Home | Libros | Prensa | Biografía | Contacto | Compra | Recomienda

San Antonio Express-News
8 de diciembre de 1996
©1996: Suzanne Cane y Olvera

CORRUPTION: IT IS ALL OF US

I have been reading lately about suspected drug corruption involving U.S. customs officials on the American border with Mexico. The corruption does not surprise me. What surprises me is that Americans are surprised. I live in Mexico.

Corruption in Mexico is an old story, and people in the United States seem to believe it as automatically as if it were part of the geographical description of the country. Why, however, are they so incapable of imagining that such a thing is possible in the United States? Corruption, after all is almost as predictable as a chemical reaction: people + money + temptation = corruption.

It couldn't happen in the United States, you say? It certainly could never happen to me, you are sure? Let's take a look at just how impossible it really is.

Case Number One: You are one traffic violation away from having your driver's license suspended when a highway patrolman stops you for speeding. You were going only five miles over the speed limit, but the fine is $65. Much worse is the fact that you live way out in the suburbs. No one you work with lives anywhere nearby, and there is no form of public transportation that comes near your house either. You explain, you plead, your situation to the policeman. He says that, for $20, he could sort of forget how fast you were going. What do you do? Not so easy, is it?

Case Number Two: You can't believe it. It really happened. Your dream job came through. All you have to do is get your papers to the company by Monday at the latest. Today is Thursday. You go through your papers for the last time, sure they are all there, when you suddenly realize that your birth certificate is missing. You look all over for it, but it is lost. You cannot think of one more place to look. Fortunately, it is only eleven o'clock, and you have time to go downtown to the Bureau of Records. When you get there, you are told to pay the fee and come back for the birth certificate on Tuesday. Tuesday will be too late. You have to get all your papers in my Monday or kiss your dream job good-bye. You explain the situation to a supervisor. Almost under her breath, she says that, for $25 folded into the blank application form that she hands you, she will be able to have the birth certificate by tomorrow morning. What do you do? Not so easy, is it?

Case Number Three: Your mother needs an operation. It is not an emergency situation yet, but the procedure should be performed soon, or it could become more serious, perhaps even fatal. Because she forgot to pay her medical insurance premium on time, her policy has lapsed, and she must wait three months to be admitted to a public hospital. It is impossible for your family to pay a private hospital without insurance. You explain your situation to an administrator at the public facility. He says he understands your problem because he is also having economic problems. For a small fee of $100, to be paid in cash to him personally, he might be able to manage to get your mother admitted to the hospital for her operation within a week. What do you do? Not so easy, is it?

Case Number Four: From the day he was born, you have had big plans for your son, and, over the years, he has accepted your dreams as his own. He will go to the state university and follow the life plan step by step. In his junior year of high school, however, he gets very sick and misses weeks of classes. He gets back to school in time to finish the year, but he just barely manages to pass his courses. He will get his high school diploma, but his grades will not be high enough to get him into the university. You mention your situation to a co-worker at your office. He tells you that his brother-in-law, who just happens to work in one of the administrative offices of the state university, has been having money problems and his car is about to be repossessed. Your colleague is sure that, for $200, his brother-in-law "would probably be able to do something" to get your son into the school. What do you do? Not so easy, is it?

Case Number Five: You believe your son when he tells you he didn't know that the car his friends had picked him up in was stolen. He had been home with you all day, and you know he had not been involved. Yet, there is the possibility of his future being destroyed by a police record that he does not deserve. At the police station, a clerk tells you that, since your son will not be held for trial anyway, for $300, his record "might just sort of disappear." What do you do? Not so easy, is it?

None of these situations seem to have anything to do with drug traffickers bribing customs officials, do they?

They do. It is corrupt to pay, or to be paid, to get around drug laws, and it is just as corrupt to pay, or to be paid, to get into schools or hospitals or around deadlines. But, somehow, when it is your job or your mother or your son, it is not so easy, is it?