Posted on 02/16/2003 5:52:42 AM PST by FryingPan101
MEXICO CITY -- It never ceases to amaze me what a fascinating place Mexico City is. It's so full of life and energy.
There is so much culture, great shopping, world-class restaurants and beautiful architecture. You can say that it has a lot in common with New York City.
Maybe that's why a group of Mexican business leaders thought that former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani could do for La Zona Rosa what he did for Times Square: Clean it up, get rid of the criminals, and make it safe for people.
I hate to disappoint them, but Mexico City is no Big Manzana.
Giuliani's consulting company is being paid $4.3 million to tackle the Mexican capital's high crime rate. Mexico City is considered one of the world's most violent cities, with high rates of kidnappings, robberies and murders.
Official statistics suggest that an estimated 500 crimes are reported every day in and around Mexico City -- but the real figure is thought to be much higher, since it is believed that almost 80 percent of crimes go unreported.
Unfortunately, residents of the Mexican capital have lost faith in their police, prosecutors and judges.
Law-enforcement officials routinely ask for "la mordida" -- which literally translates to "the bite" but really means "the bribe" -- to fix everything from a parking ticket to a murder charge.
Distrusting Mexicans who fall victim to crimes don't report it to the police because most feel the cop is probably involved in crime himself.
One of the main problems is that until recently, anyone who wanted to be a police officer simply filled out an application, and he or she would be given a uniform, badge and gun the very next day. The average street cop in Mexico has only a third-grade education.
The average salary is about $100 a month. They feel it pays better to commit crimes than to try to stop them.
So far, Giuliani's venture into Mexican internal affairs has been met with the traditional Mexican skepticism over advice from across the border.
But the former mayor, who still enjoys international adoration for his handling of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and for cleaning up Times Square, seems undeterred.
Giuliani is a crime-fighter-turned-politician, not a miracle worker. It is a shame that crime is driving Mexicans away from their own capital and keeping fearful tourists away.
But it's going to take a lot more than $4 million and a year's worth of advice from America's favorite mayor to end decades of corruption and distrust
Mexicans will not even go to D.F. if they don't have to. Mexico can ONLY be run by a strong hand like Carranza, Porfirio Diaz or Moquetezuma. No one else can manage the place. And, all of the pundits will scream and holler about what happens when it is run that way. I could tell you why, but then I'd get flamed.
Once criminals realize that the odds are stack so desparately against them, crime will plummet. EZ...
The problem in such societies is that crime is so rampant that police are overwhelmed and simply become ineffective. In turn they become an additional layer of the bureaucracy and subject to all the weaknesses of such. In many countries the attitude takes a turn from attempting to solve or stop a crime to "We can't do anything about them, so we'll do something about YOU!" The citizen then becomes the criminal in such societies. The God given rights of self-defense are stripped from them and they become essentially slaves or "property" of the state with no personal rights to speak of.
Whatever. Why would Guiliani want to help an active enemy of America anyway? Someone flush Mexico already.
This is not acurate. They want to be wealthy like the US and maybe taking short cuts to do it but they admire and yes envy the US but calling mexico an active enemy that needs "flushed" like a post bowel movement waste product, is over the line.
You're talking to someone who'd give them every chance, too.
They crossed the line long ago. Fox is no friend to the US.
If Mexico wanted to be a friend, they could begin by actively participating in stopping illegals from entering this country. They could set up tropps along the border to stop drug lords from assaulting and murdering our border patrols. They might even support initiatives within the UN for the USA to defend themselves.
No sir. Mexico is France with a Spanish Accent.
Don't tell me I'm over the line until you can forward a single credible aruguement that Mexico is actively working to support the USA as a good friend and neighbor. They are not.
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