Defusing the Mexican standoff

Deseret Morning News editorial
Published: Friday, Dec. 2, 2005 9:08 p.m. MST
E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
James Carville, adviser to President Clinton, kept a mantra posted above his desk: "It's the economy, stupid." Carlos de Icaza, Mexico's ambassador to the United States, is much more diplomatic, but his refrain is much the same: Most problems between the United States and Mexico are economic.

Mexico's economy is growing. Industry is expanding. Wages are rising. But the nation still can't compete with the siren call of the United States, where the economy is 15 times stronger. But where workers once flowed back and forth freely between the two countries, now they set down roots to the north — walled in by the barriers designed to keep them out. Instead of returning to Mexico to visit their families, they now secretly spirit their families north to join them. The result is that South of the Border has come North of the Border.

Icaza's solutions are straightforward: a guest worker program for Mexicans, legal and illegal, who "travel abroad" — in his phrase. More American interest in Mexico as a partner in trade, especially with the advent of China as a juggernaut. More trust between the two countries. More cultural exchanges. And more openness.

It's a rosy vision. And its a vision we can easily endorse. The problem is that some of the barriers to such changes may be greater than the physical walls separating the two countries.

Story continues below
To begin with, walling up the southern border is a politically astute move, but creating a guest worker program may require more political will than can be found in the current administration. If Mexico were to put access to its oil on the table, it might grease the skids. But Mexico shields its nationalized petroleum industry like a virgin daughter. It is the one industry off limits to outside intervention.

As for trust and openness, Icaza himself admits that anxieties run deep. Fear is a watchword in both nations. One of the most striking monuments in Mexico City is the Child Heroes, a grand alabaster shrine commemorating the deaths of military academy students when the U.S. Marines invaded the "halls of Montezuma." Resentments still exist over that and a dozen other abuses — both real and perceived.

In recent years, Mexican leaders have been trying to create more give and take, though the people themselves have tended to balk.

The same might be said for citizens on this side of the Rio Grande.

Icaza is right. Economics is the key. But the key to economics is understanding. And that will require boldness and vision to develop.

The clock is ticking. Now is the hour for such vision and boldness.

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.