MEXICO CITY — Millions of ordinary Mexicans responded without hesitation in the face of danger during the September 19th earthquake. The spirit of solidarity and cooperation in the quake zone demonstrated by people of all ages restored many people’s faith in the true character of Mexico after years of violence. But not everyone was happy to see such selfless behavior.
During the earthquake, Texan oil tycoon Joe T. Hodo said he was “mad as a Fort Worth rodeo bull” to see Mexican civilians successfully rescue survivors from the rubble. “Mexicans are trying to do the job of private corporations and our allies in the Mexican government,” said Hodo, “which creates chaos, and that’s bad for business, particularly my business. They should stay home and let us professionals handle it.” The Texan went so far as to purchase and re-train what he thought to be a Mexican Navy search and rescue dog named Malinche, in order to “sniff out” citizen organizers and discourage them from helping others.
A heavy investor in the fracking industry who has vowed to become Mexico’s “first Gringo President running under the GÜERO party ticket next July, Hodo documented his efforts to stymie civilian disaster response in the latest episode of “El Joe T. Hodo Show,” which Hodo posts to his YouTube channel. Many followers of Hodo’s social media sites seem to think the show is a comedy, but Joe insists he’s not joking.
Citizen disaster response leads to organizing. Organizing leads to citizen participation. Which inevitably leads to self-government, which is too dangerous in these uncertain times.
If Hodo’s vision of mistrust in people sounds alarming, never fear. As Hodo documents in his Special Report, Malinche the Wonder Dog had other plans in mind during his “search” operations.
