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Existing Without Hope: A Glimpse of Life in Nogales, Mexico

                        It’s hard to imagine life without sufficient information, without means, without choices. People in Nogales, Mexico know these things all too well. We got a trivial glimpse of their life on our trip to Nogales. I say “trivial” because while we all shook our heads with sympathy and were undeniably moved by the Mexicans’ plight, we were able to return to our opulent lives and escape the true reality of existing in poverty.

            A dirt road wound up a dusty hill overwhelmed with haphazardly positioned dwellings in the colonia Bellavista. A few stray dogs ran loose through the maze of houses; the dogs were too thin and were a striking symbol of the lack of resources throughout the community. I was led to a small house where Karina was busy at the stove preparing our meal. The kitchen was remarkably cozy; everything was immaculately clean and a wonderful aroma wafted up from the stove. As we sat down to eat, I started asking her questions about her life in Nogales.

            I was surprised to learn that Karina said she liked the maquiladora where she worked. I wondered if she liked it simply because factory work is one of the better jobs for the people of Nogales. Perhaps she was just thankful to be working at all. Or maybe, she was unaware that workers have rights and so did not know to expect anything better.

            In her article “We Are Not Machines”, Maria Guadalupe Torres describes her experiences and her fight for improvements in the maquiladoras in Mexico. When she first learned that she had any rights, she described the experience as “it was tremendous-like someone opening a curtain!”  Empowered with this knowledge, Maria began organizing the colonias in her town towards advocating for change. Perhaps if Karina became thus informed, she could follow in Maria’s footsteps.

            After lunch my group left Bellavista to visit a maquiladora in downtown Nogales. After waiting for some time outside, we were finally granted permission to enter the factory. We were ushered into a small conference room that quickly became stifling hot. A company representative came to talk to us about the factory. She certainly fit the consumer relations prototype! A petite, pregnant woman she was very well educated and had a soft manner. She was very tactful in answering our questions, but I got the feeling that it was all a front put on by the maquiladora in an attempt to pacify our interest. We were confined to the room (which quickly became uncomfortable) and were politely refused in our request to view the factory floor.

             An aspect of this situation that I find particularly frustrating is that even though Mexican law is supposed to protect the workers, there is very little means to enforce it. Because of the high unemployment rate in Mexico, the maquiladoras can always find new workers. Laurence Pantin describes how harsh the factories are when trying to suppress workers from organizing for better conditions. In his article “The Sorry Union of a Mexican Tech Factor: Bloomberg’s Terminal Troubles”, Laurence explains how a maquiladora in Sonora dealt with uniting workers. “When managers learned about the organizing, they threatened to fire workers supporting to union.” When the workers achieved support from a government-backed union in secret, the maquialdoras responded by laying off most of its workers, transferring the plant to another city, and pretending to sell the plant to new owners, thus annulling the union’s certification.

            As we left downtown Nogales and headed back to Bellavista for dinner, we drove by one of the more affluent neighborhoods. The lavish houses and beautiful gardens were a striking contrast to the overcrowded workers’ community. 

           As the sun set on the city, I could not help but reflect on the sights of the day. I thought about Karina, by now heading off to work the night shift. I thought about the consumer relations manager from the maquiladora. She was probably contentedly resting in her home (which is certainly equipped with running water and flushing toilets). I sadly realized that there are no easy or even forthcoming solutions to the problems I have witnessed today. “This is the fault line between currencies; the land of exchange rates and multicultural souvenirs. It is hope for refugees, and home for the exiles who are tired of life in a single version and prefer translation to the original” (“Getting Across”, David Chorlton).