Saturday, May 16, 2020

AMLO vs doctors in Mexico?

André Manuel López Obrador Mexico | Cartoon, Sketches, Male sketch
Last week, a friend told me that doctors in Mexico are working in crowded hospitals and forced to wear masks for several days.  I was also told by an old business associate that lots of people are dying and no one trusts the official coronavirus figures.
Then I read about President Lopez-Obrador going after doctors.  This is from Pulse News Mexico:   
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) nonstop, venomous spiel against any person or organization that dares to question his Venezuelan-inspired Fourth Transformation (T4) socialist model has become the norm nationwide, sowing hatred and division across the country and spurring violence against journalists, NGOs, human rights organizations and anyone else who dares to question the Holy Doctrine of Saint AMLO.
But on Friday, May 8, AMLO’s vicious verbal assaults went beyond the pale and even offended some members of his fanatical army of blind proselytes: He attacked the nation’s physicians, saying that, until he came to power, health workers in Mexico “only sought to enrich themselves.”
Incredible, to say the least.
My good guess is that most Mexican doctors and nurses will be shocked to hear that they’ve been enriching themselves over the years.
According to a friend, a retired physician and now lives in Texas, the salaries in Mexico City range from 770,000 for an entry level job to 1,400,000 pesos for one with lots of experience.     
The peso today is about 23.83 pesos to 1 dollar, according to Bloomberg.  
So do the math and an experienced doctor is making US$ 59,000.  Frankly, you can live well in Mexico with that salary but that’s far from enriching yourself.
We love and praise our doctors and health care workers up here.  President Trump calls them “warriors” and VP Pence can’t stop talking about their sacrifices.
Down in Mexico, they have a president who has found a new punching bag to blame for the collapsing economy.  He is attacking doctors at a time when the hospitals don’t have enough ventilators. 
P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

We remember Trini Lopez & Ritchie Valens

Mexican Americans have made a huge impact in the US.  We remember two who put a bunch of hits on the radio.

Let's start with Richard Steven Valenzuela (Ritchie Valens) born on May 13, 1941 in Los Angeles.  He became one of the first Mexican-American rockers and the inspiration for "La Bamba", a great movie from the late 1980's.   

His story was also part of Don McClean's "American Pie", a song written in the early 1970's about the crash that killed Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper & Ritchie Valens.
He was 17 when he died on February 3, 1959.  Ritchie was not around too long but did record hits like "La Bamba", "Donna", "Come on let's go" and "We belong together".     

Another example is Trini Lopez who was born in Dallas on May 15, 1937. He became a very popular singer in the 1960’s. One of his best songs was “If I had a hammer”, a # 3 song from 1963.   His "Live at PJ's" album was # 2 in the Billboard Top 200 LP's in the summer of 1963.   

Sadly, Ritchie was killed before he turned 18.  Trini just turned 83 and enjoying his retirement.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

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