Bad Neighbors

Our relationship with the United States, our close yet distant neighbor, has been full of regrets, grievances and abuses. That well known phrase, attributed to Porfirio Diaz, comes to mind: "Poor Mexico, so far way from God and so close to the United States." In reality it was written by Nemesio Garcia Naranjo, an intellectual from Monterrey.

One of the most painful images of the Zócalo [the main plaza in Mexico City] is one in which the American flag appears flapping at the National Palace during the cunning invasion, after which we lost half of the territory.

From that moment on, the relationship has always been difficult: One of the most controversial topics has been the emigration of Mexicans, who are looking for work opportunities and better pay, which sadly we do not offer them here.

It is a fact that this workforce is necessary for the United States. This has been documented since 1926 by Manuel Gamio, with a study whose results were published in two volumes by the University of Chicago.

Jorge Bustamante, the specialist founder of the Colegio de la Frontera Norte, said: "Gamio identifies for the first time the places of origin of migration and the migratory pathways ... discovers that it is the result of recruitment that initiates in the United States, that it is not a phenomenon that occurs simply due to Mexican underdevelopment, but due to a function where there is an economic benefit for the United States." Gamio demonstrates this in an irrefutable way that has not been surpassed to date from a scientific point of view.

We received the good news that the legalization of millions of Mexicans, who have worked in the U.S. for a long time, is about to be approved. However, it is overshadowed by the parallel decision of extending the wall or the walls that separate us, since in some parts it is two walls, one behind the other.

There is no doubt that we can get used to anything. For example in Tijuana, that extensive double wall, strewn with crosses that memorialize the thousands who have died trying to cross, is an image more terrible and ominous than that of the former Berlin Wall, especially since we are supposed to be friendly countries.

Now Canada, which seemed to be a friendly nation, has set up a visa for Mexicans, requiring an exaggerated and complex set of requirements — a lot more burdensome than those of the American visa. Among others, it requires that the names of parents and siblings and their addresses be provided. A friend, who has 11 siblings, many of whom live abroad, and has not heard from them in a long time, could not fulfill that requirement, and since there is no communication with a human being, the system simply denies the visa for failing to fill out all the fields.

But that is not all. If he is able to fulfill all the requirements and has the bad idea of completing [the application] online, it takes months for approval, and if it is approved, he has to send his passport and wait for months to get it back with the stamped-on visa. Many people, despite sending a copy of plane tickets, hotel reservations, and in some cases receipts of payment for a cruise, have lost the trip, and all that was paid for already.

So if you were planning on going to Canada this summer, forget about it. You will have a terrible ordeal dealing with the red tape of that offensive visa, and truthfully the trip is not worth it. You will find the same in the northern United States, and nowadays, even more cordiality.

If you want an exceptional trip, with beautiful scenery, architecture, rich culture and exquisite cuisine, travel through Mexico. For the moment, in this capital you can feast on regional food. On Diez de Bonilla 20 street, in San Miguel Chapultepec, you can find La Poblanita Nueva, which occupies a huge house with wooden floors and tiled walls. For starters you can have the famous "chalupitas" and, of course, the "mole" by itself, with chicken, enchiladas, with rice, over eggs, or with whatever you crave.