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 Editorials | January 2006 
The Ugly Americanos
 Ruben Navarrette - Union-Tribune
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 last week, Mexico demanded that the U.S. 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 Guantánamo 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 under way, 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?
Ruben Navarrette Jr. writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. His column routinely appears in The Bee on Wednesday and occasionally on other days. Reach him at ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com. |
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