Dressed in red and gold superhero attire, complete with mask and cape, Superbarrio Gomez, a Mexican grassroots activist, spoke to 50 people last night about his campaign for the presidency and the unification of the United States and Mexico.
The performance, organized by La Alianza Latina and the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, was designed to stimulate thought about the effects of U.S. policies throughout the world and to fight the idea that Mexicans are responsible for all ills that plague the U.S.
The performance, which was held in 1 Rockefeller, began with a group of students carrying signs and cheering in Spanish for Superbarrio's election.
Superbarrio then spoke, and explained that he is running for the presidency to emphasize the impact the United States has had upon the economy and environment of Mexico."Since our economic policy is established by Wall Street, the U.S. has an important role in Mexico," Superbarrio said. "That's why I'm running for president."
"We are trying to attack our problems on both sides, both socially and economically," Superbarrio said. "That way if we lose one part, we haven't lost the other."
According to Superbarrio, Mexico's Minister of Finance is employed by the World Bank and Wall Street.
"As their employee, he is obliged to impose the policies on the Mexican population," Superbarrio said.
Superbarrio said these economic policies have caused the Mexican economy to decline, and the Mexicans themselves have had no opportunity to decide these policies.
"Mexico City has the largest population of any city in the world," Superbarrio said. "But like the blacks in South Africa, we have no right to elect our own government."
In addition to being unable to determine the economic policies that govern their own country, Mexicans cannot combat the pollution resulting from the large influx of industries, which resulted from the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Superbarrio said.
"Many industries that came to Mexico as a result of NAFTA have caused great contamination of the environment," Superbarrio said.
Environmental laws in Mexico permit dangerous levels of contaminants to enter the environment, he said.
Superbarrio said many organizations have fought to modify NAFTA, especially its principles on the environment. He also said the Mexican government says it cannot change the agreement to include more environmental protection measures.
"They say [NAFTA] is an agreement and they must be responsible to it," Superbarrio said. "The truth is that the government can be bought off."According to Superbarrio, NAFTA has been devastating to local businesses and plants, because its policies favor transnational operations. Local businesses must shut down due to the lack of support, causing unemployment to rise.
Superbarrio said the people of the United States, Mexico and Canada must begin to identify the problems of NAFTA and work together to find solutions.
Unemployment in Mexico as a result of NAFTA has caused social problems within the city, and Superbarrio said he has joined a social movement focused on alleviating the situation.
"We want to get the rich and poor to live together in harmony because the government does not want to give solutions to the problems," he said.
"In Mexico, we learn that America is one continent," he said. "Let's make one America to include us all."
Superbarrio said one way to make a united American continent is to end the policy of fear on which governments rely.
"Let's have no more faceless people and masked politicians," he said.
"I thought the presentation went really well," said Comparative Literature Chair Diana Taylor, who organized the presentation.
"I expected more resistance to the fact that this was a Mexican running for the American Presidency, but I think people took it the way it was intended -- as a point of discussion about the relationship between the two countries," she said.
"If anything, Superbarrio brought to attention the role the U.S. has played in Mexican history and how much of a symbol the U.S. is to Mexico," said Guadalupe Veliz '98, who attended the performance.
