Mexico poses a number of questions including an ongoing and extremely violent war on drugs, high levels of inequality and poverty, and questions of identity and immigration to its wealthy neighbor, the U.S., said Associate Dean Julia Buxton. Mexican writers Alvaro Enrigue, Reyna Grande, Valeria Luiselli, Eduardo Rabasa, and Mexican editor Diego Rabasa shared insights into their country during a panel discussion on June 6 at the view from here: artists // public policy.
Violence and poverty are often found hand in hand, noted the panelists. "I grew up in Iguala, which is in the second poorest state in Mexico," said Grande. "Thirty years later, the street where I grew up is still the third world: families still live in shacks on dirt roads, and there is no running water." Iguala has become very violent and unstable as a result of the war on drugs, particularly after the kidnapping of 43 students in 2014. "Many families from Iguala have left for the U.S. to seek asylum. Unfortunately their claims are often denied," Grande said.
Speaking of tragedies like the student kidnappings in Iguala, Luiselli emphasized that her role as a writer "is not to regurgitate what is in the news." Reacting strongly to the drug wars in Mexico, she "never wanted to add to the terrible noise that was not explaining anything." She participated in events not as an artist or writer, but rather as a citizen. While waiting for her green card in the U.S., she began volunteering as a translator for child immigrant cases in New York City courts assisting with the influx of children who began arriving alone from Mexico in fall 2013.
Enrigue blamed the violence from the war on drugs for being one driver for the enormous movement of people from south to north in North America. "Mexico is traumatized by an unspoken war that remains undefined by international hypocrisy," Enrigue said emphatically. Reacting to Luiselli's comment about avoiding direct references to the war on drugs, Enrigue noted that "subtracting your voice from the noise is another way of being political and pointing to other spaces in the conflict." Mexico has an "endless thirst" for an explanation of what has happened, he said, and the role of writers is "to give evidence and put issues outside the box" to change people's perspectives.
Diego Rabasa summarized the feelings of Luiselli and Enrigue by citing the art installation "What Else Could We Talk About?" by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles noting that it was an example of "not adding to the noise" on violence and drugs. He also highlighted that getting involved in the drug war is difficult because it's no longer clear where the lines are drawn. "Poverty is at the core of violence in Mexico, but what is at the core of poverty?" asked Rabasa. "Mexico is a horror show," added Eduardo Rabasa, "but Mexico City still serves as a vibrant cultural capital. We can't let this devour us, and we need to talk about other things too."