UnFriendly Neighbors U'S'Mexican Relations in Historical Perspective: Understanding the Differences

About This Presentation

Title:

UnFriendly Neighbors U'S'Mexican Relations in Historical Perspective: Understanding the Differences

Description:

UnFriendly Neighbors U'S'Mexican Relations in Historical Perspective: Understanding the Differences – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:168

Avg rating:3.0/5.0

Slides: 162

Provided by: CHP6

Category:

more less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: UnFriendly Neighbors U'S'Mexican Relations in Historical Perspective: Understanding the Differences

1
(Un)Friendly Neighbors? U.S.-Mexican Relations
in Historical Perspective Understanding the
Differences of Proximity

John F. Chuchiak IV
Missouri State University

2
U.S.-Mexican Relations

Poor Mexico.so far from God and so close to the
United States.
--Porfirio Diaz (1910)

When greeting President Jimmy Carter on the White
House lawn in 1977, Mexican President José López
Portillo remarked
To be neighbors means to share everything, the
good things and the bad things, too. We are
absolutely convinced that it would not be correct
to enhance the bad things that life brings on its
own. On the other hand, friendship makes it
possible for us to make progress by deepening and
enhancing all good things. Therefore, it is
advisable for good neighbors to be good
friends.

We share so much in common with our neighbors to
the South.
Many Americans have roots in Mexico.
Our economies are interdependent Mexico is our
second largest trading partner with bilateral
trade flows exceeding 250 billion annually.

Our borders are a beehive of activities with more
800,000 individuals and 250,000 vehicles crossing
the U.S./Mexico border daily.
More important even than our economic ties are
our shared values which allow us to remain close
partners even when issues arise between us that
are difficult to resolve.

The issues challenging that relationship are well
known to us all.
Migration, border security, drugs, trade,
investment, energy and economic development.
The success or failure of U.S.-Mexican relations
will have a direct bearing on the prosperity of
both the United States and Mexico, especially in
border communities whose lives, security and
economic well being are inextricably linked.

U.S. relations with Mexico are as important and
complex as with any country in the world.
A stable, democratic, and economically prosperous
Mexico is fundamental to U.S. interests.
U.S. relations with Mexico have a direct impact
on the lives and livelihoods of millions of
Americans--whether the issue is trade and
economic reform, drug control, migration, or the
promotion of democracy.

The scope of U.S.-Mexican relations goes far
beyond diplomatic and official contacts it
entails extensive commercial, cultural, and
educational ties, as demonstrated by the annual
figure of nearly a million legal border crossings
a day.
In addition, more than a half-million American
citizens live in Mexico.
More than 2,600 U.S. companies have operations
there, and the U.S. accounts for 60 of all
foreign direct investment in Mexico.

However, relations between the countries often
have been characterized by conflict.
Analysts attribute much of the antagonism to the
great disparities in wealth between the two
countries a history of intervention by the
United States that makes Mexico highly critical
and suspicious of United States positions
cultural differences and stereotypes of both
nations and the high levels of interdependence
on many socioeconomic and political issues, both
at the national level and in border areas.

10
U.S.Mexican Relations in Historical Perspective
11

Over the course of nearly two hundred years
Mexico and the United States have been distant
neighbors, as Alan Riding put it in the title of
his book on Mexico.
The U.S. military has invaded Mexico three times
during this period and, as one result of the
first occasion, left with over half the territory
then claimed by Mexico in its pocket.

The United States also invaded Mexico during the
time of the Mexican Revolution, occupying the
ports of Tampico and Veracruz.

During the same period, Mexico remains the only
nation to have successfully attacked/invaded the
United States.
Pancho Villa, reacting against U.S. attacks on
Mexico, crossed the border and attacked the U.S.
Town of Columbus New Mexico.

A third U.S. Invasion of Mexico occurred shortly
afterwards when General John Pershing was ordered
to lead and expeditionary force into Mexico in
pursuit of Pancho Villa.

15
(No Transcript)
16

The relationship between Mexico and the United
States has never been an easy one.
Mexicans often approach the relationship based on
resentment of their rich and powerful neighbor.
While U.S. attitudes and policy often seem formed
under what the Mexican writer Octavio Paz has
called "the twin sisters of ignorance and
arrogance.

Adding to the difficulties between the two
neighbors is the enormous disparity in wealth
between the two countries, together with
differences in cultural and historical
traditions.

When I first visited Nuevo Laredo as a child, I
was immediately struck by a readily observable
fact There was much more poverty on the Mexican
side of the river than there was on the American
side. Why? How could a river cause such a large
disparity in income and wealth?
Jacob Hornberger, Leader of
an Current Border Interest NGO

19
Rich or Poor? Mexican Oil

In terms of U.S. Interests, Mexicos oil reserves
are of vital interest to U.S.-Mexican relations.
In 2000 Mexico was the worlds fifth-largest oil
producer, its 10th- largest oil exporter, and the
fourth-largest supplier of oil to the United
States.
Mexicos state-owned oil company, Pemex, holds a
constitutionally established monopoly for the
exploration, production, transportation, and
marketing of the nations oil.

Mexican ex-President Vicente Fox, in his concern
for protecting the rights of the 3.5 million
Mexicans who live and work in the United States,
some with visas, others undocumented, sought to
protect Mexico's third largest source of foreign
exchange other than oil and tourism.
Mexicans living in the United States send home
annually an estimated 7 billion in
family-support payments.
In a country that does not offer unemployment
insurance such payments are crucial to the lives
of hundreds of thousands of Mexicans back home.

In general each side sees what it wants to see in
the other Americans suppose that Mexico 's
political culture is the mirror image of their
own, differing only by language and details of
history.
Mexicans suppose that the United States behind
the appearance of openness, is really a closed
society.

22
Problems of Immigration
23
Mexico U.S.

The march of Mexicans to the United States
shouldn't be understood as a wave of anger or
revolutionary passion, but more as a peaceful
re-conquest"
National Catholic Register, Nov. 16, 1986 citing
comment of Father Florencio M. Rigoni, assistant
secretary for migration for the Mexican bishops'
conference, in La Jornada, Mexico City

24
Mexico the U.S.

"...America is a dying nation. I tell the
Mexicans when I am down in Mexico to keep on
having children, and then to take back what we
took from them California, Texas, Arizona, and
then to take the rest of the country as well."
(The Wanderer, St. Paul MN May 6, 1987 Citing
Father Paul Marx, in homily for the International
Mother's Day Walk for Life in Niagara Falls, at
St. John the Baptist parish in the suburb of
Kenmore.

25
Mexico U.S.

A family from Mexico who arrived here this
morning, legally, has as much right to the
American dream as the direct descendants of the
founding fathers. ... when the blood of the sons
of immigrants and the grandsons of slaves fell on
foreign fields, it was American blood. In it you
could not read the ethnic particulars of the
soldier who died next to you. He was an American.
And when I think of how we learned this lesson, I
wonder how we could have unlearned it."
(from Republican National Convention acceptance
speech, The San Diego Union-Tribune, August 16,
1996)

26
Mexico U.S.

"Mexican immigration poses challenges to the U.S.
in a way nothing else has in the past. ... And
the longer this immigration continues, the more
difficult politically it is to stop. ... The
invasion of over 1 million Mexican civilians is a
comparable to an armed invasion threat to
American societal security, and Americans should
react against it with comparable vigor."
--Samuel Huntington, (Harvard professor of
government, author and member of American
Enterprise Inst. Council of Advisers) ("The
Special Case of Mexican Immigration," The
American Enterprise, December 2000)

27
Mexico U.S.

"Without Mexican farm workers, legal or not, the
rest of us wouldn't eat.
(Statement of Alex Pulaski, Northwest
Treeplanters and Farmworkers United (NFTW) union
1998.)

28
Immigration U.S.

"My opinion, with respect to immigration, is that
except of useful mechanics and some particular
descriptions of men or professions, there is no
need of encouragement, while the policy or
advantage of its taking place in a body...may be
much questioned for, by so doing, they retain
the Language, habits, and principles (good or
bad) which they bring with them."
--George Washington,
(first President, founding father)
(Letter to John Adams, Nov. 15, 1794)

29
Why come to the U.S.
30
U.S. Images of Mexico
31
U.S. Image of Mexico

It looks like you can't swing a dead cat without
hitting a corrupt Mexican...Corruption in Mexico
is a part of their lifestyle.
Congressional aid - according to M. Delal Baer,
L.A. Times, March 9, 1997

... I've been talking to Vicente Fox, the new
president of Mexico... I know him... And we are
negotiating with him to have more gas and oil
sent to the U.S.... so we'll not depend on
foreign oil...
President George W. Bush (2001)

33
POPULAR IMAGES/STEREOTYPES OF MEXICANS

34
Slowpoke Rodriguez


35
Political/Electoral Corruption
36
Revolutions Political Violence
37
Laziness/Government Inefficiency
38
(No Transcript)
39

Hispanic Origins2000
(Over 35,300,000 people)
(Over 21,000,000 of Mexican Origin)
Source Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau

Includes Ancestry of U.S. born
HispanicsSource Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau
40
Mexican Images of U.S.
41
(No Transcript)
42
(No Transcript)
43
(No Transcript)
44
(No Transcript)
45
(No Transcript)
46
(No Transcript)
47
U.S.-Mexican Relations in Historical Perspective

The roots of the difficulties between the United
States and Mexico can be seen in the 19th century.

48
Mexico in 1800
49

In 1800 Colonial Mexico (New Spain) was a vast
territory characterized by a stable and
responsive government, a wealthy and balanced
economy, and a multi-racial society which enjoyed
considerable social mobility.

Yet, by the middle of the nineteenth century, the
republic of Mexico not only had lost more than
half its territory, but it also suffered from
extreme political instability, severe economic
depression, and both racial as well as class
conflict.

51
Comparison Between the Mexican and United States
Economies in 1800
52

Per capita income in 1800
Mexico was 116, and U.S. was 105.
Mexico had a larger industrial base.

53
U.S. Mexico 1800

Other aspects of life in the neighboring regions
provide an interesting contrast.
In 1800 the United States had a population of
six million people while Mexico's inhabitants
numbered about four million.
The U.S. was overwhelmingly rural while Mexico,
although rural, had several of the largest cities
in the continent.

The principal urban centers of the United
States--New York with 60,000 people, Philadelphia
with 41,000, and Boston with 25,000--did not
compare with the leading cities in New Spain
Mexico had some of the largest cities on the
continent
Mexico City with 450,000 inhabitants, Guanajuato
with 60,000, Querétaro with 50,000 Puebla with
40,000, and Zacatecas with 30,000.

Colonial Mexico also differed from the U.S. in
its racial composition and in the higher degree
of mobility enjoyed by its people.

Europeans constituted the majority of the United
States' population with blacks and Indians
forming significant minorities.
Whites, however, dominated the political and
economic structure of the country, limiting
social mobility to members of their race.

In contrast, the Mexican census of 1793 indicated
that there were approximately 8,000 Europeans,
that is, persons born in the Old World,
Also there were about 700,000 criollos--a group
considered white but which, in fact, included a
majority of people of mixed ancestry who claimed
white status by virtue of education and wealth

Some 420,000 mestizos--individuals of mixed
Indian and Spanish origin, but also including
acculturated Indians who passed for mestizos.

360,000 mulatos,
6,000 blacks,
And 2,300,000 Indians.

The Indian enumeration includes more than a
million who were acculturated and who could, in
essence, be considered mestizos.
Perhaps 100,000 Asians immigrated to Mexico
during the colonial period.
By 1800 they, like the countless Africans brought
to the colony, had entered the racially mixed
population.
Thus Mexico, unlike its northern counterpart, had
a multi-racial society integrated through
miscegenation

Economic, rather than racial, factors constituted
the main determinants of social status.
While colonial Mexicans regarded being white as a
positive characteristic, the records of New Spain
provide numerous examples of upwardly mobile
people of color who attained elite status by
making money.
In New Spain, it was better to be rich than
white rich mestizos and mulatos often hired poor
white immigrants from Spain as servants.

Early nineteenth century Mexico can be described
as a wealthy, capitalist society.

63
Independence Movements in U.S. Mexico

The independence movements of each country also
differed.
The United States was a product of an "early
independence."
Mexico was the result of a "late independence."

English colonists rebelled against British
authority when it tried to impose a system of
imperial control as a result of the Seven Years'
War.
This marked the end of the politics of "benign
neglect" under which they had developed. Their
rebellion was a movement to maintain their
autonomy.

Really the war of independence in the United
States was to preserve that modernity which had
motivated colonization.
They did this at a time of favorable economic
conditions (the rivalry between France and Great
Britain) which allowed them to obtain funds,
alliances, and recognition even before their
freedom was formalized.

For that reason, it was a conflict that only
lasted five years.
Also, the autonomy they had enjoyed and their
political tradition had provided them a group of
political leaders prepared to face the challenge
of the fight for independence and the formation
of a new state.

67
Mexican Independence

On the other hand, Mexico won its independence in
1821, forty years after the United States.
The war was a complex and fragmented process.
It was not only a search for freedom from Spain
but also a genuine social and political
revolution.

Mexicans did not have favorable external
conditions.
When the war began in 1810, Europe was immersed
in the Napoleonic wars and when Mexicans finally
achieved their goal eleven years later, a
conservative movement had begun which did not
favor recognition of new countries in the
Americas.
Finally, among the Mexican leaders who had
survived the bloody fight for independence, there
were men of great talent but little practical
experience in politics.

69
The New Republic (U.S.)

In 1789, the Constitution of the United States
was ratified and the first president of the
country took office.
These events seemed to imply that "a more perfect
union" had been established and that a new nation
was emerging.
This union was possible because a consensus
existed on an important point the ideology of
liberalism.

American society was liberal even before the
liberalism of political and economic doctrine was
formulated.
Therefore, its principles were assimilated easily
because they emphasized the interest of the
individual as a legitimate goal, and reaffirmed
the ideas of diversity and competition.

In summary, the United States in 1789 attempted a
unique experiment to create a nation out of a
state that at the same time relied on an
individualistic and self-centered ideology.
For that reason, the diversity of interests would
take shape as political coalitions.
As a result, the emergence of the United States
was the product of a political and ideological
consensus.

In addition, one of the most important political
characteristics was the continuity of its
political leadership and its institutional
development.
Between 1789 and 1860, fifteen presidents and
thirty-six legislatures were elected without any
problems or questions about the legitimacy of
those elections, and even though political
parties emerged, they were far from being
disruptive elements, serving instead to advance
democracy and contribute to finding solutions to
major problems.

73
The Mexican Republic

When Mexico finally achieved independence, a
spirit of optimism had swept over Mexican
society, but the truth was that the life of
independence did not bring with it the best
omens.
Mexico inherited the extremely fragmented society
of New Spain, both in terms of its ethnic
composition and in its levels of education and
distribution of wealth.
In addition, there were also regional
differences.
The economic and social conditions further
aggravated the political debate.

74
Alexander von Humboldt

Mexico is the country of inequality. No where
does there exist such a fearful difference in the
distribution of fortune, civilization,
cultivation of the soil, and population. The
interior of the country contains four cities,
which are not more than one or two days' journey
distant from one another .The Mexican Indians,
when we consider them en masse, offer a picture
of extreme misery. Banished into the most barren
districts, and indolent from nature, and more
still from their political situation, the natives
live only from, hand to mouth.
--Alexander von Humboldt, Traveler to Mexico

Immediately after independence, two primary plans
were proposed to constitute the new state one
would eventually be called "liberal" and the
other would be known as "conservative.
Even though the members of these groups agreed on
economic and social goals, sincerely wanting to
make Mexico a modern and prosperous country, they
differed substantially on the ways to achieve
that.

76
The Conservatives

The conservatives emphasized the need to proceed
cautiously, without altering the social
structure, and above all preserving those
institutions that played a fundamental role in
binding together the fragmented society,
especially the Catholic Church.

77
The Liberals

The liberals, on the other hand, proposed radical
social and economic reform.
But, the conflict between the two positions was
even more dramatic in the political arena.
The liberals advocated the establishment of a
federal republican state, while the conservatives
reiterated the need for a centralized state, and
leaned heavily in support of a monarchy as a form
of government.

Between 1821 and 1850 the debate took place
almost exclusively between the members of those
groups.
There were no real political parties in the
strict sense of the word but rather a combination
of coalitions.
In addition, the population was not accustomed to
political debate.

79
(No Transcript)
80

Under these conditions, one can understand, to a
certain degree, the political instability in
Mexico during its first four decades of
independence.
Independent Mexico has 44 governments in the
first 33 years of the country's existence.

Between 1821 and 1847, four types of government
were tried a monarchy in 1822, a federal
republic in 1824, and two forms of a centralized
republic, one of which in 1836 and the other in
1843.
One should add to this sad picture that Mexico
faced a hostile international environment.

In summary, while the United States thrived from
the time of its colonial origins both as a modern
state and society, for Mexico to modernize meant
breaking its structures, destroying its old
institutions and building new ones, as well as
modifying the way of thinking of its inhabitants.
These different origins help to explain the
position of the two countries during the later
U.S. Mexican war from 1846 to 1848.

83
The U.S.-Mexican War
Mexican American War (1846-1848)

84

ADAMS-ONIS TREATY, Treaty between Spain and the
U.S. renouncing the latter's claim to Texas.
Broadside, Mexico City, February 12, 1822.

85
(No Transcript)
86

When the United States and Mexico confronted each
other between 1846 and 1848, they were two
radically different countries in terms of social
conditions, economics, politics and culture.
These contrasts were the result of their colonial
pasts and what they experienced during their
respective independence movements.

13,000 U.S. soldiersone in every fivedied
during the seventeen months of armed conflict,
chiefly from infection and disease.
The toll of Mexican losses was far higher 55,000
men died, and countless more were wounded and
maimed in the savage battles.
III-clothed, seldom paid, often unfed, poorly
trained, badly equipped, and not always
well-commanded, the Mexican soldiers put up a
valiant but hopeless fight.
In the end they fought for the honor of dying
for their country.

FROM this war that is so seldom remembered, the
United States emerged with its prize one-half
million square miles of new territory containing
riches untold.

It emerged also with a well-trained corps of
officers who would put their combat skills to
devastating use against each other in the Civil
War.
Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, "Stonewall"
Jackson, and William T. Sherman, among others,
gained their first combat experience in Mexico.

Mexico and the United States were essentially
equal in the 1840s.
Mexico, indeed, had a much stronger military
tradition and a larger, better equipped army.
At the outset many European observers believed
that the upstart Yankees would receive the
beating they so clearly deserved.

Always outnumbered, sometimes five to one, the
U.S. forces consisted largely of volunteers led
by officers whose only combat experience came
from battles with the Indians.
Moreover, Mexico had been clamoring for war in
its newspapers and in the oratory of its
politicians.
By adopting a bellicose attitude and refusing to
bargain, Mexico was as much at fault as its
neighbor to the north.

92
(No Transcript)
93
(No Transcript)
94
Battle of Monterrey
95
(No Transcript)
96
(No Transcript)
97
(No Transcript)
98
Hanging Irish Deserters
99
The Battle of Chapultepec

Since 1833, Chapultepec had served as Mexico's
military academy, and the cadets now fought side
by side with seasoned soldiers in heroic defense
of their castle and country.

100

According to Mexican national mythology, six of
the youths died, one clutching the Mexican flag
to keep it from American hands.
For their valor, they have been honored in annual
celebrations as Los Niños Héroes.

101
(No Transcript)
102
(No Transcript)
103
The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
104

On 2 February 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo was signed, ratified in the U.S. Senate
on 10 March 1848, by the Mexican Congress in May.
The treaty called for the annexation of the
northern portions of Mexico to the United States.
In return, the U.S. agreed to pay 15 million to
Mexico as compensation for the seized territory.
This "seized Mexican territory" is the most
controversial issue in the history of relations
between Mexico and the United States.

105
The Manifestation of Destiny

Under the terms of the treaty, which went into
effect on May 30, 1848, the United States paid
some fifteen million dollars for more than half
of Mexico's territory, including West Texas, New
Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California.
On June 12, as the Mexican flag was raised once
more over the National Palace, the last American
troops marched out of Mexico City on their long
journey to a homeland that now stretched from sea
to shining sea.

106
(No Transcript)
107

The terms of the treaty and its signing were so
shameful, that even the U.S. envoy (Nicolas
Trist) felt ashamed.
In a letter to his wife regarding the signing of
the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo he wrote
Just as they were about to sign the treaty...one
of the Mexicans, Don Bernardo Couto, remarked
"this must be a proud moment for you no less
proud for you than it is humiliating for us." To
this I replied "we are making peace, let that be
our only thoughtBut, Could those Mexicans have
seen into my heart at that moment, they would
have known that my feeling of shame as an
American was far stronger than theirs could be as
Mexicans. For though it would not have done for
me to say so there, that was a thing for every
right minded American to be ashamed of, and I was
ashamed of it, most cordially and intensely
ashamed of it."

108
(No Transcript)
109
Cartoon from Yankee Doodle, 1847

110
(No Transcript)
111
(Un)Friendly Neighbors?

U.S.-Mexican Relations from 1848-2005

112

Throughout its history, Mexico has had an
ambivalent love-hate relationship with its
northern neighbor.
Nationalist rhetoric continuously highlights the
loss of one-half of Mexico's territory and
natural resources to the United States in the
1800s.
Even at times when United States-Mexican
relations have been at their best, this loss is
still present in Mexican rhetoric.

113

During the Rio Group summit in September 1994,
for example, President Salinas commented on the
United Nations-sponsored United States
intervention in Haiti
"Having suffered an external intervention by the
United States, in which we lost more than half of
our territory, Mexico cannot accept any proposal
for intervention by any nation of the region.

114

In economic terms, good relations with the United
States have long been critical for Mexico, given
that its northern neighbor is its principal
trading partner, both for exports and imports.
Economic relations and the interdependence of
Mexico and the United States dominated
U.S.-Mexican Relations since 1848, and they
remain the central points of future relations.

115

1884 United StatesMexican railroad connection
links El Paso and Mexico City.
1891 United States Immigration Act authorizes
inspection stations at ports of entry on the
Mexican and Canadian borders.
1904 To curtail undocumented entry of Asian and
European immigrants into the United States
through Mexico, immigration inspectors on
horseback begin to patrol the United
StatesMexican border.

116

1914 United States forces occupy the port city
of Veracruz for seven months.
1916 United States President Woodrow Wilson
orders Gen. John Pershing to capture guerrilla
leader Pancho Villa after Villas attack on
Columbus, New Mexico.
For nine months 4,000 American troops search in
vain for Villa.

117

1917 The United States Immigration Act applies
a literacy test and head tax to Mexicans entering
the United States legally, spurring undocumented
immigration by Mexican workers.
(During the World War I labor shortage, these
provisions are temporarily suspended.)

118

1924 The Immigration Act of 1924 establishes
the United States Border Patrol.

119

19291934 Nearly 500,000 Mexican nationals and
some Mexican Americans are repatriated to Mexico,
forcibly or voluntarily, during the Great
Depression.

120

1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces
the Good Neighbor Policy, promising to end United
States military intervention in Latin American
countries.

121

19371938 Mexico nationalizes British and
United States railroad and oil industries.
A 1947 settlement provided compensation to
foreign investors.

Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas announcing the
expropriation of all foreign oil interests on
March 18 1938
122

1942 The United States and Mexico adopt the
Emergency Farm Labor Program, or Bracero program,
allowing Mexicans to perform contract work in the
United States for a fixed period.
Over the next 22 years of the programs
existence, more than 4.6 million labor contracts
are issued.

123
1947

Harry S. Truman becomes the first U.S. president
to visit Mexico City.

124

In March 1947, as his motorcade is heading to the
Mexico City Airport at the end to his official
three-day state trip to Mexico, U.S. President
Harry Truman suddenly orders his to stop at the
Monument to the Children Heroes.
There, an aide removes a wreath from the trunk of
the presidents limousine and helps him place it
at the monuments base.
The Mexicans are astonished.
Almost exactly 100 years after their capital city
fell to U.S. armed forces in a war they still
recall bitterly, the leader of the victorious
nation has spontaneously come to honor their
martyrs.

125

Witnesses to this act will remember officials,
newspaper reporters and ordinary citizens
breaking into tears at Trumans gesture.
Press accounts the next day will declare that the
presidents tribute has almost single-handedly
wiped out a century of Mexican resentment toward
the United States.
Truman chose wisely. The monument to the young
cadets, seen by millions of people each year, was
the countrys most powerful sustainer of the
lingering bitterness Mexicans felt toward the
U.S.

126

1981 Citizens of San Antonio, Texas, elect the
first Mexican American mayor of a United States
city.
1986 The Immigration Reform and Control Act
(IRCA), or Simpson-Rodino Act, increases funds
for the United States Border Patrol, penalizes
employers for hiring unauthorized workers, and
provides amnesty to long-term undocumented
residents.

127

1990 The Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs
creates the Program for Mexican Communities
Abroad to aid Mexicans in adapting to life in the
United States and to foster continuing ties to
the homeland.
1994 The North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) begins to phase out tariffs between the
United States, Canada, and Mexico over fifteen
years.

128

1994 California voters adopt Proposition 187,
denying undocumented residents access to nearly
all public services in the state. (Courts later
strike down much of the law as unconstitutional.)
1995 Over 500,000 Mexicans work in
maquiladoras, factories on the border that
assemble parts from the United States and export
the finished goods back to the United States.

129
Old Problems Linger
130

According to a recent poll, nearly three out of
five Mexicans believe there should be no border
control for Mexican nationals crossing into the
United States.
At the same time, two-thirds of U.S. citizens do
not believe illegal aliens in the country should
be granted amnesty.

131

Asked if they believed the U.S. Southwest
rightfully belonged to Mexico, 58 percent of
respondents in Mexico said it did, while 28
percent disagreed.
A similar number -- 57 percent -- stated
agreement with the position that Mexicans have
the right to enter the United States without U.S.
permission.
A total of 35 percent disagreed.

132

In Mexico a nationalism that began with
resentment at the loss of half the nations
territory in the 1840s has taken new forms.
And that nationalism has nourished a greater
identification with people of Mexican origin in
the United States, whom Mexicans had earlier
considered traitors.

133

American politicians have insisted that Mexico
pass an American test of its resolve in the
officially bi-national fight against narcotics,
have tried to block migrants at the border, and
have sought to cut off public aid to people
simply because they cannot document their
national citizenship.
With a single narco-economy and -culture on both
sides of the border, United States officials
blame the problem on Mexican supply while Mexican
officials blame it on American demand.

134
The U.S.-Mexican Border

A Mutual Problem
Needing Mutual Solutions

135
(No Transcript)
136

Mexico's birthrate is the highest in the world,
with the average age as low as fourteen.
To the south, a Third World nation.
To the north, the greatest industrial power on
the planet.
At the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez border, both worlds
meet in a gritty, sometimes violent, always
vibrant collision.

137

The U.S.Mexican border es una herida abierta
(an open wound) where theThird World grates
against the first and bleeds. And beforea scab
forms it hemorrhages again, the lifeblood of
twoworlds merging to form a third countrya
border culture.
From Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands The New
Mestiza,1987.

138

According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2000),
statistics indicate that in the U.S. border
counties, 25-30 of the population is uninsured
inhabitants have less private health insurance,
40 vs. 60 for the state average and the
average yearly income is 14,560.
In general, educational attainment is lower along
the border when compared to the rest of the
United States.
With the exception of San Diego, 25 year olds in
the border counties average two to three less
years of school than in the United States as a
whole.

139
(No Transcript)
140

Three of the ten poorest counties in the United
States are located in the border area
Twenty-one of the counties on the border have
been designated as economically distressed areas
Approximately 432,000 people live in 1,200
colonias in Texas and New Mexico, which are
unincorporated, semi-rural communities that are
characterized by substandard housing and unsafe
public drinking water or wastewater systems

141

The unemployment rate along the U.S. side of the
Texas-Mexico border is 250-300 percent higher
than in the rest of the country.
Due to rapid industrialization, the communities
on the Mexican side of the border have less
access to basic water and sanitation services
than the rest of the nation.

142

This blending of Mexican-American cultures
becomes more pronounced the closer you get to the
border.
It manifests itself in the language, music, food,
dress and philosophy of life.
Conversations are fractured, sometimes right in
the middle
"What the hell, que pasa?"
"Not a damn cosa."
Newspapers carry sections in Spanish.
Menus, voting instructions, traffic signals,
church missals, and grocery sales are printed in
both languages.

143
(No Transcript)
144

"I dedicate the present retablo to the Holiest
Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos for having saved
me from a Texan who tried to carry me off. I hid
under a tree by the side of the road with my
little brother."
Retablo of Concepción Zapata. 1948.

145

"We give thanks to the Virgin of San Juan for
saving us from the migration authorities on our
way to Los Angeles.
Retablo of M. Esther Tapio Picón.

146
Increasing Hispanic Population in the U.S.
147

148
(No Transcript)
149
(No Transcript)
150
A New Friendly chapter in U.S. Mexican
Relations?

2005 and Beyond

151

Nearly a quarter-century ago, soon after his
election, President Ronald Reagan referred to
Mexico as one of "our two neighbors" in North
America.
While those few words may seem as insignificant
now as they seemed to many who heard them then,
to Mexico they became a symbol of a dramatic
change in U.S.-Mexican relations.
They signified the moment that the United States
recognized Mexico as more than just part of Latin
America.

152

Ex-Mexican President Vicente Fox asked a rare
joint meeting of Congress in 2001 to trust its
neighbor in matters of drug interdiction,
immigration and trade.
I am aware that for many Americans, and for many
Mexicans, the idea of trusting their neighbor may
seem risky and perhaps unwise I am sure that
many on both sides of the border would rather
stick to the old saying that good fences make
good neighbors. But circumstances have changed."

153

On May 5, 2001, President George W. Bush echoed
Fox, pledging to improve relations with Mexico.
President Bush pledged to work to cement ties
with Mexico by,
"putting old fears and quarrels behind usThe
history of Mexican-American relations has had its
troubled moments, but today our peoples enrich
each other in trade and culture and family ties,"
Bush recorded this address in both English and
Spanish, beginning what the White House said
would be a new weekly practice of radio addresses
in both languages.

154

The relationship between the United States and
Mexico has at times been rocky, starting with the
U.S.-Mexican War in which Mexico lost half its
territory to its neighbor.
It's a relationship that must be strengthened if
the two nations are to resolve lingering
questions over immigration, trade and drugs as
well as regional issues like extradition,
agricultural subsidies and water-sharing
treaties.

155

There have been some encouraging instances of
cooperation and mutual aid.
Every day, Mexican law enforcement officials work
with the U.S. Border Patrol to locate and arrest
immigrant smugglers.
And just recently, in a dramatic gesture after
Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Ex-Mexican President
Vicente Fox dispatched about 200 soldiers of the
Mexican army to march into the United States with
food, water and medical supplies.
They also brought portable kitchens capable of
feeding 7,000 people a day.

156

For the first time in 159 years Mexico sent
troops into U.S. territory.
Besides the Mexican marines in Mississippi, a
military convoy with nearly 200 soldiers rode
proudly passed jubilant crowds from Laredo to San
Antonio, Texas, where it set up camp and began
providing dental and medical assistance and, more
famously, nearly 35,000 hot meals to Katrina
evacuees and volunteers.

157

The convoy has "a very high symbolic content,"
said Javier Oliva, a political scientist at
Mexico's National Autonomous University. "This is
a very sensitive subject, for historic and
political reasons."

158

"This is the first time that the United States
has accepted a military mission from Mexico,"
said Javier Ibarrola, a newspaper columnist who
covers military affairs in Mexico. "This is
something that's never happened before."

159

In Gulfport, Miss., President Bush personally
thanked Mexican troops for "working together"
with U.S. counterparts to help rebuild an
elementary school devastated by Hurricane
Katrina.
In front of reporters and photographers Bush
shook the hands of members of the Mexican navy,
the word "MARINA" visibly emblazoned across their
chests.

160

The United States will certainly remember
Mexicos generosity during this difficult period.
The outpouring of contributions from our southern
neighbor has been heartening, and the delivery of
supplies and expertise from the Mexican
government and military is needed, welcomed, and
will certainly generate gratitude for years to
come. We were thankful to receive the Mexican
armys convoy of relief supplies, and the Mexican
navys dispatch of vessels containing food and
water purification equipment, along with medical
personnel and engineers with expertise in
repairing levees. And we welcome ideas and
collaboration on relief management from the
experts in Protección Civil.
Antonio O. Garza, Jr., U.S. Ambassador to Mexico

161

The relationship between the United States and
Mexico isn't always easy to understand or manage.
It isn't always comfortable or without its
frustrations.
But it is indisputably essential, mutually
rewarding and necessary for the preservation of
both of our nations.

Write a Comment

User Comments (0)