When Citigroup announced recently the acquisition of Banamex, I felt that my assumptions about the world were greatly challenged. I felt that way not because it is not a good thing that a major U.S. institution acquires a major Mexican institution, but because when I was growing up in the 1950s and '60s, that would have been anathema in Mexico.
Mexico had sacred national institutions. Among them were oil, power, telecommunications, many financial services and education. While banking had been mostly private over the years, it was considered a Mexican institution and very heavily regulated. In fact, many -- particularly outside Mexico -- thought that Banco Nacional de México, or Banamex, was the Bank of Mexico, a parallel to the U.S. Federal Reserve. That such an institution became the subsidiary of a U.S. conglomerate speaks of major changes in the way Mexico and the United States think about each other.
A parallel phenomenon will be Borderhack 2.0 in Tijuana Aug. 24-26, where large numbers of activists and intellectuals will gather to question the existence of the "wall" between the United States and Mexico. Further, President Vicente Fox has initiated a project to provide "aid" packages to migrants hoping to make their way to work in the United States.
These are just a few of the developments that signal major changes in the relationship between two countries that for a long time could not dream of opening the border that divides them. Just consider the logic of pretending that the millions of illegal working Mexicans in many U.S. cities are disposable. In my job as a market researcher and analyst, many of them have personally told me that a great test of the California economy would be to see how the state would fare if all illegal Mexicans left for a month. Many believe the state economy would nearly collapse.
So why pretend? The economies of multiple towns and cities in Mexico and in the United States depend on the strength of workers who have been deprived of dignity over the years. It would make sense to reconcile history and present reality to look for the best interest of both countries.
I would have considered it impossible and even insulting to tear down the border between Mexico and the United States when I was a young person growing up in Mexico City. Now that I have migrated to the United States, I have loyalty to both countries because they have been incredibly generous and good to me. Like me there are several million others. We contribute to two economies and two cultures.
While I may not see in my lifetime the disappearance of the border between the United States and Mexico, eventually it will disappear. It has to. There is no other logical choice. As with many other political borders, the realities of modern countries make these divisive lines irrelevant.
I am not naïve. I understand that the magnitude of a change like deleting a border between these two countries has enormous implications and presents severe challenges. On the other hand, continuing to pretend that the two economies and cultures are separate at the point of a political line hurts more than helps the growth of both countries.
I venture to guess that as in the case of telecommunications, financial institutions, manufacturing and even energy, private enterprise will probably be the catalyst of the demise of the political border between the two countries. Economic interests have historically been the most decisive agents of change.
With amusement, I observe the so called "Latinization" of the United States. It consists of a relentless northward stream of influence via the music, fashion, food, and language of those south of the border. That constitutes an interesting counterpoint to the protracted Americanization of Mexico and Latin America for so many years in the past. Now that U.S. consumers proudly cheer with Corona -- made with Mexican water and grain -- and young "Americans" dance to la vida loca, I realize that the mutual acculturation of both countries continues to grow. That is where economies and cultures meet.
For the time being I continue living and working with affection for both sides of La Frontera.
Felipe Korzenny is an analyst with Cheskin, a strategic market research and consulting firm headquartered at Redwood Shores, California.
