Lee Cuesta

Lee Cuesta

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Volatility in Mexico

Anyone who doubted the ultimate veracity of my recent post (June 29) should visit the following link:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/07/26/mexico.obrador.ap/index.html

It is still undecided who the president of Mexico will be, or what the outcome will be regardless of the decision. Our southern neighbor now lacks the stability that the PRI provided for over seventy years.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will be the next president of Mexico

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will be the next president of Mexico. I’m on the record today – before the Mexican elections on July 2 – with this prediction. As of today, Lopez Obrador and his closest rival, Felipe Calderon, are running neck-and-neck. Yet I base my prediction (that Lopez Obrador will win the election) on two considerations. First, my own finger on the pulse of Mexican society. My Mexican associates tell me that they feel Lopez Obrador will be the presidential winner. Although voters say that they like Calderon, they now want to give the PRD a chance, just as they did with the PAN, to see how effective it might be governing the nation. This, in turn, is based upon the second factor. Whereas both candidates are attempting to use Mexico’s recent economic upturn to their political advantage, Calderon must concede that it has been his own party’s administration (under Vicente Fox) overseeing the economic stagnation of the past six years. And the PRI candidate isn’t even popular in this election. So I repeat: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will be the next president of Mexico. The question that remains is this: What effect will this new president have on Mexico-U.S. relations?

Thursday, May 18, 2006

“legal or illegal, it doesn’t matter”

Dear Lee: The freedom and prosperity all immigrants are seeking is undermined by the attitude expressed by Melanie Lugo “legal or illegal, it doesn’t matter,” (Million march for immigration reform, Tues., May 2, 2006). Her comment epitomizes the attitude that daily disrupts the fabric of Mexican culture in Mexico and which these illegal aliens wish to now impose on the United States. As a U.S. citizen I lived legally in Mexico for a many years. During that time I and my Mexican national friends were periodically victimized by the corrupt Mexican police officers prowling the streets, and the corrupt local and federal government workers extorting their fellow man because their attitude is “ 'legal or illegal, it doesn’t matter;' I need to provide for my family”. Isn’t this the very philosophy of the illegal aliens residing in our country? I am passionately calling for our country to reject this attitude so that all legitimate immigrants will find the freedom that they are seeking which ultimately depends upon “legal does matter”. Judy from Colorado

About Me

My photo
LEE CUESTA, a journalist who worked in Mexico City, has written about the complexities in Chiapas for a decade, acquiring firsthand experience in both Tuxtla Gutiérrez and San Cristóbal de Las Casas. As a fully bilingual writer, the author has been published in periodicals such as Northwest, Eternity, World Pulse, Indian Life, Interlit, Prisma, El Faro and Apuntes Pastorales. The articles receive international response. In addition, Cuesta is the author of the novel entitled Once: Once, about religious intolerance and an independence movement in Chiapas, along with a conspiracy to recapture territory that once belonged to Mexico. In it, he combines the skills of a storyteller and investigative reporter to penetrate the historical, social and spiritual dimensions of this convincing tale. It provides a rare and stunning glimpse into the elements that render neighboring cultures so incompatible.

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