Coronavirus in Oaxaca – South of Mexico COVID-19 Pandemic – A plea on behalf of the people

In addition to agriculture, the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico depends on tourism for its very existence. Beginning in mid-March 2020, COVID-19 devastated the state’s economy, as visitors began to leave en masse and those with reservations for April, May, and beyond canceled. Restaurants, bars, mezcalerías, hotels and practically all other businesses in the retail and service industry closed their doors, out of fear and precaution, and as a consequence of government dictates. We should not necessarily cry for the owners of the previous establishments, but for their employees; Mexico simply does not have the social networks normally found in first world countries that provide economic relief to workers. Instead of crying, we should help.

In southern Mexico, Oaxaca in particular, residents often live from day to day, with no savings for a rainy day or for retirement. This is true even for some in the middle classes. It is a matter of culture rather than Western common sense. Business owners typically recognize, at some level, that their financial fortunes depend on matters beyond their control. Remember the civil unrest of 2006, the Mexican swine flu (H1N1), the US economic crisis, the drug cartels at war, and how the US State Department and journalists have addressed each problem that arises in Mexico, respectively due to paternalism and to scandalize the media. followers. Now it’s COVID-19, the coronavirus. This is not to downplay the severity of the pandemic; on the contrary. But given the vast difference between the Oaxacan and Western worldview, the lack of advance planning for such eventualities is understandable.

Of course, using my Canadian upbringing, at first glance I must suggest that those Oaxacans in the retail and service industries with a modicum of common sense should recognize that we never know when the next crisis will hit, so each and every Potential Businesses The person should keep this in mind when contemplating a business venture from the outset, and plan for the eventualities of difficulties while serving tourists during the good times. They should waste some of their profits. But that is an ethnocentric approach, rather than the preferred cultural relativist perspective.

Unfortunately, it is understandable that many Oaxacan entrepreneurs do not have enough funds in the bank to overcome their personal problems; for food, housing and payment of other required expenses. For your employees the situation is much more pressing!

Tourism will return to its pre-COVID-19 levels, but not until well into 2021, if not later. Of this we are sure. Summer, the Day of the Dead and Christmas will not be the same. Easter and Spring Break have already been lost. Some who would otherwise visit in the future will avoid Oaxaca out of fear, while others won’t have the savings for a vacation until the following year, or a year after that.

Much of the provision of assistance falls on the shoulders of expatriate residents, typical tourists, snowbirds and part-time workers. I don’t think we can necessarily trust in the good graces of Oaxacan businessmen, without much of their fault. But we can do our part, even if it means shaming some of us, meaning non-Mexicans, into doing the right thing.

Ask the establishments you frequent what you can do to help, now! Phone or email. Never mind that local businessmen may know or should know that the coronavirus pandemic is nothing that should have come as a big surprise… to the degree that we all recognize that business fortunes in Oaxaca are like peaks and valleys, or weather patterns whose forces destructive we know that they exist, but never with precision when the next one will befall us.

For your first or next visit to Oaxaca, if you must haggle in the markets, do so with much less vigor, but better than nothing. Be much more generous with your waitress, grocery bagger, waiter, and bartender; and maybe even think about that young salesman at the craft store. You will be helping Oaxacans and you will feel better about yourself.