STEREOTYPES OF MEXICO

I read with concern your Dec. 29 article headlined "Drug traffic's newest
wave." Even though it does not seem intentional, its orientation harms the
Latino community settled in this region, especially those of Mexican
origin. It is very unfortunate that the article attempted to analyze an
extremely complex subject through a stereotyped vision that was overcome
several years ago in the bilateral agenda between Mexico and the United
States. It is true that in Mexico there are important criminal
organizations involved in drug trafficking, which are being firmly fought
under President Vicente Fox's administration, and it is also true that some
Mexican workers are being used to smuggle drugs into the United States.
However, as Andrea Bazan-Manson, executive director of El Pueblo, Inc. [a
Hispanic advocacy group in Raleigh] was quoted as saying, the vast majority
of Latino immigrants come to this country to work arduously in order to
forge a better future for themselves and their families. It is true as well
that the drug activity has no nationality, that the most attractive market
for the trafficking organizations is on this side, and that thousands of
individuals participate in the distribution chain, mainly American citizens.

Comments tendentiously directed towards Mexico and its nationals as the
source of serious drug-related problems that, sadly, many sectors of
American society undergo, originate from a twisted focus that not even the
former U.S. anti-drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, was able to modify. McCaffrey
always insisted that the war against drugs had to be combated through
education and cooperation, not by promoting stereotypes.

I hope readers will reach a just and balanced opinion of the Latino
presence, particularly the Mexican one, in this hospitable great state of
North Carolina.

Armando Ortiz-Rocha

Consul of Mexico

Raleigh