Mexico's Aid for the American Tragedy Should Not Go Unnoticed
By Angel Luna

I was on the phone with my dad in Mexico when we started talking about Hurricane Katrina. The conversation moved to the news reports of the Mexican Army coming to help the people in America, and the recent offerings of help in the rebuilding effort. My dad kept saying how in Mexico everyone keeps talking about how “cold-blooded” the American government is for letting people die just because they are black or brown. But he also talked about how proud people are of the Mexican Army for helping out. Mexicans here in the US are just as proud.

I lived the first half of my life in Mexico, and the past seven here in the US. The failure of the US government to help the victims of Katrina has made me ashamed of my American side and proud of my Mexican side. When I saw reports of the Mexican Army coming to help I felt like this was the time that we prove that we are more than free loaders or that we are more then wetbacks. We let America know that even though we are a third world country we can always help out, or rather, even though we are a third world country we would help the ones who need it. Who ever thought that your neighbor, the one that you always complain about is the one that came to your rescue ?

The Mexican Army also helped thousands of Americans from those devastated communities in a number of ways. By cooking breakfast for all those people who desperately needed a good meal after they lost everything, they provided medical service for the unfortunate ones that got sick, and they provided rescue services for the ones that were lost and forgotten by America.

Man, it's just sad that a first world country wouldn't help out their own brothers and sisters. The whole reaction by the US government seemed pathetic, and made me ashamed of being American. But I turned sick after I heard reports that that those victims who are undocumented may not be able to receive immediate assistance or the other aid being given to US citizens to rebuild their lives. How cold can this country be with all these hard working people?

The irony is that this noble act of neighborly help is happening as the vigalante group, the Minute Men, made up of sometimes armed American civilians are trying to round up Mexicans at the border. I just wonder what the hell happened with all the Minute Men. If they are so pro-American, why not go and help their American brothers and sisters? The tragedy happened in New Orleans and they headed to California – what happened?

Mexico probably doesn't have the latest technology in weapons to kill, or weapons of mass destruction, but it showed the world it has heart. It was beautiful to watch the Mexican Army come to rescue people, they came like a troops of Angels in my eyes. Hopefully, the people of Mexico won't be looked at as a danger anymore, and America can finally appreciate my home country.

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