By SILVIO CANTO, JR.

During my time in Mexico, I learned about the huge number of U.S. and Canadian citizens who retire there, particularly in placed like San Miguel de Allende, in Guanajuato, and Chapala, in Jalisco.

These expats constitute a vibrant community whose members support one another and have long had a positive influence in the country.

A few days ago, I read about how a group of these expats were doing more than just talking about the spreading coronavirus pandemic in Mexico.

Each is contributing in their own way.

Some are running food banks and helping people directly, others are making financial donations and gathering funds to purchase much-needed personal protective equipment for local medical staff.

This is from an article written by Janet Blaser: “One of those people is Guanajuato resident Betsy McNair. Compelled to help those less fortunate — including her working-class neighbors in the community of Marfil, where she lives — she thought for a week and then went into action. A background in catering and running restaurant kitchens directed her decision to start a food bank. Phone calls to friends yielded $300 overnight. which grew to $2,000 in two days. Posting on Facebook brought more money and more help.”

These types of proactive efforts are  great and very much needed in a country with one of the highest death rates from the virus.

In fact, I just saw a model that projected 136,000 deaths in Mexico by Sept. 1.

Just as in the case of up here in the United States, some of these models have turned out to be wrong.

I don’t know if Mexico will see that level of death.

No matter what, one thing is certain: More people are dying of covid.19 south of the border than the Mexican government is reporting.

Silvio Canto, Jr. is a Cuban-born U.S. citizen who teaches English at a north Texas college. He is the author of the book “Cubanos in Wisconsin” and has a daily online radio program and blog dealing with U.S. and Latin American politics, as well as sports and historic events, and is a regular contributor to American Thinker.

…June 1, 2020