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The U.S. Mexico Border: End Of A Shattered Dream?
During the late 20th century, Americans and Mexicans on both sides of the border dreamed of a region where people of both countries could go back and forth legally and easily….where tourism on both sides would flourish as each others’ citizens flocked to the other country….and where the countries’ two economies would increasingly flourish as they became greater intertwined and shared in growing prosperity.
Is that dream still alive, on life support — or dead?
Read THIS by a writer who I always read (every day I thank the Lord that he is alive).
FOOTNOTE: Homeland Security Chief visited the San Diego-Tijuana border and announced how it will be impacted by stimulus funds..
One Response to “The U.S. Mexico Border: End Of A Shattered Dream?”
Hey, that guy's good! Do you know him personally? lol!
Anyway, it is very sad what is happening across the borders these days. And like you I've had a ringside seat for quite a while. Back in the late 80s I married a woman who had a couple of friends — two brothers — who ran a Maquiladora, a glass beveling shop, outside of Tijuana. One of them married a Mexican woman and settled in Tijuana. I wasn't very politically savvy in those days (many would argue not much has changed in that regard, but anyway…), I just wanted to have fun. And boy, we had a lot of it down there! I came to love Tijuana and the surrounding area, and the people in it. Yeah, the police engaged in the occasional “extra-judicial” activity — I had a similar shake-down for a broken tail light, and was involved in an “almost altercation” in a disco on the infamous Revolucion Blvd that could have gotten nasty if the Federales hadn't come out of the woodwork and carted the perpetrators away — and one time I got really, really sick with a bacterial infection (the old Montezuma's Revenge in spades), but I never felt threatened.
I got divorced and lost touch with those brothers several years back. And I don't go to discos much anymore. But the father (and mother, until she passed last year) of my long-time girlfriend (now financee), who is Mexican American, lives outside of Rosarita, which is just south of Tijuana. So I still go down there periodically. And there has been a noticeable change in the last couple of years. For one thing, crossing the border has become much easier. It used to be a 90 min wait minimum. Now it's more like 30 min or less. And when we go we go directly to my honey's dad's house, then take his car if we want to cruise around. That's not to say we've ever been threatened, we just feel it's better not to be driving around in a car with CA license plates. So does her dad. And it's not to say the locals are not cordial. If anything they're even more cordial, because they are really hurting. Rosarita is a great place to go shopping, and in years past it was bustling. These days it's virtually empty. It's so sad. You almost feel guilty bartering about price. But you have to because it's part of the experience, ya know?