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Like their ancestors before them, South Mexlco's Indians are noted for their fine weaving.

The Five Nations


of Mexico
Regional dynmnics have set An1erica 's southern neighbor
on a collision course with itself
Louis B. Casagrande
2 Focus 37P Z-1 (!1/nJ
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f you ask your friends to name
five different locations in Mex-
ico, you'll likely hear the names
of .orne larger cities and beach re-
sorts: Mexico City, Guadalajara, Aca-
pulco, and Cancun. Ask them about
current events in Mexico, and you'll
probably hear about Mexico's huge
foreign debt and drugs. Ask them to
freeassociate with ",\1\exico," and
you'll probably be told, "Don't drink
t h ; _ ~ water," "Tacos and enchiladas,"
"r. :mpant poverty," or
11
Fernando
Valenzuela."
What you will not hear from most
people is any considered analysis of
what Mexico is today. But this is not
surprising. Our interest in Mexico
has rarely been consistent or pro-
found. Americans took an interest in
,,, -,xico during the ,v\exican-Ameri-
c- , War of 1846-47, when a U.S. vic-
tc:y led to the acquisition of nearly
Pacific Ocean
Mexamerica
New Spain
Metromex
South Mexico
Club Mex
half of Mexico's territory. They also
took notice when Mexico erupted in
revolution between 19"10 and 1917,
and Pancho Villa raided New Mexico.
For the greater part of our history,
though, Mexico has been a mysteri-
ous neighbor whose Spanish and In-
dian roots have presented an unfath-
omable contrast to our own Anglo-
European traditions.
But no longer can Americans ig-
nore Mexico. With a population of
Many American leaders
now say that improving
our relations with Mexico
is second in importance
only to our dealings with
the Soviet Union.
80 million, Mexico is nearly four
times larger than Canada. Half of the
Mexican population is under the age
of 19, compared to a U.S. median age
of 31. Moreover, a whole range of
complex issues-from illegal migra-
tion and drug trafficking to Mexico's
foreign debt and the debate over
Central America-demands that we
pay more attention to Mexico, that
we begin to penetrate the mystique
of our "distant neighbor." Many
American leaders now say that im-
proving our relations with Mexico
has become a major challenge, sec-
ond in importance only to our deal-
ings with the Soviet Union.
Yet how should we perceive Mex-
ico? Should we merely define it as 31
states south of the Rio Grande?
Should we simply memorize Mexi-
co's topography, climate, economy,
and ethnic groups? Absolutely not.
The Five Nations of Mexico
u.s. A.
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~ Monclova
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Gulf of Mexico
Puerto Escondido
Spring 1987
Metromex is the religious as well as the political center of Mexico.
These antiquated constructs may ac-
tually do us more harm than good,
because they focus on a Mexico that
no longer exists. To understand mod-
ern Mexico, \Ve need a more sophis-
ticated view of our southern neigh-
bor-a view that acknowledges the
country's increasingly diverse cul-
tural, political, and economic geo-
graphies. just as writers and scholars
have recognized profound regional
differences in the United States and
Canada, we need to define and ana-
lyze the regional differences and dy-
namics that make up Mexico today.
Far from being an undifferentiated
nation with a monolithic culture,
Mexico is actually a federation of five
distinct nations, each \Vith its own
boundaries and major cities, each
with its own goals and priorities.
Covering all of current Mexico and
spilling over into contiguous parts of
the U.S., Guatemala, and Belize,
these five nations are: !11etromex,
greater Mexico City, the most pow-
erful nation of the federation; Mex-
america, the progressive northern
nation that straddles the U.S.-Mexi-
can border; South Mexico, the pre-
dominantly Indian nation, resistant
to change; New Spain, the densely
populated, colonial heartland of the
federation; and Club Mex, a constel-
4 Focus
lation of resort enclaves that dot both
coasts. By highlighting the differ-
ences among these five nations, \Ve
can begin to shed our simplistic im-
ages of Mexico in favor of a more
complex and revealing portrait of our
long-neglected southern neighbor.
Metromex
With a population over 18 million,
Metromex consumes the entire Val-
ley of Mexico, encompassing the
Federal District and the surrounding
45 municipalities of the state of Mex-
ico as well as the industrial corridors
northwest to Queretaro, northeast to
Pachuca, east to Puebla, and south
to Cuernavaca. Before the Spanish
Conquest, a great, shallow lake made
the Valley of Mexico one of the rich-
est in the world. Now, the dried-up
bed of Lake Texcoco provides the
dust that mingles with the smoke of
100,000 factories and the exhaust of
nearly 3 million vehicles, creating
one of the most toxic environments
knO\V11.
Smog has not yet diminished the
primacy of Metromex. One-half of all
the industry of the Mexican Federa-
tion is located here. Metromex ac-
counts for 38% of the GNP. The head-
quarters of government, banking,
commerce, television, sports, and
music are here, while the Basilica to
the Virgin of Guadalupe, north of
downto\vn Metromex, is the preem-
inent shrine of Mexican Catholicism.
With such a concentration of eco
nomic, political, and cultural activity,
it is not surprising that the popub-
tion of Metromex has doubled in le;
than a decade, despite its unhealthy
environment, or that nearly 3,000 im-
migrants arrive each day. By the latest
count, almost one out of every four
Mexicans calls the Metromex home.
(An equivalent single metropolis in
the United States would have 48 mil-
lion residents, roughly the popula-
tion of the Boston-Washington me[!
alopolis on the East Coast.)
Metromex society reflects the con-
sequences of unequal growth. The
rich live in fashionable suburbs, shop
at the most exclusive French and Ital-
ian shops, have private satellite
dishes, and participate in a cosmo-
politan lifestyle equal to the high life
of Ne\v York, Paris, or Rome. The
middle classes have also fared well.
The 2 to 3 million government em-
ployees, business people, and un-
ionized workers have been the key
supporters and beneficiaries of the
ruling political party, PRI (Partido
Revo/ucionario lnstituciona/), in
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power continuously since 1929. With
salaries often supplemented by graft
and corruption, the Metromex mid-
dle classes exemplify the economic
security and consumerism to which
the lower classes aspire.
While the upper and middle
classes are small and privileged, the
base of the social pyramid remains
huge and immobile. It has been es-
timated that over 50% of the Metro-
mex poor live without running water
in their one-room homes. About 40%
lack access to health care. Nearly25%
do not have enough to eat. Providing
for the poor presents a monumental
problem for Metromex managers,
but the poor continue to arrive, and
the middle class recently has begun
to question if Metromex can survive.
But Metromex does survive mainly
because it continues to draw on the
allegiance and resources of its neigh-
boring nations. It extracts minerals,
chemicals, steel, beef, and fuel from
Mexamerica. From New Spain comes
grain, vegetables, workers, and
water. It receives hydroelectric
power, coffee, tropical foodstuffs,
more workers, and fuel from South
Mexico, and Club Mex provides dol-
lars to pay its international debt.
Thus, Metromex is the voracious me-
tropolis of a colonial empire. It jus-
tifies its political and economic
power by citing the precedent of the
Aztecs and by evoking the national-
istic ideals of independence and the
Mexican revolution.
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,\-fetromcx is a study in contrasts, the legacy of a colonial empire.
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Mexamerica
Mexamerica is the great rival to
Metromex. Straddling the U.S.-Mex-
ican border, Mexamerica has a pop-
ulation of nearly 38 million, less than
3% of which is Indian. The northern
boundary of Mexamerica runs from
East Los Angeles up through the San
Joaquin Valley, then south and east
to Santa Fe and across central Texas
through the cities of Austin and
Houston. The southern boundary
runs from the Pacific coast, south of
Mazatlan, east to the cities of San Luis
Potosi and Tampico. The interior of
Mexamerica features little water and
great desert expanses broken by rug-
ged mountains. Within this sparsely
settled land are the booming, mod-
ern industrial cities of El Paso-Ciudad
Juarez, San Antonio, Chihuahua, and
Monterrey.
Mexamerica historically has been
beyond the full control of Metromex.
The early ranchers and miners of the
north were lords of fiefdoms never
firmly under the central Colonial
government, a pattern that contin-
ued throughout the politically unsta-
ble 19th and early 20th centuries. Iso-
lated geographically and politically,
the nortefios became independent
and self-reliant, traits that still define
the special character of this newly
urbanized nation.
The independence of Mexamerica
is most visible in its new middle class,
who look not to Metromex but to the
north for their role models. They
speak with pochismos, a combina-
tion of Spanish and English (push6n
equals "push," troca means "truck").
They cheer for the Dallas Cowboys
and Los Angeles Dodgers, they go to
video night clubs, and they eat ham-
burgers and hot dogs as well as bur-
ritos and goat. Those who live south
of the border now demand more po-
litical participation in the Mexican
Federation, mainly through the more
conservative PAN, the Partido de Ac-
ci6n Nacional. Middle-class Mexi-
cans in the United States also seek
greater influence. Mexican food,
clothing, music, and architecture
characterize much of the American
Southwest, and increasing numbers
of Mexican Americans have been
elected to major political posts in
California, New Mexico, and Texas.
The economy of Mexamerica is di-
versified and relatively strong. The
U.S.-Mexican border, for instance, is
Spring 1987 5
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big business. Each year 6 to 8 million
people-tourists, legal and illegal mi-
grants, contrabandistas (smugglers).
and industrial developers-pump
billions of dollars into the border
economy. Over the past decade,
hundreds of U.S. businesses have
crossed the border as part of the ma-
quiladora, or in-bond industrializa-
tion program, which allows U.S.
manufacturers to use cheap Mexican
labor to assemble and export prod-
ucts made from imported, duty-free
raw materials. Although a recent
slide in the value of the Mexican peso
has made the border less attractive,
Ia frontera remains a critical source
of economic and political power.
Commercial agriculture in western
Mexamerica is also impressive.
Along the coastal plains of Sonora
and Sinaloa, huge irrigated farms,
jointly owned by Mexican and U.S.
corporations, use the latest in high-
tech farm machinery to grow grains,
vegetables, and cotton primarily for
the American market. Further inland,
over the Sierra Madre Occidental,
the cattle and lumber industries have
also been modernized, further stim-
ulating the growth of commerce and
finance throughout the region.
The northeast of Mexamerica is
heavily industrialized. Monclova has
one of the largest steel mills in all of
Latin America, but Monterrey is the
premier industrial city. Well known
for their business acumen, the re-
giomontanos, as the people of Mon-
terrey are called, have diversified
from beer and steel to petrochemi-
6 Focus
Outdoor markets are part of the traditions to which South Mexicans cling (above).
Mexamericans, in contrast, model the U.S. in recreation (below) as well as in economics.
cals, packaging, building products,
and banking. The regiomontanos
have weathered various economic
crises of the Mexican Federation and
have recently completed a renova-
tion of the downtown district that
combines abstract sculptures with
refurbished colonial facades.
With a growing awareness of its
own potential, Mexamerica seeks
ways to maintain and expand its eco-
nomic development while absorbing
migrants from its less-developed ru-
ral areas. Its future in the Mexican
Federation is openly discussed, and
it challenges the prerogatives and
symbolism of Metromex as the tra-
ditional seat of power.
South Mexico
If Mexamerica is the progressive
rival to Metromex, South Mexico is
the relatively impoverished natiol'
resistant to change. The n o r t h r ~
border of South Mexico runs east
from the Pacific coast, north of Aca-
pulco, to the Gulf of Mexico, skirting
south of the cities of Cuernavaca and
Puebla. The southern border incor-
porates those portions of Guatemala
and Belize that have been within the
Mexican sphere of influence since
Colonial times. South Mexico haoc ,
population of about 15 million, hcil
of which is Indian (Nahuat, Zapotec,
Mixtec, and Maya). and most of
which is poor.
Unlike Mexamerica, which has
several large cities, South Mexico has
only a few medium-sized cities. Oax-
aca, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Villahennosa,
and Merida serve mainly as region.:
service centers, not as centers of in
tensive industrialization. The great
majority of the population lives in
small towns and villages or in scat-
tered hamlets located in more inac-
cessible zones that range from high
mountains to tropical lowlands.
The economy of South Mexico is
predominantly agricultural, small-
scale, and familial. Crafts are a rnai;,
source of cash for many citizens of
the south. The states of Oaxaca and
~ Chi a pas are well known for their pot-
~ tery, textiles, and wooden toys.
ci Guerrero has its mask making. The
~ Yucatan produces henequen ham-
r= mocks and Panama-style hats. Tour-
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ism is a source of income because of
the many pre-Hispanic ruins, pictur-
esque villages, and native festivals.
But tourist development, like indus-
trial development, requires capital
that South Mexico does not have.
Rather than looking elsewhere for
their role models, the natives of
South Mexico look to the past and
fll cling to their traditions. The Indian
W communities continue to eat corn
tortillas and black beans and to wear
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huaraches and handwoven cos-
tumes, even though the modern sub-
stitutes are now within their eco-
nomic reach. South Mexico is still
[;overned by the old system of polit-
ical bosses who control local oppo-
sition and deliver the votes for the
PRI of Metromex. Even the Spanish
spoken in the region tends to be
slower and more conservative. In-
dian words and concepts pervade
conversations in the flowered and
sunlit plazas.
During the oil boom of the 1970s,
o:outh Mexico experienced a flurry of
new projects and interest from Me-
tromex. A small, cosmopolitan mid-
dle class began to challenge the pro-
vincial middle class that has
controlled the region since the Con-
quest. With the collapse of the oil
market in the early 1980s, however,
most projects were abandoned.
Metromex mainly seeks to se-
cure the southern border of the Mex-
ican Federation against the pressures
of illegal migration and contraband
from Central America. South Mexico
would like to exploit this concern to
initiate independent development,
but unlike Mexamerica, it lacks the
real clout to seek self-control.
New Spain
With 30 million inhabitants, New
Spain forms the densely populated,
colonial center of "Old" Mexico. Un-
like Mexamerica or South Mexico,
New Spain features an elaborate web
of large, medium-sized, and small
cities, each with its own network of
dependent villages. Most New Spain
communities are centuries old, giv-
ing the region an unequaled stability.
Crisscrossed by small mountain
ranges and blessed with abundant
Water and arable valleys, New Spain
has been the age-old breadbasket of
the Mexican Federation. The large
i.1rms of the Bajfo region grow wheat
nd corn. The farms around Morelia
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New Spain's small-scale agriculture cannot keep up with the Mexamerican commercial
farms.
and Zamora produce a variety of
fruits and vegetables. Thus New
Spain has ample food to feed itself
and still be the main provider to Me-
tromex. In exchange for such provi-
sions, Metromex offers New Spain
industrial goods and favored status
as a political protectorate. Unlike
parts of Mexamerica, where political
opposition has reached rebellious
proportions, New Spain has re-
mained faithful to the ruling PRI. No
opposition party has ever won polit-
ical control over a major city in the
region.
Although New Spain acquiesces to
the political and economic power of
Metromex, it has strong cultural tra-
ditions. Residents of its dual capitals
of Guadalajara in the west and Vera-
cruz in the east have strong identities
that date to the beginnings of the
Colonial era. The tapatfos of Guada-
lajara are known for their conserva-
tive Spanish attitudes and for the te-
quila, mariachi music, and rodeos
that have become symbols of the
Mexican Federation as a whole. The
jarochos of Veracruz have main-
tained a mixed Spanish Colonial and
Black Caribbean heritage best ex-
pressed in their unparalleled pre-
Lenten carnival. The few remaining
Indian communities of New Spain,
such as the Otomi and Tarascans, still
practice their pre-Conquest crafts
and customs.
But tradition alone does not solve
problems. New Spain is overpopu-
lated, undercapitalized, and gener-
Spring 1987 7
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1.5 million, not including the 2 n
li on or so people who vi sit eJ,"
year. Before Club Mex achi eved in-
t ernational status in the late 1960s
and earl y 1970s, its residents vvere
mainly shopkeepers, fi shermen, and
craftsmen, \.Vith a minority directly
involved in the f ledgling touri st
trade. Aft er Club Mex took off, how-
ever, a new set of jobs and income
levels was introduced, sometimes t:->
the benefit of l ocals but mainly to
the advantage of bilingual immi-
grants, many from Metromex, who
were specially trained to meet the
demands of international tourism.
While some stay at menial jobs, many of New Spain's young men go north to find lligher-
paying work.
Because Club Mex is the pet proj-
ect of Metromex in coll aborati on
\Vith the international touri st indus-
try, it is seen by the other ,,s
a seri ous competitor for scarce fed-
eral tax funds. During the building
of Cancun, for exampl e, residents of
South Mexico joked sarcasti cally
that todo Mexi co es Cancun (all of
Mexico i s [given) to Canc(m) . They
and others in Mexamerica and New
Spain complained -that a dispropor-
tionate amount of capit al was gai l .'.;
to the resort to t he disadvantage or
infrastructu ral proj ects in their re-
spective domains.
ally locked into an increasingly out-
dated agricultural economy. The
young men of New Spain make up
80% of t hose \vho go a/ norte to
search for vvork in Mexarnerica or
beyond. New Spai n does not create
enough capital to sustain its own in-
dust rial development, at least at a
level to match its growing population
or to rival Metrornex. And the tradi -
t ion of small-scale family farming
cannot compete in the export market
with the hi gh-tech, high-yi eld com-
mercial operations of Mexarnerica.
Club Mex
Unlike the other nations of the
Mexican Federation, whose hi stori es
are at least 400 years old, Club Mex
is a new nati on, consisting of con-
vert ed port towns (Acapulco, tv\azat-
lan, Manzanill o), once-sleepy fi shing
vill ages (Puerto Vallarta, Zihuata-
nejo, Puerto Escondido, and Cozu-
mcl), and brand-ne\V, pl anned tour-
ist centers (Cancun and lxtapa) .
Despite the differing origins of it s
constituent parts, Club Mex is a na-
tion in the same sense as the others
because it refl ects a coherent pl an to
create resort encl aves dedi cated to
touri sts who bring millions of dollars
in search of sun and relaxation .
Through its various governmental
agencies, Metromex has invested bil -
lions of dollars in Club Mex. Private
developers, both nati onal and inter-
8 Fo cus
national, also have invested heavily
in the potential of this new nation.
Las Hadas, a resort near Manzanill o
made famous in the movie Ten, was
built by a Bolivian millionaire. Sher-
aton Internati onal , Holiday Inn Inter-
national, the VVestin Hotel s, and oth-
ers have all built luxury accommo-
dations in these maj or tourist desti -
nations.
Club Mex' s populati on is about
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While Club Mex is a competitor, it
is also a market for the goods and
services of the other Mexican na-
tions. M exameri ca supplies building
materials for the hotels and shop-
Club Mex, with its tourist dollars, is a l'ital market for products from the rest of the
Federation.
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New Spain is home to the landscape thought of by Americans as "Mexican."
pi:"; malls and most of the beer and
";,,e for the resort restaurants.
South Mexico has an outlet for its
depressed craft industries in the
new resort shops, and New Spain
now sells some of its surplus food at
premium prices. What is not known,
{jj however, is to what extent Club Mex
produces capital for reinvestment in
arr.: of the other nations of the Mex-
icdn Federation, or to what extent
new jobs are created relative to the
massive initial costs of jetports,
highways, water, and sewage sys-
tems.
Of much greater certainty is the
fact that, for millions of foreigners,
Club Mex now is the primary "Mex-
Ican" experience. How many Amer-
itJns have been known to say,
11
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\t I've been to Mexico. We spent a
lovely week at Canclin "?
The five nations of Mexico present
a complex arrangement of problems
and possibilities far richer than any
traditional view of Mexico as the
b d of burros and sombreros. De-
sl. I c a common heritage as a New
World colony, the five nations have
significantly different histories,
economies, and evolving identities.
At the moment, they relate to each
other as rivals, allies, or colonies
held together by political necessity.
However, their conflicting trajecto-
ries suggest that change is inevita-
ble.
Some predict radical change. Me-
tromex, for example, could collapse
unto itself from the sheer weight of
its own internal problems. Mexa-
merica would then become the cen-
ter of economic and political power.
New Spain would probably have to
realign itself with the politically
more conservative and northward-
looking Mexamerica. South Mexico
would most likely be ignored and
grow poorer. In the chaos, Club Mex
would go independent.
Others foresee a less dramatic fu-
ture. Metromex could reach a new
understanding with Mexamerica,
based on a more democratic, two-
party political system and a less na-
tionalistic economic relationship
with the United States. If this should
happen, New Spain might fall be-
hind, given its decreased political
importance to Metromex. South
Mexico would be developed more
in line with the Mexamerican model
of private capitalism, leaving the
"backward" Indians on de facto res-
ervations. And Club Mex would be-
come an economic plum, possibly
divided up between Mexamerican
and Metromex entrepreneurs.
Whatever the outcome, people
throughout North America will be
affected; our futures are inextricably
tied. Thus, it is to our mutual advan-
tage to throw out the old maps we
have of each other and begin to look
anew at the regional realities that
shape us. To do less would be un-
neighborly, if not unwise.
Further Reading
Montgomery, T. S., eel. 1982. Mexico To
day. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study
of Human Issues.
Paz, Octavio. 1972. The Other J\-1exico:
Critique of the Pyramid. Grove Press.
Riding, Alan. 1985. Distant Neighbors: A
Portrait of the Mexicans. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf.
Spring 1987 9
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f:ve Nations of Mexico

@ In many ways I found Louis B.
Casagrande's "The Five Nations of
Mexico" (Spring 1987), in which he
cleverly borrows Joel Garreau's re-
gional framework from The Nine Na-
tions of North America, both fasci-
nating and frustrating. It does seem
1orth questioning whether, as Cas-
agrande claims, this use of "nations"
to define regions offers a "more so-
phisticated" means of assessing a for-
eign culture region. The pedagogic
advantage of the approach is perhaps
easiest to appreciate. By generalizing
large regional units as "nations,"
is no need to knowthe3'1 states
fv d Mexico nor to comprehend their
' topography, climate, economy, and
ethnic groups." Whole traditions and
environments are lumped into con-
venient, if not completely satisfying,
packages-a sort of fast-food region-
alism. This technique may be helpful
in painting a quick portrait for the
old colonial hearth areas of "New
Spain" and but it
complicating and ultimately
breaks down in what Casagrande
calls '' Mexamerica" and "Club Mex."
The latter, a newly emerging nation
according to the author, is a series
of discontinuous units that by
t (i) Casagrande's own admission are
; really colonies of Mexico City, as well
as offshore enclaves for international
investment and recreation. Since
these subregions are relatively re-
cent aberrations to the Mexican
scene, their inclusion as a separate
nation awaits the test of time.
A more disturbing regionalization
is Mexamerica, an area that encom-
passes most of northern Mexico and
parts of the American Southwest.
i ;:,.. While it is inviting and currently lash-
, 1$! ionable to consider lifeways and con-
ditions as relatively similar on either
side of the U.S.-Mexico border,
closer inspection reveals that the two
sides are sufficiently different to
make such comparisons dubious. I
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recognize the argument that the bor-
der is simply an inconvenience-that
cultural and economic influences
flow freely in both directions-but I
question Casagrande's assertion that
Los Angeles and San Antonio, for ex-
ample, are part of the same nation as
Monterrey and Tijuana. If anything,
Monterrey is more like Mexico City
than any U.S. city. I have never heard
a Mexican refer to Los Angeles or San
Antonio as Mexican cities, despite
their recognizably large Mexican
populations. To argue that juarez, Ti-
juana, and Monterrey share a re-
gional identity is a provocative asser-
tion, but to claim that American cities
are part of the same nation today
seems to ignore political, social, and
economic history. Casagrande may
want Americans to come to grips with
a dynamic and changing Mexico, but
substituting one simplistic vision for
another is not the means to this wor-
thy goal. Once again, we seem to be
imposing a gringo vision on our dis-
tant neighbor.
DANIEL D. ARREOLA
Texas A & lvl University
College Station
It's unfortunate that the textbook
writing on the geography of Latin
America can't be of the genre of the
article, "The Five Nations of Mexico."
The division of Mexico into the five
regions described is both innovative
and intriguing. The writing is
straightforward and informative.
I made use of the concepts pre-
sented in the article in a class that I
taught at the University of the Amer-
icas in Puebla, Mexico, earlier this
year. I also intend to introduce them
to a class on Middle America and the
Caribbean to be given here this fall.
OSCAR H. HORST
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo
The editor we/comes correspon-
dence on topics related to FOCUS
features. Letters may be edited for
clarity and brevity.
Quiz answers
(from page 1)
1. E, K
2, b, c
3. c
4. F, K
s .
6. d
7. A,C, H,M
8. b, d
9.'
10. A, D; H, I
11. 0, G
12. a, c, d
13. b
14. l
15. F, I
Summer 1987 37

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