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Professor Emeritus, University of California, San Diego
At the Mexican border, two nations colossally unequal in wealth and military might, face off in a modern version of David and Goliath. Nowhere else in the world does the asymmetry loom greater, as the huge gap in per capita income and production between the two neighbors verifies. The border is an "open wound," writes Gloria Anzaldua, "where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds;" or, in the words of a Mexican, where persons fleeing from ubiquitous poverty, the ceaseless search for jobs, and the bane of political thuggery are drawn northward by the mirage of the First World. Distinct heritages and cultures clash at the border, one Catholic
and Spanish, a society resting on Roman law, and the other, by
language and values, Protestant and, despite its surging minority
population, English at heart. South of the Rio Grande lies Latin
America, the Ariel of Enrique Rodó, the essayist from
Uruguay and, to the north, his Caliban, Anglo-America. With Canadians,
Americans share one of the world's two longest international
borders and with Mexico the other, but the differences between
the two neighbors of European origin shrink when compared to
those that separate mestizo Mexico from Rodo's colossus. For
nearly two centuries the overwhelming presence of the United
States has been a sword of Damocles for Mexico; little of importance
occurs north of the border that does not intrude upon the life
of Mexicans. Hardcopy Price: $0.00
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