Fox and The Border

[aabdo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Tony Abdo)]

This article from today's Dallas local paper is illustrative of the type
of problem that daily frustrates so many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.
It's also the type of problem that Vicente Fox promised Mexican voters
he would fix.        The problem BEING... the constant harassment, on
both sides of The Border, faced by those who simply are trying to visit
relatives.

While billions of dollars are being spent on unnecessary highway
'improvements' to expedite the movement of products, people themselves
face a Byzantine labyrinth of agencies, officials, and regulations, as
they try to negociate the same roadways.      The dilemma for the ruling
elites of both countries, is in how they can both simultaneously close,
and open The Border at the same time.   The reality is...  that they
simply cannot.

All efforts to 'regulate' flow of goods, services, and people between
Mexico and the US, only create chaos, anger, and victimized people.
As unpopular as it may well be amongst many, both Mexico and the US are
as welded together, as the French and the English speaking communities
are in Montreal.

In the simple fact of giving recognition to this reality, Vicente Fox is
able to appear much more progressive than he really is.    All, simply
because the other politicos appear so much more stuck in the past.

Gore appears to be more favored by the business community than Bush,
simply because Bush is stuck with the albatross of the backwardness of
his core group of supporters.       Bush/ Fox is a much more limited
combination to pacify binational public sentiment,  than the
sweet-talking team of Gore/ Fox.

The key foreign relations issue facing the United states is in how to
pacify and maintain control of Latin America.     All other foreign
policy objectives pale in comparitive importance, to this hemispheric
need of the US ruling elite to maintain hegemony, but at the same time
appear humane.

By moving the 'opposition' into power in Mexico, Clinton and The
Democrats have checkmated their own opposition at home.

Tony Abdo   _____________________________
Mexican roadblocks frustrate N. Texas bus drivers Some officials think
government merely responding to U.S. actions 09/24/2000
By Ricardo Sandoval / The Dallas
Morning News MEXICO CITY ?

Noél Mares said he felt like a fugitive in his native country on
Saturday, driving his Texas-based passenger bus down the back roads of
northern Mexico to avoid federal roadblocks. He was afraid of being
stopped if he were to drive down the major highways over which he
normally ferries people to Mexican cities and back to Texas.

He was afraid he would meet the same fate of about 40 other binational
bus companies based in North Texas who've had vehicles confiscated by
Mexican authorities at border area roadblocks. The seizures are part of
a clampdown on what officials have said are American buses that
routinely flout Mexican laws by not renting spaces at bus terminals in
the towns they visit.

But the Texas bus operators said they think a trade dispute between the
United States and Mexico involving commercial vehicles is squeezing them
and their passengers.

They're so mad that a group of bus operators traveled to Mexico City
last week to brief Mexican legislators on the situation. The good news
from the lawmakers was a promise to help and reports that some of the
confiscated buses might be returned later this week. The bad news was
the legislators' fear that their troubles are rooted in a binational
transportation feud, and that it could take some time to sort out the
mess.

For at least a year, U.S. transportation officials have prevented
Mexican commercial vehicles from operating north of the border, arguing
that the vehicles do not meet strict safety standards. Mexican officials
have said the moratorium defies terms of the North American Free Trade
Agreement.

The trade battle is being negotiated, but Mexico retaliated this year by
blocking the entry of American commercial vehicles. Mexico's roadblocks

Until a month ago, the Dallas bus owners thought they were exempt from
the blockade because they are Mexican citizens, have Mexican business
licenses, and even drive buses made by a Mexican company. But that all
changed when their buses started being seized at Mexican government
roadblocks.

"I suspect they've been victimized by Mexico's desire to break a
stalemate over the binational transportation issue," said Mexican
legislator Raúl Cervantes, a lawyer whose firm represents Mexican bus
associations. "Mexico wants to send a message that it can be as tough as
the Americans in this trade dispute."

Eddie Barón, a Los Angeles resident who in July became the first
Mexican living abroad to win a congressional seat, said the Texas bus
operators were justifiably mad, and he promised to work to remove trade
barriers.

"We're a stronger, more independent Congress that can now resolve issues
like this," said Mr. Barón, whose constituents are the estimated 8
million to 10 million Mexican citizens in the United States.

"This is a good opportunity for us to do something for millions of
Mexicans who each year contribute about $8 billion to our economy." Some
of the Dallas bus owners said they don't care about the roots of the
flap. They said Mexico has illegally confiscated their property.

Because of the roadblocks and risk of more bus seizures, the Dallas
firms have been forced to rent buses from Mexican companies at the
border to finish their trips ? a maneuver that keeps them rolling past
the roadblocks, but takes big bites out of their revenue. A toll on
passengers
Others, such as Mr. Mares, are skirting the roadblocks and adding long
hours to their trips by avoiding the main roads. "I hate this, but I
have to keep working," Mr. Mares said Saturday in a telephone interview
as his bus approached Torreón, Coahuila. "I'm apologizing all the way
to my passengers, and they're getting more and more upset as we go down
these small, slow roads." The wear and tear was showing on some of his
clients. "This is crazy," said Guillermo Sandoval, 34, a sewing factory
worker from Mesquite.

On Saturday, he was making one of his bimonthly trips to his hometown in
the Mexican state of Zacatecas, a trip that normally takes 18 hours.
"We're now going on 26 hours and we're not there yet ... I won't be
making any more trips until they get this settled," he said. At Mexican
checkpoints, bus operators said officials have ordered passengers off
American vehicles, which were then confiscated.

The passengers' only options were returning to the border or continuing
their trips on Mexican buses.

"For most of us, having one bus confiscated is a big blow to our
business," said Juan Vázquez, vice president of the Tornado Bus Co. in
Dallas. "We've never had problems before. But now we're losing business
every day that our buses cannot operate." 1,500 riders a day
As many as 1,500 people in the Dallas area board buses each day for
brief trips to Mexico, bus owners said. On weekends, the passenger load
almost doubles for the estimated 50 binational bus companies based in
North Texas.

A typical round-trip ticket between Dallas and, for example, the
northern Mexico city of Zacatecas can cost about $165 ? a cheap
alternative to the $585 for a nonrefundable ticket now being charged by
Delta and Mexicana airlines for the same trip. Before their visit to
Congress, the bus owners fired off letters to Mexican President Ernesto
Zedillo and President-elect Vicente Fox. "The exodus of hundreds of
thousands of citizens from Mexico has ... created an industry that is
now impossible to stop," Alejandro Carmona wrote in a letter to Mr. Fox
from the Dallas-based National Hispanic Bus Lines Association. "Today,
we face a Mexican problem that's affecting our ability to serve hundreds
of thousands of Mexicans who live in Texas."

Because they also have Texas business licenses, the Mexican bus owners
based in Dallas are free to operate in the United States, avoiding the
NAFTA restrictions.

Since the Texas bus owners' visit, Mr. Cervantes, the transportation
expert and Mexican legislator, huddled regularly with officials from the
Mexican Transportation and Communications Ministry, known by its Spanish
acronym, SCT.

Mr. Barón and Mr. Cervantes, the Mexican legislators, said they will
next meet with the Texas bus operators in Dallas. The SCT and Mexico's
foreign ministry have refused to comment on the dispute. One Mexican
official did say that the matter is tied to NAFTA. The official, who
spoke only if his name were withheld, said the dispute seemed more about
following Mexican laws. The official said the Texas buses had been
allowed to operate in Mexico in the past without meeting every
requirement. Mexican law says binational buses cannot pick up and drop
off passengers in Mexico.

The Dallas companies said they've made every effort to have their papers
in order and only take riders nonstop to and from their hometowns.
Straight home
But there is one rule the Dallas companies do not honor: Inter-city
buses in Mexico must leave passengers at designated terminals. The Texas
firms avoid those stops because it usually leaves passengers great
distances from their homes in smaller towns that do not have central bus
terminals.

"Our people love us because we take them straight home, cutting down on
the time and money they must spend making several transfers," Mr. Mares
said.

Even though they regularly avoided central terminals, the Texas
companies thought that before last month, everything seemed fine with
their business south of the border.

Amid the NAFTA dispute over transportation, Mexican lawmakers suggested
the Texas companies have become easy targets because they avoid the
official bus terminals, and are seen by many Mexican officials as
technically American companies.

Some of the Dallas bus operators said they're being discriminated
against. They said there are bus firms based in Texas that are
subsidiaries of large Mexican bus companies, but are not stopped by
Mexican officials.

"We're as Mexican as the ... [Mexican bus companies] that are not
stopped at the same roadblocks," said Mr. Mares. "But the real losers
are the Mexicans who prefer our buses because we are more reliable."