I was sitting in
the back of Santa Lucia church, in Mérida,
Mexico, waiting for the mass to finish so I could meet my wife and head to a
nice brunch at La Chaya Maya. The
priest, vested in green, wandered down the aisle, came up to great me, and
asked where I was from. After a few pleasantries he asked “so what about this
Trump?” I expressed my dismay and
embarrassment about this president who has spoken so crudely and rudely about
Mexicans. “But it is the interaction of
ordinary people that is most important,” responded the padre, and he gave me a
reassuring pat on the arm.
We were in Mérida for the month of
January, missing the grey chill of Indiana’s winter but also the inauguration,
the women’s march, and the steady stream of stupefying comments and actions by
the new American president. Not surprisingly, all of this attracted much
attention in Mexico, both in the mass media and in the streets. This was particularly the case with Trump’s
very undiplomatic phone call with the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto (when he
threatened—or joked?—that the U.S. might have to send troops to Mexico to deal
with the “bad hombres” there); the President’s continuing demands that Mexico
should pay for the wall; his threat to dismantle the North American Free Trade
Agreement; and his ban on refugees.
Of course, none of
this went down well with Mexicans. The
press was full of articles dismissing or ridiculing the President and his
policies. Peña Nieto, who’s own approval ratings in Mexico are
only at about twenty percent, saw a surge in his popularity after he cancelled
his visit to Washington and spoke up for Mexico’s “dignity” and “sovereignty.” In
Mérida, where we
had seen weekly protest marches against the recent increase in gasoline prices,
now the marches often included anti-Trump banners and speeches as well.
My wife and I
worried a bit that some of this anti-U.S. sentiment would spill over onto us,
but it did not in the least. Mexicans
always treated us with kindness and respect and, with the exception of the
priest, did not even raise the issue of Trump unless we did first. Even then, they were uniformly restrained in
their criticism, at least with us, reflecting a kind of politeness and civility
that has been entirely missing in the rhetoric of our new president. At one point, when I was waiting in a bus station,
and Trump appeared on the television there, bombastic as usual, I rolled my
eyes in embarrassment. A Mexican man
sitting nearby exchanged glances; I said “lo siento” (I’m sorry). “No se preocupe,” he responded—don’t worry. I
wonder how Americans would have responded to Mexicans if their president were
publicly insulting and threatening the U.S.
During the
campaign, candidate Trump castigated Mexicans for being “rapists” and
criminals, though he conceded that “some” might be good people. Indeed, in the hateful and fearful climate of
the U.S. this year, more than one person expressed concern about our safety in
travelling to Mexico. But our experience
in Mérida (with
over one million residents) was a city that was peaceful and “tranquil” (a word
often used by locals) and even joyful.
On Sunday mornings, the city center is closed off to traffic, so people
can bicycle and skate in a circular route.
Whole families rent bikes and pedal around for hours. In the evening, with the main streets still
closed, restaurants move their tables out into the streets, street musicians
play, and bands play in the public squares and parks while people (including a
lot of old folks) dance on stages set up for the purpose. People interact with each other, in
community, in ways that seem to have disappeared in most of the U.S.
As to the
violence: there was not a single
homicide in Mérida
during January, while in our hometown of Indianapolis, every few days there was
a report of yet another murder. We both
felt safer in Mérida
at night than we would in Indianapolis. Statistical comparisons (e.g. the web
site Numbeo), bear this out: overall crime rates in Indianapolis are “high” and
those in Mérida
“very low.”
Mexico is our
neighbor, and one of this country’s oldest and closest friends. After China and Canada, it is our largest
trade partner. Over 30 million Hispanics
of Mexican origin live in the U.S. Some
25 million Americans visit Mexico each year and about a million live
there. Mexican immigrants to the U.S.
have contributed enormously to our economy and our culture. The U.S. should embrace this relationship and
foster it. At the moment, Washington,
and especially our President, is poisoning it.
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