The Shield of Achilles: Calderon's Arrogance

Last Sunday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon recently gave his annual state of the nation address. His arrogance in describing the United States is astounding. He is truly convinced that Mexicans have the right to settle in the USA as they please - a "right" that, hypocritically, Mexico denies to other nations (see here, for example).

President Felipe Calderon blasted the United States in his first annual state-of-the-nation address for immigration policies that have divided families and slowed the amount of money sent home by Mexicans living north of the border.

Ahh... the money. that's the real issue here, isn't it?

He goes on:

"We strongly protest the unilateral measures taken by the U.S. Congress and government that have only persecuted and exacerbated the mistreatment of Mexican undocumented workers," he said. "The insensitivity toward those who support the U.S. economy and society has only served as an impetus to reinforce the battle ... for their rights."

Criticizing these as "unilateral" measures is flat-out absurd. Of course they are unilateral! Every nation decides its own domestic policies on matters such as border control and immigration. Nobody, including Mexico, asks other nations for permission before enacting their own legislation. Obviously, Calderon is intelligent enough to know this, but he is trying every angle he can to cut into US sovereignty.

He also reached out to the millions of Mexicans living in the United States, many illegally, saying: "Mexico does not end at its borders. Where there is a Mexican, there is Mexico."

The arrogance is breathtaking. Would he likewise agree that America does not end at it's borders...? Does the US have similar authority in Mexico? If so, then let's scrap the 1978 extradition treaty that has allowed about 1,000 murderers to escape justice in the last 30 years. The treaty allows Mexico to deny extradition to any murderer who may face the death penalty in the US (and Mexico's supreme court has gone beyond this, also refusing to extradite anyone who may face life in prison in the US).

Calderon called on the country to create a foreign policy that ensured there was "more Mexico in the world, and more of the world in Mexico." And he said the United States and Mexico need to work together to develop "the region's enormous potential."

Since there are currently about 20 million Mexicans living in the United States, I think that there already is "plenty of Mexico" in the US, and we are already "working together" by the millions, although it's not necessarily by choice. In addition, Mexico already receives $65 billion in trade, at least $20 billion in remittances from Mexican citizens in the US, an estimated $25 billion from the illicit drug trade, and $70 million in outright foreign aid. If Mexico thinks this money is not enough, then maybe it needs to pass the beggar hat around and see how many other nations are willing to throw money their way.

Unfortunately, his sense of entitlement, indeed, that of his nation as a whole, has gone on so long that it has transformed into a fundamental right in the eyes of many Mexicans. Isn't it time to wean this overgrown child from it's adopted mother's breast?

To illustrate how pervasive this view is, you can look at the circumstances of the address, which are also significant. It was scheduled to occur one day earlier, and at the Mexican National Assembly. But due to an intragovernmental rift (caused by supporters of Presidential candidate Obrador who don't accept his defeat in the 2006 election), the speech had to be postponed and moved to the Presidential Palace, since many lawmakers threatened to block or disrupt the speech. However, despite their wide, irreconcilable, (and sometimes violent) differences, there is one issue they both agree on: Mexican people are entitled to never-ending handouts from the United States. Calderon's criticism of the US earned him a standing ovation.

After I wrote this, while searching around for the text of the entire speech on the Internet (I still haven't found it - if someone else does, send me the link), I came across this piece by Lou Dobbs. Apparently, he agrees with me:

Even by Mexico's standards, Calderon's blatant hypocrisy is breathtaking. Calderon told the Washington Post more than a year ago that he believes laws are not a relative concept, nor subject to a personal concept of justice. Calderon declared a big difference between himself and his rival for the Mexican presidency, Manuel Lopez Obrador, was this: "I believe in the rule of law." Obviously he does not believe in the rule of U.S. law on U.S. soil.