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ColumnsGlobalizationGrowing the Americas

A Time for a New Alliance in the Americas

“We are joined together in this Alliance as nations united by a common history and common values. And I look forward—as do all the people of this country—to the day when the people of Latin America will take their rightful place beside the United States and Western Europe as citizens of industrialized and growing and increasingly abundant societies.” President John F. Kennedy, March 13, 1962 Excerpt from a speech on the first anniversary of the…
Pedro Chavez
July 27, 2021
ColumnsPolitics

A Time of Sorrow, and Disbelief

IMAGE: Redacted copy of the letter I received from the White House. Got a letter today, it was from the White House. It was signed by the president of the United States. He didn’t really sign it, it just had the replica of his signature on it. He demanded the John Hancock and the mailing of such letters as a political ploy, to tell Internal Revenue Service direct deposit recipients that the stimulus money that…
Pedro Chavez
April 27, 2020
ColumnsStories

The Novel Coronavirus, a Threat That We Must Defeat

IMAGE: Ultra-structural morphology of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Image created by CDC, the Center for Disease Control. BACK IN THE FIFTIES, when I was just a kid living in Mexicali, I used to read lots of comic books. I read a few from Mexican publishers, like El Santo, La Familia Burrónand others, but most were from across the border, from the United States. I read the Spanish language versions of those magazines. I no longer remember most…
Pedro Chavez
April 20, 2020
Border TalesColumnsMexicaliNovelsStoriesUncategorized

Unscripted Journey: Our Trek North

IMAGE: Some of us with our mother in a photo taken for a local crossing permit. Circa 1950s. There were no triple walls then, in 1962, the year we crossed the border between Mexicali and Calexico in our way to a place that promised us a better future. Triple walls are abundant now in myriad spots along the geopolitical line that defines where Mexico begins and the United States ends. And vice versa. There was…
Pedro Chavez
March 29, 2020
ColumnsPolitics

Media Outlets Profit in Trump Era

IMAGE: Donald Trump during presidential campaign. iStock photo (Getty Images)     The legendary king of late night TV, Johnny Carson, would sometimes blame a “slow news day” for the lack of comedic material for his standup. It was a different era. No CNN 24-hour news, no other networks doing the same, no political pundits spreading their hype on television and the Internet, no social media. Times have changed, though, especially now that The Donald…
Pedro Chavez
March 14, 2018
ColumnsStories

Ginger and Bella

PHOTO: Ginger (in the back) and Bella inside Amanda’s car.   The dog in the back of the photo is Ginger; the other one is Bella. The last time I saw them was this past September, when we visited my sister Amanda in northern California. Ginger was already suffering from the usual aches and throes brought about by old age. Bella was still a young pup. I saw Ginger for the first time in late…
Pedro Chavez
December 24, 2017
ColumnsPolitics

Justice Will Be Done; America Will Survive

NEW YORK CITY - SEPTEMBER 3 2015: Republican candidate for president Donald Trump. iStock photo.   Ours is not just a nation of republicans and democrats, of red and blue states, or of conservatives and liberals. Ours is a bastion of freedom for all of the people. Also of self-government and justice for all — a country in which those that call this place home can say it’s theirs. Ours, too, is a democratic experiment…
Pedro Chavez
July 15, 2017
ColumnsStories

The Trek North: Part Six

PHOTO: Fig tree like the ones in Figarden in 1962. Getty Images.   Working as a helper on a fig-picking tractor did a lot for me. More than anything, I felt good about getting a check each week. Every Saturday I would ask my father to take me to the small store in Figarden so I could cash it. I usually bought a soda and an apple turnover, sometimes other things. One had to buy…
Pedro Chavez
January 16, 2016
ColumnsPolitics

Business as Usual

PHOTO: A Walmart Supercenter, similar to the one in Chula Vista.   NOTE: Wrote this column in 2010 after a visit to the store mentioned below. Something tells me that not much has changed since then and it is still business as usual at the Walmart stores along the U.S.-Mexico border.   This one is probably the busiest Walmart store on the face of the earth. But no one has to tell you that if…
Pedro Chavez
January 7, 2016
ColumnsStories

A Christmas Present

Photo provided by Getty Images.   NOTE: I wrote the following poem some years ago. I go back to it every Christmas, read it, and I kind of like it every time I read it again. It’s a simple poem. I want to share it with you just in case you might kind of like it too. By the way, y’all have a merry Christmas, you heah (I’ve lived in Texas for more than twelve…
Pedro Chavez
December 21, 2015