Houstonians of Mexican heritage upbeat:
Between World Cup loss to Brazil and a new president, emotions run the gamut
Emotions of Houstonians of Mexican heritage Monday were a mix of hope and sadness.
Hope for a freshly elected president of Mexico but sadness that the nation’s soccer team lost 2-0 to Brazil and was knocked out of World Cup contention.
The morning began with hundreds of hopeful Mexicans and Mexican-Americans packed into sports bars around the corner of Walker and Emanuel streets east of downtown, wearing T-shirts and accessories in the green of their team and the Mexican flag. The line to enter Pitch 25 was turning the corner outside the bar at 7 a.m., even though the Mexico-Brazil game was not scheduled to start for another four hours.
While in line early in the morning, many of the patrons learned that the Mexican national elections Sunday resulted in a landslide for Andres Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO as he is called by his name’s acronym. A reformer, he has a mandate for change in Latin America’s second-largest economy.
“I am glad that Obrador won; we have needed a change for too long already, this was long overdue,” said Denise Chávez, a young woman born in Mexico who was wearing a wide-brimmed Mexican hat at Pitch 25. “Let’s see if there are actually going to be changes in Mexico, but anything and anyone is better than (current President) Peña Nieto.”
Despite the heartbreak of the soccer team’s loss, fans at the watering hole mostly were joyful about the dramatic change in Mexican politics. López Obrador is a left-wing politician who headed a coalition called “Together we will make history” (Juntos Haremos Historia). The electoral authority in Mexico reported Monday that a quick count of the ballots showed him with between 53 to 54 percent of the vote, distantly followed by Ricardo Anaya, running with another coalition, For Mexico to the Front (Por México al Frente).
López Obrador is scheduled to take office Dec. 1, replacing Peña Nieto, who is
from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) that has been entangled in numerous accusations of corruption.
The winning candidate campaigned on the promise of cleaning up long-standing corruption.
“We have been ripped off, we have been robbed a lot by our own people in power,” said Elia Diaz, a retiree born in Mexico who has lived in Houston for 25 years. “I don’t know if (López Obrador) will be a real change for Mexico, but if the government will continue robbing us, let it be a different one.”
Díaz said she is not happy the Mexican team is out of the World Cup, “but this is just a game; the political corruption in Mexico is not a game!”
But she said she thinks López Obrador has a steep road ahead to fight corruption.
“I don’t think everything is going to be honey over flakes,” Diaz said.
Hugo Guerrero, a Mexican who has worked four years as an executive for a downtown firm, said the day was quite “intensive” with two consequential events happening for Mexico. He agrees that “it’s going to be a hard road ahead for (AMLO)” but “I am hoping that the rest of the country will rally around him.”
Guerrero said he hopes “people will be able to put politics aside because we need a change and clearly the country is behind him. I don’t know if he is going to be able to deliver on all his promises, but you have to honor the attempt he is making to change the country.”
Others likeArturo Villegas, who was born in Houston and said he is a conservative, voiced concern about how the relationships between a leftist Mexican president will play out with President Donald Trump.
“I think that at the beginning the relation will be cordial,” Villegas said. “But the question is how it’s going to go later because they are too different, so we should see how it could affect NAFTA or immigration.”
He expressed the wish that NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) will stay in place with some adjustments. He also said Mexico should do more to control migrants crossing through its territory en route to the U.S.
But not everybody at the barrestaurant was interested in Mexican politics .
Brazilians Lucia Alsaadi and her daughters, Vanessa Alsaadi and Susana Pancio, were among a handful of people from the South American country that advanced to the quarterfinals in the World Cup after defeating Mexico.
“It was almost intimidating to be surrounded by so many Mexicans” feeling bad for losing the game, said Pancio while screaming for Brazil and cheering with her sister and mother.
One downcast fan, Juan Dominguez, a Mexican who works in construction in Houston, said he was “so upset that I am not going to watch the Cup anymore; the least thing I need now is to think about politics in Mexico!”
After the game, fans of the losing team stayed at Pitch 25 and consoled themselves with Mexican music played by Houston DJ Gracie Chávez.
“I knew how to make them feel good; I put Vicente Fernández singing ‘Pero Sigo Siendo el Rey’ (But I am Still the King),” she said.
People began hugging, melodically following the track with the chorus, “Llorar y llorar” (Cry and cry) “Llorar y llorar…”