they foond him in Tijuana sround Chihuahua and Ciudad judres looking for El Gallo Neeo ‘he one who Killed his father) ‘The corridos. discursive genre has another importantelement that seas ityae strated it possesses a cerain power that could o ed perfor ‘mative, because there is no other way to dsctibe the effects dstribtion ies Proiced, In its own way, the coed like literature or fil, dramatizes, com ‘structs, feds, and confirms the image that is held about the border and the ug wade. And Tijuana takes frst place. Note + Rosa Campra, “La luda en el discurso literaio™ (The cy in erry Tijuanologies An Urban Essay Thee are mor catnan Tiana than buldngs The Nation 88) (nthe other side ofthe dry river bd ial, hel in common bythe two Smal, dlupdted wooden foran entice ome elo tare withut losing your stamaeh, FERNANDO JonoAn, Elouo Mi The Other esc, op) ithe movement of moder ies ie New ork ctosing the bodes, where theo seston of ety stil wey mach a JEROME ROTHENBERC, The Rhee 98) tees. an Digois a postin cy igh impart atc and despot ‘Tuan gazes orth toward the Fare, San Diego is te ftre secon so .San Ogos th past, gure suai Ti raiethe treA gone th My eon ath (993) At Gustoms: Would You Like to Know What I's Like to Live on the Border? (Tijuana Isthe United States of Mexico: Yah, Right) sled the Spasish and one at ros wl en inh. excep fone sources the end ofa fendofa end... Bute tld ther unr —Lewis #ALTE in Ube Rao proj crated by Hans Uc Obit (Suzan [itz i to many ter ve rid fi prior ences abou the cy, itis ecause more than ait, Tijuana ea religion ot an execrabe mytbol be forgotten, even by insulting he or lying about her, «passionate and tert blewoman, sit that consumes and destroys here. y. Tijuana maddening woman, woman who eat {nny lifetime, {have not flea lve as profound asthe confusing pasion that [fel for Tiana, an obsession that does not preclude criticism and which more accurate love, a narcotic love. Tijuana is addictive. No Mexican city has provoked as much morbid in y provokes sudden repudiation, Tijuana elicits a crazy 1st as Metco City or "juana. Mexico City because ofits frightening size, the weight ofits ancient pyramids; Tiana because ofits sinister youth, because ofthe black shadows ofits streets, and above ll, because ofthe fear inepiesin us, what itraly represents in regard to ur whole culture. A city representing the entre fa ture of the globalized world, but without any prospect, Like any city that is alive even in its deepest depths, Tijuana an assass Richasd Rodriguez has explained it wisely: “Tijuana i an industrial park in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Tijuana is a neighborhood of Tokyo. Tijuana isa sweatshop in Taiwan” (Days of Obligation: Ax Argument with My Mexican ether, 1gga) Tijuana is not a ety, Tiana isa symptom of temporary urhanity. Tijuana is posturban condition, in which the betes of attraction and resistance have been made almost impossible. Tijuana is a magne that bleeds For this same reason, the ciy belongs to the scattered archives of inet: national literature, sinc living onthe borders not only living among unbe lievable statistics, and, atthe same time, among irefutable images in the butalso existing on the border means putting up with pseudoprob: lems and imitations To live here isco return tothe greatest myth of all myths tobe required to profese—before certain visitors, certain neighbors, certain experts—a Wirite something sbout Tjuans and you willbe quoted. Write something about tha city and you will soon be addicted to her self-deception. To her "hiestto continually fall to new lows, Tijuana isan empty ity. None ofus can deny that. ‘That is the reason for her taste in drugs, paetying, murder, and, at the ime, the anonymous lfeof the maqulla. Tana sa nao. Tijuana isa prostrate Tijuana is hope. To tlk about the border isto convert oneself into a cotner mystagogut The borders this andthis and this; the border accordingto so-ands0isthat, bout the border has gone mad Gringo, Mexicans, Spanish, t does’ matter who it is, Tijuana isa whore bbutnot that. The diseours shout whom you can say whatever ou want. njthing canbe proven about he. In terms ofideology, Tiana isa nightmare, Tolivehere is tobe a character, because onthe border, there are noinhab- inant, jusearchetyps. The border as no life: thas metaphysies—thou shalt hea her ballshit Presenting, the Coyote, Presenting, the Tours, Presenting, the Whore, Presenting, the Migrant. ach person becomes histone, of, better sated, an online nickname. To apt ‘obe uptodate with journalism, bibliographies, the latest theories. Ob, and to always know the latest neo he Hybrid talkeaboutthe Border istouse capital let gist, Typical ofthe academic gang, Which ciminal was recenty honored Debate ilatealism, Division, Postmodernism, the Borderline Living here is not knowing if all ofa sudden, the people at the nex table will start using high mecaphysical jargon of rypcal border slang in their ”Herve ep coaversiton; you heat them talking about the Borde, about crossing over to the Other Side, yo hear them describing the thee steps of mysticism: "Wall Long Way. “Sleep under the Stes” “Discover the Poin of All" you hear ‘them talking about che Reuen of the Prodigal Son, about the Woman Wale ing on the Other Side, you hear them talking about the Leap, and after ro mantic fling being sent backby the Miga. (nthe Border, we areal, albeit against our will mystagogues. Tolive on the Border ist reside inthe middle of an unexpected atheology An embezzled ontology. The suspicion that al his will oon be ether ess or tore than a city, the laboratory of whats to come. Everything inthis place is «ragged along in terms of phenomenology or mysticism A Triple X mysticism, by the way From TiaJuana’s Ranch to Television Town: Hell as Seen from the Inside immediate, cans an veda etablshments prose al along the Mes inthis pero ar, 560 Fst long, was proudly adverSad 2 the largest inthe wold, —pavio 1 Ren, Hide Tiana Hay Tans, 1985) juan is situated a the extreme left of Mexico and Latin America, The Last stop forthe Spanish language and the northernmost Latin American city, and the southernmost city where English is deconstructed, as some others would add, I's cx located inan arid egion, no Eaorabl or natural devel lopment, a factor that has not prevented it from becoming the cty with the ‘most mauiladoras in che country. Perhaps in the worl, The wors thing about Tijuana though is that she is destined to be substituted inthe imagi nary by other Tijuanas, even worse cities. e' not an aeident that che ted light dstrits, redolent of social collapse, whether in Central Ametia a in the mind, ae ealed Little Tjuanes Ofcourse, heraliases include maguilopols or maquilalandia Tiana has many nicknames. One foreach of her characteristics. “Taking sway any one of er aspects would make te city less ‘Tijuana. More than a city, Tijuana has become a concept," writes Luis Humberto Crosthwaite, Tiana is already several ities an, in fae, i a city thatie splitting into, The ld Tiana, the ‘one thatis the object of al the legends, andthe Tijuana behind the red moun- ‘tin, the Tiana ofthe demographie boom, the most recent invasions, that area thatatthe end ofthe tweneeth century had almosta million inhabitants myuanotoares and had begun to be called New Tijana. But we will tak about that Tijuana on another occasion. In this book, we are speaking of symbolic Tijuana, of ‘he Tijuana from the discourse of the tur ofthe century. OF «dying city shedding ts snakeskin. “I” belongs tothe Baja California peninsula, the most isolated corner ofthe Mexican Republic, A portion ofthe population has always thought that the peninsula should separate off From Mexico, Others ate almost sure thatthe maps ae ying and tha the peninsulas in Fc, alesdyanisland. ‘When the San Andeas fault separates the tectonic plates, that dream W berealizd To the north, Tijuana borders San Diego, California, and to the west is the cific Ocean and its feeesing waters, which don atrat many tourists, see ing a5 iis plloed by raw sewage and waste from numerous transnational ‘companies located inthe area. Tijuana sa combination of extreme situations. Perhapsiti the most reliable proof that we could survive the apocalypse, ‘The name probably means “dryland” in the Yumana language (ant ‘otis derived from anather indigenous linguistic Farily one ofthe languages ‘ofthe nomadic groups who lived inthe region before the arial ofthe Spar Ish missionaries. In this sense, Tjuana means wasteland, paramo, or desert Having a name like this, being mocked in this vay is another eoinedence in a fcked-up lf, Weve. city whose name means Wasteland Nevertheless, i's odd chat the name is commonly explained by the exis- tence of powerful female landowner named sna, La Ta Juana. Auntjoan ‘As ifwe wanted to make ourselves believe that we lived in a woman, orcame fiom the maternal, and noe from this madera disorder, fom this merciless city, Ithas been established thatthe founding ofthe city dates back to 1889 Burthatisno more than a retrospective date. By thatyear, the city was alteady known inthe United States a ly with more caninas than houses, The coverap ofthe real erymology of Tijuana might seem like an appa «mtly insignificant fact, butitacualy suggests one ofthe key points ofborder culture: we prefer to erase all ofthe indigenous symbols from the sig, T jana, and fr that easonthe idiotic legend was invented thatthe namecame fiom. mythical ancherwoman named Tijuana theory that has now been completely discarded by Tiuanologsts, Complete renchero ridiculousness. ‘nd unlike other pstts of Mexic, che mestianje ofthe original habitants does notseem to have been systema, Practcllyall ofthe indigenous groups ofthe region (kilias,cucaps, papa, calla, and ual) ae in the process of isappeaeing and live in fue-Alang communis, very similar tothe way that [Native American live inthe United States. Tjuana a act, snot interestedtall nits indigenous past In that sense, Tijuana is more a Californian ety hana Mexican ety. Tijuans isthe eapital of Wanna Be California, Aone time, Mexico had 37 languages. When Tijuana was founded, ichad 106. In 2000, the nation only had 62 lf, which makes it the nation wit second-largest number of languages, behind only India. The languages na tive to the border are disappeatin, and in afew yeas, theres no doubt that none of them will exist, since pact ofthe project of “Tijuana” as a politcal fantasy is the continuation ofan imperceptible genocide, a kind of genocide Tite. Tiana is ity that believes it has no rots, a ity with the roots pled ‘ut. Peehaps this is the reason why the new Zapatstas made the decision to name their plan to unite civil society La Realidad‘Tjuana. Nevertheless, this new Zapatismo has litle reverberation in Tijuana, Tijuana sik of ntegardto the lack of racial mixing beeween the indigenous people ofthe region and the immigrant, the relationship that wes established with the native inhabicanes i dfinicely inspired more by the North American model than by what ocurred between the Spaniards and the Mesoamerican native peoples. Indigenous people ae invisible in che contemporary border society. In fact, one ofthe glorious myths of local racism boasts that one of the we- nealogical highlights of Baja California is that mestizaje never existed. The Spanish priests who cane here to convert che natives to Christianity were brutal. There was more than one ebelion agains ther. But as with all bru tality, the Conquista won ou. At the end ofthe ninetenth century, the economic boom in California, inspired the intial development of urban fein Tjuana. The construction of houses began around Calle Ohera, which afterward came to be knowa as Avenida Revolueida, famous workwide for its cheap and no-holds-barred nightie. & horizontal moment to chap tourism. People always say the city looks lke a typical Olé Westtown. There isnot very much historical doc mentation from that period. The only certainty is that the town looked to ward San Diego and turned way from the rest of Mico. Tijuana was born a ‘mathetless city, an orphaned beggar git, her own pimp. ‘A few deceptive ity maps and, above all tourist posteands tell us the his tory of Tijuana, When historian propose researching the cy, the majority of the documents the find are trash, fantasies as iit were impossible to write history ofthis ity, and only literature were possible, Or even worse, Tjuane Biles. Those aduleoriented, houschold publics tions that were the precursors to Playboy or Hustler, Perverted cartoons from the beginning ofthe rventieth century that adopted the name of Tijuana in ‘order te even more obsene. The soo census counted 242 residents in Tijuana, In the period since th aval base opened in San Diego in 1898, there must have been times when there were moe tourists than tunes, In that ers, people could cross the border with no documents. The border was porous in both directions. During thie first decade, Tijuana established itself, slowly, asa ety ot vice Thece was gambling and eacing, In 1908, a federal administration was even created to oversee these activities on the border. But ichad tobe disbanded because of Amesican insistence; they sid that such measures by the Mexican government would make it possible forthe border region oil up with peo: ple of doubeul reputation This was completely false, seeing that the egion vas alceady fll ofthese beatifil people. Since the turn of this eneury, Ti ian has gradall fallen under the contol ofthe Mafia. In 004, the Maa took over the Palacio Municipal rijuana’s city hal). When Jorge Hank cook power, man accused of murdering the journalist Héctor “El Gato” Félixand ‘embroiled inal kinds of eumoted lc actives, trepresented the return of the Institutional Revoltionary Party (PR2) tothe mayor's office. This red tide” asi was called (owing othe color that was used i all oftheir propa sands) madeitknown that Tijuana had arrived a exci momentin which it ‘would show its bloodiest side and show just how infatuated with death twas, jana wrote ts awn sentence athe polls decaeed itself proudly corrupt. And so, athe beginning ofthe twenty-first century, the gangsters of orga nized crime literally came to power. By that ime, the Tijuana Cartel ha for two decades not only controlled drug trafficking but also was the most pow- erful criminal organization in Latin America, with more power than even the Colombian cartel, At the beginning ofthe twentieth century, this stace of affairs had already been se nto motion with the fist gambling tp cats and the growth of business in prostitution and akobol Paradoxically, as Tijuana elected its worst, people begaa to call foe pro tecting its Good Image in a way previously unknown. The eerde nega that ficial rook power in 2004 had, nevertheless, been born more than a ce tury before, frst event of the cegion’s official history tok place in sg when the celebrated Merican revolutionaries Ricardo and Brique Flores Magén fo cused thet stuggle onthe region—parallel to Madero's uprising in the south ofthe country Fora while, they wer able to establish and run an independent narchist commune in Mexico with the help of an exant band of foreign fl busters. In this way, they realized the long-held plans for Baa Californian a ‘onomy and juanense culture. According tothe Plan ofthe Liberal Party, the ‘only ones who were excluded from that heterotopia were the Chinese.‘The Flores Magdn brothers, who had been imprisoned in che United Seats {or violating the laws of neutrality, were released a the end oF gt, Just after to freedom, they decided totake up arms. One ofthe frst measures taken by their forces (by the way, commanded by Anglos) was to reopen the cantinas and gambling paroes in order to increas their Funding, Despite this, afew month later, the anarehist forces were overthrown Aue to their partial disorganization. Even today, che Flores Mag brothers areaccured of selling out their country; theceis even a monument in Tjuana dedicated to the fotces of the dictator Pari Diaz, who “defended” the tion. This sone ofthe fst outrageous border stories that unjust linked the region with “foteignness” and malinchio and a supposed innate deste i the region tobe culturally annexed bythe Unite States. The city’s economic reality, by necessity linked tothe state of California ‘would add fuel to the ie. tn the same yea, 19, bars and horse race gam bling wee prohibited in California and in 120 the Volstead Ace weat nto effect, making the production and sale of alcohol illegal in the entire The so-called Ley Seca or Dry Law gave a fabulous boos othe develop ment of nightlife im Tiana. Already by 196, the Agua Caliente Race: had opened and, theoughout the decade, maintained its central rol in the illegal activities and nightlife that had begun during the nineteenth cencuy Thanks to the Ley Seca, the city was accused of wanting o become part o the United States and betayng the nation duzing the Magonist revolution. Because ofthis, Hjuana became the metropolis of periton; everyone and everything was seen as Americanized: from the employees tothe tourists, fom the sretsigns tothe hotels During the 120s, the panorama that established the archetype of Tijuana a8 the city of vie par excellence is unmistakable: dozens of cantinas ready to sate the tits of the refugees ofthe Ley Seca, caravans of auto mobiles crossing the border each day tolos ofthe nigh, eeteation centers that allow the investment of feee time (gambling paslors) or favor gregarious attitudes among ther clientele (brothel) internationally famous casinos frequented by professional card shares, movie stars, or wanns-be stars. and thei counterparts drug tefficking, a raueous night lf, Russian rouete, greyhound and horse races, (Humberto Bélix Berumen, “Tjuans In: La parabola del mal o ereacién de un mito" (Tana Its The Parable of Bil or the Creation of Myth, 198 Inthe gangster period ofthe 19205, the so-called leyenda negrade Tijuana, or Tivana’s black egend, was born, This legend (now in its Windows XP version) continues to determine the perception ofthe Mexican border within eh United Seats, (1): The scene ofall those murders.) In regard to this leg one ofthe definitions of Tijuane actualy has been asa stomping ground for the famous. During the 1926, Tijuana was the place forthe Hollywood after party, Unable to letitall hang loose and drink ridiculous quantities on Amer ican soil (he Dry Law ruled the land and sent the alcoholics other places, they organized their binges, parties, and all-nighters in the former ranch of Tia Juana, who, even if he never existed, no one ever daubtd lad made an amazing party hostess. Thanks tothe contact with Hollywood and the Volstesd Act, Tijuana made itself into a cultural photo op for the international who's who list. They were all here—Buster Keaton and Al Capone, Charlie Chaplin and Clark Gable, the Marx Brothers and the Flores Magén brothers, Bing Crosby and Rita Hay wort, formerly known as Margarita Cansino. Hayworth came outat the fs ‘ots casino fo open La Tarde Mexicana leading around a burro by a rope the same hot burro that later inthe erotic imagination ofthe tourists Fucks dariskinned, sexy Mexican women in bestilty-idden cantina, to which al tax drivers are mare than happy to dtiveyo juana was dog-oving, cheap, and “Mesican." Tjuana had been created by force ik virgin who, on the day after being raped, has to takeover the position of madam, Tijuana already was an irredeemable city. A city that grew to stity machismo, Tijuana was lost iy, an adie. Russian roulette in a mini-neo-Old West, doctored drinks, Americans buying of the local sheifs, allthis was the bass for che leyenda negra ste- ctype that Gemporariy ended when “Tata®Lézato Cirdenas, the Mexican president most symbolic of nationalism, outlawed gambling in 1935 After ward, the Casino de Agua Caliente was aewlly converted into the oly fe cal high school in he counts} The local chronicles ell the story of Tijuana’s sncestal greatnes, about its gangsters, dog racing light aireraft and star dom (the Casino de Agua Caliente i our Quaternary petiod with ghosts and cverything). Americans controled al of these businesses, just as they com tinue to dominate contemporary nightlife in Tijuana. But the fame continued unabated thanks tothe Second World War. With, ‘the war, the great Tijuana nightlife was reborn, afer a beef lapse: the city filled up with marines coming from San Diego. Before they headed outta the (Ovint co kill Japanese, they slurped tequila and Mexican women in Tijuana Since then, the writes who cometo the city continue to see the marines (even6 chough they don'tcomeas much asa natural symbol forthe “most vice-idden nthe modert-day Plaza Santa Cecilia, small downtown plaza, merchants their plaster sculpeure and other lite, useless ites next to gay bars and ‘old-time cantina where the bohemian intellectuals gettogetheroarguesbout who among them i the hotest diva. Up untila shor time ago, there was an cmmbarassing walk fame in thatplaza that was trying to imitate Hollywood's {nthe worst ranchero kind of way. Perhaps the mos notable hands inthe ce ment were those of José os, the Mexican singer known fo is romantie pain snd alcoholism, which wasin the process of becoming cocaine addiction, That walkof fame, by the way was destroyed when MeDonalds arsived in 2004 and installed clock towet in this traditional Mexican plaza, an arch that loos just lke the arch of this transnational company. Today, the eal jokes that the city is symbolized today by an allusion tothe Are de Triomphe of Ronald MeDon ld, The Cuban poet José Kozer, om a visto the city, very accurately called it Menjuana, An artificial city with post tre, and chaotiesel€construction der architecture, commercial ana This raucous city uses folkloric anecdotes to generate continual updates to ts mythology of decadence and strange notoriety, For example, the urban legend about the quintessential :97os guitar playing rocker, Carlos Sentana who lefe Tijuana and went straight to Woodstock, or the fact that Tijuana is currently the largest trash dump for used tires in the whole word. The city of perpetual recycling. Tijuana Re: Re “Tjuanais the bestexample ofa hubin he vlized world—a ety made for passing through and visiting. Because ofthis, the postcard is our most repre sentative artiste genre. (The photographs prov thatI'm not Wing) Theve are cities one eravels on order to get to know them. Those cites ae lke Paris, London, Lima, or Seatle. There arecities that people goto notto gett know them in Fact, thereis nothing worth seing), but rather to say that they have been. (The cities modern Tourism invented) Iweshee,keand she were li her cvsrbody at ne ime rather has ben ere, any... ghee the mental graf weall resort atone time or another in order confirm that wean sll have our fften minutes of fame. Inthe future, we wil all have iften days in Tijuana that will mak (Om che ater hand, this explains the constant visits by intellectuals from us famous! Come and get your picture taken other places that come to Tijuana looking fr intense emotions (atypically x They persist with this tradition of coming in and leaving thele mark on h American behavior, which is not tha different from any teenage?) v Tijuana, All ofus, atone time or another, have wanted to spend some time in Tijuana, toleteveryone knov that was here and as proof here ae some cate phrases, some fanatical descriptions, the insanity offeasless people, chron sels ofthe urban barbarity. Tvana has become a rite of passage. Whatis Tjuanas appeal? Being here allows you to entra selectelitof per sonalites who hae vised and writen about this place. Ialso gives you the chance to live alongside the city's dehumanized masses immigrating and happy fe and the lamer: rigeans, Who could resist sch magial formula orjusttis reason, Krusty the Clown, FemandoJordén, Chaves Bukowski, Cabrera Infante, Mant Cha, Alejo Carpenter, Raymond Chandler, Manuel Puig, Henty Mir, usn Goyt heading north, What an amusing combination: solo, jay Leno, José Revuelas, and Javier Ceras have all had something ro sy bout Tijuana, Perhaps due to this proliferation ofdscoueses, ar the end othe century (199), the municipal gorenment of Tjuana thought incligent i) to register the name “juan” inorder to prevent the discourse about the city From expanding without ty controls, comtinally linked to drug dealing oi leglity in general, Isn't unusual tha he name ofthe cy be registred as 2 band name? OF course, the propos filed and was tele. Bu itsays 2 lot about how Tijuanologieal speculation has proliferated, fom Tv othe aca dere world ‘Why haveso many people sid so much about Tijuana? thinks because Tijuana has become a symbol representing thei fears and subconscious de sires, Tjuana plays an importante ole in the making ofthe official national discourse. The middle class and their suppor visi Tijuana because they seein her the opportunity to conver like to hear about, write Reality into a Show. Tijuana isthe city of shows. (The mecca oflaNee—the truth, the real deal) The most overhyped striptease shows in the word tak Jace here, even though the adult industry is much more developed inthe central partofthe country than in Tuane, (When a depraved ijuanense oes exico City, he feels underdeveloped) But prostitution doesn’t surprise anyone because he industry there s made up of ex workers _ Mexico City While hereon the other hand, thes have nice show for you. A lange part of Tjuana's appeal is her language. That nguage of hybridity, remix, andthe end ofall symbols, that impurity in 2s aethe bau ladies, comedoun i, we vihich che other is assimilated into the cheapest kind of cliche. Her constan sabotage of ll meaning. He linguistic perversion, Everything tht is boring elsewhere is spectacular in Tijuana. Thats the emen. The same occurs withthe migrants. The migrants are the favorite show for the entre central part ofthe republic, who dont rememberHerr Ep that up unl veee days ago, those migrants were their monotonous, fucked over neighbors. What's amazing about Reality being Show is that tis more comfortable. Ifwe are not inthe word, responsible, we ae sp instead in a show, then we areat ato qu ching), You have no reason to fel gully aust st down, watch, and have fun, Watch Jing a news report about Tijuana is beer than watching Big Brother. Tiwana is (oh, man, what nota metropolis instead it's arate. And in that bypeteaiy, we ca all bbeactors or web ams. So lets buy the plan ike. nt that Tjuana isa show the spec tator watches with remote contro, in which existence becomes the ive As faras1 can tell, weareall inagreeme broadcast from thescene ofthe crtn.Arthe very las, we tjuanenses should be paid a salary (as actors, extras, cameramen, or makeup ats, whatever ‘each person's particular partis). They should subsidize us or giveus grants to keep puting on this show whose purpose isto provide nighttime entertain ‘mentand a tagicomic reportto the Great People of Mexico anda the Wes, reporton thi peefecty aware. Or, fits possible and a producers isening to me eight now, then we should all gree that juana should stop being a city and become an interactive telenovela, ( po ose that this histori sap opera be called Usedes los obres) Besides, Tijuana already as 2 profound relationship with Television: seven out often tele ngs of whic the area visions in che wotld were made in Tijuana (This has been another episode in ‘ur series Numbers Suprise, Amu, end Confuse Your Hes brought to you by ‘he company Statisties to Tell People Bven Though They Seern Unbelievable Exploit th Data) However one looks att, Tvana is Television Town. So, then, let's ll T+ juanize ourselves as soon as possible. Weleome to globalization. GlobeultT) Oh Border, You Know You Like It Neocostumbrismo in the Chronicle ofthe City That Says Yes Iran aro ovtrlnteesing fc aout Mes. 907) ‘Coming tijuana on an intellectual tour assumes the old concept that wall ing in the streets can provide us with a special gnosis. In this sense, visting isa nostalgia that makes sense. (On Tijuana to writ about Ti spon time wevere decadent and wore Nike sneakers) The sin of waive isbelieving that tourism (he lowest category could be elevated to Husserlian phenomenology. And in Tijuana, everyone seems to agree that those circumstances exist. Just observe, intellectual oF perception, given certain circumstance, tourist, because the eidtc ison fl display. imply watch a Mister woman selling fowers, atthe Enlish-Friendly store window, look at the plaster stat ves. The essence ofthese things is but skin deep, We are all Humboldt atthe ing around Tijuana, same as Japanese videotoursts. They wantto er of Avenida Revolucién and Calle Primera. Stl Mexican intellectuals behave th get tothe heartofthings, bt they end up getting the same things as everyone che. The citys amireculowstope ren lichéscan become fancy turns of phrase wnen you're talking about Tijuana, The border isa topic that encourages sense tionalst and oversimplistic statements. (Fr yellow journalism, everything hat giters is god.) Wien ie comes time to describe Tijuana, the adjectives used by fashion columnists of Califonia movies sem to be the most pple: metropo We area “multicolored, multifaceted, postmoder a*prism, all ofthese chaotic words are used a a stylistic strat egysoasnotto reflect too deeply. Tijuana isa "prism," tobviously does not necessitate a detailed analysis; rather quant phrases and portraits of local color will suifie. A series of random end exti observations that prove that this isa multicolored se. The brilliance of my puns is simply astonishing! “Aleph” etcetera The authors of chronicles, energized bythe eopiousness of postmodern- road move {om, live” Tijuana like cheme park that must {nan uapaved country. Or the experience it ubrough a never-ending stream le channels, remote contol in hand, zapping zapping zapping in pur suit of Netphsies, the metaphysics of a Net, the real deal, streer tt nage paty They contemplate the city, moting throug i like a desperate watching video lips thatin the end present onl “curiosities abi hallucinogenic, econtexualized, ofa realty that they ha alteady decided to expe flow of images “fom the greyhound races tothe lobster tacos, the Tijuane nce fragments, never as slow oral experience, but rather asst bazaar exceeds alliventry” (illo), The car window and lightning-quek visicto canting, relishing the speed Too much sat nough, end to fist just oo“Another reason for the national fascination withthe border (from the press to literature) is because this seems tobe the last opportunity to believe in the picturesque, in noetic tourism. That's why hee Cultural Peculiar is cexaggetated, her Pataphyseal nature, We know globalization erases all dif ference, and with its disappearance, the wonderful genre ofthe chtonile is atriskof vanishing. The Border isthe ast Reason to write Profiles, Vignettes, Pheaseology, and the Lase Chance to grab the attention of the disbelievng The Border is used (faked) asthe last opportunity for perception 10 be cat rnavalesque (Oh, Ssnt Walker Benjamin! Let me be the last anes!) and for rose to once again get permission tobe cstumbrista. Dida’ tellyou carnal "hat my paintings oflocal ola areal old-fashioned now? ‘Making Tijuana ino an exceptional iyi evidence of our hypocisy o of ‘ur myopia. Ibs not exceptional because the border is a universal condition, res been yeas since the border condition stopped being a geographic reality ‘The media and mass consumption make cits in the Interior, whch ae fi fom another country, equally or more like a border town than those actually next to foreign eountrs. New York s mor ofa border town than San Diego Acapuloo is more ofa border twa than Tecate Tiana en the biggest bo FOUR ate Kapina Globalization in Tijuana Maquiladoras Using Historical Antecedents and Migration to TestGlobalization Models, the launch ofthe North Ameri Fee Trade Agent (#7, ii ast te country fo a mere semble ofchesp low-quality goods ita rele corer of sophisticated products... This a complete dierent eon ‘om than Meso hada decade ago" as seco Feder Reyes Heres, The op of satin Colonization law of 1, was the most dangerous pic to Medi clue onion or tlre ony Under intolerable conditions, fre for Constant scheme of annnton and revclifonty separation, T rid of abe both secre makes hese er ends and lies, an wits them [esi sla induration wich een aos the northern border in the 19608 and grew quickly in the intecior in the 19905 is often thought to be part of globalization. The later is understood a the transegional connetion of socal, politica, and economic activites, making decision taken in one place relevant for people elsewhere, Several theoretical ideas recently put forward by hypergloblists, transformationalists, and skepies about global flows and thei limits are used inthis chapter to assess the extent ro Which maqulladora industrialzation in Tuana ean be considered lobalization, che kind of elobaliation ic mghe represent, andjorco ‘what extent it may be parcofa more regionally based economic form (eld eta, 1998: 3-27.