Stinky Mexico

A new day, a new opinion. Today's translated opinion article delves into the fear of Mexico's alienation from the rest of the world, as well as the animosity towards infected people that is emerging within its borders. Salvador García Soto is the director of the national newspaper Crónica, and has been a politics critic through his column Serpientes y escaleras (Snakes and ladders) in El Universal for the past ten years. Here is what he had to say:

Stinky Mexico - by Salvador García Soto.

El Universal, 29th of April 2009.

The same thing that is happening to people and whole families infected by the swine virus here, who on top of the disease are becoming victims of rejection, segregation and social discrimination, is happening to our country in the world.

The creature that has caused what now is being talked about as a global pandemic, is damaging Mexico's image abroad, and we will have to pay a high price for it.

The travel restrictions and flight cancellations to Mexican territory, including the vetoes by major tourist operators to our main tourist destinations, are only a small example of the ramifications that this illness, now associated with everything Mexican, will have on our country.

The "Mexican" flu, the name that has now flooded the internet, will have extremely damaging effects; internally because of the regrettable loss of human lives, the effects on the social psyche, and the millions in financial losses that we are already starting to experience. The external damages will require months and millions worth of investments in media campaigns to rebuild the country's image and appeal, both in the tourist sector and amongst investors. 

If amongst us we are already getting reports like the one where the family of a twenty-six year old young man, who died of pneumonia in a hospital last week, are being isolated and vilified by their neighbours, it is to be expected that the Mexican identity, and Mexicans, will suffer similar situations abroad.

It happened to the players of the Guadalajara football team, who yesterday described how they were the recipients of mockery, contempt and even derogatory comments when they took a walk around the Viña del Mar shopping centre in Chile, where they had travelled to play a match, as well as having been subjected to strict inspections by the authorities on their entry to the country.

This is an illustrative example of the damage that Mexico's image will suffer abroad, and of all the time, costs and diplomatic efforts that will have to go into making up for it. The financial cost will be felt straightaway, and the decline in investments and tourism will intensify the recession and decrease in unemployment that the country is currently experiencing, but it will also reemerge as a painful hangover once the emergency has passed.