Revisiting the Past. Or, The More Things Change...

José Antonio Crespo wrote a sharp column last Friday poking holes in the notion that we are on the verge of a truly new age in Mexican-American relations. There's too much to post it all, but read if you speak Spanish. Here's a taste:

The attorney general of the republic affirms, emphatically: "We are not losing the struggle against crime. There are people that have tied carrying out their duty. That's something that hurts us, but we are capable of overcoming this and it makes us fight with more dedication against the impunity." No, this didn't come from Eduardo Medina-Mora, but rather Jorge Madrazo, just before the presidential election of 2000 (5-3-00). For his part, the special prosecutor for drug crimes, Mariano Herrán Salvatti (presently detained for criminal association, among other charges), affirmed: "The fight against drug trafficking is being won. There is no truce." (5-30-00) Which is to say, the discourse in regard to drug trafficking hasn't changed a great deal in these years of panista government. Nor has the controversy over the topic with the United States. Before the present objections made and alarm shown from our neighbor to the north in regard to our war against organized crime, the government of Felipe Calderón responds, in essence, that we are simply the diving board for the enormous American pool. That's the same thing Gustavo Díaz Ordaz said four decades ago. We're going in circles.

It has been insisted recently, in an almost festive tone, that before the unprecedented tension between both nations, the response from Washington breaks a paradigm. That's not exactly true. It's that our memory is short. Washington repeats, with different shades, an old scheme: first pressure our government, then congratulate it for its effort, later the objection that the situation has gone out of control, and, finally, soften its rhetoric and offer cooperation, aside from admitting a part of the responsibility (this last one, with greater emphasis than before). Let's remember what was said at the cusp of governmental change, still under a priista government: the Los Angeles Times reported, "in the last three years, 262 Mexican organizations dedicated to drug trafficking have been detected in the Los Angeles area." (5-29-00) For its part, The Washington Times assured that President Zedillo was the owner of some billions of dollars laundered by narco-bankers. And, on the program 60 Minutes, an ex Customs Agent accused the Mexican Secretary of Defense, General Enrique Cervantes, of links with drug trafficking. (4-16-00) That truly seemed like a "campaign against Mexico," compared to which Forbes' is merely a tickle.

Exactly! I didn't know that bit about Zedillo. Indeed, I'd never heard or read anything suggesting that he personally was not scrupulous. I imagine it's been disproved since then.