Regine January 2, 2008 activism, life online, politics

VOTEMOS.US – Mexico decides

As mentioned in Hyper-Border, a book i reviewed a few days ago, Mexico and the United States live in a state of interdependence: Mexico’s economy relies on remittances, while the US need Mexican undocumented super cheap labour force. The United States has had a powerful influence in the Mexican national elections, how about turning that around?

Votemos.us is a Spanish language portal that proposes a vote in the US presidential elections for the millions of (il)legal Mexicans who currently live and work in the United States.

Visitors can register with the site, vote, write an opinion on the elections, read other people’s views and react to it.

“The goal of the project is not only to point to the fact that within the US border lives a very active Mexican population that contributes to the national economy and is not allowed to vote, but also to present a repository of information and links to the Latin American community (within and beyond the U.S.) concerning the US national elections and to establish a public space to share their views. “

Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga‘s project is one of the most interesting i’ve read about recently: for its power to raise the debate on the role that migrants can and/or should have in political life in the US (but also in several European counties), for the lists of facts, figures and articles that provide visitors with more knowledge on the issue and if you read spanish, i can only recommend you to peak inside the page where “registered voters” share their views on the upcoming elections.

6Comments

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1

Claude on January 3, 2008 at 2:51 am

If the U.S. had any influence over elections in Mexico, Mexicans would be better off than they are wouldn’t be trying to flee north.
The fact is that over the last few decades, Mexico’s economic policies have failed to foster an environment where a middle class can be created and sustained.
2

Jose Marquez on January 3, 2008 at 4:15 pm

I second Claude’s comment and add that migrants from Mexico have already benefited from 20 years of lax employment laws, allowing at least 12 million to work illegally in the U.S. No Democratic candidate wants to change that and Republican president George W Bush attempted to create a permanent loophole with a guest worker program.
If Zúñiga’s (and, by her endorsement, Regine’s) objective is to use the red herring of “voting for illegal immigrants” in order to shock their middle class audience and thus prime them for better absorption of “facts, figures and articles,” it’s an understandable tactic, however flawed the execution.
But if the true goal is enfranchisement and thus political change, both would be far better off addressing the pervasive corruption of the PRI party in Mexico and especially in its poorest, rural areas.
If art is to be judged by its political impact, a more effective piece in this regard is the documentary The Sixth Section, which depicts Mexican migrants organizing in the U.S. to influence politics in Mexico. The Mexican elite have never allowed a Mexican middle class to form – but one has formed, in the U.S.
3

René Serrano on January 3, 2008 at 5:34 pm

Best wishes to 2008 Regine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4

Ricardo Miranda Zuniga on January 5, 2008 at 4:42 am

I always have difficulty responding to conservative reactions to my work, because it generally leads to an ideological back and forth – each side will have its valid argument underscored by facts. An issue such as immigration in the United States is too complex to have a right or wrong perspective. For example, to Jose’s statement that “migrants from Mexico have already benefited from 20 years of lax employment laws, allowing at least 12 million to work illegally in the U.S.”, I could simply reply with the numbers presenting how much the U.S. economy has benefitted from it’s undocumented labor force and that Democratic candidates as well as Bush aren’t seeking to change this because the migrant work force is recognized as a necessary part of the economic engine.
And to Claude’s incredibly naive and incorrect statement, I would simply point out that Mexico’s second-largest bank, Banamex, is now a subsidiary of Citigroup, a U.S. company. In fact over the last two to three decades, the Mexican economy has been increasingly maneuvered by U.S.-based wealth. During the mid-1990’s there was a Mexican immigration spike to the U.S. because of a devastated Mexican economy and who brought about this devastation? US financial corporate entities:
“Led by Wall Street heavies Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citi, Fidelity, Chase, and others, these finance industry leaders got Congress to permit financial institutions to increase family debt in the United States by enacting legislation friendly to mega-banks (financial holding companies) while thwarting consumer-friendly legislation. The same U.S.-based financial services leaders played a leading role in increasing family debt to unmanageable levels in Mexico in the mid to late 1990s through their influence of the U.S. Congress.”
Read the full story
Also in response to Jose, I don’t think that art should ever be judged by its political impact, at least not the work that I do. If that were what I was after, I’d enter politics. Votemos.us is not a work that seeks cultural legitimation, nor is it a conventional documentary like The Six Section. Alex Rivera the director of The Six Section is a good friend of mine and I admire his work and I agree that The Six Section is a powerful documentary and a great teaching tool, as a successful documentary should be.
I created votemos.us as an online art work that wonders how the US political landscape would be transformed if all residents in the United States could vote; if the US political theater actually reflected its population, what would it become? Then just for kicks, I decided to push it further – lets give Mexico a vote! Anyone incapable of envisioning a world without borders or anyone too naive to recognize the strong hold that US corporations have in today’s global economy particularly in Mexico will have a difficult time recognizing the reality behind the parody.
Recently I went to see “November” a play by David Mamet in which a failing neocon president schemes every way possible to remain in office. My favorite line is by his advisor who tells him that the border fence can’t be built because there are no workers to build it.
5

Luiz Felipe on January 9, 2008 at 7:59 pm

There is a movie called “A day whitout a mexican”, isn’t it?”
Although it’s just a movie and it can be biased by its author or director, it’s an exercise that we all should try to do. Would americans survive whitout mexicans? And what about the opposite?
6

ricardo on May 1, 2008 at 8:58 pm

VOTEMOS.US Weekly Video Podcast Now Available – http://votemos.us/video.php
VOTEMOS.US the site that questions what the 2008 U.S. presidential elections would look like if all residents in the U.S. could vote will now feature weekly video interviews with U.S. immigrants and Mexico City residents concerning the presidential elections and general relations between the United States and Latin America.
Although VOTEMOS.US is a Spanish-language site, the videos have English language subtitles so that U.S. citizens may have an insight into the views of their Spanish speaking neighbors within the country as well as those south of the border. The weekly video interviews are available on the site – http://votemos.us/video.php and as a podcast or rss feed – http://votemos.us/index.xml
This week Argentine Jose Antonio Lazzari relaxing in the park Alameda Central located in the historical center of Mexico City states that he would not vote for Obama, Hillary or McCain and he questions who the leftist candidates are in the U.S… Jose Antonio goes on to point out that the United States is controlled by the transnational companies that are making a fortune in Iraq.
We had a lengthy conversation with Jose Antonio Lazzari, a theater actor and educator who runs a free school in Argentina. Sections of this conversation will be published over the next few weeks. Past interviews with NYC undocumented resident Raymundo are also available and all videos will be archived on the site: http://votemos.us/video.php

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