Mirador is set in the United States and Mexico. The time is 1993. The North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is waiting to be ratified by the three countries involved: Canada, Mexico, and the US. To open the way to the potential economic expansion, Mexico has started to take land from the indigenous population to sell/lease it to foreign entrepreneurs. When the peasants protest, they are either killed or “disappeared” in a cultural genocide that’s been slowly happening since the conquistadors invaded Mexico. If you think this is an exaggeration, remember in the 1990s genocides occurred of Bosniak Muslims in Bosnia, the Tutsi in Rwanda, a reverse genocide of the Hutu by the Tutsi in Rwanda, the Hazaras in Afghanistan, the Pygmies in the Congo, and the Isaaq in the Somalian Republic.
The premise of Mirador is that Sarah and Nate Hunter are going to Mexico for a two-week church-sponsored mission to rehab a centuries-old mission. Nate does a lot of research on Chiapas, Mexico, and decides it’s too dangerous to go. Sarah, a nurse and strong-willed “do-gooder” feels that its only for two weeks; also, they are Americans on a church mission, and nothing bad can happen to either Americans or people on church missions. They have been married for only a short time, and Nate capitulates to the woman he adores. Of course, everything goes wrong as they have run-ins with El Piton, leader of the local paramilitary group who runs amok in the area, committing atrocities.
Mirador is a carefully-crafted story of large-scale relationships established in social upheaval as well as the the extraordinary personal and intimate relationships fashioned in a political revolution. Unlike Jeannine Cummins in her book American Dirt, James Jennings doesn’t make the mistake of being an outsider trying to write as an insider. Instead he takes the view of an outsider looking into the inner world of the political struggle of the indigenous people in the Zapatista uprising. Books like this, as well as books of insiders looking inside, must be written to spread the word about enslavement by poverty and genocide.
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Mirador is available through:
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You can find my review of American Dirt here: https://suanneschaferauthor.com/book-review-american-dirt/
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