Opinion: Stop demonizing Mexico. Start understanding it.
By Max Boot Max Boot Columnist covering national security Email Bio Follow Columnist April 3 at 6:28 PM MEXICO CITYLast year, 36.9 million Americans traveled to our southern neighbor, more than twice as many as to all of Europe. Yet our national discussion about Mexico is dominated by the same stupid stereotypes that I recall from growing up in Southern California in the 1970s and 1980s.
Popular culture unwittingly contributes to the negative perceptions. I love the movie “Sicario,” the Netflix series “Narcos,” and Don Winslow’s “Power of the Dog” trilogy. But they are helping to make Mexico synonymous with grisly drug violence. Having spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan, I know what it’s like to face real risks while traveling. But in Mexico, the only risks I experienced were from sunburn and overeating. I didn’t run into any criminals, but I did see senior citizens dancing in the street and well-dressed executives enjoying long, leisurely lunches. Admittedly, that’s because we were visiting placid places — but that’s the whole point. There are many such spots in a country where the headlines suggest otherwise.
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