Just read an article in the latest Time Magazine about what happened in Mexico with 43 students disappearing. It looks like they were killed, but they don't have conclusive evidence just yet, they are waiting for DNA results. It was a very interesting article covering some of the issues going on with the cartel in that area getting people into government and police positions to gain control of their area. This makes the situation extremely difficult for those who want justice and want to do the right thing with so much corruption in their way. It seems like a very complicated situation, I still don't understand why those students were targeted. It's just a very, very sad thing that is happening there.
One could hardly believe such an atrocity could happen in this day and age. However, it has happened in a country that borders these United States. Most recently, it has been reported that a mayor and his wife were giving a gala. The wife complained about the loudness of student protestors. The next thing anyone knows dozens of students go missing. It is unbelievable. It sounds like something one would see in a movie about Indonesia of some other crazy and repressive government that is far far away. Hearing about that atrocity fuels people's fear and prejudice about Mexican immigrants. I consider myself to be a rational, and reasonable thinker; however, that story about missing students frightens me to the point that I am more cautious about Mexicans coming to these United States.
They murdered people because they were annoying someone with their volume? Are you kidding me??? I hope that really wakes up anyone in Mexico who is on the fence about these cartels. yes, they have a lot of power and are dangerous, but they are something to be resisted no matter what. I hope people start realizing it is so evil, so violent, that there is nothing that would make it worth it to support them.
That was true insanity! Truth is stranger than fiction! Now, those cartels have turned on the mayor and his wife. They will probably be the only ones going to prison!
The level of corruption in the Mexican government right now is truly astonishing. I have no doubt there are a number of people in government who are really trying to fix things and make a positive difference, but when you have so many corrupt people who have infiltrated the police and local government, probably for monetary gain, it is really hard to know what to do and who to trust.
All of the above mentioned are reasons why Americans are truly scared of Mexican and Central American illegal immigration. It is not a racial issue. It is a matter of criminals from those drug cartels coming to the United States. There may very well be drug cartels in Canada. It's just that I have never read of heard of any. Those Canadians are in and out of the US via out unmanned boarder. Yet, I rarely hear of them committing numerous atrocious crimes and then running back to Canada to evade capture. However, I read of stories like that involving Mexicans on a monthly basis.
It is truly madness there in Mexico with no one stepping in to stop all of it. I honestly can understand why people sneak over here because their government is just horrible. I really think the U.S. should do something about it. I know our military is stretched thin, but I would think that homeland security would take principal and the corruption and murder that's going on in Mexico should definitely have an impact on the U.S.
I understand that Allison, about the illegals. With more illegals coming over it's really difficult to rule out the people who are truly victims of what's going on over there and the criminals who are just spreading into our country. Something needs to be done about this! Protecting our borders isn't going to do anything. Finding the source of the problem and taking care of it would eliminate a lot of the crime there and prevent it from coming here.
Hmm, seems like this thread is old, but I'm Mexican so I'll tell you the insider's information. The 43 students massacred were "students" of the Ayotzinapa school, which is infamous for being less a school and more a training ground for communist (Marxist) insurgents. Many rebels and terrorists have came out of this school. Mexico is a dirty place in this sense, and many of the people who disrupt public order do so to, basically, extort money from the government (sometimes the private sector as well) in order to stop their disruptive activities. A good example of this are the "teachers" who want to be paid way more, and one can't disagree with that as minimum wage in Mexico is terrible (about $4 USD per day) and they earn very little, but they've been lead since 1989 by Elba Esther Gordillo, who is currently in jail (since 2013, for embezzling at least $200 million USD) and who was named by Forbes as "one of the 10 most corrupt people in Mexico." She's also long been affiliated to the PRI political party (who were in power for 71 years until the year 2000, and now since 2012). Anyway, I digress (as there's much to explain about Mexico...) but the point is that the 43 students, among others, were raising money to go to Mexico City (the capital) in order to protest/riot/rally there and more than likely be paid off to stand down and therefore profit. Let me be clear that a lot of people are idealistic in Mexico, and the lower classes are definitely often idealistic and want to, understandably, protest and try to make a change. Some people are in it for the money, too, or sometimes both, but one can safely assume that the people who lead these kinds of things are in it for the money, as it's very good money and very easily made. So, from what the unofficial (and often more reliable than official) sources say, the students' movement was doing some of their known activities to raise the money, such as "commandeering" buses to use for social disruption. Apparently, this time the mayor's wife was having some sort of event (not sure if social, political, or what) and they intended to either mug the high society's attendees (many rich women with valuable purses and contents) or other sources claim just protest outside in order to make a bigger splash, so to speak, politically (very likely with the idea of being paid off). So it turns out the mayor, like many others in this country, especially in narcotraffic-ridden states, was very much involved with the local gang (and it's a drug gang, but not really a major or even minor cartel), so he made the call for the school's leadership to threaten if they came to his wife's event, blood would be spilled, to which allegedly they replied with mockeries and dares. Upon arrival, it seems the mayor kept his threat and had them "picked up" by the police, handed over to the local gang and then had them tortured, killed, burnt and dumped (or maybe it was the gang's initiative to burn and dump 'em, but it's clear the mayor gave the order for the slaughter) in the river, in trash bags. Well, not everyone doing the dirty work followed the same procedure and some of the bags gave out and opened, revealing a few body parts/remains that someone saw and reported. There was more to it, because the governor of the state was somehow involved and I remember it was reported that he personally shot and killed someone. Anyhow, the mayor, his wife and the governor are all in jail, and I think something like 80 suspects were detained about the incident, with half of them being cops. But they didn't murder innocents as they victimize themselves in Twitter calling for international attention and that half of the country is somehow oblivious or in denial about. The applied extreme, illegal, unmeasured punishment on minor criminals... that's more accurate to me. There's a bit more, however. Now that the remains were recovered, the families of the 43 deny that they are the bodies of the "disappeared" and somehow claim the 43 students are kidnapped, being held by the government illegally, and that the 43 bodies/remains are someone elses' and thus a cover-up. Which is outrageously ridiculous, as many people have confessed arresting/transporting/killing/dismembering/etc... the 43 students. So the remains were sent to a forensic analysis lab in the University of Innsbruck, I believe, where the most advanced technology to identify the remains can be employed to solve that claim, as the bodies were so intensely charred that local technology wasn't enough. Well, at least one student was successfully identified and they still claim there's 42 students being held illegally, somewhere. It's not that they're not giving up hope to see their relatives alive, it's by now a political move, the people who can benefit from it need to have the families continue to "demand" the 42 other students be released, as they can continue to rally people to protest and do whatever they propose against the government. What's funny and very infuriating is how they exploit the poor and less educated (and indeed, the indoctrinated) to further a political agenda. You still see the odd graffiti with the number "43" or other evocative text here and there... no one is acknowledging that at least one of them is proven to be dead. And it's been like a year and a half. As a final note, this all has very little to do with the drug cartels. That's another topic for another thread, really. And as far as immigrants, a political figure colluded with organized crime has nothing to do with the very poor people who, fed up with their limited choices in their home states/towns, choose to cross the border illegally to seek a better chance at providing for their families or chasing their dream. I even dare say that the majority of criminals in the US with a Mexican "origin" are typically American-born, often third-generation immigrants. Of course, there's still gangs that operate all over the border (and way beyond), such as the Barrios Aztecas and Mexican Mafia, and they often have any combination of actual Mexicans and Mexican immigrants that are feared in the US because of the violence they bring to that side of the border. But the cartel members don't do a lot besides sell over there or just get the product there for gangs (Mexican and otherwise) to distribute. True, they'll "settle scores" here and there, perhaps, but an indicator is just looking at the murder rates for El Paso and Ciudad Juárez and that'll make you realize where the cartels truly spread their violence. A mostly universal truth is that Mexicans with money prefer to stay in Mexico... money can buy you a lot more here than in the US. Examples? Well, pretty much all the drug barons do live here. The multimillionaires (or even billionaires) such as Carlos Slim and family, the Azcarraga family, the Salinas-Pliego family... they all live in Mexico. For the most part, only the poor (illegal immigrants) and some celebrities (see Luis Miguel and Paulina Rubio for examples) opt for immigration. And the celebrities mostly just go to Miami... look it up.
Yes it's a very complicated and scary situation in Mexico. I believe the answer to Mexico's problems are to provide greater opportunity's for the population, more jobs that pay enough to raise a family; easier said than done. I live in Canada, and people here enjoy vacationing in Mexico, but not me, I wouldnt feel safe there. Allison's comments about Canadians sneaking across the border into the US made me smile, it's the other way around. Americans buy guns legally in the US smuggle them across the border and sell them to the criminal elements for a great profit. Your average Canadian would never want to live in the US. The United States is a great country but Canada is better.
Oh, they provide the vast majority if the cartels' arsenals too, but most Americans are probably not aware, or I'd imagine they'd be more concerned about that happening on their end. I completely agree with your view on a solution. Unfortunately the Mexican Government is extremely disappointing at meeting the needs of their citizens. Right now, for example, they passed (during many events which have spiraled into a financial crisis, mind you [evidence: UD dollar was at $11-13 MXN in 2013, it's at $16.50 at the moment]) a financial reform where now our equivalent to the IRS (in the USA, sorry, don't know the Canadian equivalent!) has virtually unlimited access to snooping around anyone's bank accounts or credit statements. What does this mean for the average Mexican? Previously, your company or commercial-activity accounts had to be accountable to pay your corresponding taxes. Now even your personal accounts have to be accountable and they are actively monitored. This means if, say, my father sends me $200 for a vacation trip, IRS will ask "Why have you received $200 and where's our cut?" so you can say "It's not revenue, it's a gift" so they respond with "Who gave you this and what revenue generated this money and where's our cut?" I'm sorry if that's abstract or oversimplified, I've little experience with finance and less so in English. The point is since everyone is being aggressively collected from, no one wants to use their bank accounts or credit cards. They try to use cash as much as possible and do everything on the side. But nobody wants to carry large sums of cash on themselves, so people are spending less money and slowing down the economy. So the government gets more tax money from this, but what do they offer in return? Well, nothing really. Health care and education still suck, no reforms there. No increase on our insignificant minimum wage. The street's full of potholes and cracks. Police are even encouraged (via commissions) to fine you for anything at all, so the government collects a bit more this way. Cameras are being installed on every road made to cross the city fast, while the speed limit is being decreased... And yeah, Canada is awesome. Can't wait to go to Toronto again, I have very fond memories! If you travel to Mexico, avoid the North and the state of Guerrero (Acapulco, Taxco, Zihuatanejo). Go to Mexico City and the surrounding area. It's comparatively safe (big city precaution and common sense applies) and very underrated as a tourist spot (lots of cool stuff to see and do, I promise!).
I don't need convincing that tberes lots of interesting thing's to see in Mexico. But I do need convincing that it's safe to travel outside of the beach resorts.
Oh, it's pretty safe in Mexico City. The cartels simply have no business there. Actually, the only dangerous places are the northern states; granted, it's a big part of the country, but basically the other half is safe. Outside the north, you just have to step carefully in Guerrero (where beaches like Acapulco and Ixtapa are) and Morelos (45 minutes south of Mexico City, lots of corruption there). The rest of the country is not turf war territory, and Mexico City beefed up security when the drug war started to escalate, which was great because there were lots of kidnappings in the early and mid-2000s, also muggings, and since then crime in general has decreased greatly. It's still around, but as long as you're careful and prudent, most people never have a problem. The tourist-friendly areas are also generally safer. It's still a big city like most, you still have to have the common sense not to wear your big Rolex through the slum-ish neighborhoods or leave the car keys in the car, but it's not extraordinary in that regard. If you expect to see machine gun emplacements in every corner, hear shootouts and shot-up cars, I once again refer you to the North. Even then I'm generalizing, it's concentrated around certain cities and corridors, but the North in general is suffering a lot due to the cartels. For example, they call normal business and request protection money. Many people risk it and they them to shove it, and sometimes they end up coming around to renegotiate.
What a measured and balanced perspective on the troubles in Mexico! Thanks for posting this. "We'll find the remaining 42 alive" continues to be a rallying cry of sorts; is it possible that this kind of unhinged optimism is in fact precisely what gangs like Guerreros Unidos, or the fugitives sought by the state in connection to the abductions, are relying on as they prepare their defense in any future proceedings against them?
Thank you for taking the time to read it! To answer your question, I don't think so. Guerreros Unidos will have come under heavy fire for their involvement, and their survival depends on their alliance with cartels (gangs like them are often used as outsourced henchmen by cartels), but even then a lot of their members will have been arrested or killed whether involved or not directly because of it. I don't even know where the case lands from a legal point of view, but there's political interests in having someone pay. The mayor, his wife and the governor are all in maximum security prison and I don't know what they were charged with, but you can be sure even if the conviction isn't what they're actually guilty for, they'll find charges that stick. In their case (and I'm unsure about the wife), this works, but often there's people who are used as scapegoats to embellish the statistic with this kind of policy.
