The final chapter of Antonio Villaraigosa's video interview with The New York Times covers his upbringing and his belief that L.A. is the new Ellis Island. The videos are geared toward New Yorkers or a national audience; L.A. people will hear many of the mayor's familiar lines and not much of anything new. He reps pretty hard for L.A., though, which is always good.
On Friday afternoon Villaraigosa's office announced a trade mission to San Salvador, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Leon, Guanajuato, where his maternal grandfather was born. In El Salvador he will meet President Tony Saca to talk transnational gangs and in Mexico, D.F. he will meet President Felipe Calderon. Had last year's presidential election turned out as leftists and progressives across the Americas hoped (and still believe did), with a win for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Villaraigosa, of a labor-lefty background, would have been meeting Mexico's first third-party leftist president ever. They were actually supposed to have met during the 2005 fiestas patrias in L.A. AMLO was set to visit then, but was barred from doing so by federal electoral officials in Mexico.
Either way, it's going to be an exciting time. I'm sure half of City Hall will want to tag along. Los Angeles, the second biggest Mexican city in the world, is going to be sending its first Mexican American mayor to the Mexican capital. At last year's Mexico City book fair, which I attended as a panelist, the L.A. delegation was pushed and questioned quite aggressively by the locals on immigrant rights and the proposed border wall. So I can't imagine the sophisticated chilangos, heavily leftist and nationalist as they are, will be keeping it all warm and fuzzy with Antonio when he drops by in early May.
Will the mayor ride the metro? Will he pose in front of the sun stone? Will worlds collide?