The People of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

However nice the restaurants, shopping, and attractions, the people of Ciudad Juarez are the city's finest asset. You will find that they are very patient with foreigners, quick to smile and help you, and curious about their American neighbors. At times, one wonders if the Mexican government has appointed each and every one of them an ambassador for their country. Most people in Mexico have big hearts and an instinct to find reasons to like another person instead of looking for reasons to dislike that person. After you have spent a great deal of time among the Mexican people you also discover that they are almost unfailingly polite to each other as well as to visitors. It is not “cool to be rude” here. Elders are addressed with respect, and the children address you as “sigñor” or “sigñora”. The work ethic is incredibly strong.

Take Guillermo here. I first met this gentleman almost three years ago when the entire contents of his store were in a cardboard box like the one you see in the foreground of this picture. He worked in front of the Hotel Villa Manport, which had quickly become my favorite hotel in Juarez. He would always greet me and let me torture him for a few minutes with my terrible Spanish in my ridiculous attempts to have a normal conversation with someone.

It did not take long for me to notice that whenever I left the hotel in the mornings Guillermo was already at his corner at Hermanos Escobar and Calle Panama and that when I settled into the hotel for the evening, usually about 7 or 8 p.m. Guillermo was still on his corner selling his goods to the passersby. He was there when it was cold and wet, and he was there when it was 102 degrees in the shade. He was there because he had a family who needs his support, and he was always smiling. When I bought my first phone card and was trying to solve the mystery of how to dial a cell phone number in Juarez Guillermo took the time to show me. He also showed me how to dial the United States. When I wanted to know how to find a nearby restaurant he had time to walk me a block and a half down the street until he could point to it and make sure I saw it.

And he never asked anything except to be paid for for some little something I may have bought from him. Usually I bought nothing at all.

Now Guillermo has saved his money and invested in magazines. He obtained the wooden structure you see behind him and has probably doubled his income. He is a perfect example of how honest people get ahead in difficult economic circumstances. They do it the same way we do it here: they find honest employment and stick with it, making incremental progress one step at a time. This picture of Juarez is a much more accurate one than we get in our media. Guillermo is one of the millions of people in the city who are doing the best they can to care for their families, and succeeding, no matter how difficult it is to do so or how many hours a week it takes, no matter how unpleasant the work. I could tell you a million stories just like this one. All I would have to do is take the time to talk to a million more people here.

On Sundays the churches are full in Juarez, and any available business space more than three feet wide has sprouted an enterprise where someone, like Guillermo, is trying to make an honest living. The truth is that the people of Ciudad Juarez, from whatever level, work just as hard as any people I have ever known and are as honest as any people I have known. I am pleased---no proud---to call them my friends.