Mexico

November 03, 2008

David Alan Harvey talks to America’s man in Oaxaca.

Mark Leyes has served five U.S. presidencies and played 600 baseball games during his 18-year tenure as official U.S. Consul for Oaxaca, Mexico. His government role is supplemented by also teaching English at the local university, and his Mexican wife and two sons make their home on a hilltop outside of town.

“I got into both baseball and this job as U.S. Consul almost by accident. I came down to Mexico from California just on a whim. Never planned to live here. One day some guys asked me if I could play ball. I said yes. Another day somebody asked me if I would be interested in the U.S. Consul job. I said yes. So, there you have it.”

Mark started out by serving George Bush senior. Then two Clinton terms. Now two Bush terms. “I am ready for a big management change,” he says, without stating whom he will vote for. Mark specializes in educational counseling for the citizens of Oaxaca who may have some American connection. He is photographed here in the consul office with a woman from Juchitán, Elsa Gyves, who was there for education counseling. There are 19 indigenous groups in Oaxaca with as many languages beyond Spanish.

Leyes has also processed tens of thousands of certificates of Mexican citizenship for those children born in the U.S.A. whose parents were working in the U.S., but seek dual citizenship for their children. But as I was photographing Mark, his primary duty for the day was investigating the murder of an American woman. “I have to do all kinds of things in this job,” he says.

Taking care of American citizens is Mark’s job. Playing center field is Mark’s passion. As Mark so succinctly says: “There are a lot of balls up in the air in America these days. Like everyone else I worry. But I also hope for the best.”