Trump’s Wall: A Joint Investment between Mexico and the United States

The Mexican political system, plagued by corruption, violence and authoritarianism, has always been both useful and servile to the political and economic interests of the neighboring country to the north. I am fully in favor of the rights of migrants and it causes me pain, indignation and conviction to disassociate myself from the discriminatory migration policies that currently prevail in most countries and fill me with hurt and indignation.

The Mexican people are tired of Donald Trump’s xenophobic discourse and his absurd proposal to build a border wall, which our country is supposed to pay for. Often, we just laugh and call it madness. However, although it seems absurd to imagine that the Mexican government is willing to pay for the wall, contrary to what many believe, this crazy idea is not new.

Nevertheless, with the Merida Initiative as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, the Mexican government, from 2008 until the present, has received substantial economic loans from the U.S. government to invest in the four pillars of the Merida Initiative:

– Interrupt or reduce the operational capacity of organized crime.

– Institutionalize the capacity to maintain the rule of law.

– Create a 21st century border.

– Build strong and resilient communities.

Reality has shown that the operational capacity of organized crime, far from being interrupted or disrupted, has been strengthened and has outdone its capacity for action and response on the part of the Mexican government, be it that of Calderón, Peña Nieto or Lopez Obrador. Violence continues to increase and it is estimated that there have been around 250,000 victims in the war against drug trafficking since it began under Felipe Calderon in 2006.

There is an abundance of testimonial evidence pointing to a failed state left by neoliberalism, including the collapse of the rule of law, brutal social repression as a regular response to citizen mobilizations, the state crime against 43 students in Ayotzinapa, political prisoners and missing politicians, and the unpunished murders of environmentalists and human rights activists, among many others.

Strong and resilient communities are undoubtedly commonplace, not because of the Merida Initiative, but because of the incredible capacity for resistance and survival we have had to generate in response to the violence, poverty, looting and inequality that has characterized neoliberalism. Our creative ability to overcome problems is not due to governments, but to organized people. Thus, the money that Washington has loaned the Mexican government, which this year is estimated at almost $88 million, has been invested in building the border of the 21st century, not one which separates Mexico and the United States, but a human wall paid for by Mexico, placed on the southern border and doing the dirty work for the neighboring country to the north.

Outrageously and indignantly, Mexico is paying for Trump’s wall and has been doing so for years.