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Barnard
Professor Robert C. Smith Comments on Mexican Elections on
Los Angeles Radio
 Los
Angeles, C.A., July 23, 2003 – Barnard sociologist Robert
C. Smith believes the recent election of a Mexican-American
immigrant to a seat in the Mexican Congress will accelerate
the trend toward "transnational" politicking by
this group.
An expert on Mexican immigration and socio-political issues,
Smith said in an interview with Los Angeles radio station
KPCC that the July 6th election results were part of the growing
demand for diasporic representation by Mexican migrants. Previously,
six Mexican-Americans have run for office in the Mexican elections.
Mexican immigrants ran as migrants who would remain in the
United States while in office and represent the Mexican diaspora
to the Mexican Congress. Manuel de la Cruz of the Norwalk
section in Los Angeles was elected through the left-leaning
Party of the Mexican Revolution. De la Cruz’s election
is representative of the emerging notion among Mexican-Americans
"that a truly democratic Mexico would in fact have to
include Mexican migrants as a vital part of the imagined political
community," Smith said.
According to Smith, the fear on the part of the PRI, the Party
of the Institutional Revolution, which had ruled Mexico for
71 years until the election of Vicente Fox in 2000, of being
blamed for Mexico’s failure, is a big factor in its desire
to block migrants from getting the right to vote or for naturalized
citizens from being elected to Congress in their party. However,
being perceived as anti-migrant is becoming an increasingly
dangerous position to hold, argues Smith. "What is interesting
is that the debate on whether or not to allow migrants to
vote and how migrants should be allowed to participate in
politics has been quite smartly linked up by migrant activists
with the concept of democratization in Mexico," he says.
Smith points out that although the Mexican constitution contains
an amendment guaranteeing Mexicans abroad the right to vote,
the enacting legislation has never been passed and must be
presented again to congress in September. However, Smith contends
that President Vicente Fox’s party does not have the
political strength to ensure that the enacting legislation
is pushed through congress, over the objections of the Party
of the Institutional Revolution.
Smith believes that the relationship between President George
W. Bush and President Fox has had a significant political
impact in Mexican politics. The effects of September 11th
drastically altered Bush’s political agenda and halted
the U.S efforts with Mexico, leaving President Fox stuck with
nothing to offer migrants. Previously, migrants were to play
a crucial role in the political relationship between the U.S.
and Mexico. According to Smith, expectations on the part of
Fox and migrants had been high and both have been extremely
disappointed.
Migrants are instead pressuring political parties in Mexico
with their demand for diasporic representation. "The
reason for the big push on democratic congressional parties
is that migrants have been so frustrated with Fox’s inability
to move on his promise to give them the right to vote from
abroad in presidential elections, so they have gone directly
to the political parties. They’ve entered through another
door of the political system and pressured the parties,"
says Smith.
Smith is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Barnard College.
His work focuses on Mexican migration to the U.S. and the
northeast in particular, analyzing issues of transnationalization,
immigrant incorporation and stat-diaspora relations. He is
curre
ntly conducting
a research project on second-generation adaptation funded
by the National Science Foundation and is revising a book
manuscript "Los Ausentes Siempre Presentes: The Politics
of Membership, Gender and Generation in the Making of a Transnational
Community." He has published more than 10 articles or
book chapters on migration- related issues. In addition, Smith
is also the co-founder of MEXED, Mexican Educational Foundation
of New York, a non-profit organization that creates mentorship
networks and seeks scholarships for Mexican and Mexican-American
students in New York.
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