President Trump has gone out of his way to suggest that ownership of Gaza, a strip of land some 25 miles long and 3.7 to 7.5 miles wide involved in the Hamas/Israeli war, be transferred to the United States. This tiny territory holding 2.1 million Palestinians under the Hamas banner was the source of the October 7, 2023 attack that killed at least 1,300 people in Israel and took 251 hostages.
Gaza is located along the Mediterranean Sea and is surrounded by Israeli and Egyptian territories. The drastic solution advanced to eradicate Hamas and its war-making ability is to expel all the Palestinian living there and turn the strip into a vacation resort.
Just like Greenland, the Panama Canal, Canada and even Mexico, the Trump comments about their future is to advocate for American ownership. The difference between Gaza and the other countries and lands however, is the tone of the discussion.
The reference to Gaza seems to allude to the idea that it would become a new “Trump World.” The way the President describes “ownership” of Gaza tends to encourage one to visualize Trump towers, hotels, golf courses and resorts along the beautiful beaches of a new holiday spot.
On a summer many years ago, I made the mistake of taking a group of students to visit pre-Colombian Mayan cities in the Yucatan Peninsula. It was so hot that we could not complete our work because we had to keep the visitations very short and with less effect.
On that trip we also visited Puerto Juarez, Cancun and Isla Mujeres which is just off the Caribbean coast. At that time Cancun island was under construction and there were very few completed buildings that we could observe other than the Hotel Presidente, one of the less than a handful that were finished and operating.
After that first visit to Cancun, we returned almost every January and were able to see the steady progress in the building of the Maya Riviera. Today, it is anchored in the north by Cancun and extends to Bacalar on the southern end close to the border with Belize.
In following the history of tourism development in Mexico, I discovered the extensive involvement of the Mexican government especially at the presidential level. I discovered that Acapulco, for example, was an initiative of President Miguel Aleman Valdez (1946-1952) who was most responsible for making it a world vacation resort.
I discovered the role of President Luis Echeverria Alvarez (1970-1976) as a primary mover of the development of Cancun. I also discovered that both Presidents and their families did and have done very well economically as a result of their involvement.
When I heard the suggestions about a Gaza Riviera, the parallel came to life exposing a personal agenda projecting an initiative to make a profit. In Gaza, however, the profit also comes at the expense of 2.1 million Palestinians that have no where else to go.
The role of both Presidents Aleman and Echeverria form part of the story of corruption in the Mexican political scene. It is a story that has been too common place in the history of the country.
But what does Gaza say about the United States and its political leadership at the highest levels? The issue is to help solve an intractable situation that presents a community isolated even from its own national territory.
Gaza is destroyed and its people are being held to account. At the same time, one does not make a profit from someone’s misery.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of LaVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to News@lavozcolorado.com.
