Why I’m moving to Washington and embracing Mexico’s cultural diplomacy

Amigos, starting in September, I am bidding farewell to Mexico City and embracing Washington, D.C. I will be working at the Mexican Embassy’s Mexican Cultural Institute, which means I will officially become a public servant. It’s not something I ever envisioned, as I had always aspired to pursue art, culture, and creating enjoyable experiences for people.

Politics and government were foreign territories that didn’t align with my interests. When someone told me a few years ago that I would end up working for the Mexican government, I would have found it quite amusing. Now that I’m in this new role, I wanted to share my perspective with you and make it clear where I stand when you read my work.

As a journalist, I take great care in presenting facts without bias or judgment. My professor, Enrique Mandujano, taught me that my role is to lay out information objectively, allowing readers to form their own opinions. This philosophy guides my writing at Mexico News Daily, where I promote Mexican culture and provide a balanced view of other important topics.

One of my primary responsibilities is to get Mexican culture in front of as many U.S. eyes as possible. Through future columns, I’ll explore our shared history and how the two cultures have influenced each other. For now, I’d like to share a few examples of how our cultures have intertwined. The cattle tradition we inherited from colonial times has shaped figures like John Wayne.

The rope, the saddle, the wide brim, and even the vocabulary – buckaroo, vaquero, la reata, mesteño, and hoosegow – all have their roots in Spanish. Additionally, Mexican murals, such as Diego Rivera’s painting of Ford’s assembly line in Detroit, have left a lasting impact on U.S. art. These works were made possible by the economic contributions of Mexican artists during the early 20th century.

Even the United States’ cultural dominance over the past century can be traced back to our shared love of baseball and the influence of Mexican writers who studied in the U.S. and were inspired by American authors like Alan Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and T.S. Eliot.