On The Rim Of Mexico: Encounters Of The Rich And Poor

by Ramón Eduardo Ruiz

The vast stretch of mostly arid lands and deserts that makes up the border between Mexico and the United States is not only one of the longest international boundaries in the world, setting apart two entirely different countries for more than two thousand miles, it is the backdrop for a seemingly endless series of major binational news stories. Witness the headline-grabbing attention garnered by NAFTA and the global economy; the assembly plants labeled saviors of the Mexican poor; the accounts applauding the capture of Mexican drug lords; and the columns upon columns devoted to stories about illegal immigration. Nowhere else does a poor, Third World country, like Mexico, share a common border with a wealthy, powerful neighbor del otro lado (on the other side). Here, as one goes, so goes the other.On the Rim of Encounters of the Rich and Poor addresses the ties and asymmetries across the Mexico-U.S. border, from Tijuana/San Diego to Matamoros/Brownsville. Based on author Ram-duardo Ruiz's extensive research, travels, remembrances, and first-hand interviews with the people on the Mexican side, the book probes the history, economics, and customs which have shaped this region today. While the author considers many timely issues (the impact of drug trafficking, legal and illegal immigration, assembly plants and the global economy, and the ecological disaster in the making), the book is also an examination of the borderlands what they are, how they came to be, and salient aspects of life in this region of the world. Moreover, it is an exploration of binational themes. For Mexicans who live and die next door to the almighty Uncle Sam, nearly everything has a binational ring?even personal identity. On the Rim of Mexico is a moving portrait of the people, places, and issues which make-up border life today.

Genres: Economics, History, Social Commentary, College

276 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 1998

Reviews

[Liza]

This book provides a very accessible and personable look at the conditions on the U.S.-Mexico border. Ruiz writes with a very informed and reflective manner, although at times I wished for clear citations of the information he includes. The book is broken into two sections and various chapters that reflect diverse themes and issues of the transnational relations between the United States and Mexico, among these immigration, the drug trade, and capitalist development south of the border. Throughout Ruiz emphasizes the inexicably intertwined nature of these two nations and their peoples.

[Lisa]

I read this book as research for a novel I'm writing. It only deals peripherally with the specific time period I'm interested in and this edition was written just as NAFTA was taking effect, so its statistics (re: contemporary maquiladoras, drug and human trafficking, and environmental degradation) are outdated. These conditions sometimes made for a frustrating read, which is why it took me so long to finish it.

Nevertheless, Ruiz provides an overview of US-MX border dynamics with geographic and historical scope. For example, I have rarely read border surveys that take into account the lower Rio Grande Valley, which Ruiz does knowledgeably. I think Ruiz nails the inequitable relationship between US and MX that's only worsened with the "global economy," aka neocolonialism. I wish he'd chosen to provide footnotes or endnotes, however. There seemed no way to track down sources for quotes or further information--very frustrating for a fellow author.

I'd love to see a new, revised edition of this text.

[Larry]

Excellent, but sadly, true. Every national politician should be required to read this book.