European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 17, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday november 17,1993 commentary the stars and stripes Page 19 p i anti hispanic remarks in Naftal Flap Jill Lawrence last week it became impossible to ignore the coded and occasionally overt language of racism in the debate Over the North american free Trade  groups have Long kept track of remarks they find offensive. Most Are coming from Naftal opponents and most Are going unnoticed except by lat Inos who believe such slurs and stereotyping would not be tolerated if the targets were Blacks or asians. The Cable to viewing Public gota glimpse of the language nov. 9 when Ross Perot described Mexico As a country of 85 million people Liv ing in poverty with no rights under a corrupt govern ment dreaming of the Day they can get running water in their cardboard Shan ties. Naftal s most avid proponents readily concede that Mexico is less advanced on political and economic fronts than the United states and Canada its two prospective partners in what would be the world s largest trading bloc. Even so mexicans Are hard pressed to recognize themselves in the rhetoric of the anti Naftal forces. The discussion has turned from tariffs and Market share to whispered asides and smirks stereotypes and caricatures said Raul Yzaguirre president of the National Council of la Raza. His hispanic american group is keeping a running Tab of comments such As not Only will we lose jobs and in vestment like olympic sprinters All we will get from Mexico is used Ford pickup trucks 2 tons of heroin and three base Ball players to be named  rep. James a. Traficant jr., a Ohio. Child labor in Mexico rivals any of the Well publicized disasters of the worst stalinist  Al Cio president Lane Kirkland. I was going to Tell you about the mexican strike breaking Law. If and when there s a strike they Send in the state police shoot 20 or 30 workers Clear the place out get rid of the Union Cut the wages put everybody Back to  Perot. You can bet that one out of every five or one out of every 10 Container coming across there the  Border is going to be full of  rep. Helen Delict Bentley red. The Naftal debate also is coloured by anti immigrant sentiment reflected in attempts in Washington and in state Capi tals to crack Down on the flow of illegal a. M North Fofiu trave that sounds Good immigrants and the government services they receive. The mood was typified last year in conservative Patrick Buchanan s presidential Campaign he proposed a Tortilla Wall also known As the Buchanan Fence to keep mexicans out of this country. Buchanan fiercely opposes Naftal. Opponents Are not the Only source of hispanic discomfort. There was considerable cringing when former presi Dent Ford urged Congress to pass Naftal because we want mexicans to stay in Mexico. We Don t want a huge flow of illegal immigrants into the United states. Where they want jobs that Are presently being held by  Naftal supporters do believe the agreement will ease economic pressures South of the Border. But they say Ford s phrasing reinforced the impression that mexicans Are desperate Job poachers a highly unsettling thought to some Ameri cans. The debate Over More open Trade with Canada carried far less emotional freight perhaps for obvious reasons. The two countries have common cultural and political roots similar educational Levels and Large sophisticated economies. You have this sense that there is this undercurrent of animosity and Hostil Ity with this agreement because it is with Mexico said former Reagan aide Linda Chavez of the conservative Manhattan Institute. Some opponents she said certainly Are playing on fears of people who Are different. The Fate of the Trade agreement could be decided today in the House. But it May take longer to get past the dust storm of stereotypes kicked up along the Wax 7 e the associated part As Absurdity goes Perot was Man for the Job near As i can Tell intelligent opinion on the great Naftal debate is sharply divided Between those who think vice president Al Gore mopped up the floor with Ross Perot and those who think Ross Perot mopped up the floor with himself. I see where former president Ford confessed that it was past his bedtime so he missed it but he said that from what he d read Perot had his pants taken Down. So i guess Gore s Victory can be chalked up As a stun Ning vindication of the stiffs of America those of us myself included who go wooden before cameras and act like programmed department store dummies. Either that or it is significant As the ultimate denaturing of the Perot legend its distillation into the i Perine and faintly ridiculous Little figure whose disrespect of the vice president might have come across As heroic if it had t come across As the hysterical condescension of a much flattered billionaire who could t understand Why he was t being Grove led to. There is of course the theory that the whole affair was the concoction of some adolescent White House spin Wiz Ard who saw it As a Way of giving Perot exposure so As to keep his disintegrating War machine just alive enough to make it dangerous to the republicans in 1996. If this was True it was a risky piece of strategy. How could these smoothies be sure that Perot would turn up in such a repellent mood or sensing that the North american free Trade agreement was lost anyway did they care anyway picking Perot to go up against Gore will now go Down As another masterstroke of Clinton strategy even As the nation is denied the sort of genuine debate that might have resulted if say democratic rep. Richard a. Gephardt of mis Souri or Al Cio president Lane Kirkland had stood in for the anti Naftal crowd. On the other hand those of us who regard the anti Naftal position As four fifths Snake Oil can hardly argue that its Standard should not be rightly borne by the nation s most loquacious peddle of the stuff. Taking the position that it is ridiculous for a great trading Power in 1993, Given both the lessons of arithmetic Ana history to be agonizing hysterically Over the question of More open Trade with its intimate Robert Reno neighbor to be staking its Prosperity on the Protection of its Corn Broom Industry i can hardly complain at the same time about the Quality of the debate. It might have been interesting to have Naftal de bated by a couple of Nobel prize winning economists. But you can to see because every living recipient of the prize is for Naftal. And clearly you could t ask peo ple of such stature to debate a figure like Perot. For some reason it was thought less demean ing to a sitting vice president. And Given the plate that was shoved before him i thought Gore did rather Well. Besides if you think Naftal s been tiresome just wait until we come Down to the vote on health care Reform. We re All going to be so sick of policy debates by this time next year that a lot of people will be desperately yearning for the Reagan Bush years when presidents and vice presidents thought they could dismiss the is sues of the Day with a one liner Here a piece of idiotic jargon there a vacuous gesture when it seemed appropriate the occasional Appeal to our worst and most fearful natures and All else failing running against Willie Horton