Re: Mexico drops visa requirement, News in short, Vol 10, No 29, Jul 26 - Aug 8
The visa problem is not just that Slovaks (and Poles and Czechs) are treated unfairly relative to the wealthier Belgians, French, and Germans, but also unfairly compared to the relatively poor Portuguese and Greeks.
Plus, the logic is faulty. There are a lot more people living in Germany than in Slovakia, yet Germans can travel freely to the US. This assumes there are no poor Germans, no Germans who might seek opportunities in the US.
In fact, there are probably more poor Germans than the entire population of Slovakia. So if the logic is to exclude Slovaks because they aren't as rich, it's faulty.
By the same logic, why not keep out Greeks? Ten years ago, when Portugal was about on par with Slovakia, the Portuguese got the same visa situation as other EU countries. Why not the Slovaks now?
One explanation is that this isn't very high on the Congressional agenda. It won't see any light in Congress until members of Congress begin hearing from their constituents; that's us.
Don Merritt,
Berlin, Germany
