Voices of Mexico: Mexican Perspectives on Contemporary Issues

Mexico has always been in favor of non-intervention and the self-determination of peoples. We respect the United States right to establish their own immigration policy. Nevertheless, the approval of Proposition 187 in the state of California is quite worrisome in light of the xenophobia it has generated against Mexicans. One year ago the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, increasing commercial relations between our countries. It would be regrettable if that which has been obtained through so much effort were to collapse due to border problems which can be resolved without fomenting racism. The wave of violence manifested itself once again with the assassination of a first-class political leader. José Francisco Ruiz Massieu had become secretary general of his party, the PRI, and as a distinguished intellectual wanted to advance towards democracy through the education of the people and the holding of impeccable elections. He wrote several books on the new politics and democracy, and in Voices of Mexico No. 27 (April-June 1994) he wrote an important article for us on the democratic transition experienced by Chile and Spain after those countries suffered the dictatorships of Pinochet and Franco, respectively. While Diana Laura Riojas is no longer physically with us, her memory remains. Faced with the assassination of her husband, Luis Donaldo Colosio, she showed a great strength of spirit. One of our best poets wrote that Luis Donaldo had so many reasons to love her; and so did the people of Mexico. The admiration and respect Diana Laura inspired in us will always remain in our hearts. Mexico, a strong country which has suffered great tragedies over the course of its history, will go forward through the pursuit of education for the people and the most modern democracy. In this issue we publish the letter sent to us by the leader of Canada"s Progressive Conservative Party, Jean J. Charest, commenting on the article "From Mulroney to Chrétien: more of the same?" by Thomas Legler, published in our July-September 1994 issue. The diversity of ideas we are glad to present in these pages is the equivalent for our magazine of the academic freedom that exists in our university. This issue features the Dolores Olmedo Museum, as well as the Frida Kahlo Museum. The works of Kahlo —wife of the great muralist Diego Rivera— are currently fetching very high prices in modern art galleries. The public appreciates the artistic power which allowed Frida to overcome her serious physical disabilities. The National University of Mexico organized a series of lectures on the importance of books as a key vehicle for world culture. We publish the comments of one participant in the event held at the Mexico City building known as the Mining Palace. We also publish an article regarding atomic energy, a source of power which can be of the greatest use to humanity; as was pointed out when the force of atomic fission was discovered, this is the energy which nourishes suns. This power must be used only for peaceful00000000 purposes, and never as part of the brutality of war, as occurred in the horrifying massacres of innocents at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Treaty of Tlatelolco, negotiated here in Mexico, commits the nations of this Indo-Latin continent to using atomic energy exclusively for peaceful ends. Miguel León Portilla, who served as our UNESCO representative, is one of Mexico"s most capable linguists, devoted to studying and disseminating the thought of our indigenous, pre- Conquest societies, through languages which are still used in Mexico"s Indian communities. It is extraordinary to witness the profundity of indigenous thought, a few examples of which León Portilla provides in his article for this issue. In "Mexico City in the work of its writers," Vicente Quirarte tells us about Mexican wordsmiths who have spoken of our capital city as part of the literary movement which has placed a number of our writers among Latin America’s "greats." José Agustín Arrieta (1803-1874) was a distinguished costumbrista painter whose art reflected 19th-century society in the city of Puebla. Still-lifes in oil were among the key elements of his extensive wor