Why the World Hates Gringos

First of all, don't take it personal. The rest of the world does not hate you in particular, unless you are named Bush, Rumsfeld or Rice.

Resentment towards Gringos is nothing new. Just ask any Mexican about Texas, New Mexico and California. Or any Japanese from Okinawa. Or Panamanians. Or the French. Or any Arab from anywhere. What is totally new and a cause for grave concern is the aftermath of the occupation of Iraq. That's what should really worry modern-day Gringos.

It all started back with the 2000 Election debacle, when George W. Bush first hijacked his whole nation by threatening it with a massive Congressional and political disruption if he did not get the result he wanted (being sworn in). The whole Florida electoral fraud -which nations such as Mexico had ample experience with and could not believe their eyes- and the Supreme Court finally announcing that they appointed Bush Jr. as their new President, disregarding Al Gore's more than 500,000 vote difference that won him the popular vote nationwide lost Bush any legitimacy he could claim for himself.

The whole world took this as an ill omen of things to come. Democracy had snapped. How was it possible that Americans had accepted that a semi-literate Conservative Texas governor whose only claim to fame was that his dad had been President (and appointed most of those judges in the Supreme Court) steal an election just like that?

It was even worse when Bush Jr. selected his cabinet. Most of them were old veterans from his dad's administration and that of Ronald Reagan (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz, et al). Bush Jr. even revived some old corpses, brought down when their corruption and far-right views made it necessary for the American government to distance itself from them. The outlook made some shudder.

First thing off the bat, Bush Jr. starting cutting taxes benefiting the big corporations that funded his campaign, never mind the deficit. He also shredded most international treaties that bound America to international law, such as Kyoto, the International War Crimes Tribunal, the International Nuclear Arms Agreement and many more.

Being the biggest country around had its privileges. America became unilateralist overnight. Bush Jr. turned America into the world's bully. And the world's economy sank like a stone.

Then came 9-11. Everybody watched stunned and angry. Everybody understood that something big had happened and that things would never be the same. A lot of people from all around the world felt a deep sadness, they wanted to help and support Americans and quelled those few voices that said: "They deserved it". They didn't think America deserved it.

Well, not anymore.

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