Rich and Poor

Land of the Rich and Poor

Mexico is certainly a land of contrasts. First of all there is the population itself--an interesting mix of Amerindians and Europeans (primarily Spanish). While about 60-65 percent of the population is mixed (Meztizo), about 25-30% is considered purely indigenous, and about 10-15% is mostly Spanish.

At our marina we meet several workers that actually spoke the Yucatec Mayan language. It is also estimated that 1.5 million Mexicans speak Nahuatl--the Aztec language, but there are dozens of indigenous groups and languages here.

As of August 2007 Fortune magazine and the Wall Street Journal indicate that Mexican Carlos Slim is now the richest man in the world with holdings of about 60 billion dollars putting him ahead of the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

Although Carlos owns about 100 companies, one of his more lucrative is Telmex—which controls some 90% of the phones in Mexico (a virtual monopoly). All told, Carlos Slim pulls in about $27 million per day—no slim pickings for him.

The irony is that until recently approximately 42% of Mexicans lived in extreme poverty (24% in urban areas). Average annual income barely reaches $10,000 and yet Lora and I find that most things are more expensive here than in the U.S. even at the Walmart in Cancun. At the local grocery stores staples cost as much as in the U.S. though a few locally grown produce items cost less, mangos, oranges (bright green), avocados, and chayotes. Medicine is also cheaper.

Mexicans pay nearly as much for gasoline as we do. Pemex, the only supplier of petroleum in Mexico, has a nationalized monopoly because beginning in 1938 Mexicans wanted to restrict foreign investment.

Pemex has annual revenues of nearly $80 billion, and is one of the largest oil companies in the world. Mexico is the 5th largest exporter of oil. One of the executives from Pemex had his 4 million dollar Azimut yacht parked in the slip next to us at Puerto Isla Mujeres during hurricane Dean.

As we walk around the neighborhoods here, we are struck by two facts, a great number of houses are unfinished—there are piles of sand, and stacks of cinder block in front of about a fourth of the houses, and there are far too many tar-paper and stick shacks. One of our friends here has her house lined with cardboard.

Perhaps because of persistent poverty there are many pretty flowers, and Mexicans have colorful houses. Two general decorating rules seem to apply: any color but white, and don’t use any color that your neighbor used.

The house in the above picture belongs to Lenore (Lenny) Vaughan, who was married to Stevie Ray Vaughan, a famous Austin guitarist who died in a helicopter crash. I think Lenny and her daughter had great fun painting the walls in such psychodelic schemes.

Despite rampant poverty, many Mexicans are quite generous. The Salazar family, for example has invited us to dinner twice, even though obviously it is a bit of a burden to feed our boisterous boys. Mari Salazar is quite a cook, and one afternoon she fixed us " brazo de reina" (queen's arm) which is a local specialty. She also taught us how to make potato pancakes and how to cook chayotes.

Although her one room house is literally made of sticks and tar-paper held together with wire and rope, and although one wall is lined with cardboard, she was completely un-selfconscious about it.

Her sink is outside and basically consists of a water hose and a large basin that drains on the ground. Her stove is the size of a two-burner Coleman camping stove. She had one or two chairs and a small bed, yet she is always smiling. When we left her house, she wanted to give us three bags of rice! Perhaps she felt sorry for us because we live on a boat. We later invited her and her husband over, and Lora made pizza.

There are three primary modes of transportation for those who live on Isla Mujeres: motor scooters, golf carts, and taxis. Very few own a regular car. It is common to see Mexican moms motoring along on their scooter with a baby in their left arm and a child riding on the back. Some build a little wooden seat in front so that their child can perch there. We have seen several famlies of four all riding on the family scooter.

Becuase the average Mexican here does not have airconditioning, their doors and windows are usually wide open making it easy to peek inside. Many sleep in colorful hammocks that are cheaper and cooler and more compact than a bed. In the evenings they congregate outside to enjoy the balmy sea breeze. This promotes a sense of community, and we enjoy watching all the children playing outside while the adults talk. I believe that the large Mexican family is starting to die out. While the birthrate was once around 3.5% it is now at .9%

These shacks are not typical, but a few exist.