Imperialism, traffic tickets and pay toilets

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pay toilets have become a cause celebre. The City Manager wanted to install robo-toilets on the beach that automatically open their doors after a period of time, supposedly to prevent gay men from having sex… or I guess anyone from taking a leisurely crap. While the citizens argued over whether the idea was bigoted or just plain-old stupid, what they thought wasn’t nearly as important as the theoretical effect on the tourism trade:

I think my biggest “beef” at this whole thing was that while people were indeed outraged and did protest, the ones with the real “voices” in the community were more worried about the almighty GAY $$ than the abuse being heaved upon the citizens of the area…by citizens of the area.

It’s a bizarre story, alright, but what the tourists think seems to be the deciding factor in Mexican decision making too.

Richard Marosi of the Los Angeles Times writes about the new special rights for Californian drivers in Baja California.

TIJUANA — Baja California sees a lucrative future in the luxury residential towers sprouting up along its coast, and officials are hoping developments by the likes of Donald Trump will bring Southern California prosperity south of the border.

But there’s a problem: The 5-mile highway from the border to the beaches is notorious for police who pull tourists’ cars over in search of bribes.

Now Tijuana police say they’re cleaning up the route and targeting corruption elsewhere in an effort to make the border area more inviting.

…”I’ve told my officers it is strictly prohibited to stop vehicles with foreign plates, especially from California,” said Victor Manuel Zatarain, Tijuana police chief.

If this is a crackdown on bribery, why the special concern for California drivers? There’s nothing new in targeting out of town drivers for tickets. Maybe the Californians have the disadvante of too many episodes of Dragnet and movies about “honest” policemen, while those of us in the “real America” expect cops to target outsiders – it’s been the the plot of every movie set in the rural south (except those with Sidney Portier in them).

Not that it excuses corruption. Of course it exists, and Tijuana’s police have been notorious for years, and overcoming years (heck … centuries) of abuse isn’t going to happen overnight. Still,

… the latest crackdown, even with its gimmicky touches, seems to be being taken seriously, say border experts and real estate professionals.

I didn’t notice anything in Marosi’s article about changing the police culture, or cleaning up the traffic police in general… just about real estate:

Along the 70-mile stretch of coast from Tijuana through Rosarito Beach to Ensenada, 25 condominium and hotel high-rises are planned or are under construction, some with golf courses and private beaches. The Trump Ocean Resort Baja, set to break ground this year on a 17-acre oceanfront bluff, is pitched as the new standard for Baja California luxury.

Potential buyers, many from Southern California, are treated to sales events with open bars and gourmet food. At one event in Del Mar, Calif., buyers got to meet Trump’s 25-year-old daughter, Ivanka. Sales agents said she bought a unit in one of the three towers.

It doesn’t take much reading between the lines (the rest of the article just rehashes old corrupt cop tales) to see that all that’s being done is channel the police towards harassing local drivers. Who, being voters and taxpayers, may not stand for it, and might demand real change, but that’s another story.

Who is corrupt… the copper making an extra 20 US dollars, or the Trumps and their ilk, demanding (and getting) special legal rights for Californians?

The gringos are coming… they want those luxury homes, but at Mexican prices. San Miguel Allende’s city council has found itself besieged by the foreigners who want the city to meet their demands, and David Agren has been more than a little bemused by the “cosmopolification” of Guadalajara and Lake Chapala where the English language papers and chatrooms are mostly about where to find U.S./Canadian good and services — and advice on how to cheat the maid.

For now Mexico is dependent on tourists — and the retirees are making the whole country a new Florida or Arizona. About a million live in Mexico (officially), and it’s changing everything. For the better, I can’t say. If not for their health or sanity, then for what had been lower living expenses. Though, of course, that’s why Arizona and Florida pretty much look like, and cost the same, as everywhere else in the U.S.

What happens when the boomer boom goes bust? What happens when Mexico becomes less dependent on tourism and finds other ways to profit off the gringos?

At Wing Nut Daily they’re fuming about plans to process U.S. traffic tickets in Mexico. Naturally, these tickets are coming from southern Californians. Data entry jobs – the “pink collar ghetto” — have been moving to the lower cost regions for years, and this is no surprise.

What’s going to be interesting in Mexico is what happens when the citizen’s “usos y costumbres” run up against the foreigners with money. Living where I do, I’ve come to appreciate tourism as a source of amusement for us local yokels. Being a relative newcomer, I don’t always like the local ways, and sometimes get annoyed that folks don’t do things MY way. The local governments spend half their time trying to meet the demands for change, and the other half trying to limit it. That’s the problem when the tourists stay.

I’m one of those people who wants Mexico to stay Mexican… though I accept that things will change, and I’ve used my status as a “privileged foreigner” on occasion. And, I expect the recent wave of Mexican immigrants into the U.S. to change this country. What will happen to Mexico I don’t know. Good, bad… or imperialistic is an open question.

Will there be a backlash, especially once Mexico lessens its dependence on tourism, though things like data processing? I don’t think there will be, but as more gringos move into Mexico, especially if they start demanding playing by OUR rules, don’t be surprised if in a few years some town passes a “Zapotec Only” regulation.