09/09/2016
The Mexican government is continuing to flail about wildly in response to Donald Trump’s commanding performance when he recently visited the country. One Mexican leader is introducing legislation with would retaliate against America if Trump is elected.The senator proposal’s would tackle three areas he sees as threatened by a Trump presidency. First, it would ban the finance ministry from using public funds on any project that is “against the country’s interest”. In other words, it would be illegal to pay for Mr Trump’s notorious border wall.These measures, it is explained, are designed to "shut Trump’s mouth."Next, if Mr Trump were to cancel the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), that would trigger Mexico’s review, and possible cancellation, of all 75 bilateral agreements between the US and Mexico. These agreements date back centuries and include truly historic deals, including the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American war and resulted in the US acquiring land encompassing the states of Texas and California, as well as large parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming.
Senator Rios Piter said these major deals wouldn’t likely be broken but rather wants the legislation to stress that the US has lots to lose by attacking Mexico.
Finally, Mexico would retaliate if Mr Trump were to economically target Mexicans living in the US. Mr Trump has proposed blocking remittance payments to Mexico to finance his wall. The Mexican proposal would levy an equivalent tax on American citizens living in Mexico. More than one million US citizens reside in Mexico.
[Mexican senator proposes bill to protect country from Donald Trump, by James Fredrick, Telegraph, September 7, 2016]
First, as we've repeatedly pointed out, Mexico has never really accepted the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which would be one of the things cancelled if these measures went through. Of course, if mass immigration continues, American victory in the Mexican War will be reversed anyway de facto, if not de jure. Still, it’s revealing that public officials openly talk about repealing these kinds of treaties. When we discuss the Mexican government’s designs on these territories, it is dismissed as a "conspiracy theory" (as opposed to respectable opinions like, say, "Donald Trump is an agent of the Kremlin.") But the Mexican government is quite open about this.
Second, look at the extreme reaction of the Mexican government against what is considered a slight against the national honor. In America, we are so used to other nations walking all over us that the concept of national honor itself is borderline offensive. Our President thinks it’s just great that athletes are refusing to stand for the national anthem. In Mexico, the different parties from Left to Right compete with each other as to who can be more nationalistic.
Third, Mexico should be cautious about trying to retaliate on remittances. They have far more to lose than Americans do. Mexico is going to pay for the wall, whether they want to or not. It’s just a question of our own will.
The real question is whether America has the right to be conscious of itself as a nation, with a collective identity and real interests. Mexico clearly thinks of itself this way. For some reason, Mexico thinks it is "hateful" if Americans act the same way they do. And for some reason, our own national "leaders," Trump excepted, agree with them.
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