The government of Mexico constantly complains about how badly Mexicans are (allegedly) treated in the U.S.
(So why do they keep coming? Just asking!)
Meanwhile, south of the border, illegal aliens from Central American countries (that are poorer than Mexico) really are treated very badly indeed.
Mexico doesn't want the U.S. to deport Mexican illegal aliens—but in calendar year 2010, Mexico deported 70,000 illegal aliens from its territory. Some 93% of the deported were Central Americans. ["Enganchan" a migrantes en sus países de origen: SRE , by Silvia Otero, El Universal, January 15, 2011]
I would defend Mexico's right to detain and deport illegal aliens, just as I defend America's right to do so. But look what else happens: In Mexico, illegal aliens are frequently robbed, raped, kidnapped and murdered—sometimes with the collusion of Mexican officials.
For lurid details, if you have a strong stomach, see my previous articles:
This has all been well known in Mexico. But not much has been done about it.
However, in recent months, Central American governments, principally El Salvador and Guatemala, have become more critical of Mexico. And Mexican officials aren't too pleased about it.
On December 16, armed men reportedly stopped a cargo train in the Mexican state of Oaxaca and removed 50 people (including 15 women and 5 minors).
This incident provoked the governments of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to demand that the Mexican government do something about it.
Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are small Spanish-speaking Central American countries, all significantly poorer than Mexico. (Click here for a map which shows both Mexico and the Central American countries in relation to the United States. The Central American illegal aliens cross all of Mexico in order to get into the United States).
This whole issue of Central American illegal aliens and the growing diplomatic dispute over them has been widely reported in the Mexican media. Kudos to Mexican reporters for not shoving it under the rug—it's not easy being a Mexican journalist these days.
It is easy being a U.S. journalist. But you don't see this story much in the U.S. media.
On December 21st, 2010, it was reported in Mexico's El Universal that
"The government of El Salvador asked today that Mexico investigate the supposed kidnapping of some 50 immigrants in Oaxaca, among which may be Salvadoran citizens…"
The Salvadoran government "demanded that the Mexican government investigate."
The Salvadoran diplomatic note stated that "From January to December of 2010 the government of El Salvador has denounced on repeated occasions similar occurrences that constitute clear violations to the human rights of immigrants, about which it has asked the Mexican authorities for exhaustive investigations. "
"The Salvadoran foreign ministry is deeply concerned about these occurrences and condemns the aggressions against Central Americans in transit through Mexico".
Exigen a México Investigar Plagio de Salvadoreños [El Universal, December 21, 2010]
Mexico, however, tried to stonewall the charges. The very same day as the Salvadoran note, Mexico's INM (its immigration bureaucracy) stated that there was no evidence that the train had been stopped by kidnappers—although the INM did report that its own agents, that same day, had stopped the same train and detained 92 illegal aliens.
And the very next day (December 22, 2010) armed men kidnapped nine illegal aliens off a cargo train in the Mexican state of Chiapas (One was killed and three managed to escape.). As I said in my "Train of Death" article, Central American illegal aliens routinely use Mexican cargo trains to travel across Mexico. It's dangerous.
On December 28th, Guatemala got into the act, sending a diplomatic note to Mexico, complaining of "the constant violations to the human rights of the migrants passing through Mexican territory" and demanding that the kidnappings of Central Americans in Mexico on December 16th and 22nd be investigated and the guilty punished.
The government of Mexico responded by accusing Guatemala of making "unilateral accusations". Such accusations, according to the Mexican government, "do not contribute to generate the spirit of cooperation". [México Critica "Acusaciones Unilaterales" de Guatemala, Excélsior, December 29th, 2010]
Mind you, that's the same Mexican government that bashes our immigration policy and openly meddles in our internal affairs. But it's very thin-skinned about small Central American countries questioning atrocities committed in Mexico.
The government of Honduras has tried a less confrontational approach, choosing to work closely with Mexico. The deputy foreign minister of the Central American country, Alden Rivera, made a three-day visit to Mexico and the two countries are forming a joint commission to deal with the problem.
"Mexico and Honduras agreed to the creation of a high-level Binational Commission to work to protect the human rights of the migrants and to decrease the kidnappings and assaults by organized crime of those who are victims during their passage through Mexican territory, reported Alden Rivera…."[Acuerdan Narcocombate y Protección a Migrantes, Excelsior, December 30th, 2010]
To Honduran government officials reading this: let me ask you this question—if the government of Mexico can't protect its own citizens from violence, what makes you think it can protect Hondurans travelling illegally through Mexico?
In contrast, El Salvador and Guatemala don't seem to have much confidence in the Mexican government, and are now working together on a bilateral project.
According to El Universal
"The governments of El Salvador and Guatemala are preparing a program of expansion of their consular protection network in Mexico, with the opening of new offices in various states of the country [Mexico] to attend to their fellow citizens [Salvadorans and Guatemalans] who pass through the [Mexican] territory, and who are today a vulnerable sector, facing organized crime, which makes them victims of robbery, extortion and kidnapping."
Hugo Carrillo Corleto, Ambassador of El Salvador in Mexico, in a telephone interview with El Universal, said that "the binational strategy seeks to defend the rights of Guatemalans and Salvadorans, regardless of the actions that the Mexican government takes…."
Translation: El Salvador and Guatemala don't trust the Mexican government. [El Salvador y Guatemala Amplían Red de Protección, By Silvia Otero, El Universal, January 9th, 2011]
Interesting, isn't it, that the sort of project these countries are developing is similar to what Mexican diplomats carry out in the U.S.?
Will Mexico tolerate it? Stay tuned….
In a recent press conference in Mexico, a Mexican official attempted to shift the blame away from Mexico in another way. The speaker: Mexican Foreign Ministry Undersecretary (for Latin America and the Caribbean) Ruben Beltran.
Ruben Beltran? Doesn't that name ring a bell?
Yes, it certainly does. Long-time VDARE.COM readers will have heard of Beltran before, on this very website. (See here, here and here).
Beltran is a long-time Mexican diplomat, who spent many years meddling in the United States. Beltran served as Mexican consul in Los Angeles and later in New York.
Now the shoe is on the other foot. Now Central American nations are threatening to meddle in Mexico. And Beltran is trying to stop them.
At the press conference, Beltran asserted that the crimes committed in Mexico against Central American illegal aliens had their origin in the Central American countries themselves.
How's that?
Well, explained Beltran, there are organized crime networks in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras that entice citizens of those countries to go to the United States. Thus the crime begins there. And accordingly, Beltran said, those countries should dismantle their criminal gangs.
No doubt that what Beltran says about the gangs is correct. But how does that shift the blame away from Mexico for what happens on Mexican territory? "Enganchan" a migrantes en sus países de origen: SRE, by Silvia Otero, El Universal, January 15th, 2011
In any case, the government of El Salvador would have none of it. Hugo Carrillo Corleto, El Salvador's ambassador in Mexico, rejected Beltran's explanation. He said that these criminal gangs had links with criminals in Mexico and the U.S.
No doubt that's true as well!
It's interesting to see how El Salvador and Guatemala are starting to speak out against the mistreatment of their fellow citizens in Mexico. The question is, how much of this is Mexico going to tolerate? I can't imagine Mexico putting up with the sort of meddling that its diplomats carry on in our country.
Let's look at the big picture. What we have here is a humanitarian disaster on a continental scale. All the governments involved are to blame—including our own.
Central American countries tacitly encourage their people to emigrate. Mexico doesn't protect them as they pass through—while simultaneously demanding protection and benefits for Mexicans illegally residing north of the border.
And Washington, rather than providing moral leadership, fuels the mayhem by rewarding illegal aliens who get here safely. This in turn encourages more Central Americans to make the long and dangerous trip across Mexico—thus making themselves targets for ruthless predators.
It's time to put a stop to all this.
Why can't our country close our border to illegal immigration and shut down the magnets that encourage it? Wouldn't that be the humanitarian thing to do?
American citizen Allan Wall (email him) recently moved back to the U.S.A. after many years residing in Mexico. In 2005, Allan served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his Mexidata.info articles are archived here; his News With Views columns are archived here; and his website is here.
