Mexico:

finding

freedom in a
one-party state

“God bless aud keep the Cour... far
away frou us A mock prover
of the Russians Jews.

NOGALES, SONORA,
MEXICO — Having carcied
on so about the loss of free-
doms in Canada and the
United States, how can i naw
xplain the Feeling of free-
dom that overtook me this
morning on erossing the
Mexican border?

This countey isa’ hike Prince

seard sland in the divs of Anne
of Green Gables. Nasty things hap-
pen here,

Sone of the police sill use tor
ture Whee daterogatings prisoners
Other police have been known to
InoonTiht as drug trattickers on as
simple bandits.

AS for haw and reniaitions,
which are now so numerous in
Canada and the ULS, ght scarcedy
anybody pets throagh a diay without
peching halt dozen he sever

heard about, che Mexican state anid
maven lepistatares: have that same
tnpulse te try to kegishtle people
into Heaven.

Nevertheless it feels like tree:
dons and the testing alone is worth
the price of admittinee, even if it's.
spurious.

What the visiting Cringe soon
learns is thal the Mexican people
pay as dite attention as possible to
what the government says.

What he soon feels (right or
wrong) is that he fas returtied to the
days Canadians kyew half a century
ago which were simple, cleats and
enforceable,

They are the laws that people of
all countriss have
known for thou.
sands Of years.
Do not steal, nor
rob, nor rape, Do
hot burn and do
nor kill, Whatever
you may do in
private, in public
conduct yourself
with madesty and

sense. are male meter

That's about
all the operative
ones, Having
spent a lot of time
in this country, |
am left with the
feeling that | can
do pretty well
anything [like as long as it does not
interfere with the rights of my
ncighbors and is not grossly offen-
sive,

The aw provides me with less
protection here, There isn’t the
same respect for it as is traditional
among the gringos.

There are hardly any lawyers.
few courts and most of the police
you see are male meter maids.

What is welcome is that here the
law also interferes with me less.

A ready example was driving
late at night in Mexico City with a
Mexican friend. | stopped at a red
light.

“Why are you stopping?" he
said,

“Because the fight is red.”

“My friend. that light is red so
that you won't go out into the inter-
section and be hit by traffic coming
from the left or right.”

“Lknow.”

“But as you can see, there is no
traffic left or right.”

“That doesn’t matter.” E said.
“When the fight is red [have to
stop.”

His eves were softened with pity
for me. He considered me to have

66 Most of the

police Vou see

maids.

Paul
st. Pierre

PAULITICS & PERSPECTIVE

been Draiiwashed or if not dat,
then totaly tihably and ite.
deemably insane.

Nowhere ts the old Biblical
INjuRCHOR More honored, that Hie
Jaws os rnmde Foc pai not man for
the Lew

The buresueniey, when itis
chvountercd, can be Gtesamicly
slow fo deh

The cornpiter is nob yet univer
sab ind fastesed heaps atid ciasses af
paperaccumabie about every ae
SEATON,

ln mest cases, nobody will evel
beoable to tind amy cre piece at
saper again. but thy ritial al eta
jog the documents is cerried ot lor
its OW Sake,

Yet io rural areas stich as ours,
bureaucrats Hemselves can be flys -
ible, dowa to carth and belptal,

There isa tradition for dirt alse,

Inthe days of Spanish colonial
rule kings regularly sent oul instruc:
fions frome Mitdrid
that did aot tit
logal conditiens of
Jocal habils of
thought,

Accordingly,
they were ignored,
Spanish viceroys
had a saying for
such defiance of
the monareh, 2
polite saying as
you tnight expect.
Tt translates as “I
obey. but Ldo nat
fulfil” Figure that
Out

People in our
part of rurit
Mexico also light-
en the over-regulated gringo’s day
when they have one of their occa.
sional confrontations with govern-
ment.

A gringo woman who took a bus
trom the litle village of Teacapan
for Mazatlan recounts one story.

Mexican immigration police
stopped the bus and examined
everybody's papers.

They were said to be hunting for
illegals coming up trom Guatemala.
The policeman studied the woman's
passport and then her face fora
loag me. When he left the bus, the
driver stopped hin.

“Why were you looking so hard
at her?”

“It's ny job.” said the uni-
formed man

“Listen.” said the driver, “that
woman lives ta our village. As fhe
as Pin concerned she’s a Mexican.”

The immigration officer held up
both hands, “AH right. all right, all
night. Pm just doing my job.”

“Don't do it on my bus.” said
the driver.

He had go authorty to sav it He
just took the liberty of dain so.
Thar’s what there seems to he se
much of here. Liberty.

Reduce, Reuse,

Re

Recycle

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Friday, December 24, 1999 ~ North Shore News ~ G

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