Tejas vs. Texas vs. the United States
Diego Martín Velázquez Caballero
George Friedman's perspective on the conflict between Mexico and the United States projected for the year 2080, begins to develop some of its facets in the south of North America and particularly in Texas. The Lone Star State, like others in the American Union, is generating a disruptive dynamic in the face of the appearance of Donald Trump and his style of government; Texas, California and other entities are considering the exit from American federalism not only because of the differences with Trumpism but also because of the internal conflicts that have begun to develop.
Leopoldo Santos in La Jornada reviews, a few days ago, the historical movements of Mexican-Americans who crossed the border and have fought - politically and militarily - the WASP hegemony that does not respect their historical and contingent rights. Mexican-Americans, at least in the case of Texas, have been historically oppressed like the native North American Indians and almost driven to extermination as well; Their defense must have been reflected in the use of force and the conquest of civil rights through social movements. In addition to the evidence that Santos Ramírez proposes regarding Mexican-American guerrillas and nationalist secret societies for almost a century, it is also important to highlight the multiplication of clashes between cells of Mexican drug traffickers and American police that have begun to be publicized as a reaction of nationalism against the accusation of terrorism imposed by the American federal government. Similarly, the patriotic civil forces of WASP begin to fight against public forces that reject the Trumpist narrative and against any element that they consider a strange or alien member: foreigners, Mexicans, drug traffickers, zombies and reptilians. The Lone Star State begins to become irritated in its multiculturalism and the prognosis is reserved as Friedman stipulates, the forces in conflict are even.
Texas has its own history and Donald Trump has begun to break a balance that can cause the fracture of the United States. Mexamerica is not willing to remain any longer in the limbo that Octavio Paz placed it in; a nothingness that both Mexico and the United States have failed to take advantage of. The Mexican-American territory represents a culture that integrates the north of Mexico and the south of the United States; its emergence as a nation-state, as proposed by Joel Garreau, could activate the disintegration of North America and Mexico.
Trump faces internal dynamics that question the WASP hegemony and that are even willing to radically confront it. The demonstrations of Mexican migrants who demand their inclusion in the United States, the existence of Mexican-American guerrillas and the role of drug cartels in Texas, indicate a context that is not easy for Republican Trumpism. Multiculturalism in Texas represents a possibility of integration between Mexico and the United States that can provide positive elements for all parties. The United States' neglect of Mexican-Americans is also a sign that Mexico has abandoned immigrants and Americans of Mexican descent. The need for transnational public policies may imply the harmonization of economic, political, and social forces that have more elements in common than differences. Mexico's focus on Texas and the states where Mexican migrants and Mexican-Americans reside represents a historic opportunity for integration and peace with the United States.