owned oil industry, is the largest revenue producer, accounting for 37% of all government revenue.

Some U.S. border employers already offer a Tijuana HMO alternative to Mexicano employees. Why not transfer all of these cross border worker benefits (medical, retirement and assisted housing) and employer contributions to the Mexican system. Employers would cut benefit costs in half for this population of workers.

Why not offer all employees the opportunity, without regard to ethnicity, to cross the border for care. They could obtain enhanced coverage for their family at a lower cost to employers. U.S. retirees often prefer their doctor or dentist in Baja and would love to have medical or medicare cover these services in Ensenada,, Rosarito or San Felipe. The cost savings to Medical and Medicare would surely be in the millions.

Legalize what already exists. Border officials know these folks, without green cards, are not crossing every day just to visit. If responsibility for worker health was shifted back to Mexico, for her unemployed migrant “workers”, the state of California could save a bundle on satisfying Workmen’s Compensation claims..

As mentioned, medical care in Mexico costs a third of that in the United States.
It is a little known fact that California Workmen’s Compensation will pay for patient care South of the border. Promote the option of allowing “illegals” to receive the cheaper care and have an amnesty for returning to the stateside job after recuperation or rehabilitation in Mexico..

Why not collaborate with Mexican health providers and fully open the gates that have already been opened? Most major health insurance companies currently reimburse for medical procedures in Mexico. Preferring their insured opt for Mexican medicine and the company enjoys the cost savings.

Federal and state health agencies, from both countries, should develop cooperative experiments and plans to create synergy between their systems in addressing bi national medical problems and payment.

Clearly, immigration to the United States is about employment and earnings. The overwhelming majority of Mexicanos would prefer to stay in Mexico, amid family and their own culture. To keep them happily at home, the solutions are a a higher minimum wage in Mexico ($5.75 day presently) and more job creation.

Mexico must provide the solutions necessary to increase worker income and encourage more “job creating” investment. Manufacturing investment, both foreign and domestic, will not accelerate significantly until the antiquated, socialist inspired, labor laws change. And corrupt labor unions reformed or replaced. U.S. diplomatic and economic influences could do more to advance the cause of Mexican workers by offering trade incentives in exchange for reforms.

The U.S.and Mexico could negotiate the right of NAFTA partners to buy coastal and border property without Mexican banks acting as fiduciaries of property trusts. Providing-fee simple property ownership and title to North Americans will generate U.S. mortgage financing and an incredible boom to border real estate. Title Insurance in Mexico, by major U.S. title companies, is already available and affordable.

Also, negotiate making it simpler and cheaper for U.S. citizens to form small businesses. While we are at it, allow the small business administration to expand their loan portfolio to include joint ventures between U.S. and Mexican small businesses. Promote joint venture conferences, exhibitions and seminars to further foment bi national commerce.

The solutions are not more investment in border tightening but in cross border economic development. Let’s shift the priorities away from drug and people smuggling. Enforcement has been enormously unsuccessful and expensive for both nations.

The solutions to the “border problem” lie in new economic and political models. As we said in the sixties – “you are either part of the problem or part of the solution”. The present “prosecution” model is part and parcel of the problem and masks the root causes and solutions for our failing border.

I sit here, at mid year, reflecting over my consulting practice that primarily serves gringo investors: property seekers and foreign owned Mexican corporations. The results, year to date, are positive. We are delighted with an increase in new real estate investment clients. However we have seen a decrease in manufacturing, primarily due to a “cooling off” in the maquiladora sector – foreign owned assembly operations.

Maquiladoras are losing their allure because of new import tariffs on production machinery manufactured outside of North America , high employee turnover and Mexico ‘s very unattractive labor laws. Tijuana ‘s maquiladora sector suffers especially from high employee turnover. Folks come from the interior, work for a while and then cross the border into gringoland.

The slowdown in the U.S. economy is also hurting my manufacturing clients, here at the border and throughout Mexico . The saying in Mexico is: “when the U.S. has the sniffles we catch Pneumonia”. A clear example is volkswagen’s “new beatle”, manufactured in Puebla , South of Mexico City. The slowdown in U.S. sales has caused significant layoffs at the Puebla plant and the Daimler Benz plant, in nearby Cuatla, that supplies the Volkswagen cooling system.

The bad news, for my real estate clients, is that most of them come to me “after the fact”. They bought property, paid for it in full and now, are not getting what they were promised: clear title, subdivision services (roads, sewers, water, electricity). All of the things we could have prevented by setting up an escrow – just the same as the good ole U.S. A..

Yes, Virgina real estate title transfer laws and protections are firmly in place here. You can check for title and encumbrances in the public record. You can assure that property lines are secure. You can own it, as a foreigner, in a living trust that extends to your heirs – in perpetuity. Most important, you can protect your investment by not completing payment for the swimming pool, tennis court or waste treatment plant the developer promises but, far too often, does not deliver.

On July 6 of this year(2000), only 41% of eligible voters in Mexico, went to the polls to elect representatives for the house of deputies (comparable to our house of representatives). This miserable mid-term election turnout, expresses more than public apathy.

Opinion polls reflect a general lack of confidence in political party leadership and especially President Vicente Fox. Opponents point to Fox’s endless travels abroad to expand globalization while serious domestic problems are neglected. At least, that is the perception that led congress, who controls the president’s travel budget, to cut off his travel monies.

In the presidential election of 2000, 64% of voters cast their ballots to elect Fox, the first opposition party candidate to end the PRI party’s 70 year occupation of Los Pinos (Mexico’s version of the white house). The PRI’S control of the congress also ended with victories for the PAN and a variety of smaller parties. . The omnipotent PRI, prior to 1988, also occupied. all the nation’s state houses and most municipalities. That was the year Ernesto Ruffo of Ensenada became the first opposition party Governor in the republic’s history.

Baja Californianos started “Ruffomania“, as it was called, and the whole nation was inspired to expand the revolution of free democratic elections. Within a few short years 30% of the nation’s governors and municipalities were controlled by the PAN party. This swing to the conservative PAN (a coalition of Catholics and businessmen) was a major departure from the PRI whose historical roots were socialist inspired and very secular.

The election of Fox, impressed the white house and even the most severe critics on capital hill. Congressmen who had voted against the Clinton bail out of Mexico and other aid measures became supporters of the new president. For the first time in her history, Mexico produced a truly democratic election. An election that defeated the socialist autocratic and traditionally corrupt PRI party,

In the past, U.S, conservative congressmen argued justifiably that U.S. aid was wrong in propping up an undemocratic autocracy with a long history of human and civil rights abuses.

The other attraction for Washington was Vicente Fox, the central casting figure of a president, who spoke English fluently and who was a free market capitalist to the bone. My god, he was director of Coca Cola Mexico. He not only spoke the king’s English but he was fluent in corporate-speak. Folks, on both sides of the border, were buyed by the new cross border possibilities September 11, of course, put the brakes on the “great new partnership” aspirations..

Unlike the unabashed Catholic PAN, the PRI has always been distrustful of the church. Most Mexicanos want a strict separation of church and state. Historical precedents justify concerns over the church attempting to meddle in affairs of government.

Fox was widely criticized in the media for kissing the Pope’s ring on his visit to Mexico in 2002. The gripe was that Mexico’s head of state should not publicly display subjugation to the pope and by extension – The Vatican.

The PAN party’s cozy relationship with the church has always been a political deficit.. By making this obsequies symbolic ceremonial act of welcome, the President could not have given better political fodder to the anti clerics in and out of government..

The voters have demonstrated their disappointment in Fox by ousting 25% of the PAN’S deputies. The PRI picked up 27 seats in the chamber of deputies to bring them, just short of a majority with 224 deputies total. The leftist PRD improved their position with a total of 95 deputies in the house. Perhaps the most fatal single issue for Fox was his “fiscal reform” which imposes onerous new taxes, reporting requirements and enforcement. The PAN party’s most loyal support comes from the business sector. The new tax policy has eroded that support if not decimated it. The question now is how lame a duck is Vicente Fox?

So what does this political swing back to the left portend for U.S. – Mexico relations? Most political observers agree that Fox’s policies of seemingly cow towing to President Bush hurt his public persona. . Mexico’s voters are disappointed in Fox’s inability to gain immigration concessions from Washington. Accords to protect the stay of millions of undocumented Mexicano workers in the states and provide seasonal provisions for farm workers to cross the border on work furloughs. .

Concerns regarding Mexico’s sovereignty are justified by the frequent drug inspection points to shore up Uncle Sam’s war on drugs. Mexicano citizens often complain of sacrificing constitutional liberties (unlawful search and seizure) to help stem the flow of drugs going North.

The resulting police state type enforcement has been effective. Too effective. Ironically it has caused an increase in the supply of drugs that stay within Mexico, resulting in cheaper prices, . Accessibility at affordable prices causes more of Mexico’s youth to become addicts is the popular view..

Mexicanos are also disturbed by the war in Iraq. Journalists, in this country, refer to the war as The Big Lie. That the imminent threat posed by Hussein was fabricated by President Bush to wrongly justify a pre emptive strike and the subsequent invasion. Fox clearly got the public message on this issue: At the U.N., Mexico did not vote in favor of the U.S.military action in Iraq.

Mexicano media have understandably taken the side of truckers who claim inequities when they cross the border. The truckers charge that discrimination and harassment is practiced by U.S. highway police who excessively stop their transit for mechanical inspections. Add to this the Mexicano tuna industries position that the U.S. ban on Mexican tuna for “dolphin killing” fishing practices, is unfair and untrue.

The Mexicano tuna industry asserts that the sole objective of this ban is not to save dolphins but to monopolize the North American tuna market. Exploiting an unfair political, and emotional concern over a species revered by U.S. citizens.
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With regard to Mexico-U.S. trade in general, Mexicano’s feel NAFTA unjustly rewards U.S. commercial interests at the expense of Mexico. This perceived in balance is going to be a larger and more difficult problem to resolve in the years ahead. The NAFTA calendar proceeds in opening more opportunities for U.S. and Canadian exporters to Mexico.

In 2008, U.S. corn can be sold duty free in Mexico. The Mexicano agricultural system is not able to compete with the more efficient and better financed corporate form of agriculture practiced in the states. In all likelihood, U.S. corn will be cheaper than Mexicano corn.

This unfair competitive edge could create havoc in Mexico’s economy. One in five Mexicano workers rely on agriculture. In the U.S. less than one in 100 workers are dedicated to agricultural related commerce.

With all these issues what is the future relationship going to look like? Are we going to cancel NAFTA? Not likely. Will Mexico turn it’s back on globalization and return to state run transportation, communication, navigation, banking and major manufacturing? Not without another revolution and no political party or politician would take that proposition seriously. Nor would any proposal to expropriate foreign investment as happened in 1937.

No, no one expects a radical shift in Mexico’s socio political, economic plan. Mexico is a conservative nation in general. A nation that is committed to non aggression and expanding democracy and opportunity to all Mexicanos.

The U.S. and Mexico have too much mutual self interest and integration of economies to reverse the momentum of cooperation and free trade. We can help Mexico while helping ourselves to compete more aggressively in the world with a true NAFTA partnership that does more than exploit Mexico’s cheap labor force.

The U.S. can serve all the Americas’ interests by helping grow Mexico’s technology, Mexico’s infrastructure, Mexico’s marketing and Mexican human resources.. This will keep Mexicanos at home where they want to be and provide them with a better living wage. All of this can and should be done in the spirit of equality. Respecting Mexico’s sovereignty and listening to this nation’s wisdom about living at peace with your neighbor and creating harmony in the world politic.

Generally, gringos know very little about Mexicano history, politics or culture. Mexicanos know a lot about us. They have an objective advantage of following our deeds in the daily press. Mexicano media cover U.S. current events as thoroughly as our own media but with the objectivity that comes with being a knowledgable observer. U.S. media coverage of Mexico is sparse at best. The news reports typically focus on Mexican drug lords, immigration or the loss of U.S. citizen beach properties.

A good relationship with Mexico is important for the U.S. but gringos generally have a solicitous attitude about the country and her people. If we seriously listened to our Southern neighbor we could benefit from some very good coaching. How to better understand respect and react to nations and cultures that are very different from our own. As good neighbors, whose success largely depends on our success, Mexicanos want us to succeed. Let’s help Mexico help us. Like Jimmy Reed’s plaintive blues line says: “Big Boss Man, don’t you hear me when I call? Well you ain’t so big – You just tall, that’s all”

How the U.S. Views Mexico

In a recent interview on BBC television, Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, criticized U.S. foreign policy. His criticism is hard to refute: that the U.S. did not react to the genocidal conflicts in Rowanda and Somalia with the same intensity, interest and direct intervention that Bosnia and Kosovo received.

Is it racist? I think the racist card is played too often in the States and white folks, understandably react with a “here we go again” attitude. So if it isn’t racist what is it? I believe a primary cause of Euro centrism is our public education system. Most of us were “educated” to believe the lie that the birth of civilization occurred on the European continent.

It wasn’t until I traveled to the southern most state of Mexico – Chiapas, did I realize that the Olmec and Mayan cultures predated the Greeks and Romans. A civilization whose astronomers knew the world was round and understood the planetary and solar system. Architects whose buildings and pyramids, thousands of years later, still stand as testament to their quality; like the aquaducts that still carry water throughout the city. Mathmeticians, politicians, artists and musicians that predated the ones we studied in our Euro focused history books.

Hiking through the ruins of Palenque I was transfixed by what I saw and experienced. The ruins are in incredably good condition and spread out over miles of parkland. Palenque transported me back thousands of years. I felt the energy that still remains of the highly sophisticated city that once existed in this beautiful, magical, ancient jungle.

I was transformed as an American in Palenque. I began to see myself as a descendent of a great and ancient American culture and civilization. No longer was I shackled with a European bench mark of civility. I could see even more clearly the historical and cultural blinders that shapes the yankee attitude toward the rest of the world. A profound arrogance that stems from something I heard from anglos in my youth: “if you white you all right, if you brown stick around, but if you black-stay back”.

For me, U.S. foreign policy has always been and still is morally bankrupt. We cannot be proud of our international human right’s policies. If we can accept the obvious hipocracy of doing business with the Chinese while maintaining a boycott against Cuba we must reject any claims of moral objectivity.

It was U.S. foreign policy in Mexico that ignored: the ruling PRI party rigging elections, using federal police and the military to torture and intimidate citizens, imprison political dissenters and labor organizers. We wittingly assisted an autocratic government that used our aid to implement a system of corruption, so pervasive, that it will take decades to dismantle. Mexico today, suffers from U.S. aid that supported a political regime, that in all probability, would have fallen were it not for Uncle Sammy’s tolerance of tyranny in exchange for border stability. So before criticizing Mexico, think about how we supported the end result.

I believe norteamericanos are still befogged by English traditions and beliefs in “the white man’s burden”. That the man of color is less civilized than their European ancestors and somehow unworthy of the same status or concern. That is why the first U.S. made nuclear power plant was tested in Rincon, Puerto Rico and not in New York. Ironic since New York has more Puerto Ricans than the mother island. However, the Italians, English, Irish, German and French descendants in New York outnumber those in Puerto Rico.

Please do not think me Anti American or anti white, I am a U.S. citizen and of mixed anglo and latin heritage. I look more caucasian than Latin. As an American, I am proud, that no other nation has embraced and assimilated so many folks from around the world of all colors. I know too many Mexicanos, in particular, whose lives have been immensely improved by migrating to the States. Imagine if our foreign policy was based on the same noble principles we practice toward immigrants and citizens residing within the continental United States.

We, U.S. citizens, should insist on a well defined, written foreign policy. If it is U.S. policy, we should be able to read it. What we have now is no policy at all; only subjective and expedient reactions to world events; Why can’t our leadership develop a well thought out set of criteria that really stands for freedom and justice for all? A document we can refer to. That guides our decisions and can be used to measure our success. A benchmark document that citizens can use to judge our diplomatic leadership.

We can do a better job in assisting all our neighbors and especially our closest and most important trading partner MEXICO. If we were clear about our goals and expectations we could achieve greater success for both countries. If our foreign policy was really directed toward the best interests of mankind. If our foreign policy made practical sense it would reflect a dedication to improving human rights and social economic conditions. Only with a clear vision and road map will we stem the tide of so many “foreigners” trying to escape onto our shores legally or illegally.

We are the most powerful nation in the world and all nations want our assistance. Only by being unconditionally true to our values of freedom and justice will we be successful in creating a lasting peace among all people. By helping all the citizens of the world prosper, without the yoke of tyranny, we will be doing the right thing for ourselves and all our brothers and sisters irregardless of race or nationality.

Keep it real and learn to speak Spanish guero! After all you are living in the United States of America.

September 11, 2001 was horrific for all yanks living at home or abroad. However, living abroad did have its advantages. For the first time in our history, the “big apple” of U.S. culture and commerce became a military target. Borders shielded us as expatriates. How strange to feel safer away from our once safest home.

For the past 20 years I have lived in a nation without enemies among other nations. Almost guiltily, I am grateful that my adopted home is a benign and “neutral” republic. This past month was a paradox for me. September 9th was the beginning of Mexico’s celebration of Independence week. The week all Americans will never forget. A time when our nation was most violated

The celebration of Independence is a time that allows Mexicano’s to display their flag. In the U.S., we are accustomed to blatant flag waving. Hell, you can paste the stars and stripes on your rear if you so desire. The display of Mexico’s flag is restricted to the state, with the exception of September-independence month, and patriotic holidays. In September everyone can wave the flag and does. There was flag waving on both sides of the border this past month. One in patriotic glee, the other in sorrow and wounded pride.

At the risk of sounding unpatriotic: Since moving here in 1984, I have felt freer, more secure and comfortable in Mexico. Sharing a common sensation with other Americans living in Ensenada. Upon crossing the border, back into Mexico, our shoulders seem to involuntarily relax. Since the events of last month, we are even less desirous of venturing north.

Another expatriate advantage is to hear citizens of another country express observations about terrorism against the United States that are not tainted by patriotic jingoism. I know we can learn by listening to our southern neighbors. They know us better than we know them.

News reports about the United States and opinion maker observations have always constituted a large percentage of Mexicano news coverage. It has only been of late that U.S. media has paid any attention to Mexico. If we put the “home grown” americamedia pundit noise on hold, perhaps we will hear clearer and more objective voices from our neighbors.

Voices that are not self absorbed in obsessivecompulsive introspection. Voices that can help us re focus our attention away from trivia and mean spirited scandal. A view of the world, and us in it, that is not limited by short range national interests or pride.

The civilized world stood incredulous while the U. S. became dysfunctional because “bubba” did the nasty in the white house. U.S. popular news media have let us down. They no longer play the all important role as the fourth column of our governing process: Distracted by an entertainment news orientation that does not provide insight into issues that really affect us as a nation state.

We have not demanded dialogue or the clarification of major issues from our media. We have become enveloped in a mindless web of tabloid journalism and have accustomed ourselves to treating it as real news. Like a computer virus, news/entertainment has infected all the major channels of information.

Each month I travel to San Diego to attend the San Diego press club meetings. Without fail the topic of reporter dissatisfaction is repeated. That deadlines have grown inscreasingly shorter. They lament that once they could spend months researching a story. Now, days on one story is a rare luxury.

Typically a few hours, including the writing time, is all that can be devoted in this fast paced world of “new jack” journalism. “Breaking stories” are the focus. Without a helicopter you can “forget about it”. As a result, if other than crimes and catastrophes, you can also “forgetaboutit”

One virtue we must learn in this “less free”, more security bound society, is to be patient. Mexicanos view us as very impatient. They are curious as to how we will react to long lines at security checkpoints.

Patience is a Mexican virtue. Mexicanos are accustomed to standing in line, for a variety of services at federal, state and municipal agencies. Telephone, electricity and water bills must be paid in person amid long lines. Mexican banks are the worst. Mexicanos convert line waits into opportunities to practice the national pastime conversation. Mexicanos, unlike gringos, have not lost the art of conversation and will talk to anybody and everybody, at any time, about any subject .

How Americans look at the world has changed and will continue to change as we adjust to living in a terrorist war zone. Perhaps, as we queue up to be searched, a revival of talking to one another, like 1950′s small town America, will re-emerge. A new nation, committed to celebrating with one another, our Americanism.

Mexicanos find curious that Americanos isolate themselves, intent on speaking English in whatever country we are visiting or living in. That retired Americans in Mexico live in Gringo ghettos: The Baja Pacific coastline, subdivisions in San Felipe, Lake Chapala in Guadalajara, San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato and Cuernavaca in Morelos. Retirees in Mexico exemplify our disinterest in what the rest of the world thinks, believes and values.

We have become miopic and self indulgent. Isolating our psyches into believing America is the center of the universe. We have been awakened to a new reality. A reality that was there all the time but which we chose to ignore. Smug in our sense of invincibility. Forgotten too quickly, and overshadowed by sex scandals, were the bombings of U.S. embassies, starting in 1983, the first World Trade Center bombing and the aircraft carrier Kohl.

Mexicanos view us as “metiches”. Constantly getting involved in other nation’s problems and taking sides. They view us as naive. Believing we could always keep those fights on somebody else’s turf. How could we have been so “blind sided and sucker punched”? How could we delude ourselves into the belief that international terrorists, obviously mad as hell, would not have the “cojones” to invade our hood?

Please lord, help us develop a new paradigm. In which we really practice what we preach in international relations. That we become a nation with a foreign policy that is consistent. A policy based on ethics and morality; that does not change with the expediency of the moment and or (forgive the pun) for the “almighty buck”. A policy that is written and subjected to the scrutiny, responsibility and accord of our citizens.

We have heard from politicians and news people that America is building a comprehensive terrorist defense strategy based on: diplomacy, economics and military might. What about the word of god. Let us not leave his word at the memorial service altar of last September the thirteenth.

That we do not seek vengeance, for it is the singular provence of our lord. Rather we initiate change, in his name. Convincing, cajoling and yes economicly and diplomaticly “squeezing”, the world’s nations to seek resolution to their grievances by his principals and not the avaricousness of man.

Should we be engaged in revenge or atonement? Who cast the first stone?
Why have we contained our spiritualism to churchy surroundings? What do we really stand for? If we define that we are ethically committed to righteousness-we shall, great god almighty, OVERCOME!

Let us call upon the spiritual leaders of all faiths to herald a new ecumenical conference based on building processes for achieving lasting peace and love between all men. In short, let us save ourselves and the planet from nationalism, racism and terrorism.

Started in Ensenada, Baja California

Decentralize government for more local control, expand privatization and globalization, insure citizen’s civil rights, eliminate government interference in the media and curb governmental and judicial corruption: These are new criteria for governing Mexico that president elect Vicente Fox has presented to the nation.

Ensenadenses (sp. Ensenadans) have a particular reason to be proud of the victory, celebrated by the PAN party, in electing Vicente Fox. The first significant victory for the PAN was in the mid 1980′s when Ernesto Ruffo Apel won the presidency for the County of Ensenada.

Ruffo became a problem for Mexico’s centrist federation, at that time absolutely controlled by the PRI party. The valiant new mayor (presidente) refused to split tax revenues in the portions the feds demanded. He insisted that the funding split would leave his municipality without infrastructure improvement and jeopardize necessary public services.

The citizens of Ensenada formed a human chain around city hall when officials from Mexico City came to threaten Ruffo with expulsion from office and potential prosecution. Public sentiment forced the centrist government to negotiate with Ruffo. A tremendous political surge resulted, a new hope that real change might be possible in modern Mexico. Ruffomania, as it was dubbed, led to the PAN party winning the first opposition party governorship in the history of the republic.

In 1989, Ruffo’s determination for reform, gained him the gubernatorial mandate that changed Baja and Mexico’s history. Fox’s election, broke a 71 year PRI party stranglehold on the nation. The political fruit of what Ruffo planted in Ensenada, just 15 years prior.

Ernesto Ruffo is a very special politician whose ambition is not personal or ego driven. That was demonstrated when he turned down his party’s candidacy for President. His ambition is to make transparent and open to public scrutiny the process of governmental decision making. His reforms in Baja jealously protected citizens from government’s encroachment on civil liberties. His economic policy is devoted to free market principals providing the path to Mexico’s economic betterment.

Vicente Fox used good judgement in appointing Ruffo to the job of border czar, whose charge is: Resolving border issues with the U.S., protect the border environment, improve the infrastructure and stimulate more economic growth. Ernesto Ruffo has always been a good friend. I wish him congratulations and will follow with interest his assured successes in improving U.S. – Mexico border relations.

Most folks and your faithful servant, had the utmost confidence in Mr. Bush and Mr. Vicente Fox’s commitment to improve relations between our two countries. Mr. Bush, sensitive to the growing voter population of Hispanics and a Mexican daughter in law in the family, seemed very willing to improve conditions in the U.S. for Mexican immigrants.

Vicente Fox, former Coca Cola executive, aggressive free marketer and fluent in English, captivated Washington. Being tall and Anglo in appearance did not hurt. He looked like a Hollywood casting choice to play the President.

These newly elected Presidents, basking in the glow of their respective political honeymoons, had an unprecedented opportunity to chart a new course for U.S. Mexico relations. Unfortunately both leaders got sidetracked. Mr. Bush with September 11 and Vicente with a fiscal “reform”: Huge tax increases and oppressive collection enforcement that has the whole nation genuinely pissed.

The World Trade Center attack, left little doubt that America was unlikely to make entering the country easier. Border crossing for both documented and undocumented folks has become less friendly.

Mexico is a country of “Haves” and “Have nots” and the hope is that greater democracy will provide more opportunity for all its citizens. The U.S. is looked upon as the “land of opportunity” , thus the flood of Mexicanos and Central Americanos across her Southern border.

For poor Americans the future does not bode well either. The poor are getting poorer in America while the rich are getting richer. Forty million Americans are without health care while the number of billionaires increases annually. It is clear to many political observers that the two major parties are effectively serving only the wealthy. The Republican party and “trickle down” economic thinking has a tradition of serving the interests of big corporations. Democrats, on the other hand, have a tradition of representing the little guy; the working man and the underprivileged classes.

In his book, Wealth and Democracy, Kevin Phillips states, “Today, democrats are so busy hustling money they can’t see their souls”. The two parties have become one and the same in their avarice and preoccupation with donor capital. The only difference is that Republicans, especially Bush, favor smokestack industries and energy sectors for mo ney grubbing. The Democrats have become popular with high tech and maintain strong ties to the traditional Hollywood contributors.

The proof that Democrats don’t give a damn about their traditional constituents is exemplified in the lame response to Bush’s energy policy. The shameful control that Enron had in shaping this administration’s energy agenda is a case in point. The Democrats should have blasted the rigging of policy to serve the interests of energy brokers at the expense of consumers and the environment.

If the trend towards disparity of wealth in America continues, it will not help U.S. Mexico relations. Working class Americans will become even more paranoid about immigrants taking their jobs. In Mexico, U.S. and other foreign manufacturers are not impressed with Fox’s new taxes on goods shipped to the United States. The “sucking sound of manufacturers moving South of the border”, that Ross Perrot talked about in his campaign for the presidency, is no longer a viable threat.

The future for Foreign manufacturing (maquiladoras) in Mexico is bleak. Tijuana, home to one half of the nation’s foreign owned plants, has enjoyed zero unemployment for the last five years. That trend has reversed. This month 17 Japanese manufacturers in TJ announced they are moving their operations to Asia. There is now growing unemployment in every sector of Tijuana’s economy..

Vicente Fox deserves much of the responsibility for making Mexico less investor friendly by not advancing two of his campaign pledges: To overhaul a socialistic and antiquated set of labor laws and reducing bureaucratic red tape. His policies, in fact, have created more red tape and increased the costs of doing business in this country.

Fox’s heavy handed new “fiscal reform” places a heavier burden on employers: increased payroll taxes, taxes on exported goods and higher sales taxes. The outrageous gasoline and energy prices, from the state owned petroleum and electric companies, are not helping matters either.

I fear for the millions of young Mexicanos who will be graduating from schools so crowded they operate three shifts a day. They are entering a work world where jobs are getting more scarce. I’m also concerned about working class Americanos who no longer seem to have a political voice in the White House or Congress.

NAFTA has created a milieu in which the economic policies of one partner directly affects the other two. The cynicism that exists in the U.S. and Mexico has brought both countries to the lowest levels of voter participation in history. More Mexicanos voted when they knew elections were rigged to maintain the PRI party’s seventy year autocracy. It is time for new leadership in North America. Leaders that will serve the needs of all Americans in the Americas and not just the rich.