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Robert Joe Stout

Hidden Dangers: Mexico on the Brink of Disaster Paperback – September 19, 2014

by Robert Joe Stout (Author)

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Mexico is undergoing economic and political changes that lie like landmines ready to explode beneath Uncle Sam’s footsteps.

By the close of the first decade of the twenty-first century Mexico-United States relations had begun to shred. The leaders of the two countries shared a master-servant façade of cooperation and commitment but faced eroding control of the economy, the flourishing drug trade and human rights issues. Despite the propaganda to the contrary every year millions of Mexicans sank into poverty, their lands expropriated and the prices of basic necessities soaring. ICE agents swept through factories, farms and construction sites from Maine to California herding handcuffed “illegals” into detention facilities. Both countries ignored human rights violations and corruption in order to maintain control over Mexico’s pro-neoliberal administration. Violence associated with the “War on Drugs” took over 70,000 lives without materially diminished the U.S. market for cocaine, marijuana and designer drugs. Brutal repression of citizen protest provoked ongoing international criticism and alienated millions of Mexican citizens. The country’s dependence on oil exports to finance social programs pressured the state-controlled monopoly to cut corners, creating pipeline leaks and other environmental disasters.

Hidden Dangers focuses on the period 2000-2010 and pinpoints five major “landmines” that seriously threaten both countries social and political structures. It includes first-hand observations of devaluations, political repressions and border conflicts and commentaries and analyses from officials and academics on both sides of the frontier. The five principal sections investigate migration and its effects on both Mexico and the United States, the drug trade’s influence on the economies and politics of both countries, popular uprisings that challenge U.S. influence and neo-liberal politics, how Mexico’s deeply rooted “politics of corruption” binds the entrepreneurial and banking systems to government processes and environmental disasters, both real and in the making, created by the oil, lumber and cattle industries, toxic waste, floods and poisoned waterways.

Print length

216 pages
Language

English
Publication date

September 19, 2014
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.49 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

162006488X
ISBN-13

978-1620064887
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Stout's subtitle, Brink of Disaster, certainly captures the sense that many have at this moment. Some of the landmines are already exploding. The September 26, 2014 events in Iguala, Guerrero where six were killed, 25 wounded, and 43 disappeared finally put a face on the tens of thousands of killings and kidnappings that have taken place since 2006. All of this as the Mexican economy stagnated, oil prices fell, and the peso lost value. Things in Mexico look bleak, including the lack of any left movement that might propose a genuine political and economic alternative. Dan LaBotz, New Politics,

Robert Joe Stout's writing reflects detailed local knowledge and his grip on Mexican and Mexican-USA affairs is profound. I found the War on Drugs to be a noteworthy chapter - it is very difficult to see a solution to this militarized situation and with 50000 deaths already and 70% of Mexico's cash being generated by the illegal drug industry, there are no easy solutions. In the chapter on corruption the author is most freeflowing and insightful. The detail in this chapter, combined with direct local knowledge and research gives this book an edge on other contemporary studies on Mexico.

About the Author

As a journalist working in areas with large Spanish-speaking populations, Bob Stout has written about Mexico and its problems and accomplishments. These reports and observations have appeared in America, Commonweal, Notre Dame Magazine and The Christian Science Monitor, among many other publications, and in The Blood of the Serpent: Mexican Lives which was published in 2003 and in Why Immigrants Come to America: Braceros, Indocumentados and the Migra published in 2008.

A graduate of the Universidad de las Americas and long-time newspaper and magazine journalist Stout has lived and worked in California, Texas, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. and in Mexico, Europe and Central America. His books include two novels, a recently published volume of poetry and dozens of literary and commercial magazine shortstories. He currently lives in Oaxaca in southern Mexico.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sunbury Press, Inc. (September 19, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 216 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 162006488X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1620064887
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.49 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,216,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,373 in Mexico History
- #4,493 in Caribbean & Latin American Politics

Customer Reviews:
7 ratings

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Robert Joe Stout
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Robert Joe Stout
http://www.robertjoestout.weebly.com
http://mexicoconamor.wordpress.com
Robert Joe Stout grew up amid coyotes, jack rabbits and muskrats in desolate eastern Wyoming, served in the Air Force and graduated from Mexico City College. A nomadic writing and journalism career has taken him from California to Texas to Europe to Mexico, leaving a trail of hundreds of journalistic reports, shortstories, poems and novels, plus dabblings in theater, government accounting and fast pitch softball. His books knit first-hand experiences with interviews, investigative reporting and a myriad of shortstops, ballet dancers, whistleblowers and thieves. He currently lives in Oaxaca, Mexico.
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Top reviews from the United States

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Christian Smith

Worth Reading But Flawed Too

Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2017

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This book conveys some interesting and valuable insights about problems in Mexico today, especially related to U.S. influences. It is worth reading. But the book is also tarnished by a few problems, in my view. First, it relies heavily on the metaphors of "landmines" and "explosions," although it is hard to see exactly how the looming socio-political-economic disasters would actually work in ways similar to a person stepping on a mine in a minefield. The landmine metaphor strikes me as at least somewhat misleading. Processes are more complicated than single explosions that blow off legs. Second, the metaphor of "Hidden" in the book's title is also strange. In what sense are these problems hidden? They have been here for a very long time and are well known, covered in the media everyday, in fact. Stout does help connect some dots that many may not see, and he does provide some fascinating "inside" information about how things work, which is good. But overall I find the book to unnecessarily err on the alarmist side. I fear it also only reinforces anti-Mexican sentiments in the U.S., which will never help to achieve the kind of solutions Stout himself advocates. He could easily have made the same crucial points with a more sober, realistic, balanced, and concrete tone. But then again, I am a sociologist, not a journalist. In any case, the book is well worth the read, but I suggest that readers remember that metaphors have their limits, that social life is more complicated than books like this can convey, and that life even in a place like Mexico has its own kinds of stabilities.

2 people found this helpful

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PAKSeattle

They said it better than I can

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

I read Robert Stout's book prior to a philanthropic site visit to Oaxaca to meet with small grass roots human rights organizations. I have been involved in business in Mexico for 42 years on a management level in several industries, working for a respected Mexican company for 18 of those years. I would call myself a Mexico-phile, starting with my student years at the U of Guanajuato in the early 70's. As such, I have many friends and business acquaintances at various economic levels throughout Mexico. I concur with the previous two long reviews. They said it better than I can. Bob Stouts' book is well-researched, and makes the 5 points in succinct and compelling ways. Sometimes it is hard to read, because of hard truths he requires the reader to see on a deeper level -- hard truths about the relationships over the years between the two governments of Mexico and the USA. We can do things better. In a US election year that has turned negatively nationalistic and sliding toward fascism, it is more important than ever to read Bob Stout's book and think deeply about how big governments are affecting good people in both countries. My small travel group had dinner with Bob Stout in Oaxaca when we were there in October. He is a fascinating person with a wealth of researched information. Please read this book and think about making a difference for the good people in both countries.

5 people found this helpful

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Sandy

Bob has been a good friend and Mexico City College students in the 70's

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

Bob has been a good friend and Mexico City College students in the 70's. He was the editor of the college newspaper. If anyone knows Mexico and it's culture from hands on living among the natives, he is your person. Bob weaves a tight story about the daily people and the problems they face from their own country and the economic dynamics. You can be sure to get an accurate depiction of the life in Mexico.

One person found this helpful

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Maria Circelli

An eye opener

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2016

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I thought the book was very interesting.

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MWB Review

Deal Breaker – A review of the book ‘Hidden Dangers’

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2015

“The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself.”
― Plato

Author Robert Joe Stout’s book ‘Hidden Dangers: Mexico on the Brink of Disaster’ provides a compelling overview of the country’s political, economic and social changes that have taken place in the years 2000 - 2010. Focussing on the historical and the contemporary relation with its neighbour the United States of America, the author lists five ‘landmines’ that could shred this relationship. Armed with a strong array of first hand reports, observations, interviews with officials and superior analysis; the author exposes the potential downside to the social and political settings of both the countries if the problems are left untreated.

Taking up five main areas of discord and misunderstanding between Mexico and U.S.A, the book presents a multifaceted take on the current state of Mexico’s socio and political environment. It highlights issues like the problem of unchecked production and distribution of drugs because of high demand from U.S. and the ever increasing gang violence. It also looks at how the famed War on Drugs has actually contributed to more deaths than curbing the demand of drugs. It discusses the unchecked migration problem of Mexican youths travelling to U.S. in search of employment and the United States militarized persecution of such illegal workers. It also covers the various uprisings and protest movements that has emerged of late challenging the U.S influence and neo liberal politics of the land. The book also manages to analyze Mexico's economic, political and social settings within the politics of corruption. And how this backlash will affect modern day Mexico and the implications it will have on the Mexico-U.S. relationship.

This book also raises many important questions that are critical to understanding Mexico's current economic and political challenges. Mainly how it continues to drown in debt in spite of opening up trade with NAFTA and export of oil. The reasons why it hasn’t been able to sustain all inclusive economic development is another issue addressed. The failure of repeated governments in not being able to provide for the welfare of its citizens and how it’s affecting the social fabric of the country is also discussed in great detail.

This book is exhaustively researched and told with the journalistic nitty-gritty style that presents both a historical and modern overview of the Mexican society and politics. Tackling various social elements in its endeavour to form opinion and relevant commentary, the book takes into account the voices of different policy makers, organizations, workers and others. The book also delves into detail the strengths and weaknesses of the relationship between Mexico and the United States. And with respect to the issue of migration, trade and criminal activities, a host of policies and processes are addressed to improve the prevailing relationship between the two countries.

Balanced and objective Hidden Dangers: Mexico on the Brink of Disaster provides a different and refreshing approach to understanding the country of Mexico. It presents a comprehensive and nuanced analysis of modern day Mexico that helps in better understanding its position on migration, war on drugs, business & commerce and political uprisings. This scholarly work is highly accessible and anyone who picks this book up is sure to take away something useful from it.

6 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Bobbi Jacob

Good addition to one's Mexico library.

Reviewed in Canada on September 10, 2016

Verified Purchase

Stout has packed a lot into 200 pages. He draws many disciplines: political economy, international relations, philosophy, history, sociology. He clearly presents his arguments with footnotes and references. I read Many Mexicos before Hidden Dangers and that background was helpful. Hidden Dangers is one I'll hang on to and re-read as I learn more about Mexico.

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Hidden Dangers: Mexico on the Brink of Disaster Paperback – September 19, 2014

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Editorial Reviews

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About the author

Robert Joe Stout

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