Without a doubt. Trying to say this is normal. My cousin married a lovely Mexican girl. Torture is NOT the norm for discipline in their society.
The Rodriguez family is only circling the wagons.They have to justify the abuse somehow, and BSing about it being part of the culture is part of the avoidance of personal responsibility. Sick bastards.
From my experience with Mexicans (most of my friends in elementary and junior high school were Mexican-American) I would say that child abuse is very far from the norm in these families. Quite the opposite. I've noticed that, on the whole, Mexicans cherish their children and treat them extremely well. For that POS brother to say that abuse and torture are part of his 'culture' is outrageous.