Being Consistent, or, Taking Out the Garbage

A document in the state archive of Morelos shows a letter to railroad depots that norteamericanos had been taking pictures of the poor and indigent in the region and exhibiting the pictures in the US. As such, railroad depots were ordered to keep any indigents or other types of poor looking beggars off the platforms so US Americans couldn`t see them. Well, since passenger train service in central Mexico is involved, you know it was not all that recent that such an edict was issued... but this one was 1935.

In 1910, Porfirio Diaz cleanded up the streets of Mexico City for the big centennial bash. As a reward (for that and so many other order and progress actions), folks in Mexico purchased Don Porfirio a one way ticket to Paris. Gaenerous, no? Later, in 1947, the state of Morelos issued cards to tourists explaining that there were so many other nice things to take pictures of besides the beggars, while just a few years later Aleman and his tourist drive would simply toss the poor of Acapulco out on their ears. I understand that Rudy Giuliani and his plan for DF were rejected, but I noticed a real lack of beggars in the north of the city on Molino a few weeks ago, along with tamaleros and other mobile vendors. I suppose what I mean to say is that if nothing, we can give these progress and order types points for being consistent.

I woke up this morning in Cuernavaca to machine guns shooting (I lived in East LA in the early 1990s - I do know what machine gun fire is). I have no idea what happened, but the progress and order folks need to know that the folks that react against them have a pretty good track record of consistency as well. Be they narcos or revolutionaries, somebody who likes a little bit of chaos is going to crash the party. Then again, that is what hegemony is for, no?

Tourism Decline - Bummer or No Bummer?

Another short post as my manuscript deadline bears down... .

Tourism numbers are in and Mexico experienced a 15% decline in tourism revenues for 2009. Bummer for Mexico, but not such a bummer for people who like to go to Mexico. The moral of the story: Go now while the college students are headed to Belize. You can start by signing up for my 2011 course to DF and Merida.

Continuity Over Time

I embrace a theory of history that includes a focus on continuity and change over time. The above tourist spot is interesting to me for the sort of continuity visible in the tourism of the Aleman years (post '46) and today. It appears that Miguel Aleman and his legacy of tourism may make him the fourth most important president of the "post" Revolution (in terms of income).
1) Calles (and the northern governors) for nursing along the early narcotics industry.
2) Avila Camacho for the Bracero program.
3) Cardenas for oil.
4) Aleman for his marketing of Mexico as a tourist destination.

And in terms of the over-the-top video, I have nothing beyond the obvious say about the skewed focus on who is and is not shown in the video. For the most part it is beautifully shot, and the colors are marvelous.

At any rate, pick up a copy of Dina Berger's Development of the Mexican Tourist Industry for some good details. (Palgrave, 2006)

All the below images are from 1950 to 1970. Some times the images are just pretty doggone overt in their message. Some times, like the last picture of the concha and machete, they are pretty Freudian.