Opinion Archive

What to Make of Mexico’s Wealthy Exiles

April 30, 2008

The sheer number of poor, uneducated Mexicans who have crossed, are crossing, and will cross the border into the US has meant that they have received nearly all the media attention. Nevertheless, Mexico has a long tradition of losing large amounts of wealthy and talented individuals to the United States, as well. One aspect of this has been the well-lamented “brain drain”, where often American-educated Mexicans end up pursuing their professional opportunities in the US. According to the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT), just in terms of scientists Mexico has lost 2,100 of its scholarship students since 1971, directly losing over US$100 million dollars in subsidies.

But there is a more insidious aspect to the exodus that has to do with wealthy families and up-and-coming professionals giving up on Mexico, usually after a traumatic experience. During the 1980s and early 1990s, it was normally due to an economic crisis (1981/82, 1994/95, etc.); the “tragic dozen” years of Luis Echeverría and José López Portillo did much to push many away. Then, crime became the issue. Neither the Mexican nor the American governments keep relevant statistics, but anecdotal evidence points to thousands of affluent families going to places like Coronado (home of the famous “Taco Towers”), San Antonio, Los Angeles, New York and Houston.

Your correspondent is a frequent visitor to the Lone Star state’s oil Mecca. So, what do wealthy Mexicans see in Houston? It is certainly a worthwhile city, America’s fourth largest. It has some of the world’s best shopping malls, outstanding medical facilities and great museums, like the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, now purported to have the best collection of contemporary Latin American art in the world. Also, despite the fact that George H. W. Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is a US$70 dollar cab ride from downtown, it has flights to pretty much everywhere. For Mexico, thanks to Continental Airlines, it is the first international destination for a number of second-tier cities, like Querétaro and Aguascalientes, beyond the dozen daily flights to the capital.

But it is no New York, or Paris, or even Los Angeles. Its interminable concrete highway ribbons afford no cosmopolitan pedestrian thoroughfares. It has no attractive historic center, curbside cafés, or gallery “scene”. The weather is consistently muggy and the area is prone to hurricanes. Its astonishingly flat topography is monotonous and global warming could turn its 13 meters above sea level into a massive flood plain. It’s not even necessarily the best place to be in Texas: some believe that Dallas is the better city, while hippies and artist-types flock to “keep it weird” Austin. In other words, it is not the kind of place to move to just for the sake of being there.

But when wealthy Mexicans move to anywhere in suburbia, USA, they are looking for the peace and tranquility of the white picket fence lifestyle. Often, they will earn less, given that their contacts and experience are much less prized. They will certainly give up on having live-in domestic help, chauffeurs, and the like. But they are willing to forego these things for the benefits of relative security (Houston is not exactly a crime-free zone) and anonymity.

Mexico has a better quality of life, but there are risks involved with being here. Specifically, Mexico City is a place that is very cosmopolitan, has year-round Spring weather, and has access to some very attractive places, like Valle de Bravo, Cuernavaca and Acapulco. But, unfortunately, if you’re in the sights of organized crime, you have no recourse to the law.

Professional and upper-middle class Mexicans leave their country out of a sense of hopelessness. The phenomenon occurs inside the country, as well, with places like Cancún and Querétaro picking up the slack of crime and traffic-weary chilangos. But when someone decides that they are willing to brave the humiliation of Homeland Security, they have given up. They have seen their last narco-assassination headline, or heard their last harrowing kidnapping story. Their children often grow up American and, unlike the fairy tales that Samuel Huntington would have us believe, they blend into the great Vanilla that is the USA.

And, finally, Mexico loses out. Not only in the sense that we thin out our purchasing power, or that our economy misses out. Mexico loses on a much more profound level. A little cosmopolitan piece of us dies in the process, as our fellow countrymen and women dream their American Dream.

For your correspondent, this is the best place in the world; the people, the country, the attitude, the weather, are second to none. Nevertheless, I understand those who run; those who just want to be left alone. When your life has been turned upside-down, anonymity is very alluring.

For the latest thought-provoking article by Agustin Barrios Gomez please go to our Opinion Column page

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