Mexicans are looked down upon in most of S America
Right. I have friends in costa Rica and Columbia who really detest Mexicans.
I lived in Mexico for almost 3 years and will never go back. I do speak Spanish at every opportunity because I enjoy it.
After hurricane Rita, I had a crew of Hispanics to replace my roof. 2 Mexicans, 1 Nicaraguan, 1 Honduran, 1 Guatemalan. They spent more time in jail than working on my roof. They hated each other. They threw hammers at each other, shot nail guns at each other, it was a mess. One morning 3 were in jail from the fighting the night before. You can imagine after a hurricane there were no roofers to be had. They were scattered from Texas to Alabama and none were to be had anywhere. The foreman had to pay their bail, motel bills, ect, and even got on the roof himself. I talked to him about it and he said they were constantly threatening war with each other back home. They all looked the same to me, but the hatred was obvious. I don't know how they could tell the difference if they would keep quiet, but apparently they can tell just by the dialect they speak.
BTW, it was the worst roof job I'd ever seen when finished. I think high school students could have done better. The contractor that sells you the job is American, but he hires who he wants. 90% of all roofers at that time were illegals. The pool of workers was so depleted they went from $8-$10 an hr up to $15 overnight. I'm sure they were cooks and waiters a month before the storm.