HispanicVista Columnists

Foot in Mouth Time . . .  Again

By Richard N. Baldwin T.

    
   
       
     The Fox administration has demonstrated once again its ineptitude in conducting even the most elementary level of foreign relations. Especially when the interests of its people and citizens are involved. I refer to the illegal immigrant comic book episode that was issued by our foreign relations secretariat.

     First, the purported purpose of this book is for humane reasons to warn against death or injury to our thousands of immigrants going north across the border to the US. The Mexican government recognizes that these people are going to cross anyway, and much of the information in the book are common sense precautions that are given to cut down the deaths that occur in the hundreds each year. OK, so far, so good. This part is only a humane effort.

     But the book goes further than simply warnings of danger. It crosses the line when instructions on avoiding the border patrol and "blending in" across the border to avoid attention and deportation are given. We all recognize that illegally entering a country is a crime, and when we give those committing the crime advice on how to get away with it, México is, in fact, aiding and abetting crimes. As a US senator pointed out, it is like saying that although we don't want you robbing a bank, here are the instructions to pick the lock on the bank to make the robbery successful.

     The negotiations within the US to reform the immigration system to allow a guest worker program as President Bush is trying for is delicate enough. But it is evident that the Fox administration has given this US program the coup de grace. And we wonder why Bush seems to distance himself from Fox.

     The problem is compounded in the US by a desire to control its borders, which makes sense. On the other hand, there are many interests that like things the way they are. A lot of employers look at the illegals as a way to bring downward pressure on wage levels. The illegals (who are not likely to be union members) are a made to order force for exactly that. And the illegals are easier to abuse with little recourse for complaint. There are many other positions on this complex issue ranging from the humanitarian issues to the extremists centered on a racist issue. As said, it is a very complex issue in the US and it looks like México had managed to do a good job of mucking it up for good.

     The solutions (or blame if you will) for the illegal immigration problem lies with both governments. Due to the Mexican government's inability to provide for its people, illegal immigration is a necessity for them. Due to the US government's inability to come to grips with the fact that the Mexican immigrants are filing a needed sector in the US national economy. When the Mexicans can send home, to their families, 15 BILLION US dollars a year, after working at low wages, this has a large positive affect for both countries national economies. Regularization of this sector is not only desirable, but mandatory. Let's get serious for a change.

     But then, one wonders just who is running México nowadays anyway. A recent news item recounts that in the city of Los Angeles, (where a Mexican conciliate operated by the foreign relations secretariat is located) there is an ad-hoc conciliate operated by the Mexican congress! It would appear that the Mexican congress wants to eliminate the administrative branch of the Mexican government entirely. Has our congress seceded from México?

     As long as we are picking on México here, we might as well pick on the US also. In the recent US congressional procedure to confirm the appointment of Alberto Gonzales to the position of attorney general, Gonzales seems to be getting a lot of flack on some memos written to define interpretation of the Geneva Convention rules covering prisoners of war. What seems to be lost here in the details of what constitutes illegal torture and due process issues is the fact that the Geneva Convention covers the rules of conduct of armies and governments in war.

     The war of today is hardly that. The opponents are of no recognized government, and there is no organized army and much less any uniforms (or codes of conduct) for the fighters. There are many veterans of wars past that remember when combatants, who were captured without uniforms or were in the uniform of another army, were declared spies or irregulars, and simply tried and shot on the spot. These fighters were operating outside of the convention covered rules, and suffered the consequences. The rules were good then, and would be good now.

     And, in my opinion, Gonzales would certainly make a better attorney general than his predecessor would.
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Richard N. Baldwin T., a HispanicVista.com (http://www.hispanicvista.com/) contributing columnist, lives in Tlalnepantla, Edo de México. E-mail at: R1041643422@aol.com