A Manifesto for Civil Relations across the Rio Grande
As citizens of Mexico go to polls, troops from the USA deploy to the Rio Bravo. Only a coincidence you say? I say you avoid any appearance of such confusion by not militarizing that border in the first place. With still only 600 troops to the border out of 6,000 projected, it is time to call this off.
The coincidence of Mexican elections with USA militarization may look like a goof from a Yanqui state of mind, but from the point of view of the peoples of Latin America, the simulataneity of these events is more likely to evoke a shudder, even if the people feeling it do not precisely locate the history of their felt response.
If one is truly American, in other words, if one cares about all Americans, then the militarization of any border between two American states must be rigorously avoided.
The principle to not militarize American borders increases in importance tenfold when the border in question lies between Latin America and Anglo America. One must attend to minimal ethical standards. The military can only be used as a last resort in situations where civil alternatives have been exhausted. Relations between Anglo America and Latin America cannot be made more healthy by another unilateral deployment of military subjects once again backed by questionable political motives.
In civil affairs, moreover, as opposed to military affairs, there must be a minimum of classified information. What is being done at the border between civil peoples in a civil way must be made available to a civil marketplace of ides.
But already with only 600 troops at the border, top officials in Texas are making it clear that they are not playing a deeply civil game when it comes to their documentary involvements in border deployment. And this should be enough to cause a shudder north of the Rio Grande, even if people are not precisely aware of the historical causes behind their felt response.
MoPress 
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