Thread: The Malleable Mexican-American Border

Illustrates the border as a cultural frontier that fluctuates in response to force and desire

The Malleable Mexican-American Border

- Richard B. Jones
Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Mexican-American border is more than the Rio Grande or a fence in the desert; it’s a mobile frontier where cultures have struggled for centuries. Forces of mayhem are currently dominant because governments on both sides don’t care, don’t appreciate the terror or are making money off the situation.

Politicians don’t understand that this is more than a debate point during election season; it’s an active international disaster that threatens national security.

America must defeat major criminal forces and provide a firm, regulated path for international exchange with Latin America or we will lose this war; those forces will overtake us. Our rule of law will end and their rule of man will dominate as it does in most of Latin America.

The border is inherently unstable. Americans go there for entertainment illegal at home, thinking Mexico has no laws; Mexicans cross to America thinking the same thing. It’s common for families on both sides to recover their relatives from foreign jails.

A vast criminal economy thrives on this reputation, reaching far beyond the obvious sins into corrupt officials and milking social services. Armies of gang soldiers fight wars over money, soldiers as devoted to their cause as any American military hero. They only know force; the physical border means little to them.

When not stopped at the border they reach up into America and everyone feels the danger, the insecurity. Americans used to feel it when they visited border towns then feel secure upon return—now it’s much farther north.

We discuss it, a strong, invisible sensation affecting us all alike. It isn’t cultural prejudice. Friends from Mexico say it’s stronger for them, a sense of being subject to the whims of local strongmen, of not having a set of laws to protect them. It drives them to emigrate to America

The American rule of law attracts people of little opportunity from deep in Latin America. At home, they cannot attain the security afforded the general American public, and so they come, danger increasing as they approach the border.

Danger also increases as governments and economies weaken. The more desperate people, the more criminals there are to prey on them. When governments turn their back, predators pounce. Conditions are worsening.

In places the sense of security has extended into Mexico. Algodones, on the Colorado River across from Yuma, easily accessible from California, has been a haven for Americans for many years. Kept absolutely safe by Mexican authorities, retirees wintering in the area shop, dine, and meet all their medical needs in complete security.

Cannon balls have flown over the Rio Grande at the south tip of Texas but usually they are at peace. Now, however, as in all border towns, you cross into Mexico at your own risk; the nature of the border changes.

Ojinaga was our regional secret for years. Far from other border towns, it escaped the usual filth. It felt like a Mexican city far below the border, safe, beautiful and friendly, right on the Rio Grande.

Today, Ojinagans with family on both sides of the river advise not to visit. Rural areas are safe but the city is insecure. What a tragedy. This tears at the heart of Mexico and at the hearts of all who love Mexican culture.

The El Paso area is fascinating, unique in its cooperation between authorities. Two national governments are involved, two American states, one Mexican state, El Paso County, two American cities (El Paso and Las Cruces, NM) and several municipalities and colonias. They have a vast reservoir of border knowledge, of solving problems, yet who is going to those functionaries and gathering information?

Corruption in Texas has made the American side of the border so insecure at times that Texans moved to Mexico. When “Maâ€

Centuries of Mayhem -- the Untold History of the Malleable Mexican-American Border Lands



By Kay Daly November 30, 2011 7:01 pm

The border is constantly in the news. Between stories of terrorism, continual border crossings, illegal immigration, the campaign silly season, Operation Fast and Furious and ever rising unemployment. But what is seemingly seldom discussed is how long this border battle has been going on. It is a fascinating history that has crossed centuries of time, provides oceans of propaganda and truckloads of misinformation, but is rarely taught, and taught accurately.

This gem of an article from the Canada Free Press is not to be missed. http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/42830

And, for the sake of full disclosure, it was written by my brilliant brother. Enjoy!

http://www.gopusa.com/freshink/2011/11/ ... der-lands/