PUERTO VALLARTA,
Mexico -- Now that Mexico has hired an American PR firm to improve
its image north of the border, the Bush administration should
borrow that playbook and hire a Mexican firm to improve its image
in Mexico -- and, for that matter, the rest of Latin America.
Americans and their
idiosyncrasies are not held in especially high regard south of
the border.
Cynics might claim
the only reason the Mexicans are upset is because a growing number
of Americans are tired of having an open border and want Congress
to do something about it. They might even call out the Mexicans
for their hypocrisy. Mexico maintains an economic and political
system that works fine for the elites while leaving the masses
mired in poverty. And when those without options leave home and
migrate to the United States, the Mexican government suddenly
grows a heart and can think of nothing else but the exiles' rights
and welfare.
Just this week, Mexico
demanded that the United States government investigate the shooting
death of an illegal immigrant by a U.S. Border Patrol agent near
the California-Mexico border. A spokesman for the Border Patrol
called the victim ``a known people smuggler'' although the man's
family denies that he was engaged in such activity.
In any case, the
tension in U.S.-Mexican relations extends beyond the immigration
issue. From the war in Iraq to the secret detentions at Guantanamo
Bay to the State Department's ``ABC'' approach to Venezuela --
``Anybody But (President Hugo) Chavez'' -- to the administration's
cool reaction to Bolivia's president-elect Evo Morales, who pledged
to legalize his country's coca industry, recent events have advanced
the image that Americans are arrogant bullies and the biggest
meddlers in the hemisphere. The popular perception is that Uncle
Sam plays the game by two sets of rules in Latin America: those
that he lays down for neighbors and those he applies to himself
whenever and however it suits him.
Not that
the reputation of los americanos south of the border
was that great to begin with. Immigration restrictionists insist
that Mexican immigrants are ``invading'' the United States, but
actually it's the Americans who have a history of going into their
neighbors' backyards without permission. During the land grab
known as the U.S.-Mexican War, the United States, convinced of
its Manifest Destiny, sent troops into Mexico City and seized
half its neighbor's territory. In 1961, the United States used
Cuban exiles to launch an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at the
Bay of Pigs. In 1983, U.S. troops went into Grenada. In 1989,
it was Panama. And, of course, throughout the 1980s, the United
States got involved in various hot spots in Central America to
either prop up or help topple governments.
You can see how Mexicans and others in Latin America might get
the idea that the United States is used to getting its way and
won't hesitate to resort to brute force to advance its point of
view.
Nor does
it do much to improve U.S.-Mexico relations that another American-led
``invasion'' is underway, one being fought not with bullets and
bayonets but travelers' checks and credit cards. You can see the
tip of the spear in places like this Mexican resort town, which
20 or 30 years ago, served as a private playground for the Mexican
elite but which now, more and more, caters to American tourists
and their dolares.
Spend time in this
world, and you forget you're in Mexico. The busiest breakfast
joints serve pancakes and waffles, and their marquees and menus
are in English. American customers speak to each other in English,
and some of them seem annoyed if the waiter addresses them in
Spanish. Other businesses -- from pharmacies to law firms -- proudly
advertise in their storefronts: ``We speak English.'' Sports bars
have televisions blaring American football as American fans order
pitchers of beer. On television, you'll find the ``American Network,''
where you can watch your favorite shows from the United States
-- in English, of course.
It's all to make
Americans feel comfortable -- and to get them to open their wallets
and spend lots of money.
While many
Mexicans seem content with the arrangement, cultural purists say
the country is becoming ``Americanized'' and turning itself inside
out to accommodate foreigners. They worry that, for their trouble,
they have to put up with Americans behaving poorly in Mexico.
These American visitors don't try to speak Spanish and they insult
waiters and cabdrivers. Some of those Mexican purists even make
the argument that when people come to a foreign country, they
ought to make the effort to blend in, speak the language and respect
cultural norms.
Where have we heard
that before?
©
2005, The San Diego Union-Tribune
