When I first read Octavio Paz’ collection of essays in The Labyrinth of Solitude it awakened in me a need to comprehend my identity as a Mexican. Like most people, I used to spend my days wrapped in the cocoon of experiences and the stimulus of my surroundings, as if the world was the same everywhere. The reality of the Mexican experience is, as Octavio Paz explained is that México is a people of contrasts, as Paz wrote façade of “smoke and mirrors.” Nothing explains this duality better than the Mexican flavor of Catholicism.
Paper No. 8: The Flavor of Mexican Catholicism: An Ongoing Rebellion (March 22, 2013) Essay
By Martin Paredes
Martín Paredes is a Mexican immigrant who built his business on the U.S.-Mexican border. As an immigrant, Martín brings the perspective of someone who sees México as a native through the experience of living abroad. As an immigrant, Martín sees America through an immigrant’s eyes. Straddling the U.S.-México border for many years, Martín understands that the imaginary line separating two countries on a map creates two cultural identities that merge creating a culture that is unique to the borderland. But as an outsider, Martín sees an El Paso devoid of the tribalism that divides El Paso but unites it at the same time, leaving many El Pasoans ignoring the underlining corruption that permeates throughout the city. Martín has lived and experienced the growth of the Mexican drug cartels throughout his life, first as a child and when building a business in a city that was once labeled the “most dangerous city in the world.” Through it all, Martín sees what many ignore about El Paso - both its uniqueness and the many fine individuals that call El Paso home, but not ignorant to the undercurrent of political intrigue and corruption that underlines the city. Since 2000, Martín has been reporting on the border politics, the corruption and the public policy of one of the most unique communities in the world by exposing the secrets few dare to. An engineer and a creator, Martín creates multimedia projects, including writing, about topics that few explore while making his living in the exciting world of internet-driven technology.