Blog #4: The Selling of Mexico: A Day with Jorge Hernandez-Hernandez

 

‘The Selling of Mexico’:

A Day with Jorge Hernandez-Hernandez 

 

Stomach is on fire, as if someone was blindsiding my insides with a fury of merciless punches. That’s a way you can describe Montezuma’s Revenge. I would describe I further in a profane laced tirade in spanglish, however for the sake of this academic endeavor, I wisely choose not to. Every jump, and dip the van makes as it winds its way to Santa Ana de Valle, is another affirmation of God’s way of telling me, “I told you so”. I could have confined myself within the stucco four walled cubicle of my house, perched on a porcelain throne to bask in my intestinal shame, however the journey to Santa Ana de Valle was one that I would not miss, even if it meant sacrificing self-relief.

One of the aspects of this course that had me interested since I was first approached about the program last year, was its intensive focus on U.S.-Latin American migration policies, reforms, and politics regarding the factors involved in this prevailing phenomenon. It was coincidence that not only the town we were visiting was a major component of Mexican migration to the U.S. (with two thirds of the town receiving remittances), but the leading scholar on the subject was also a graduate from the University of Connecticut. The connection is clearly awe inspiring, thousands of miles removed from the nearest lecture hall and the University’s reach is still profound.

When Jorge spoke of migration, it wasn’t merely a summary of his research or an egotistical rant of his insight, but rather an intimate reflection of the region’s dependence on a country that is unknown to them, and the love-hate relationship the United States has with an entire group of people that has never stepped a foot onto its soil. It was interesting to note, that in a town with a population of barely two thousand, mostly all of the residents have family in the United States and more than 60% are receiving financial support from the United States. Jorge stated that most immigrants are hesitant to move back, and that those who wish to leave cannot because of the current economic situation in the United States, 7.2% of the population unemployed marking a 16-year high. It is important to note, that despite the present economic turmoil, which will eventually descend on this small, rural backwater, that family transcends the community, in essence, the community is a family. Jeffery H. Cohen mentions in his publication, The Culture of Migration in Southern Mexico, “ the household is the fundamental social unit for most rural Oaxacans ”(p.35).  Interestingly, Jorge was quick to point out that there is no major, substantial industry for Santa Ana de Valle to benefit from, relying on indigenously produced artwork and crafts. This is an idea throughout Alex Saragoza’s aptly titled, The Selling of Mexico.

Saragoza highlights the tourism industry in relation to the national identity of Mexico as a whole. It is with dismay that most of the profit from the industry did not reach the rural villages like Santa Ana de Valle but limited to the provincial capitals and larger cities, with rural communities continually marginalized. Santa de Ana Valle, predominantly comprised of indigenous ethnic groups, was unable to capitalize on the nationalization of indigenous artifacts and monuments. “…to put it briefly the state’s indigenismo was often mediated by locally defined notions of indigenous roots…” (p.96). Ultimately the interest in el pueblo mexicano would reach the obscure locales, but evident by the current state of Santa Ana de Valle, it does not seem as if that interest ever came to be.

The idea of Mexican migration is not new, nor is it in decline. Rather it has been a consistent, unending push for a better way of life. Unlike the historical transgressions of the United States manifest destiny, Mexicans are forced to remove themselves from their families, forced by political, cultural and ethical repression due to a corrupt government that refuses to identify methods to alleviate the symptoms of a deteriorating economy. I’ll write more on immigration in detail, when I discuss ‘The Devils Highway’. However, I need to help “Coach” find an ATM so that he may get his Indiana Jones on.

 

 Miguel Ramirez Jr.