DIPLOMACY MAY BE the art of lying for one's country, but Mexican diplomacy requires taking that art to virtuosic heights. Sitting in his expansive office in Mexico's Los Angeles consulate, Deputy Consul General Mario Velazquez-Suarez insists that he and his peers do not interfere in U.S. internal affairs, including immigration matters. "Immigration is an internal discussion," he says.
But it's not quite true. Mexican officials here and abroad interfere almost daily in U.S. sovereignty.
The meddling starts with Mexico's comic book-style guide to breaching the border safely and evading detection once across. The Foreign Ministry distributes this "Guia del Migrante Mexicano" ("Guide for the Mexican Migrant") in Mexico; consulates along the border hand it out in the United States.
Mexico: In a Nov. 8 Op-Ed article about Mexican interference in U.S. domestic affairs, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was misspelled as Guadeloupe-Hidalgo.
The guide does briefly remind readers that "mechanisms for legal entry" into the U.S. exist and are the surest way to get in. But the book primarily consists of "practical advice" for entering illegally: Cross when the heat is lowest; don't wear heavy clothing when fording a river; do keep your coyote in sight; don't send your children across the border with strangers.
The guide's recommendations on how to avoid detection once here are equally no-nonsense: Do keep your daily routines stable, to avoid calling attention to yourself; don't engage in domestic violence -- the Marvel comic-type illustration shows a macho man, biceps bulging, socking a woman in the jaw.
Consulates exist to promote the commercial interests of their nations abroad and to help nationals if they have lost passports, been robbed or fallen ill. They are not supposed to connive at breaking a host country's laws.
Assisted border-breaking is just the tip of the iceberg.
Mexican consulates, like those of other countries, have traditionally offered consular cards to their nationals for registration purposes. But after 9/11, consulates began to promote the card as a way for illegals to obtain privileges that the U.S. usually reserves for legal residents.
Consulates aggressively lobbied U.S. governmental officials and banks to accept the matriculas consular as valid IDs for driver's licenses, checking accounts and other privileges. Only illegals need this identification -- legal aliens already have sufficient documentation to get driver's licenses or bank accounts.
