Totally out of touch with reality. The only way Mexico would get this territory back is by waging war on the United States and crucially, winning that war.
This isn't going to happen.
Mexico has a hard enough time to control events inside its own borders.
The article's quite clear that there's no possibility of the territories being returned (and, indeed, that the lawsuit probably won't even be successful). But this is a political act, not really a legal one, and the aim isn't really to recover Texas.
No, it's theater it's like Russia trying to claim back Alaska, they probably have a better legal ground and a much bigger agency trying to (re)enforce that request via other means.
No, it is dredging up an old cow in order to push back against the idiocy of Trump.
Sinking to the level of your opponent isn't going to improve matters. I sympathize with the Mexicans in the current situation, there is a lot to be worried about. But any kind of solution or argument should face a practicality test first and this one will simply waste a whole bunch of time.
It would be akin to the Dutch and the Germans going back a few hundred years in order to redraw our borders (or better yet, the Poles, the (Bela)-Russians and the Germans).
No, absolutely not. I was commenting on whether or not this is news-worthy (which in retrospect might have been a point made outside this particular comment chain)
> Mexico has a hard enough time to control events inside its own borders.
This is a bizarre hate filled reaction to suggestion that politics within Mexico will lead it to start a lawsuit in
International Courts as a counter to current US politics. As the article points out, there is a chance that Mexico could win the case within the court and even if it did the US would never recognize that.
Still, a technical win could have international political affects. For example, the US has veto power in the UN and control of many international institutions such that they can't be used directly against the US, yet its ability to use international mechanisms to take actions against nations such as Mexico relies in part on its reputation for heeding international decisions.
> This is a bizarre hate filled reaction to suggestion that politics within Mexico will lead it to start a lawsuit in International Courts as a counter to current US politics.
Sorry?
That was not the point I made but you're welcome to your own interpretation of course.
The answer is no, we all know this. It's an unfortunate title that provokes useless knee-jerk reactions. The author's main point is in the last three paragraphs:
>Three centuries before the ancestors of Mr. Trump landed on United States soil, there were Mexicans in that northern territory known as New Spain and Mexico. But neither they nor their descendants are even symbolically part of American national pride; rather they are objects of stereotyping or emblems of a disgraceful past that has remained, to a great extent, in obscurity. It is time for it to come fully into the light, to be recognized and vindicated.
>For us Mexicans, this is the chance for a kind of reconquest. Surely not the physical reconquest of the territories that once were ours. Nor an indemnification that should have been much greater than the feeble amount of $15 million that the American government paid, in installments, for the stolen land. We need a reconquest of the memory of that war so prodigal in atrocities inspired by racial prejudices and greed for territorial gain.
>But the best and most just reparation would be American immigration reform that could open the road to citizenship for the descendants of those Mexicans who suffered the unjust loss of half their territory.
That main point has just as little chance of success as the lead-in, especially in the current climate in the United States.
Mexico has an excellent chance to improve the situation though: rely less on the United States as its major trading partner. That is something under their control and something that actually would move the needle.
They have abundant natural and human resources and the same great climate as California.
Instead of all this "reconquista" nonsense how about they start working on making Mexico awesome. Because right now it's a corrupt and violent cesspool that their own citizens are risking their lives and freedom to flee.
23 comments
[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 58.4 ms ] threadThis isn't going to happen.
Mexico has a hard enough time to control events inside its own borders.
Sinking to the level of your opponent isn't going to improve matters. I sympathize with the Mexicans in the current situation, there is a lot to be worried about. But any kind of solution or argument should face a practicality test first and this one will simply waste a whole bunch of time.
It would be akin to the Dutch and the Germans going back a few hundred years in order to redraw our borders (or better yet, the Poles, the (Bela)-Russians and the Germans).
commenter with 100k+ karma? check
clearly didn't read the piece? check
I'm glad HN has such dignified luminaries standing by ready to state the blatantly obvious based on a headline.
This is a bizarre hate filled reaction to suggestion that politics within Mexico will lead it to start a lawsuit in International Courts as a counter to current US politics. As the article points out, there is a chance that Mexico could win the case within the court and even if it did the US would never recognize that.
Still, a technical win could have international political affects. For example, the US has veto power in the UN and control of many international institutions such that they can't be used directly against the US, yet its ability to use international mechanisms to take actions against nations such as Mexico relies in part on its reputation for heeding international decisions.
Sorry?
That was not the point I made but you're welcome to your own interpretation of course.
>Three centuries before the ancestors of Mr. Trump landed on United States soil, there were Mexicans in that northern territory known as New Spain and Mexico. But neither they nor their descendants are even symbolically part of American national pride; rather they are objects of stereotyping or emblems of a disgraceful past that has remained, to a great extent, in obscurity. It is time for it to come fully into the light, to be recognized and vindicated.
>For us Mexicans, this is the chance for a kind of reconquest. Surely not the physical reconquest of the territories that once were ours. Nor an indemnification that should have been much greater than the feeble amount of $15 million that the American government paid, in installments, for the stolen land. We need a reconquest of the memory of that war so prodigal in atrocities inspired by racial prejudices and greed for territorial gain.
>But the best and most just reparation would be American immigration reform that could open the road to citizenship for the descendants of those Mexicans who suffered the unjust loss of half their territory.
Mexico has an excellent chance to improve the situation though: rely less on the United States as its major trading partner. That is something under their control and something that actually would move the needle.
Instead of all this "reconquista" nonsense how about they start working on making Mexico awesome. Because right now it's a corrupt and violent cesspool that their own citizens are risking their lives and freedom to flee.
Sounds good.