New music from Txapultepek: "Panamerikano"

(versión en español)

As many of you know, I love music, especially electronic music. I have been working on a few songs lately, going as Txapultepek, and I wanted to share with all of you this song I produced a few days ago. It's my public debut!

Source: Txapultepek

In essence, "Panamerikano" is a song that mixes some of my favorite musical elements:

- Rich chords
- Trancey moods
- Latin beats with lots of syncopation and percussion

There is a lot of good Latin Electronica music coming out recently that mixes electronic music with autochthonous Latin rhythms (check out the Day Off Mexico parties in Mexico City at the end of every month for a taste), so I hope to contribute to that "audioture" with this and future songs. It's also the first song I produce that has lyrics.

Here's the link to my SoundCloud so you can check it out: https://soundcloud.com/txapultepek/panamerikano

"Panamerikano" is inspired in this incredible moment of renovation and growth we are experiencing in Mexico and Latin America and the sense of regional unity and brotherhood it is creating in our countries. Hopefully, it is the first of many songs I will be sharing with you!

I hope you guys find it danceworthy!

Txapultepek

Cooperation and intransigence: political lessons for the U.S. from South of the Border

(versión en español)

In the year that has passed since I moved back to Mexico, I have learned from its current administration an important lesson that I would now like to apply to my personal life: in transcendental moments, pragmatism and cooperation are more profitable than ideology and intransigence. In the political environment in Mexico today, this vision is allowing us, finally, to construct the foundations for the country that we all desire. The current government--by no means perfect, but one of the most systematically pragmatic governments we have ever had--has decided to set ideology aside in order to promote the most significant process of transformation that we have lived in decades. Without a well-defined ideology, the current administration has put forth policies both from the right and the left. Its vision is not defined by anyone's canon, rather it attempts to go beyond the divisions that fragment our society for the sake of the "greater good" or, at the very least, for the sake of its own political success. Regardless of what its underlying motivation might be, what is undeniably true is that the current administration in Mexico has shown that it is possible to overcome political gridlock; in fact, as many have already pointed out, the political performance of the current government in Mexico could be a good example to follow for its neighbors (see the recent Christian Science Monitor, for example).

While in the United States politics now routinely stagnates in a morass of hatred and antagonism between its political parties, in Mexico--in spite of the tripartite political system that everyone had condemned as the worst of all scenarios and, perhaps, because of it--we have reached a fundamental agreement: let us forget about our differences and let us focus on what we can all agree our country needs. We are neither rich, nor poor; we are neither Conservative, nor Liberal; we are humans, we are Mexicans and we all want a better country. We may not agree on everything, certainly not on "how" we can create a better country, but there does exist a consensus today on the fact that great things, dramatic changes must be carried out now so as to take advantage of this historic moment we are living. 

There certainly exist frictions between the parties that dominate politics in Mexico and, as a result, the pact that has been established for our country becomes strained from time to time. Nonetheless, despite our differences, the country continues to put forth a vision for itself that is not contingent on a consensus on the details, but that rather gains strength from our capacity as a nation to prioritize the processes that we must carry out to create the country we all want: a more prosperous, more inclusive, more peaceful and happier Mexico... 

This pax mexicana will not last forever. And so much the better for it, since a greater degree of political contestation will allow us to grow and to improve as a nation, in due time. The important thing to remember is that there are times to argue and fight and there are times to forget about our disagreements and cooperate. Today, we are in a stage in our life as a nation that demands transformation, creation, maturation; we are in a time of global shocks in which every country must decide in what direction they want to go. This moment in our history requires forceful action; a vision that transcends factions; an attitude that gives priority to the goals we have in common. When the grand bargains to transform our country have been established, then we may return to the perennial struggle that allows nations to define the details of the plans they want to carry out as economies, nations and societies.  

As for the United States, it is unclear to me what are the main obstacles for reconciliation. At this point I have more questions than answers, I suppose: What is it about a country that almost allows itself (and the rest of the world) to drown as a result of the inflexibility of its political parties? What can we say about a nation that every day becomes more and more polarized and that actively promotes ideology, rejects cooperation and calls any efforts for reconciliation a lack of integrity?

As a citizen of both of these great countries, whose futures will forever be intrinsically intertwined, I hope that cooperation in Mexico bears fruits soon and I hope that this compels Americans to take note and apply the lesson.

The gaping distance between American's perception of Mexico and the truth...

Yesterday, on This American Life (TAL), one of my favorite shows on National Public Radio (NPR), I heard the story of Emily Bonderer Cruz, a.k.a. the "Real Housewife of Ciudad Juárez". Emily is an American who married an undocumented Mexican and who, after running out of legal recourses, left everything behind to pursue a life with her husband in Juárez. As punishment for her husband having entered the U.S. illegally, they will have to remain in Juárez for ten years before they are allowed to return to the U.S., together. The story is fascinating and heartwarming, until...you realize how incredibly warped Emily's perception of the country she now calls home still is, even after having lived there for several years.

I was shocked, for instance, when Emily began to describe the "privileges" she believes only she and a handful of others in Mexico enjoy: "Like, I love this neighborhood. It's like the perfect mixture of America and Mexico to me, because I am not so, like, hardcore, you know, pioneer, that I could really do real Mexico. I mean, I guess maybe I could, I just don't have like the balls or, I don't know, the ovaries to live on a ranch or not have running water or whatever. And there's other things that I, like, just like to have, like, you know, an oven, for instance, um, those are like privileges here, um, and I definitely have those things in my house and I really enjoy that..." Seriously? Does Emily really believe that having running water or an oven are privileges in Mexico in 2013? Do TAL and NPR feel that this is an accurate depiction of Mexico that it is worth spreading and perpetuating?  

First, most people in Mexico do not live in a ranch. In fact, according to the World Bank, 78% of Mexicans live in urban communities (in the U.S., the percentage is 83%). Second, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, 94.4% of Mexicans today have access to improved sources of water, while more than 90% have water that is "piped on premises". Finally, according to Mexico's National Survey of Household Income and Expenditures, 90% of households in Mexico have either a gas or an electric stove. So, no, the things Emily describes as privileges are hardly luxuries in Mexico...

I invite Emily, and the producers of TAL, to do more background research on the state of economic affairs in Mexico so that they may cease contributing to the backwards perception that Americans have of their Southern neighbor. Yes, poverty in Mexico is still widespread (around 45% of the population is considered "poor") and income inequality is also high, but the truth of the matter is that things in Mexico are rapidly changing for the better: Mexico's stable macroeconomic foundations and moderate growth in the past decade have reduced poverty, reduced inequality (the Gini coefficient in Mexico today is now almost the same as it is in the U.S, 48.3 vs. 45.0, respectively) and have increased access to basic services and finance for millions. And with the structural reforms we are now finally undertaking, our country is gearing up for what will hopefully become a new period of sustained growth. 

- - -  

Maybe it isn't a big deal that this one woman has a distorted view of the economic realities in Mexico, but what I do consider a travesty is that she has a voice on NPR and that she is able to perpetuate in the minds of millions of Americans, Canadians, Brits and Australians who listen to this show a false view of who we, Mexicans, are and where we stand in relation to them. It certainly doesn't help Mexico and it doesn't help the U.S. either.

It is difficult for me to understand why the gulf between American's perception of Mexico and the reality we Mexicans experience is so wide. After thinking about this long and hard, though, the only thing I can conclude is that the gap between perception and reality is defined by our unwillingness to change our beliefs. I don't understand why Americans are so reluctant to give Mexico another chance; I don't understand why it is so difficult for them to desist from condemning Mexico to a perpetual state of violence and poverty, in spite of the evidence. The day we, Americans and Mexicans alike, accept that Mexico is changing and maturing and that this is not a threat to anyone, but rather a great opportunity for all of us, the world will begin to see the truth about one of the most magnificent countries on the planet. I really look forward to that day. 

Car Tyranny in Latin America and What to Do about It

In today’s world of rising incomes and improving conditions for millions of Latin Americans, cars——the quintessential modern symbol of social advancement——have come to dominate the urban landscape in countries like Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. Such has been the rise in their importance that as their numbers have grown, Latin American pedestrians have been unforgivingly relegated to the lowest level of priority on the roads. The automobile culture that has grown in Latin American cities simply does not value pedestrians; rather, it treats them as an encumbrance, an urban nuisance not worthy of respect, much less of the right of way. Latin American pedestrians today thus lack not only the enforceable rights and the resources, but also the confidence and the social authority to stand up to the automobiles that often threaten their physical integrity and with which they must inevitably share the streets.

Cars in Latin American cities——large, medium and small——park on pedestrian pathways, stop on crosswalks and, worst of all, when pedestrians attempt to cross a street without a traffic light, instead of yielding to them, drivers speed up so as to impose their priority on the roads. Further, in intersections that are not large enough to merit a street light, but that are large enough to cause difficulties for pedestrians, pedestrians must often wait several minutes until the flow of traffic clears completely before they can cross.

As far as the laws are concerned, in places like Mexico City, pedestrians have the right of way, but car drivers do not care to respect laws that are not enforced and pedestrians——most of which might not even know they have the right of way——lack the confidence to demand priority on the roads. As Rodrigo Díaz, a Chilean blogger that lives in Mexico City, puts it: “[Pedestrians in Mexico City] wait timidly on street corners, run to cross the streets as if asking for forgiveness, breaking apart into apologies and bows for having dared interrupt the passing of the Automobile Lords”. In large part, the intimidation and insecurity experienced by pedestrians in Mexico City stems from the fact that, on average, pedestrians belong to lower socioeconomic strata than those who drive cars. In a society like Mexico——or in any other in Latin America for that matter——belonging to these lower-income groups oftentimes leads to a complex of inferiority that ultimately affects the perception of one's rights...It is no secret that in Mexico City most pedestrians walk out of necessity rather than by choice and that they wholeheartedly aspire to owning a car one day; understandably so, given the condition of public transit and pedestrians in that otherwise magnificent city.

The situation worsens every day as more and more Latin Americans find themselves in a position to purchase a car and cities with poor urban design and management prioritize the growing class of car owners and create ever more transversal, peripheral and “two-story highways” and parking lots. There are, to be sure, some signs of urban enlightenment in Latin America and efforts to promote improved public transit and non-motorized transportation: the pedestrian thoroughfares in downtown Mexico City, its Ecobici bike-share program and bike lanes along Paseo de la Reforma and in Coyoacán, the Zona T and countless miles of bike paths in Bogotá and the Bus Rapid Transit systems in both of these cities and many others in the region. But this is not enough to make cities friendlier for pedestrians, who by the way represent not just those who primarily walk to work or school, but also those who walk to the metro, walk to catch the bus or walk to their cars in faraway parking lots.

What We Need...

What we urgently need in Latin American cities is:

(1) The development of a civic culture that, while placing priority on road safety, respects pedestrians and acknowledges their priority and right of way (due to their higher risk of exposure to harm and to inclement weather) as well as their obligations in cases when they do not have the right of way;

(2) Regulations that clearly recognize, establish and enforce the rights of pedestrians, particularly their right of way in intersections without a traffic light; that establish fines for perpetrators (or suspend the licenses of multiple offenders); and incorporate a “Pedestrian and Road Safety” awareness module for drivers requesting a license.

What Is Being Done and What We Should Continue to Do to Obtain These Policies

Ultimately, a prerequisite for these developments is an improvement in the perception of pedestrians in Latin American cities, both on the part of pedestrians themselves and of non-pedestrians. We can accomplish this through a socialization of the benefits (for health and the environment) that arise from walking rather than using motorized transport and through efforts that create awareness of the rights of pedestrians. By giving pedestrians greater information regarding their rights and reasons to feel proud of themselves we will be able to empower pedestrians in Latin America and motivate them to demand their rights. Similarly, by improving the perception of pedestrians we can encourage a transition out of cars, even within the higher socioeconomic classes in Latin America, as is the case in more pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods like La Condesa and La Roma in Mexico City or La Cabrera and Zona Rosa in Bogota.

One amazing citizen initiative in Guadalajara and Mexico City that has brought hope to the hearts of thousands of Mexican pedestrians is the development of the #wikiciudad, the #wikimulta (fines that citizens print out and place on cars that commit infractions) and the #wikibanqueta projects. In all of these projects citizens decided to create with their own hands the infrastructure that is required for pedestrians and cyclists that their cities are nonetheless unwilling to provide. In Mexico City, for example, a group of mostly young, Internet-age professionals and students called "Camina, Haz Ciudad" decided to paint a sidewalk and crosswalks along a transited highway in Santa Fe, an ultramodern and yet notoriously unsafe neighborhood for pedestrians. Fortunately, more initiatives of this sort are springing up all over the country, a welcome first step in the development of a civic culture that values and protects pedestrians.

Some other ideas to contribute to these efforts are:

- Road safety apps: the development of mobile apps that allow pedestrians to film and denounce imprudent drivers or to report dangerous intersections in their cities

- Citizen cards: Mockus-style citizen cards to show disapproval to drivers who commit infractions

- Social awareness campaigns: campaigns that employ Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social networks and traditional media to promote pedestrian and road safety awareness

- Reclaiming of critical intersections: integral citizen-based solutions to reclaim critical intersections: e.g. #wikiciudad projects or speed camera lotteries

- Memes: SAFELY demanding the right of way in intersections, taking a picture of it and making it a trend on social networks. If “planking” and “owling” became a thing, why can’t “carstalling” become a trend, too?

What other ideas do you have to promote a culture of respect for pedestrians and road safety in Latin America?