COP out?
So Andres Manuel López Obrador suggests (AMLO insta a líderes a actuar y no sólo dar discursos en cumbres, Roberto Garduño y Fabiola Martínez, Jornada, 4 November 2021, page 2)… my translation.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador dismissed the utility of meetings of global leaders, asserting that at the 26th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, his program Sembrando Vida was taken as a [mere] proposal. He stressed that if you seek to protect the environment, “you have to make decisions and act, not make speeches. Those summits (COP26) already seem like those in Davos, where [world leader] go to state that the neoliberal model is going to save us after all.”.
In the Treasury room of the National Palace, he gave an resume of the COP26 conference and noted the ocontradictions. Caustically, he pointed out that, “It is no longer just Davos: now all these protecting the environment summits propose increaded oil production. They [world leaders] arrive in private planes. Europe was full of planes carrying presidents, and heads of state.”
Regarding the first agreement made at COP26, global reforestation, López Obrador argued “Are they going to recognize it as the most significant thing to come out of the meeting in Great Britian? A pledge to plant trees? What should make you angry is when you ask where the idea came from. From Sembrando Vida “.
The environment conference is a reason to demand action, because “Do you remember the Davos summits, [where] technocrats and neoliberals argued that structural reforms were the panacea, that the neoliberal model was going to save us? Now it is no longer Davos, now it is these summits, but at the same time the most powerful countries are increasing oil production, simultaneously holding these summits for the protection of the environment, to face climate change, They are proposing to increase production, oil extraction. ”
He put his finger on the sore of the neoliberal narrative he dismissed the conferees as “…like those so-called civic leaders, famous people who show up in their yachts to protect the vaquita (the highly endanged, nearly extinct dolphin found in the Sea of Cortez) . Do you know that, of all possible means of transport, the ones that pollute the most are boats? So, enough of hypocrisy and fashions, what you have to do is fight the monstrous inequality that exists in the world. ”
The man from Tabasco responded to his detractors: “There they are, right? Complaining that Mexico had not signed the reforestation program, when it was proposed by us. And he referred in general to the letter he sent to Joe Biden: “… proposing a strategy regarding the protection of the environment. Don’t let it go unnoticed that Mexico is the country in with the most comprehensive reforestation program. There is no other country in the world investing 1.3 billion dollars a year in reforestation, 1.3 billion dollars a year! “
Of course, reforestation alone is not the answer to the world’s climate problems. But it’s impossible to say that COP26 wasn’t an opportunity for mere posturing, for politicans and oligarchs to smek side-deals more to their own short term advantage than to the rest of us. And, too much of it was, in the immortal words of Greta Thunberg, “Blah, blah, blah”.
What happens in Vegas… should stay in Vegas
As long as Mexfiles has been around… and even before that… the Zona Rosa has always been, for lack of a better word, eclectic. With the US Embassy and the stock exchange (Casa de Bolsas) just across calle Genova, and a major metro and metrobus station at the other end of the street, and in-between a mix of apartments, cafes, fine dining, gay bars, a casino or two — not to forget the Korean grocery stores — the Zona (and calle Genova specifically) has always had its uniquely weird Mexico City vibe.
Enter Sandra Cuevas, the recently elected alcaldesa of Cuauhtémoc (the “borough” of Mexico City which includes the Zona Rosa: Alcades or Alcadesas being the locally elected borough president). She has a degree in something called “International Commerce”, runs a foundation (México Bonito… which has a facebook page, mostly photos of Ms. Cuevas, and restaurant recommendations) and was elected alcadesa on the joint “all but Morena” ticket in the last election.
Perhaps it is that background in “International Commerce”, or perhaps just being — like the previous Mexico City administration — focused on “development” (i.e., privatizing public space) and selling the city as a “world-class city” (whatever that means… I think it just means a bunch of boring skyscapers and overpriced luxury apartments with a few “charming” neighborhoods to be picked over by AirBnB investors) but… her plans for “reinvigorating” the Zona Rosa (which has gone somewhat downhill… though I’m not sure whether it’s the Starbucks, or the “Love Store” next door that symbolizes that) look to be overkill, and the kind of “international commerce” better suited to… well, Las Vegas.
As it is, she touts her proposed “Corredor Turístico-Tecnológico” as a knock-off of Las Vegas’ Fremont Street Experience. Ok… there are some casinos in the neighborhood, as well as gangsters, hookers, even the occasional spy (the US Embassy and one of the world’s bigger CIA centers is just down the street) and water shortages, but — based on the Fremont Street Experience website — appears to be a completely different type of “development”: one meant for tourists with money, not a place where local cultures (plural) entertain themselves. Mexico City, and the Zona Rosa in particular, already provides… at a very reasonable cost… plenty of entertainement. If the local sport of tourist watching (extra points for backpackers so engrossed in their google map on their cell phone they miss the hostel right in front of them) isn’t enough, and the bars and casinos aren’t one’s thing, there is usually some sort of musical entertainment… or the colorful processions of Hari Krishnas who occasionally march through, or some protesters on their way down to the Embassy or the Angel (the traditional spot for any, and all, protests to begin their march to the National Palace). While not perhaps ready for designation as a UN World Heritage Site, it is one place where Mexico City best lives up to its reputation as the place where surrealism is our quitodian reality.
Let Las Vegas keep itself “international” and let Mexico City be Mexico City. “Mayor” (or… technically, Jefa de Gobierno), Claudia Sheinbaum — who has the final say, and whose schtick (and Nobel Prize) has been working for sustainable cities — said “No voy a entrar en debate pero aparte de todos los permisos que tendrían que pedir que no son para la Zona Rosa, la Zona Rosa no es Las Vegas, la Ciudad de México es capital cultural de América” [“This isn’t up for debate other than the permits aren’t for the Zona Rosa, which isn’t Las Vegas. Mexico City is the cultural capital of America]. I suppose you can argue that Vegas acts and neon signs are “cultural” in their own way, but c’mon… what happens in Las Vegas should stay in Las Vegas. There’s a place in this world for the interactions of gay kids, business executives, spooks, tourists, bourgois families, indigenous artisans, and… yes… Hari Krishnas.. .to mix and mingle. And what happens in the Zona Rosa should stay in the Zona Rosa.
What is Day of the Dead…
… besides, that is, an excuse for bougie goth cosplay, tourist touts descending on cemeteries, and Mexican stores unloading surplus Hallowe’en bling? Religious scholar Andrew Henry gives a nice overview on his “Religion for Breakfast” video:
Migrants heading … where?
The OECD, the 38 “high development nations” of the world, all saw a massive drop in immigration over the last year, despite “scare” stories in both US and European media. While it may be a fluke, as the OECD suggests, caused by the COVID pandemic, the fact is that even in the wealthist, allegedly most desirable of destinations, the percentages of migrants has dramatically decreased. France saw 21 percent fewer migrants, Germany 26%, and the United States a whopping 44% fewer migrants. Overall, in the last year, there was a 30% drop in migration to the “high development” word.
That drop would have been more dramatic, if one country had not shown a massive INCREASE: Mexico, which has seen a 40 percent RISE in migrant arrivals.
According to a report by the [OECD], there were more humanitarian admissions According to a report by the organization, there were more humanitarian admissions in Mexico in 2020 than in a previous year, than in the United States and Canada. Last year, the US authorities received more than 250,000 asylum applications, 17 percent less than the 300,000 in 2019; while 41,200 were sent to Mexico.
The country not only received more requests for international protection and resettlement, but positive responses to them increased 129 percent annually, also the highest proportion among the OECD economies.
Dora Villanueva in La Jornada, 29 October 2021, page 12 (my translation)
Mexico… like other countries in the Americas… has always had migration, although more recently, the migrants have largely come from within the hemisphere. Those of us originally from the global north sometimes over-estimate our weight in the country, though in reality, we are far outnumbered by migrants from the “lower development” countries to the south of us. And, overall, migrants only account for about 1 percent of the population. Maybe slightly above now.
No more “special rights” for serial tourists?
Immigration consultant Pedro Luis Alvarez posted recently on some changes in Mexican immigration policy meant to correct the assumption that one can “live” here, or work from here indefinitely, and still be considered a tourist.
For years, people entering the country (especially those from Canada and the United States) with very rare exceptions, had permission to freely move about the country for up to 180 days. While this is reasonable for leisurely tourists, or “snowbirds” who spend a few months in a resort or rental cottage every winter, or academics on sabbatical, it’s become a standard in sales pitches to buy property in Mexico suggesting one can, without establishing residency (and, perforce, paying taxes) live out their lives here, only returning every six months or so to visit their “old country” for a day or two, return “home” paying a modest fee ($595 pesos… about 30 US$) each time.
That’s changing: the assumption being that if you WORK here (and that includes the so-called “digital nomads”) or for all practical purposes LIVE here, you are a resident. And, doing both makes you (as I was for a time), an “illegal alien” … though I prefer the much politer term, “mojado inverso”.
No one is going to claim the people taking advantage of the quirks in the immigration/tourism regulations were trying to pull a fast one (though, admittedly, many were), most never gave a thought as to what that moderate entry fee had to cover… the “normal” expenses the state racks up with any person living in their country… infrastructure, public security and safety, etc. That 30 dollars a pop probably doesn’t cover all the costs any individual tourist might casue a community to incur, though tourism in general as a revenue stream and “job creator” probably evens things out if one is talking about “ordinary” tourists, staying a week or a month or two at most. Whether the “job creation” (overwhemingly low paid service jobs) really is a route to “sustainable development” is another story.
Where there is a problem is when “tourists” are de facto residents (or income earners) and not contributing like they could… or should. Dividing the federal budget by the population (my calculations done literally on the back of the envelope), everyone in Mexico … citizen or not… needs to kick in about 18,500 pesos (or about 915 US$) a year.
Obviously, I am not suggesting raising the 180 day tourist fee to half that 915 dollars and, obviously, not everyone in Mexico pays anywhere near 18,500 pesos in taxes every year. However, what the government is “suggesting” is that those who are here, and stay here get with the program.
SOOOOO….
Cracking down on the misuse of tourist visas… not to punish travelers but to educate and inform… INM (the immigration service) agents are asking for more proof of travel itinerary when entering the country: hotel accommodations/dates, return flight tickets, length of stay, etc .
**Regular tourists ( typically planning to stay one to three weeks) are being given the appropriate time of 30 to 180 days depending on their itinerary.
** “Snowbirds” (based on their age and whether or not they are retired) would also be given “normal” visas up to 180 days as required. HOWEVER… if the “snowbird” owns rental property in Mexico, they will be expected to apply for residency. At least temporary residency until they can regularize their situation.
**Remote Workers and so-called “digital nomads” … which tend to be younger travellers… might just be temped to blend in with your normal everyday passle of tourists, but if INM agents suspect… based on your age, accomoation plans, requested lenght of stay, return ticket, etc., the screening is likely to be more intense than for other tourists. Agents are more likely to give shorter visa stayssituation based on age, accomodations, length of stay, return plane ticket, income source, etc. ).
**Border-Jumpers or Serial Tourists may be SOL if they thought their situation would last indefinitely. Updated computer software and equipment means INM records are synchronized and up-to-date. One’s trip history available to INM agents, and the agent can quickly idenify those who misuse tourist visas. Any one who stays for 180 days, leaves and comes back for another extended period within the same year is obviously living in Mexico and not their native country. Border-jumpers are now being flagged by agents and given short periods or simply denied entry. They can come back when they apply for residency (something they need to do back wherever they came from).
I expected something like this for years now, and I know this will hurt some people who never saw themselves as doing anything wrong (and are rightly upset). I don’t think I would have been able to establish myself here had these regulations been in effect 20 years ago. Nor, given the ridulously tiny social security pension I receive, could I have qualified for an income based visa today.
On the other hand, my stint as an “illegal” was long ago, and I just applied for, and received, a working visa, working for a Mexican employer, later becoming an “assimilated immgrant” (a classification that no longer exists), and a permanent resident. I’ve always thought that if I expected the same rights as anyone else in the country then I have the same duties… including the duty to at least say where I live.
President Sheinbaum?
A recent El Universal poll, not exacty surprisingly, showed MORENA likely to hold the presidency and Congress in 2024, even if it faces a fusion ticket of the four opposition parties (PRI-PAN-PRD, presently the official opposition, and Movimiento Ciudadano… the third force in the legislature). What is surprising is that over 80 percent of respondents would welcome a woman president… and the only woman being mentione is Mexico City’s “governor”.
One can imagine the head-shaking and disbelief among conservtives and those who “buy” the myths about Mexicans. She is not of Spanish, but rather of Lithuanian and Bulgarian ancestry, a Jew in a Catholic country, a PhD in Energy Engineering (which makes sense in an oil producing nation), an environmentalist (more surprsinging in a resource-exporting country), and… oh yeah… a single woman (she was divorced in 2016, following her then-husband’s entanglement in a complicated political scandal). All of which go against the grain of our image of Spanish, macho, Catholic, export-export-export! leaders.
Yes, Latin American has had, and has, women leaders… and actually more than the English speaking Americas. Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua have seen women president, while women have run on major party platforms in Colombia, Paraguay and here in Mexico as well. And, despite what one may think, lip-service to the Church has never really been much of an issue, although militant anti-clericalism has led to backlash. Sheinbaum is described as a “Secular Jew”. As Engineer and academic, she is better known for developing energy-saving statergies and sustainable development projects (as a member of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change… specifically as an expert on the effects of energy consumption on migration patterns… she shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007).
Of couse, before we start talking about Presidenta Sheinbaum, one can expect a few roadblocks being thrown up. Besides the far right (which lately bends over to pretend to not be misogyntic) whispering that “you know… she’s a Jewish socialist”: well, DUH! And the usual scandals that befall the administration of any megacity (and even those of the federal government) will be used against her… though, other than last year’s Metro bridge collapse… there haven’t been too many out of the ordinary juicy scandals to pump. And, when it came to the bridge collapse, she made a brilliant political move: almost the next morning, hiring a Norwegan engineering failure team to begin studying what went wrong. Considering her only possible rival for the party’s nod… Foreign Minister Ebrahart… was the head of city government when the line was built (and had problems even then)… she is pretty much bullet-proof on this issue.
One more factor in clearing her way may be the hard-fought energy bill pushed by the administration… which would limit foreign ownership of energy providers, and give a larger role to the state energy company, CFE.While the argument that this might lead to move CO2 emisions from coal plants (ironic, coming from the conservative side) and higher consumer prices, the claim that this is a return to the PRI policies of the 1960s and 70s has some appeal to the “old guard” of what was once the ruling party (really, the only party) and claimed a socialist-develomentalist philosophy. And, with some disgust among even conservatives with what appeared to be a link between some in PAN and the Spanish Fascist party, VOX, it’s possible a few PANistas may be distancing themselves from the party.
AND… at least for now… while not unexpected, the opposition did well in the mid-term elections (denying Morena and its allies a supermajority in the legislature)… AMLO himself enjoys an approval rating of somewhere over 60 %. Numbers any President of the United States would sell his mother to garner, two thirds of the way through his term. If the election comes down to a two candidate race (and, there’s no guarantee it will) and Sheinbaum is — as it looks — Morena’s candidate, it will be another nail in the coffin of our collective imaginings of Latin American presidents.
Is this the end for… Enrique Peña Nieto?
Milenio… which has usually been seen as a not-particularly-friendly media company when it comes to the present administration, and somewhat an apologist for the previous one (at least in some of its opinion columns) publishe a shocking story… said to have been leaked by the Fiscal General’s (Attorney General in the US system) Office: the very real possibility that former president Enrique Peña Nieto, his #2, Luis Videgaray (who, incidentally, was a person and business associate of former US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner) and former PAN candidate, Ricardo Anaya … and other high ranking members of the two former ruling parties… will be charged with money laundering, criminal association and bribery.
The Odebrecht bribery scandal, which landed any number of Latin American and African politicians in hot water was always somewhat sidestepped in Mexico, until former PEMEX CEO, Emilio Lozoya … who either was the master-mind of the bribery scheme, or — having been extradited frm his Spanish refuge, and in protective custody since returning to Mexico (and looking to ameliorate his probable sentence whenever, ofr if, he is actually proecuted) had sopposedly been spilling his guts, fingering the high level former leaders, and detailing more serious allegations which could land them prison sentences of up to 60 years behind bars.
The Fiscal General’s Office (which is, at least in theory, independent of the Executive Branch) has been investigating Lozora’s claims for over a year, but according to the Milenio story, the Investigators only turned over their findings to the Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime on the 2nd of September. A day later, the Speical Prosecutor’s prepared its “inveigative folder”… the first step in bringing formal charges… specifically against former President Peña Nieto and his Secretary of the Treasury, Luis Videgaray Caso, against whom arrest warrants had been sought last year, but where turned down by the judge. The new charge sheets also name (according to Milenio) former PAN senator Jorge Luis Lavalle, former presidential candidate Ricardo Anaya, the sitting governor of Tamaulipas, Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca, as well as former senators Ernesto Cordero Arroyo, David Penchyna Grub “and others”. In both the original and new documents, Peña Nieto and Luis Videgaray, are specifically named as those who “obtained resources” via Lozano from the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht.
According to the Fiscal’s Office, these “resources” (i.e. cash) was used both to finanance the PRI’s 2012 Presidential race (which Peña Nieto won… though “fair and square” might not be applicable here),as well as for bribes to both the lower and upper houses of Congress to vote in favor of changes to the Cnstitution and and in favor of laws related to the energy sector,which allowed foreign interests (specifically Oderbrecht) access to Mexican oil and other natural resources. In addition, the changes and new laws were designed to permit PEMEX to grant contracts favoring those foreign comapnies, specifically,the Brazilian firm.
The Attorney General’s Office — based on interviews with PEMEX, Legistaltive, and Oderbrect personnel,– turned their findings over to Alfredo Higuera Bernal, head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime, , “so that according to his powers, he may initiate what accords to the corresponding law ”.
I.E. file charges… or not.
So far, this story has only appeared in Mileoio and a few of the on-line news outlets. Surpisingly, there wss no mention (none that I saw) in the “mainstream” lefty Jornada. Whether or not this goes to court, and whether or not anyone ever sees Peña Nieto behind bars (the vertical kind… not the ones he’s been sighted hanging out in, in places like New York) is probably wishful thinking, but it does show there is more than lip-service being given to the present administration’s anti-corruption campaign: at least (according to those on the right) when it comes to previsous adminsitrations.
On the other hand, a bit amusing, is oppostion to a proposal from AMLO to hold a recall election, in which at least half the voters would have to support his finishing his term (in 2024). AMLO said he’s leave even if he received 60% of the vote to stay. Since to even have a recall, there would first need to be a referendum, the PAN and PRI argue that such a referendum would be likely to fail (like the recent one that would have permitted criminal prosecutions of former presidents… something that could happen anyway, though not for the charges mentioned by the Special Prosecutor’s Office… AND… if that doesn’t persuade their parties, then perhaps the realization that AMLO would receive more than 60% of the vote to stay is what weighs on their minds
FGR acusará a Peña Nieto, Videgaray y Anaya por delincuencia organizada (Milenio, 17 October 2021)
Arms and “the man”
… or is it, when the shoe is on the other foot?
Jesús Esquivel in Proceso reports on the security negotiations between the United States and Mexico, which are hung up over something Mexfiles has been asking about for years… if the US can insist on “embedded agents” in Mexico, why can’t Mexico embed agents in the United States?
Loosely translated:
WASHINGTON (Process) .– “Reciprocity” is a keyword when it comes to negotionas between the United States and Mexico over Mexico’s approval for 12 visas for DEA agents to operate in this country. In return, Mexico wants 12 Mexican agents in the United States working to verify measures against arms trafficking, sources with the Bigen administrtion reveal.
“There is an impasse in the negotiations with the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on the case of the DEA agents,” a US Department of Justice official told Proceso.
Given the on-going negotiations in progress, the official requested anonimity, but admitted that the reciprocal visa approval was discussed turing the High Level Security Dialogue held Thursday (7 October), but that the discussion did not lead to anything.
“In the meeting with their counterparts in Mexico, the Attorney General, Merrick Garland, and the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, negotiated the issue of the visa of the DEA agents. There was no settlement and it was determined that negotiations will continue, ” the source stressed.
Following the arrest in the United States of Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, the former Secretary of National Defense, last year (15 October 2020), the Mexican government cancelled the vista for 12 DEA agents. This scenario has been confirmed by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Relations (SRE).
Cienfuegos was arrested at the Los Angeles international airport, accused by the DEA of drug trafficking and collusion with a fraction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Although he was exonerated by the Justice Department and repatriated to Mexico, the consequences of the general’s case are latent and imply a high cost for the security interests of the United States.
“The Mexican government asks that, in order to authorize visas for DEA agents, the United State authorize 12 Secretariat of Security (and Citizen Protection) to collaborate in the fight against arms trafficking,” the American official says.
According to this version, the López Obrador government asks that Mexican agents be directly involved in the actions carried out by US agencies against arms tranfers to Mexico, specifically actions by the DEA, the FBI, the ATF ( Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms), ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service) or CBP (Office of Customs and Border Protection).
It only seems reasonable, given the United States is also the center of financing for the narcotics trade, that if they don’t want the narcos’ products, that Mexican SAT agents (the Fiscal Intelligence Unit) also be embedded in the US to look into those money laundering states like Biden’s own Delaware.
Only fair, right?
The ball’s in your court: US-Mexico Security Pact
My translation, and rework of “Cooperación entre México y EU en seguridad puede mejorar: especialista“, Emir Olivares Alonso, La Jornada, 11 Oct 2021, page 10).
When it comes to a bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States, security cooperation is fundamental, but it can improve, readjusted and, above all, respect the the sovereignty of the two nations, said the internationalist and expert in US_Mexican relations, Eduardo Rosales.
Interviewed on the high-level security discussion being held between the two nations, the Acatlán School of Higher Studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) researcher noted that the United States would have to take co-responsiblity for combatting violence and crime in Mexico (and at home. He indicated that while any agreement must criticize Mexico’s inability to stop crime, the White House must also be self-critical and recognize that the problem is also its responsibility.
“Corruption exists there as well; drugs pass through and are sold not by large cartels, but by organized gangs that operate freely and have not been fought; They give criminal groups firepower with little control over the sale of weapons; The beneficiaries of money laundering are the banks, the most conservative figure is that around 30 billion dollars from drug trafficking enter the US financial circuits a year, the drug traffickers are the criminal and visible arm of the neighboring country’s banker. The United States must work to bring all of that down. ”
The specialist said that the war on drugs — begun in the mid 1970s by the Richard Nixon administration — has spent 100 billion dollars to combat trafficking and consumption: And what has been the result?
“They have not been able to change the culture, in their country there are between 23 and 24 million habitual drug users and if you count the occasional drug users the figure is close to 50 million people. Nothing is done about the demand, and little is done about the supply”.
Goodbye, Columbus
When the stature of Christopher Columbus, which has stood in the Reforma roundabout in Colonia Juarez since 1892 was “temporarily” removed last October — ostensively for cleaning and restoration (and, admittedly, because defacing landmarks has become something of the fashion of street protests lately) — did anyone really think he would be returning?
With another 12 October… Diá de la Raza … upon us (close on the heels of the 500th anniversary of the downfall of the Aztec “Empire”) it was announced in early September that the Columbus statue would relocate, moving — like so many other Europeans in Mexico City over the years — to a swankier neighborhood: specifically Parque de los Americas in upscale Polanco, while the busy Reforma roundabout would PROBABLY be graced with Tlalli, an idealized and abstract indigenous woman. Or a woman of some sort.
On the occasion of not returning the monument to its original pedestal, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller (Mexican journalist, literature professor… and, incidentally, the president’s wife) was called on to make a few remarks.
To ‘discover America’ is to claim that such a land was lost, covered, hidden. By the logic of colonization, finding it brought it to life. No! America was not under water’. overgrown, or buried. The American continent existed, had a life of its own, and included many flourishing civilizations… architecture, astronomy, agriculture, culture, and the arts. In fact, Christopher Columbus did not ‘discover’ it. Not only are there documented traces of previous European and Asian explorers, but, unfortunately for him, he died without ever knowing that in his colossal transatlantic journey he had come across a new continent. You cannot ‘discover’ something that you do not know existed and then say you ‘found’ it.
Said obliquely, Colombus — a 15th century Italian, or Portugese, or… whatever… navigator, with the typical disregard for humanity and bloody-mindedness typical of Europeans of his time — is of lesser importance than the events set in motion that transformed the planet. Not always for the best.
Dame Rebecca West, who was somethng of a right-wing crank at the end of her life, fretted in “Survivors in Mexico” that if the Spanish had not “discovered” the Americas, the Muslims would have, and it would have been a tragedy for “western civilization” (I paraphrase). Although, among earlier “old world” visitors (and presumed visitors) to the “new world” prior to Columbus, there was Muhammad ibn Qu, a 13th century Malian ruler, said to have set off into the Atlantic, and … in oral tradition … to have reached what is now Brazil. And, had the Vikings, or the Irish, or the Chinese, or some other likely earlier visit to this side of the world had the same impact as Colombus, “western culture” would likely have been very different too.
As it was, it was probably inevitable that someone from the Iberian kingdoms, specifically someone serving the joint crown of Castille and Aragon would have sailed to this side of the world. The technology of the European late middle ages was largely imported through the Arab world, of which Iberia … until the fateful year of 1492, was still a part. The mercantile kingdom of Aragon had been losing its access to the middle east, and though the middle east to China and India, for over a century (having once competed sucessfully with Genoa and Venice, even holding Athens for a time). Between the Ottoman expansion into North Africa, and it’s understandable ideological war with the Christian “reconquista” of their territories in Iberia, and the Portuguese having worked out a way to by-pass the old “Silk Road” route to acquire goods from China and India, Aragon would be in decline without finding their own short-cut to what was the major “industrial heartland” of the era.
While still a wealthy nation, Aragon didn’t have the muscle to expand its business. That is until there was a stratigic merger… i.e…. a royal marriage. Ferdinand II of Aragon brought in cash and business saavy to Isabella of Castille’s manpower and military strength. The Ottomans already had access to the “far east”, Genoa and Venice weren’t hung up on religious ideology when it came to business, England was a weak minor northern power (and recovering from a century of civil wars), Scotland and the Scandinavia were a mess… and France seemed satisfied to get its Renassance fix via the Italian peninsula. Leaving… “Spain” (i.e. Castille and Aragon) and Portugal as the contenders for the Atlantic-Asian trade.
So… with Portugal having established a workable, if somewhat circuitous route to east Asia, “Spain’s” search for a faster route makes perfect sense. Despite Washington Irving’s 1828 “A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus”, and generations of American school mar’ms, it wasn’t that Columbus knew better than everyone else, and the world was round, or… as we have it the the contemporary spirit of “debunking” the figures held up by the “great men” school of history… Columbus was just a fool who couldn’t do math and under-calculated the circumference of the earth by a few thousand kilometers. Or, had plain dumb luck.
More logical is that maps and globes of the time had the circumference about right but either over-estimated the land mass of Asia, or — as a few did — showed North American land-masses somewhere about where they should be, but without any real detail of whether they were part of Asia, or just close to Asia. The “Erdesfel”, a globe made by the Bohemian Martin Beheim (and employee of those exploratory Portuguese) shows “Cipango”… Japan… about where Mexico City sits. And Ferdinand and Isabella … while they may have been busy with the rash decision to put in motion their final solution for the Jews (something building for a very long time) sending out some obscure skipper Columbus in search of a shorter route to Asia was a high risk investment (and required going to private creditors) and one can safely assume they did their due dilligence. Say what you will about the pair, they weren’t stupid, or naive.
Columbus died still thinking he was “this close” to Asia. And he’d made an absolutely terrible administrator of his colony. A monster if you like… in the way 15th century petty tyrants tended to be. We have no clue as to how Eric the Red, or Muhammad Ibi Qu, or Saint Brendan, or any of the other earlier (sometimes merely conjectural) old worlders treated their new world neighbors. Nor does it matter, any more than it does how Columbus himself acted (one hopes they were better).
For Columbus, the man, isn’t ultimately what matters, or what should be remembered. The so-called “Columbian Exchange”… the agricultural, demographic (did Columbus himself bring the diseases that wiped out a quarter of the human race over the next century or two… or would that have happened anyway?), ethnic, historical, and ecological chain of events that created, like it or not, what the world became. It’s not that the world and its peoples wouldn’t have changed over the last 500 + years without Columbus, nor that things would be better or worse, but that it’s foolish to speculate.
As foolish as building a statue to one person and claiming that that one person made us who we are.
Francisco Franco is still dead… and so is Cortés
“Osadía” is about as close a Spanish equivalent to “Chutzpah” you can find. As to a fuller definition, look no futher than the latest from Francisco Franco’s zombie minions, the VOX party.
It’s not that Cortés wasn’t a seminal figure in Mexican history (you can’t get around that), nor that the Conquest didn’t have a significant impact on world history (it did), but Vox’s DEMANDS that Mexico rebuild a tomb for Hernan Cortés… because….?
Vox, if you’re not familiar with them, basically longs for a return to the Franco era, the same way Franco longed for the by-gone days when Castillians dominated not just Spain (and those pesky Catalans, Basques, and others heard and obeyed… or at least shut up), everybody went to Church, and the Pope was definitely not some provincial from the far-flung corners of the (long gone) Empire with weird ideas about tolerance. Black Shirts pushing the Black Legend.
Much as I accept that there is some validity to modern critiques of the “Black Legend” — the common belief that Spanish colonialism, and Spanish repression at home, was somehow worse than that of other European nations. As an example, I point to the Spanish Inquisition.
In no way better, or worse than other ideological courts of the time, it did at least have codified rules of evidence, and wasn’t as likely to resort to torture as other analogous courts. And, a much lower body count than most. About 2 executions per year for 300 years thoughout a world-wide Empire, compared to Henry VIII of England, who managed in 38 years to off something like 10 times that number, just in England and Wales for various forms of “heresy”. Where the Black Legend goes off the rails is what VOX finds admirable. Imposing European culture on the Americas. Oh, sure, they argue, some mistakes were made, but to them, destroying indignous cultures and the more than occasional genocide, wasn’t the same as the English colonial system’s policy of genocide … and that, besides, it made Spain rich (which it didn’t, just inflated the currency).
The piratical Cortés and his “ad-venture capitalism” kick-started the wholesale looting of what’s now Latin America, with disasterous consequences for the Iberians (something VOX overlooks) not to mention what heppened here, not discounting the various Eurasian diseases introduced that wiped out up to 90% of the peoples of the Americas. Mexican’s don’t forgive or forget Cortés, but accept that the Conquest he led as historial fact. As the monument at the site of the final defeat of Cuauhtémoc reads: “Neither a victory nor a defeat, but the painful birth pangs of the Mexican people”.
And, so, Cortés is not a Mexican as such, but a figure in an event, or at the beginning of a 300 year series of events that came from the outside that went into the creation of the modern Mexican state and was (and remains) an important element in Mexican cultures. Note the plural.
For Mexico, and Mexicans, those 300 years of Spanish domination were at base, the beginning of large scale, external expoitation. VOX, devious, back-stabbing pious thugs –whether Franco or Cortés — are to be celebrated. Even if, as Vox will reluctantly admit, there were some “mistakes” (hey, they only destroyed the indigeous culture and reduced them to peonage… it’s not like they regularly committed genocide, right? it’s a minor matter. What matters to VOX is the romantic appeals of Making Spain Great Again (remind those north of the border of anyone?).
And, in a fit of pique over Mexico’s request that the King of Spain just admit the Conquest wasn’t all that great, VOX demands… reparations?
For… those damned independence leaders (who couldn’t have been in their right mind, some not even Criollos of “pure Spanish blood”) for misplacing Cortés… a mere 367 years after he died. And, a mere 30 years after the old rogue’s wishes had been fulfilled and his remains placed (in an overwrought, now-gone tomb) in the Church of the Hospital de Jesús. Don’t ask the VOXistas about what happened to the Spanish Jews in 1492, when they’re focused on the 1820s expulsion of Spanish subjects from the new Mexican republic, and Lucas Alemán, the hospital administrator at the time, and a fan-boy of the Vicerealm, broke open the tomb, shoved the bones in a box, and deposit them in the soon to be Spanish Embassy. Which reopened in the 1840s, but bureaucray being bureacracy, was pretty well forgotten about until in 1948 some low level clerk going through a filing cabinet had an “oh, shit! What’s this doing here?” moment, and, with press and officials in attendence, what remained of the remains were popped in a hole to the left of the main altar back in the Church of Hospital de Jesus and given a nice bronze plaque.
I am tempo write something like “what happens next remains to be seen”, but I won’t. For all the aburdity of the “demand”, VOX, just for taking any interest in Mexico’s internal affairs, needs to be taken very seriously. That they convinced some PAN senators and delagates to sign on to a common manifesto, which appears to be some some of anti-Bolivarian, or rather counter-Bolivarian, common front against “communism” in the “Hispanic” world is troubling. PAN’s fascist roots are well known, but we thought the pro-fascist elements had been marginalized within the party, and it’s recent coalition with PRI and PRD was expected to tame the more reactionary elements. If they really think Cortés’ rotting bones are all that important, they can have them… provided they take their Latin American supporters with them, and go away. 0
mexfiles.net 