HispanicVista Columnists - January 31st, 2005

By Patrick Osio, Jr.

First Mexico distributes a comic book providing life saving information to Mexican nationals bent on crossing the border through rugged terrain and deadly deserts. Some US elected officials, anti-immigration organizations, popular TV, radio and print anti-immigrant commentators take exception to the comic book saying the Mexican government is promoting illegal entry to the US.  Then the US releases a Consular Information Sheet cautioning US citizens on the dangers of kidnappings and killings in Mexican border cities. Most Mexican officials, TV, radio and print commentators take exception at the release of such “defaming” information suggesting it is “payback” for not supporting US foreign policies.

From National Immigration Forum

Today, as expected, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced controversial measures stripped from the intelligence reform act that passed last year. True to his word, Rep. Sensenbrenner reintroduced measures to gut refugee protections, overthrow environmental laws, and overturn state’s rights, while doing nothing to advance the cause of fixing our broken immigration system in such a way as to gain control of our borders and restore public confidence in the rule of law.  The following is a statement by Angela Kelley, Deputy Director of the National Immigration  Forum, a Washington-based pro-immigrant advocacy organization.

By Domenico Maceri

In 2003 France banned the word e-mail in all government ministries, documents, publications or web sites. It was to be replaced with "courriel" which is the fusion of "courrier electronique." The term courriel had already been widely used in French-speaking Quebec…  Chile is taking a different approach to the proliferation of English. Recently, the Socialist-led national government began a program to make the country bilingual in the belief that knowledge of English would be a vital commercial and educational tool…  The government's plan is for Chile to join Scandinavian countries as well as Southeast nations which treat the English language as a basic instrument of global trade.

By Stephen Dinan

Immigration-control activists announced a bill to crack down on benefits available to illegal aliens in Arkansas, the first in what is expected to be a wave of initiatives and bills following the success of a similar proposition in Arizona in November's election. Arkansas state Sen. Jim Holt yesterday said he will sponsor a bill in the legislature this year to deny benefits and inhibit the ability of illegal immigrants to register and vote. And state resident Joe McCutchen promised to lead a grass-roots effort to support the bill.

By Erika Robles

On January 2004, the Urban Institute Immigration Studies Program released a data sheet regarding the basic characteristics of the current undocumented immigrant population in the United States. According to the report, there are approximately 9.3 million
undocumented immigrants in the U.S.  Of these 9.3 million, approximately 65 percent are working, representing 5 percent of the labor force in the U.S. Despite the fact that two-thirds of the undocumented workers receive less than twice the minimum wage, among the undocumented men, an astonishing 96 percent are in the work force. This is due to the fact that "undocumented workers are less likely to be disabled, retired, or in school," the report stated.

By Jessica Leigh, COHA Research Fellow.

• Rice's outdated Cold War credo suggests her term at the helm of the State Department will witness no new diplomacy, let alone innovative ideas
• Bush's championing of democracy and freedom in his inaugural address will no doubt remain nothing more than rhetoric, and dangerous rhetoric at that.

More bad news for Latin America: while Rice’s words on the region are few, they are retrogressive and full

By Richard N. Baldwin T.

No, this is not about the Mideast war. I am talking about another bigger war in the Northern Hemisphere. One with direct deaths in the US of over 10,000 per year and 20,000 "collateral" deaths. Responsible for over 16% of the total inmates in US prisons with the annual "cost to society" of about $100 billion dollars. I am talking about the drug war…. Evidently the US feels that it can live with this as the voracious drug market in the US continues. And after all of the hoo-ha in recent years, the street cost of drugs is stable which indicates that the drug supply has not been interrupted. …There are three factors in any business . . . supply, transit and market. The US is the market which is driven by a $65 billion a year direct expenditure.

By Colin Rajah

Being part of a U.S. delegation to the World Social Forum (WSF) is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the general impression of most Brazilians and participants at the WSF is that the US is an oppressive empire and its people are complacent about it and their government. So there’s a lot of resentment everywhere from posters exclaiming “Americans, wake up, what are you thinking?!” to the local vendors who refuse to speak or understand any English…. But there are also those who appreciate that we don’t fit that image of the politically complacent yet financially greedy “American.” In fact, we don’t even look like it!

By Raoul Lowery Contreras

Americans are bombarded by passionate declarations of "sovereignty, law and order," and ethnic and racist attacks on those among us who have managed to survive dangerous deserts, mountains, rivers and heavily policed urban corridors to search for better lives. They are lied about, they are accused of crimes they do not commit and of activities they don’t do and of social consequences they simply don’t have.

They are the illegal aliens, illegal immigrants, undocumented workers and in the old fashioned jargon, "wetbacks."

By Colin Rajah

Once again, the anxious awaiting of travel documents and visas plagued the days leading up to my intended departure to Porto Alegre, to participate in the 5^th World Social Forum (WSF).  Last year, I had to practically haggle to get my visa to India (WSF IV), and the previous year saw a similar careful negotiation with U.S.CIS to get my documents to go to the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Mexico…. This time, it took persistent pestering of not one, but two U.S. Representatives offices (Barbara Lee’s and Nancy Pelosi’s) to get my travel documents FedEx-ed to my home literally a few hours before flight departure.

By Robert Miranda

(sic)… Clear Channel Communications did what any self-serving corporation would have done-they looked for the weakest link in the community and found it. They did after all try to find a wedge between them and justice. The fact of the matter is, Clear Channel Communications is a business and being such, has always looked out for its own best interest. Realizing that a united community front would probably cost this corporation more to resolve the Mark Belling matter, they opted to look for the group they could use and spend less of their resources with-and they found that group. …As the Wisconsin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce enjoys the fruits of its betrayal, it must be said that this group appears to be, well, lets say, lacking Latino representation. A review of the organization’s membership appears to tell a story of a group calling itself “Hispanic” yet it is not a majority Hispanic organization. The list tells a story of an organization that looks to be 40% Hispanic at best.

By Alejandro Macías, COHA Research Associate

• Throughout 2004, the race for Mexico’s 2006 presidential elections intensified, largely relegating the country’s economic development to the backburner and leaving little hope that President Vicente Fox can carry out significant reforms in the remaining time of his otherwise disappointing presidency.
• Barring some unforeseen development, Mexico City’s mayor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Partido Revolucionario Institutional’s (PRI) president Roberto Madrazo and the PAN Minister of the Interior Santiago Creel are likely to be the leading contenders in the 2006 presidential ballot.

By John P. Schmal

Most people are not very aware of the presence of African slaves in colonial Mexico.  In fact, some people believe that the influence of the African to Mexican culture is negligible at best.  But the African laborer actually played an important role in the economic complexities of colonial Mexico.  And, in some parts of Mexico, the African made cultural contributions…  It helps for us to remember that the Spaniards brought slaves to every corner of their American empire, and Mexico is no exception to this fact.  One of the most detailed works about slavery in Mexico is the noted historian Colin A. Palmer’s Slaves of the White God:  Blacks in Mexico, 1570-1650, which is quoted extensively in this article.

By John Leo

 In my ceaseless efforts to discover how liberals think, I have a great advantage: I live in Manhattan, where everybody is liberal, so opportunities for fieldwork are boundless. Over the holidays, I discovered that a relatively new argument about terror is becoming popular: the next terrorist attack on America, if it comes, will likely be minor and tolerable. I was assured that a dirty bomb is the most likely weapon, and that it would probably do no more damage than an industrial accident. So not to worry.

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written a short but intensive manual on the Mexican perspective on numerous issues between our two countries. The manual is an in depth primer on the culture and protocol for better understanding Mexicans that in turn allows establishing personal and business relationships, and how to avoid the most common faux pas that can ruin relationships and business deals.

The manual is available through Electronic delivery for $9.95 making it possible to download the manual to save on your hard drive, printing its entirety or particular sections while reaping considerable savings over printed copies.

By Michael S. Berliner

Born 100 years ago in Holy Mother Russia and educated under the Soviets, Ayn Rand became the quintessential American writer and philosopher, upholding the supreme value of the individual’s life on earth. She herself led a “rags to riches” life, wrote best-selling novels that championed individualism, and developed a philosophy of reason that validates the American spirit of achievement and independence…. The story of Ayn Rand’s life is, in the words of the Oscar-nominated documentary Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life: “a life more compelling than fiction.”