Yikes! Investor Business Daily has more on MECHA and the separatist movement. This puts a socialist win in Mexico's presidential race in a whole new perspective. Can you imagine a friend of Chavez and Castro right next door? Can you imagine if someone puts this separatist attitude to good use?
Oh, wait--they are. It's happening. Turn on the TV.
Oh, wait--they are. It's happening. Turn on the TV.
A leading Aztlan group is the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan, known by its Spanish acronym MEChA.Tags: Politics, border, Homeland Security, MEXICO, Immigration, Illegal Aliens, Border Security, California, GOP, Democrats, Immigrant, MECHA
Like many other Hispanic groups, MEChA came out of the "Brown Power" movement of the late '60s. Its founding motto was, "For those in the race, everything. For those outside the race, nothing."
Many of California's leading Hispanic politicians were "Mechistas" in college, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.
Bustamante's refusal to condemn MEChA contributed to his defeat by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2003 gubernatorial race.
As a student group, MEChA tends to be dominated by immigrants' children and descendants, not immigrants themselves.
But the views of most Mexicans aren't far away from MEChA's.
A 2002 Zogby poll of Mexicans in Mexico found that 58% believe the U.S. Southwest rightfully belongs to Mexico, having been stolen from Mexico in the 1800s.
Not surprisingly, 57% believe Mexicans have the right to enter the U.S. whenever they please.
"There's sort of an irredentist sentiment," said George Grayson, professor of government and Mexico specialist at the College of William and Mary.
"One seldom hears even educated Mexicans saying the laws on border crossing should be followed," he said. "It's almost as if the U.S. has an obligation to redress its sins of the nineteenth century."
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