Mars Volta’s Omar Rodríguez-López is so furious about the media’s depiction of Mexico’s involvement in the swine flu outbreak, he has spoken out in an exclusive interview with NME from Guadalajara. There’s one issue with their story, however, noted below.
“This has been a perfect moment for right-wing republican media to say ‘You see!” he ranted. “‘You see these filthy people? You see what they’re doing? This is very scary! It’s another act of terrorism, it’s another terrorist tactic.’”
“When you get your facts straight,” Rodríguez-López added, “there’s more infected people in the United States – in New York – than in all of Mexico City.”
I’d like to point out that, ironically, a few news sites appear to be misreporting Rodríguez-López’s remarks on misreporting, including NME’s headline, “Mars Volta call US swine flu treatment ‘an act of terrorism.’” In my opinion, he isn’t calling the media coverage an act of terrorism, but in the context of the full statement, he is actually referring to the media’s paranoia that the outbreak could be terrorism in the form of biological warfare that took advantage of the weak border between Mexico and the U.S.