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Septemeber 9, 2002.
On the first anniversary of 9/11
- I believe that we should never forget, nor should
we allow others to forget the horror of that day. I
believe that we should never allow ourselves to become
apathetic, as if everything had returned to normal.
It hasn't and I don't know if it ever will. There seem
to be no more limits to the evil that men can do to
each other. My deepest sympathies to all who have lost
friends and family members on September 11, 2001, be
they American or not.
This page is called "Opinion".
It is graciously allotted to me every week to fill with
my thoughts, my blather …and my opinions. These
are totally independent of the opinions and editorial
policies of this publishing house. I say this because
I wanted to express an opinion that may be construed
as a political statement - and that is something foreigners
are not allowed to make.
Now I don't have to because Sr. David
Izazaga, Editor of one of the local Spanish-language
dailies did it for me. The following is a literal translation
of the first half of a column he published Wednesday,
September 4, 2002.
"American Community Outraged
- The news is that the disagreement and unease continue
to increase among the North American community as well
as with some of the business leaders of this port. The
topic? The campaign against child prostitution recently
begun by the municipal DIF (the system for the Integral
Development of the Family). As we already mentioned
in this space a few days ago: showing very little sensitivity,
the municipal DIF designed an image that has been spread
left and right, where we see the drawing of a child
surrounded by a (red) circle with a line across it and
a passport in the background.
This campaign has reached many tourists
(after all, to top it all, the DIF has been using local
taxis to distribute the propaganda, through which it
gets into the hands of foreign visitors with incredible
ease), who have been very upset as their consider the
campaign to be a direct aggression. And when they find
out that it was designed by the municipal authorities,
their indignation reaches its limit.
With Friends Like Those… - Who
had so little sensitivity as not to remedy such an error?
Generalizing it, the DIF committed a lack of tact that
affects the image of the destination.
A hotelier… mentioned that the Trust should invest
more in promotion, but the only thing the (insult) campaign
does is counteract the official efforts made in that
respect. Someone has to do something and right away
because the campaign cannot go on as is.
Yesterday we also found out that
various businessmen and hoteliers were getting together
to pressure the municipal authorities to end that campaign,
which is counterproductive from all points of view,
it is badly planned, insensitive and unnecessary, in
short: it doesn't work.
Medicine That Makes You Sick - With
regard to child prostitution, no advertising campaign
will have as much effect as if the DIF and other corresponding
institutions were to get to work on what they should.
The fact that the municipal DIF and its present president
do not have an open and total "vote of confidence"
from the public opinion is not a reason for it to try
and recuperate it by whatever means. What was done was
done. That is why someone must make the authorities
understand that the "campaign" can lead to
more damage than the little fruit it might bear.
How would you feel if, as a tourist,
you arrived somewhere, took a taxi and the driver handed
you a flyer "asking you" to say no to ruthless
assassinations in the streets of the city, or to the
robberies and violations of passers-by?
Showing visitors our weaknesses (those
of the authorities who have allowed them) doesn't contribute
in any way and does a lot of damage.
Will we manage to understand this
message or is it already too late?"
On Wednesday, Ms. Kelly Trainor,
Puerto Vallarta's U.S. Consular Agent had a meeting
with the DIF President. Afterwards, she advised us that
"The distribution has been stopped, however there
are many given to individuals still in circulation.
They will correct the error before continuing to distribute
more. There are many in private stores throughout the
town, what has been effective for me is to enter the
stores who have them in their windows and kindly point
out that Americans can be easily offended and suggest
that they color out the U.S. State Department Eagle
and United States of America words with a black marker,
all store employees and owners are very receptive to
these suggestions. I will also be talking to the CTM
leader of the taxi union requesting that the taxi drivers
do the same. The campaign and information is a good
thing, the oversight is not."
Tip 'o the hat to you, Ms. Trainor!
Let's just hope that not too much damage has been done.
I want to thank all the visitors
to www.pvmirror.com (300,000 hits per month!) who have
written in to thank us for putting the best of the best
on line. As they say, "at least we don't have to
run around town looking for the Tribune!" Sorry,
folks, it's just that the Tribune is so popular that
it gets snatched up as soon as it is delivered to our
more than 100 outlets ...and we only come out once a
week.
I wish all our readers PEACE. And
to our Jewish friends, L'Shana Tova and Shalom
Hasta luego!
anna@pvmirror.com
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