The power of the US economy on foreign economies can easily be seen in Mexico...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-migrant20apr20,0,4922473.story
The money sent back to Mexico that we have been talking about so much in class is going down. It is easy to understand with the whole economy going down and like the article mentions the beefed up border patrol.
A source of money based abroad can never be that strong, so what is the US going to do to help Mexican families? Probably nothing. So what is Mexico going to do to help take the place of the remittances? It is possible that they beg and barter with the US, but I do not see much happening if it does not directly effect the politicians or elections, or they can find some way around it.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Colombians or Colombian-Americans or Latinos?
Like most Latino groups in the United States, they have problems of self-identity. I knew that there were quite a few Colombians in New York before reading this book because in Colombia when they talked about the Twin Towers they never failed to relate their connection with the disaster in that they had family or friends that had worked in the buildings.
As seen in the caravans, the Colombians are a very powerful group with strong dislike of the stereotypes that surround their country.
From personal accounts, I think that when a Colombian comes to the US they are more likely to stay and become citizens due to the problems back home. They still view their country in good terms, just it is not a safe place for them. This is becoming an even larger problem after all this turmoil between Venezuela and Ecuador and Colombia.
The thing I am confused on is with TLC aid program coming to Congress and the Congress undecided on what to do, why are the Colombians in the US not doing more to persuade them either way. It will bring money to Colombia, but at the same time it will take jobs away and in the end it is more beneficial to the United States. So why are they not doing anything to protect their pais? Is it just they are not in the media or that they are too worried about their own lives?
As seen in the caravans, the Colombians are a very powerful group with strong dislike of the stereotypes that surround their country.
From personal accounts, I think that when a Colombian comes to the US they are more likely to stay and become citizens due to the problems back home. They still view their country in good terms, just it is not a safe place for them. This is becoming an even larger problem after all this turmoil between Venezuela and Ecuador and Colombia.
The thing I am confused on is with TLC aid program coming to Congress and the Congress undecided on what to do, why are the Colombians in the US not doing more to persuade them either way. It will bring money to Colombia, but at the same time it will take jobs away and in the end it is more beneficial to the United States. So why are they not doing anything to protect their pais? Is it just they are not in the media or that they are too worried about their own lives?
Boricuas...in need of a martyr?
As I was thinking about it and started talking to my friend about the struggle that the Puerto Ricans went through in New York (most of which he did not know about) I was thinking of what went wrong. Why did the black movement get so much power and still in the textbooks while Mexican-Americans or Puerto Ricans rarely, if ever appear? One problem they had was that there was not a presence all over the US, it was mainly in Chicago and New York. The other fault they had was they did not have a martyr. I know it sounds strange, but every strong movement has someone that sacrificed their life for the cause or was a casualty to show the irresponsibility of the other side. Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Malcom X, Gandhi, Joan of Arc, and many more.
The idea of using a person as a symbol of your struggle seems terrible, but it works and could have worked for the Puerto Ricans when they were at their peak.
An interesting side note on the Puerto Ricans is that Hilary Clinton will be campaigning through Puerto Rico...
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-runoverdarder0413.artapr13,0,6878200.story
I don't think this is a big move of power for the Puerto Ricans, but it shows that when a candidate gets desperate that is when they are willing to go to them (which is a sad state of affairs).
The idea of using a person as a symbol of your struggle seems terrible, but it works and could have worked for the Puerto Ricans when they were at their peak.
An interesting side note on the Puerto Ricans is that Hilary Clinton will be campaigning through Puerto Rico...
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-runoverdarder0413.artapr13,0,6878200.story
I don't think this is a big move of power for the Puerto Ricans, but it shows that when a candidate gets desperate that is when they are willing to go to them (which is a sad state of affairs).
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