La Voz de Aztlan
May 14, 2000

Arizona Mexican Consul Addresses Racist Vigilante Violence at the Border

Mexican Consul Miguel Escobar Valdez of Douglas, Arizona met with frighten citizens of Benson, Arizona last Thursday for a discussion on border issues and to hear the concerns of citizens on the recent border vigilante actions by a group of armed Cochise County rangers.

All issues related to the border are not "on the brink of rupture," Valdez said. "There are many issues on which we work well together" however, he added, "We do have some confrontational issues, some matters that do produce friction like migration and narcotic trafficking," he said.

Valdez referred to migration of Mexicans to the United States as "a complex problem that has an economic root." He said the same problem exists across the globe, comparing the migration from Mexico to the United States to the migration of people from North Africa to Spain and Turkey to Germany. People move, "always looking for a job and the betterment of their lives, Valdez said.

The fact remains, said Valdez, that a labor market exists in the United States, "and in Mexico there is a labor pool. The two forces push and pull. As long as asymmetry exists," he said, "so will the flow of migration."

Valdez said that the "undocumented pool of labor is contributing to the wealth of the United States," adding that the United States maintains its competitiveness in the global economy because of its cheap source of labor. "No one wants to pick strawberries in the fields of Oxnard, California because that's hard work," Valdez said.

Valdez said, "our country is as unhappy as you over the bleeding of one of our most important resources, our people." He said many people who migrate to the United States are the more educated Mexican people. "We invested in them and the United States will profit from them.... It is a bad business to let our people go," he said, agreeing that the people will only stay in Mexico when they have better economic circumstances. "This is something we haven't been able to do yet," Valdez said.

An Anglo in the audience expressed concern that Mexican people crossing the border may have to face death. "We are at a danger point," the Anglo said. "There are people who want to take target practice on Mexicans." Mexcian Consul Valdez answered that in such a case, "The offense does not equal the retribution.

"On the matter of drug trafficking, Valdez said, "Mexicans have never been able to accept that high-handed view taken by the Americans, and we refuse to be sanctified by a nation that consumes most of the drugs in the world." Valdez said that to stem the flow of drugs from Mexico to the United States, the United States should deal with addiction. "As long as there is a market for a product with a very handsome price, there will always be purveyors of that product. That's human nature," he said. Addiction has become a world problem, he said, "like a universal cancer."