Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Este archivo solo abarca los artículos del autor incorporados a este sitio a partir del 1 de octubre de 2006. Para fechas anteriores realice una búsqueda entrecomillando su nombre.

MundoAmérica, ,

As we try to grasp the enormity of the crisis involving at least 57,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border looking for safe haven, Americans should stop casting blame and be realistic.

We always look for an endpoint, a limit, a boundary. When we're told about a budget shortfall, we want the exact numbers so we can assess the damage. We'll settle for an approximation. "Give me a ballpark figure," we say.

But sometimes, it's not that simple.

Recently, my sources in Texas who have been close to the border kids story since the start -- and have batted 1.000 in terms of the accuracy of their reports -- have been giving me a dire warning.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalIglesia Católica,

“¡Ya era hora!”

De esa forma reaccionó un amigo, mexicano-estadounidense y católico como yo, ante la noticia de que el cardenal Jorge Bergoglio de la Argentina había sido elegido el primer papa latino en los casi dos mil años de la Iglesia Católica. Fue una declaración espontánea, quizá políticamente incorrecta, pero fue honesta y sentida.

Ya era hora.

Y para un católico latinoamericano y obstinado como yo, la elección se dio en el momento justo. ¿Qué tan obstinado? Voy a misa cinco veces por año y hace casi cuarenta que no me confieso. Incluso, cuando voy a misa, soy de aquellos que no comulgan con toda la doctrina moral que impone la Iglesia.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

Mexico City, home to 20 million people, represents the paradox of the modern Mexico, the side-by-side juxtaposition -- in everything from politics to architecture -- of old and new.

Turn a corner, and you'll see a church that is 300 years old. Turn another, and you can get Wi-Fi in a Starbucks.

The Distrito Federal, also known as Mexico City, serves as a constant reminder that Mexicans are about maintaining tradition, except when they're sidestepping it. They're about moving forward, except when they are unable to let go of the past. They're about preserving memory, except when they have amnesia.

For example, when it comes to forgiving the corrupt Institutional Revolutionary Party (also known by its initials, PRI), whose leaders brutalized the Mexican people and plundered the country for much of the 20th century, they have short memories; they recently returned the PRI to power by electing Enrique Pena Nieto to the presidency.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

They're baaaaack. With apologies to Mark Twain, it seems that rumors of the death of Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party were greatly exaggerated.

In fact, I probably wrote that obituary myself, more than once. That's how it looked in 2000, when the Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as PRI, lost the presidency to Vicente Fox of the National Action Party, or PAN. It seemed even more certain in 2006, when the PRI came in a distant third in the presidential election among the three major parties, behind both the conservative PAN and the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party, known as PRD. It seemed that the PRI, which controlled the presidency for 71 years and became synonymous with violence and corruption, was on the road to extinction.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica, ,

Antes, cuando los estadounidenses pensaban en México, se imaginaban una fiesta en donde volaban las margaritas, los mariachis tocaban y todos los días era 5 de Mayo .

Ya no más. Espantosas historias de balaceras al azar, decapitaciones masivas y daños masivos se han convertido en algo común. A los gatilleros les da lo mismo dispararle a docenas de adolescentes en una disco con metralletas y lanzarlegranadas de mano indiscriminadamente a la gente en un festejo. Parece que los mexicanos se han hecho casi inmunes a la carnicería.

Como resultado de esos actos crueles de terrorismo, y los esfuerzos del gobierno por combatirlos, más de 47,000 han muerto en 5 años y medio.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

Parents, you know how it is with kids. One acts up, and so you have to focus your attention on the troublemaker and take your eye off the others. Then, when you're not looking, another one gets out of line.

States are much the same way. The eyes of the nation are fixed on Arizona, the undisputed problem child in our national immigration debate. But there are other states where lawmakers are eager to follow Arizona's lead and blame Washington for not solving a problem that, in truth, their own residents (i.e., employers) helped create.

At least half a dozen of the states thinking about going on this suicide run can perhaps be forgiven their ignorance because the experience of having a sizable population of illegal immigrants is new to them.…  Seguir leyendo »