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'OBSOLETE WEAPONS'

[Excelsior, Mexico]

 

 

Excelsior, Mexico

Relations Between U.S. and Mexico are Deteriorating

 

"To the United States, Mexico is a country in total chaos without respect for life or law and where we gun down one another over drugs. And to Mexicans, our neighbors to the north are hypocrites who won't admit to their own share of the blame for the violent situation being endured in various parts of our national territory."

 

By Pablo Hiriart

                             

 

Translated By Molly Smith

 

March 13, 2009

 

Mexico - Excelsior - Original Article (Spanish)

Recent statements by senior officials on both sides of the border leave no room for doubt: relations between the United States and Mexico are deteriorating. Over there, the State Department, some of the press and even President Obama have begun making a series of escalating statements against the image of Mexico. And here it’s the same thing. The Attorney General [Eduardo Medina Mora], the press and even President Calderon have launched attacks against the evil and ineffective gringos.

 

If this isn't put to a stop quickly and the belligerent mood redirected into active forms of collaboration, things will end badly and to the disadvantage of both countries.

 

In the United States, anti-Mexican sentiment is growing because of what is shown in the news, and above all, because the government of that country identifies us as being solely responsible for the hell that people are living through along some parts of the border.

 

In Mexico, animosity toward the United States is reflected in a barrage of verbal broadsides and threatening announcements which are a result of the government's virulent reaction to what is being said in Washington.

 

The two countries, which in many senses have put a shared destiny on the table, are now imprisoned by explicit declarations of belligerence being made in the U.S. as well as Mexico.

 

When the moment comes to consider major and historic agreements on cooperation and integration, as it must, it will likely be a time in which the climate of public opinion in both countries couldn't be more adverse.

 

To the United States, Mexico is a country in total chaos without respect for life or law and where we gun down one another over the issue of drugs. And to Mexicans, our neighbors to the north are hypocrites who won't admit to their own share of the blame for the violent situation being endured in various parts of our national territory.

 

We tend to return to - or more precisely refine - the "anti-gringo" discourse we usually respond with to provocations or misunderstandings that emerge North of the Rio Grande [in the U.S.].

 

The gringos “want to harm Mexico and they are cynical, hypocritical, drug addicts and are corrupt.”  

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

'LIGHT-HANDED PREVENTIVE MEASURES'

The Mexican man's hat says 'Mexican Narco'

   [Excelsior, Mexico]

 

Where is this going to get us? What's going on now is historic foolishness.

 

The process should be exactly the reverse: a rapprochement with the United States so that together we can confront the economic, labor, environmental and security crisis we suffer from.

 

In Mexico, who will be brave enough to suggest, in this climate, an agreement with the United States to deepen economic integration? Whoever suggests such a thing will be considered a traitor or of bad birth, thanks to the official discourse against our northern neighbors.

 

And there [in the U.S.], it's the same: what president or senior official of the United States will dare stand before the nation's legislature to advocate an agreement allowing for the free movement of citizens between the two countries?

 

As things stand now, whoever does so will be considered a lunatic at best.

 

Let us hope that once again, we won’t have to wait for the next U.S. president to leave office, in this case Obama, before we can knit together a good relationship with the government of that country. Eight years have already been lost with the Bush Administration. Are we going to waste another eight with President Obama?

 

What should we do now? Pitch mutual accusations over the wall at one another?

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

Excelsior, Mexico: How Mexico Could Legalize Pot - Whether U.S. Likes it or Not

Excelsior, Mexico: Relations Between U.S. and Mexico are Deteriorating

La Tercera, Chile Mexico's Drug War: No Way Out But to Fight On

Semana, Colombia: Michael Phelps and American Hypocricy on the Use of Drugs

 

It is absurd and regrettable that the governments of Mexico and the United States exchange insults and gibes instead of exchanging information and joining forces to attack this scourge that affects us both.

 

Mexico and the United States - their governments - should be looking for new ways to jointly act as a North American block against the effects of this crisis, rather than what they are doing, which is to vaccinate their populations against any kind of deep and lasting agreement.

 

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US March 16, 5:57pm]