Open Letter to the Governor of Veracruz

The government in Veracruz attempted to reassure the citizens of this port city that everything is fine and nothing is happening. But the citizens know better. This is an open letter to the Governor of the reality that the people live every day.

Late on a cold night when everyone goes to sleep early in the safety of their homes that leaves the streets desolate outside,  I heard the loud noise. It sounded like if something had fallen, I did not give much thought due to the high winds and I logically thought that the wind had dropped something in someone's home.

I heard the nearby sound of dogs barking, but again I gave it no thought. About half an hour later, I notice a white van parked on the street with the headlights on. I thought that perhaps a neighbor just got home or since a new business just opened around the corner, the owners were checking on it; till I started to hear a lot of whispering.

Soon after I notice that someone was taking pictures. Then I got startled from the sound of a loud noise, like someone was delivering a blow of some kind, sounded like something large that was being moved around or perhaps even thrown. I knew then that something was not right. I turn off the TV and tried to see what was happening.

Suddenly I see the figure of a man walking in the middle of the street dressed all in black holding a rifle on both hands. I make an attempt to make sense of it all, the noise, just trying to reconstruct the scene that is unfolding right outside my home. Was it one body or several bodies that they were picking up. I was unable to distinguish if they were police officers or sicarios.

I started to panic.

Soon I realized that in fact they were police officers, they were taking photos, lifting something, checking around to see if people were watching. No one dared to go outside their homes for fear. Minutes later an ambulance arrived without making any noise, drove down the street without any lights and collected a covered body, then drove away. 5 minutes later the police officers made their presence known by illuminating their spotlights on the houses from all sides of the street to see if anyone was outside watching.

Then they left.

I use to consider my neighborhood calm and quiet, but now I am afraid to leave my house. I use to think that all the bad was far away but now, I am finding out that it's closer than I thought. Today there are only neighbors that doubt, with a dire need to ask but no one dares to talk about it.

The same street seem dead in the morning, one could only see a large dried blood stain just steps from the door of a house next to the sidewalk. I am truly scared, I can’t get it off my mind, because there, in that place, why leave a body? Why is it that no one has reported the incident? I have not seen any news about the incident in the local newspapers or any website. No reporter came to report or take pictures.

Who left the body there?

Now every time I see a car, or watch someone in the street, I see them with suspicion and, fear that it could happen again in that same area.

I share this because there are many cases like this one that remain unreported, without coming to the open. How much more blood, how many more bodies have to continue to stain our streets and arrive to our door steps of our homes from all this wave of violence in our beautiful state .. Mr. Governor, please do not tell me that Veracruz is a quiet and that "Nothing" happens here.. Who will return our peace, our security and our tranquility we once had?

Today we just breathe fear in the very home within our doors ..