In an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times Mexican politician AgustÃn Barrios Gómez tells Americans some things I wish were emphasized more frequently, contrasting the Mexico City earthquake of 32 years ago with the more recent quake:
On Sept. 19, 1985, an earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter scale struck Mexico City. Partly because of inadequate building codes, the death toll reached upward of 20,000 people. Electricity, telephones, the airport, the subway — all were down for several days.
The government’s failure was especially glaring. Insular and out of touch after 56 years of single-party rule, then-President Miguel de la Madrid responded testily to offers of international help by declaring, “We are self-sufficient.†We were not, but we tried to be. In collective shock at the lack of response from their government, Mexicans self-organized. We coordinated massive relief efforts that saved many thousands of lives, and we rebuilt astonishingly fast.
In 2000, when de la Madrid’s Institutional Revolutionary Party finally handed power over to the opposition, newly elected President Vicente Fox would declare that modern democracy in Mexico was the product of civil society finding its strength after the 1985 earthquake.
Exactly 32 years later, on Sept. 19, 2017, a combination trepidatory (up-and-down) and oscillatory (side-to-side) 7.1 earthquake hit, 12 days after a nearby oscillatory 8.2 quake. The Richter scale measures energy released, not the violence of the quake, which has more to do with location, depth and geological characteristics of the affected area. So the 7.1 felt 10 times worse than the 8.2. You’ve seen the videos shot around the city by stunned citizens — and they are terrible.
But unlike in 1985, government, civil society and the building codes are much more resilient. Electricity, telephones, the airport, the subway — all are functioning. In what has to be one of the great coincidences of the decade, two hours before the earthquake struck, the city performed its annual seismic drill. (It takes place on the anniversary of the 1985 quake.) We have an earthquake early warning system mounted on each of the city’s 15,000 CCTV cameras. Up to 90 seconds’ warning can make the difference between deaths in the hundreds or the thousands.
Thirty-two years ago, the federal government turned away help that already had arrived at the Mexico City airport, including a Swiss canine unit trained to find bodies after an avalanche — a transferable skill. My father, the ambassador to Switzerland at the time, managed to get them into the city despite official disapproval. This time, the Mexican tax authorities are waving import duties on international goods sent to help emergency efforts. Cellphone service is available, and Wi-Fi hot spots are free. Uber is shuttling volunteers to rescue operations. Amazon Mexico teamed up with the Red Cross to create a massive relief “wish list†so good Samaritans can donate directly. Google Maps has helped us identify the location of collapsed buildings so we can channel aid there.
In his weekly column, Mexican journalist Leo Zuckermann declared himself twice as proud today as he was in 1985 to be a Chilango, as we Mexico City residents call ourselves. He’s proud to see how all of our efforts, and billions of dollars, have paid off in earthquake preparedness. But he’s also proud to see evidence of other seismic changes.
Since 1985, we have built what is arguably the most sophisticated electoral system in the world. We have gone from being a country dependent on petrodollars to one that is a major manufacturing powerhouse, with a diversified economy that is among the biggest in the world.
Thirty-two years ago Mexico was a poor country, incompetently run. Today it’s a middle income country and governed much more effectively. They’re more than able to take care of their problems but, as the op-ed notes, not too proud to take help from other countries when they need it. The Mexican people shouldn’t be patronized by us. They should be respected.
It’s been an interesting experience down in Florida. Modern structures have done well, to the point of faultless. Power has done a remarkable job. Gasoline and food an excellent job. All “A’s”. Clean up a solid “B.” Water management? Not so much. Design flaws and maintenance issues in water provision and sewage removal a gentlemens “C.” Water drainage? F.
Shit bubbling up into the streets is something you don’t see everyday.
Maybe you don’t see it every day. We’ve been having plumbing problems. Not something I can blame on the city. The joys of home ownership
You’re missing a couple of major points. There’re a lot of people for whom hating Mexicans is *FUN*. Many of them, it turns out, were Republican voters in California back in the early 1990s. And there’s a large group, heroes of scientific statistics, who are just being totally objective when they tabulate the imperfections of Mexicans and other Latinos — such as the large number of first generation immigrants who continue to speak Spanish at home, a moral failing almost never found among Viet Namese immigrants or among the English speakers who have governed California since Biblical days.
None of these people are racists, of course. They wince when they see “too many” Hispanic-looking about them, they panic when some stranger addresses them in Spanish, but these are purely normal reactions, exactly the same as you would see when French citizens approach their southern border, or when Germans visit Alsatia, or Netherlanders contemplate Belgium. Right? Racism consists of hating Negros without reason, and these people would never be so stupid and provocative.
The study usually cited to demonstrate that Mexican-Americans do, in fact, adopt English as primary language eventually didn’t exactly find what its proponents think it found. What it found was that Mexican-Americans adopt English as primary language between one and two generations later than other immigrants, something I attribute to Mexico’s nearness.
I think there’s a legitimate concern about assimilation today as opposed to assimilation a century ago. Skype really does make a difference. So, for example, the Census Bureau has found that a much high percentage of Indian immigrants speak a language other than English at home than any other immigrant group.
None of which negates the reality that Mexico is its own country with its own interests, quite capable of taking care of itself and pursuing those interests, and that it is no longer poor and weak.
“None of which negates the reality ….”
Fair point. What continues to amaze me is that Americans are so troubled by having another nation as a neighbor. The French and Spanish do not live in fear of each other. The French and the Germans try to take territory away from each other rather than drive border residents into oblivion. Finland tolerates enclaves of Swedish-speakers. Belgium is divided into French and Flemish regions. Switzerland puts up with four official languages, there are three or four different versions of Scots, and even Canadians have two languages. I mean, it’s not like xenophobia absolutely has to be an American tradition.
Other hand — alas! — I was just about as blind to all this myself until I became an anthropology student, at the age of 50.
Heh. Well I’m sorry to hear that. I doubt your situation was hurricane induced, but perhaps rather the collective, uh, wisdom emanating from the Chicago City Counsel.
Well, at least shit can be cleaned up. Then there’s Equifax…