Continuing with our coverage of the drug war from the Mexican point of view, WORLDMEETS.US presents this article from Juan Manuel Asai of Mexico’s La Cronica de Hoy, which argues for bringing Mexico’s message directly to the people of the United States by taking out ads in major U.S. newspapers and being very direct with visiting dignitaries from Washington. So what is Mexico’s message?:
“No one disputes their right to provide security, much less after the attacks of September 11. For that reason we must show sympathy for their goals and explain to our guests – and to their press delegations, and through them, the U.S. public – in the clearest way possible with no nationalist outbursts or anger, that what puts border security at risk is their drug habit. … We have to carry the battle for the beleaguered image of Mexico directly to them. We cannot allow conservatives in the U.S. Congress to make mincemeat out of us without a show of resistance.”
By Juan Manuel Asai
Translated By Halszka Czarnocka
March 25, 2009
Mexico – La Cronica de Hoy – Original Article (Spanish)
Mexico and the United States are in the midst of defining times. What gets decided during the coming weeks will, for the foreseeable future, mark the way forward in bilateral relations. This will establish the basis of the agenda for the first Obama Administration, which ends in 2012 – a date that also marks the end of [President] Felipe Calderón’s six years in office.
For this reason, it is practically impossible for both the media and the commentariat [talking heads] to escape the impact that the impending visits of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the superstars of U.S. politics, will have on our nation. Not everything depends on the secretary of state and president, but they are the two principal characters in the game – and both have great influence on Capitol Hill.
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