Letters to the Editor: Good for Claudia Sheinbaum. But Mexico is no example for the U.S.

To the editor: Gustavo Arellano extols the virtues of a country that actually had 37 candidates assassinated this election cycle, a beautiful country that many Californians will not even drive into for fear of violence. (“What Mexico’s historic presidential election can teach the U.S.,” column, June 4)

Claudia Sheinbaum, the hand-selected candidate of the outgoing president, won in Mexico. Good for her. Truly.

But because some kooks here in our country filled him “with dread” as he voted (without getting killed), here’s a question for Arellano: Of the many thousands of immigrants who passed through Mexico to get to this land, how many of them said, “Hey, let’s just stay here in Mexico”?

Jeff Heister, Chatsworth

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To the editor: I enjoy Arellano’s columns, including his piece lauding Mexico for electing its first female president.

But wow, what a different interpretation he has of “poor Mexico,” the phrase attributed to the Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz.

I always thought the point of the full remark — “Poor Mexico: So far from God, so close to the United States” — was that Mexico was both far from God’s help and close to a bullying, arrogant neighbor to the north. Actually, Arellano’s column kind of lends itself to that view.

I congratulate the Mexican people for their progressive attitude toward gender equality in the presidential election. Maybe someday that could happen here.

Susan Gustavson, Portland