The problems in Mexico

Mexico is in some serious problems. These problems used to be centered in the north with the border of the United States. But why are there problems in Mexico?
A lot of Mexicans blame the United States for the consumption of drugs. Well, yeah, there is a problem with drug abuse in the United States... no one will deny that. But is it seriously the root of all problems in Mexico? Are the "gringos" to blame for everything? Of course not! If that was the case, then Canada should be in the same situation as Mexico isn't it? But Canada is a peaceful country with no much crime. It is a country with hardly any no drug trafficking to the US. I never hear cases of extortion, kidnapping or cartels that control politicians. Is there any illegal trafficking of weapons from the US to Canada? Are there tons of shipments of drugs from Canada to the US? It seems not.

The root of all problems in Mexico is the denial of the real problem. And that is the corruption that the Mexicans themselves let go on for years and years. This corruption started when the PRI was in power for almost 70 years. The PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) could do their own way for 70 years and that affected the country because in that time the corruption had grown to irresponsible heights. It was very “normal” that drug cartels could exist, because the governors of different states had the chance to earn something extra. Mexico being a poor country next to the wealthy neighbor in the north, gave the Mexicans some kind of identity crisis: “why they, and not we?”. Having and seeing a good flourishing economy in the north and people being poor just on the other side of the border? Seems unfair, but with the corruption growing, the rich and in power got richer… the poor stayed poor.
But that corruption has a price… and that price has to be paid now. With the corruption growing and exceeding in proportion, Mexico has a lot of different drug cartels that had the chance to exist and to grow, while politicians looked the other way and received blood money. Mexico is a democracy and the people of Mexico choose their governors and their president. So, who in fact is guilty of this all? Yes, the Mexican people themselves. How is it possible that one of the richest persons of the world comes from a third world country (Carlos Slim) and how is it possible that a Mexican drug baron (El Chapo Guzman) is on the Forbes list of richest men in the world? How is it possible that the dangerous city in the world (Ciudad Juarez) is a Mexican city? And how is it possible that this city is at the border with the US, close to one of the safest cities in the US (El Paso)? It seems only possible in Mexico.

Who are not to blame are the children of now… they inherited a messed up situation and they can make a change if they want. That’s difficult because it would be very easy to fall in the same mistakes their parents and grandparents did. Children are playing “sicario” (hitman) in the streets… dividing in groups of different existing drug cartels. Last month the army arrested a young boy of 14 years old, he confessed to have slaughtered hundreds of people in service of one of the mayor drug cartels in Mexico. Mexico has to start now with educate the young people. An important job for parents and schools.

And it’s the only way to save this beautiful country. Mexico could be a country like the US and Canada with a flourishing economy. Mexico has so much wealth and resources like minerals and oil… they have a beautiful culture… the perfect climate. All ingredients for everyone to benefit. With (almost) no corruption, the country should have a good and stable government that is really there for their people. The money wasted on the drug war of Calderon, should be used for better education and creation of jobs. Chances for everyone… even the poor. I have no problem with people who work hard and earn a lot of money, but there should be chances for everyone… without corruption or illegal and criminal activities. With a safe and secure Mexico, Florida should be bankrupt in a few years, because who don’t want to live in Mexico once retired?

Can Mexico change?? Yes! But that only depends on the Mexican people themselves. Do they want a better country in peace or do they want to go on with the current situation they’re in. It’s up to them.

Mundial 2010!!

Within a few weeks the "mundial" starts in South-Africa. This big commercial event will be watched by millions of people all over the world. Holland is going to be there... also Mexico (my daughters country and a bit ours)and Chile (home of my wife Ana). So who to cheer for? That's the beauty of a multi cultural family... we just cheer for all of them.

A few days ago we had the match Holland-Mexico and Holland won with 2-1. Holland playing with mostly a B-team didn't had any problems with the Mexicans. A country of more then 100 million people where soccer is the nr 1 sports against a country of 16 million people. Soccer is big here and a lot of good Mexican players play with the big european teams like Manchester, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Also one player plays in the Dutch leage for PSV.

Soccer is big in Holland and Mexico but... there is a big difference. In Holland when we win, we are happy but there is always criticism... It can always better and we should have made more goals. Remember the criticism Louis van Gaal always gets in a conference after the match and his angry respons to it.
In Mexico it's different. It's never the fault of the team or the country. Never... it's the fault of the (foreign) coach... it's the fault of the weather... it's the fault of the referee... it's the fault of the oponent etc. Never let your team down I guess... but also never be objective about it. Never be open for criticism. For example in the Mexican media they told the people they had lost from Holland, but it was not the fault of Mexico. Mexico was playing probably against the winner of the Mundial and should be happy to "just" lost with 2-1. Far away from reality.

The same happens in normal life. People are not talking about the "bad things" in Mexico and blaming other people for the problems they have. A cab driver told me the other day this is a true thing: "estamos jodidos, pero felices" (We are fucked, but happy). The Mexicans accept their fate and close their eyes for the things that are wrong in their country, or blaming other people. For example that the drugkartels are the fault of the United States. Or they like a specific politician more because he is honest (meaning: he is stealing less from the people then the other).

Still... an interesting culture and country.

telephone extortion...

This week my family has been the victim of telephone extortion. This seems to be a “normal” thing in Mexico. Well, according to other people and the Mexican police we should not pay attention to it and just let it go. I always thought family was a big thing in Latin America, but in Mexico it seems not. How can you just “let it go” and “not pay attention to it” as your family, your wife, your children have been threatened to be killed? How is it possible that the police of Colima are not taking seriously your complaint? How is it possible that they can’t just check a phone registry and get the people who are such COWARDS to only try to threaten people by telephone? Being such cowards to not show their face doing this? That is what I am wondering. I love Mexico and I am very happy to live here, but this week my faith in the Mexican people has dropped.

Also the new law they have here: “the law of transparency” is supposed to fight crime, but instead… and how stupid can you be as government… it just gives criminals the opportunity to see very easily WHO has money and WHO you should try to kidnap, extort or threaten. Of course the criminals don’t have records and will never be “transparent” to the government.
Also we want to warn other Mexican friends or people who live in Mexico to not use facebook or other social websites too much. It seems that criminals can also easily get information from these kind of media. From now on we will not be putting any personal information for “only friends” on Facebook. Also if you are ever being attacked by phone by these cowards, the best advice is to just hang up the phone. Let me also be clear that we are not afraid, but very very very angry! Stealing information about my family WITH THE HELP OF THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT makes us vulnerable.

So, thank you very much Mr. President Felipe Calderon.

cab driver

Some time ago I was in a local Mexican cab and I got into a talk with the friendly Mexican cabdriver. He noticed my Spanish was pretty good and asked me where I was from. I told him Holland and of course like most people he thought about soccer (futbol) instead of other things. "Aaah... Rijkaard, Gullit, van Basten", seemed to be the logical up to date knowledge about Dutch soccer. Hesitated for a minute to give him a wit answer but nah...

Then he wanted to know about my personal life… what was my profession, my family, how long I was here etc. I told him I was here in Mexico for almost 5 years (at that time) and that I was married to a “latina” from Chile and that we had two little daughters both born in Mexico.

“And how many girlfriends do you have?” was his response. I said, “girlfriends? I am happily married and not in need of an extra girlfriend”. But sir, here in latin America it is common men have more than one girlfriend outside the marriage. It’s normal and every man has. It’s something cultural and it proves your manhood, he laughed proudly.

I was getting a bit annoyed by this macho language, so I asked him if he had more than one girlfriend outside his marriage. Yes, he told me very proud. I have 3 girlfriends and see them often. Then I asked him if these girlfriends were single women or married. Oh, that doesn’t matter, he explained, if she is married or not is the same.

Then I asked him. So you are married with someone. And you and other men think it’s normal to have a relationship with someone who is married. So if your wife is married, maybe she could also be the girlfriend of another man at this moment and you won’t know it and if I were you sir, I would worry about with whom my wife is at this moment.

I never saw a Mexican man that pale!

Lennon...

John Lennon, maybe not the greatest musician but surely one of the most important ones. He changed music with The Beatles together with Paul, Ringo and George. He changed also the lives of many people all over the world. The Beatles were my first real experience with music. I remember as a little boy I was playing their songs on a very old recordplayer, the old singles with the typical big Green Apple label in the center. The old songs... listening them over and over again. This was about 35 years ago.

Lennon would have been 70 years old this year, but since he got murdered in New York 30 years ago in 1980 he only got 40. The same age I am now. I was just 10 when I saw the news about his death on the television. I remember it as it was "yesterday".
These marks in time makes you think. "Imagine" what Lennon could have done the last 30 years...
In fact Lennon made me watch at the world in a different way when I got older. As a kid it was just fun to hear good music. Later I started to really listen to his music, lyrics and words. Thinking about the world behind those lyrics. Maybe giving my own personal interpretation.
For me Lennon was an example in life... and still is.

watch out...

The other day I was talking with a good friend. A teacher at the University of Colima who has been living here for a longer time then I have. We were talking just about things to pass the time I guess. We got to the point talking about experiences we have with Mexican people. Soon we agreed that we love to live here and that most Mexicans are good, honest and hard working people. Still, we both had "bad" experiences with specific Mexican people. Mexicans who are very friendly in your face and willing to be your best friend. These are the people to watch out for. If you don't know them WHY are they so nice to a foreigner? That is the question we always ask ourselves after living here for some years. 9 of 10 cases these people just want to have something from you. We'd prefer people being forward and directly in saying they don't like foreigners instead of being friendly to get something from you. Personally I had this experience with people who wanted something like homeowners or car mecanics.
I got to the conclusion that if someone is offering me something with a very smiley face... I just reject. Another thing is lending money to someone. People who try to lend money usually do not have the intention in giving it back. They just tell you nice stories and you never see them again. So, I have the strickt rule in not lending money to no one ever.

Again... many nice and good people amongst the Mexicans, but also a lot of people see you as a "gringo" that has a lot of money and they will try to get hold on it: asking to high prices for a service... try to steal money... or try to lend money and never give it back, because you are "just a gringo".

I am not "just" living in Mexico, but left my country, family and friends behind to do a job that most Mexicans would not do. It was my decision to do this, but at least you could expect some respect for that. Instead of respect you sometimes get cheated, stolen or ripped off by dishonest people. That is sad... but it's also true...

So this is also a warning to other foreigners... enjoy Mexico but be careful in not blindly trust all people here! Remember... you're often just a Gringo here...

Slim...

Just a short blog post today... don't have much time.
Not a real blog, but more a: did you know?

Did you know that the richest man on the face of the earth is not Bill Gates or some guy in a dress from an oil state? Nop... it's not.
It's a Mexican. El Sr. Carlos Slim Helú. The owner of Telmex, the Mexican phone company.
By the way the only phone company in Mexico... also owner of Telcel, the biggest provider of cell phone conections.

Makes you wonder.... how is it possible that the richest man on the earth comes from a 3rd World country?