Mexico,
sometimes I want to cry for you. I am
not a Mexican, nor am I of Mexican descent, but having lived in Mexico for
nearly 20 years I consider you to be my adopted country. I feel your
pain.
I
can’t speak for all the reporters here on BB, but I believe that many ot them
share my pain at times. Most of us, especially
those that volunteer our time here on Borderland Beat who daily read of the
horrors - kidnapping, extortion, murder of entire families (including
infants), young people as young as 12 or 14 becoming assassins (sicarios), are
deeply affected. by those stories. The
continued criminal corruption and impunity of the public officials makes us
feel like we hit a brick wall emotionally.
At
times it leaves us with a feeling of despair and the feeling of ineffectuality,
the impotent pointlessness of this work;.
We feel that our work is worthless, it's meaningless, it's nothing. We
are totally ineffective. There is this
sense of total helplessness.
It makes it extremely difficult to look at the
"big picture" - what is happening and why.
Then something happens that renews and
invigorates our spirits again.
It
may be something big like the rapid development of the self defense movement which I think may be
one of the biggest game changers since the Mexican Revolution. Ordinary, but very brave people, successfully
organizing and confronting the criminals
who had been terrorizing them for years and standing up to a government that
has ignored them and their problems for decades.
Or
that spark that re-ignites us may be something small. For me most recently, it was going to the
plaza in el centro for stroll on Sunday evening.
For
most of the time I have lived in Mexico I lived only about a half block from
the plaza and went there quite often.
Sometimes to just sit on a bench and read a book and "people
watch" and absorb the beautiful culture that is Mexico.
Seeing a teen age girl get out of school and
get in the car with her mother who had come to pick her up and lean over and
kiss her mother on the cheek as a greeting.
It would make me wonder how many girls in the US kissed their mother
when she came to pick her up at school.
Lately
I have not gone to the plaza so much for several reasons. I moved farther out in the city and it was
not as convienant and also as a kind of protest because the mayor had
"re-done" the plaza to make it more beautiful, taking out 20 or 30
huge trees and pouring concrete over about 80% of the plaza. It now looks like something that would be in
front of a new highrise in Dallas or Houston rather than a traditional Mexican
plaza.
Regardless
of my belief that the plaza had lost much of its character, on Sunday evening,
much to my surprise, it was crowded with families milling about and greeting
each other and gossiping with friends while their kids played on the swings and
slides.
But
the thing that really jolted me out of the doldrums was a group of kids, ranging
from kindergarden to high school that were putting on a show of traditional
Mexican dance, complete with the costumes.
The girls with their beautiful brightly colored flowing dresses and the
boys in their sombreros and pants with the silver conchos running down the
side. The 5 and 6 year olds were the
stars of the show.
When
I left the plaza that evening it was with a good feeling because efforts were
being made to preserve and pass on some of the beautiful aspects of the Mexican
culture. I could hear and feel the heart
of Mexico still beating.
So
what has all that to do with the reporting of the cartel wars in Mexico? For this reporter, it energized me to
continue to try to look at the "big picture" of the problems of
Mexico and what I can do about them.
The events of the past few weeks in Michoacan
and continuing today strengthen my resolve that Borderland Beat plays an
important role as a voice telling “the rest of the story” – news and opinion that
are not disseminated by other media that merely parrot what the government says
is the truth.
Most
serious scholars (I don't claim to be one, but I agree with them) who have looked at the big picture violence and crime in
Mexico conclude that two major changes are desperately needed; eliminating or at least reducing corruption
thereby reducing the impunity with which criminals and corrupt public officials
now act (I include the scenario playing out in Michoacan in the this).
The other radical change needed is to drastically
overhaul the education system, to give the children of Mexico opportunities in
life other than joining a cartel or gang.
Most
of my writings and the stories I have posted (more on the Forum than here on
the main page) have dealt with the corruption of corrupt public officials and
the deplorable education system. This
piece is a continuation of that effort to shine a light on those problems. So here we go.
Questions
for the PRI Regarding Corruption and Impunity (I address this to PRI because
the party and the government are one and the same in Mexico):
1)
Why do you think so few high level Mexican politicians have been investigated
when they were accused of corruption or ties to drug trafficking?
2)
Why didn’t the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) publicize
the results of the few instances it investigated high level politicians?
3) why has the federal Czar of Michoacan (Costillo) tried to split and divide the AUD who have been so successful of ridding some 30 municipalities from the oppression of the CT cartel and why did he ally himself with the AUD leader with proven ties to the leader of the Templars?
4)
Why hasn’t the PGR investigated Arturo Montiel [Governor, State of Mexico,
1999-2005] for the accusations of corruption against him, as well as the
kidnapping of his children in violation of the International Convention of The
Hague Against the Illegal Retention of Minors? [Children were in the custody of
his ex-wife, a French citizen. When she allowed them to come to Mexico to visit
him, he kept them.]
5)
Why hasn’t the PGR investigated Mario Marin [Governor of Puebla, 2005-2011] for
the kidnapping of Lydia Cacho and her imprisonment in Puebla, after an illegal
transport he ordered? [In 2006, Kamel Nacif Borge, a businessman, and Mario
Marín were exposed discussing the jailing of journalist Lydia Cacho after she
accused Nacif of pedophilia in her book los Demonios del Éden.]
6) In the last 20 years, why has there not been a single public official (neither civil or military) been tried, convicted and punished for the crime of torture when we all know it is a common practice?
7)
Why hasn’t the PGR investigated Humberto Moreira for illicit enrichment and the
way he got his state in debt when he was governor [of Coahuila, 2005-2011]?
8)
Why hasn’t the PGR investigated Carlos Romero Deschamps for illicit enrichment
while leading the Pemex oil workers union?
9)
Why do you think high level PRI politicians have not been investigated by the
PGR?
10)
Why do you think 98% of all crimes in Mexico are never solved?
11)
One of the few cases where a high level Mexican politician was investigated was
Raul Salinas de Gortari, [brother of
former President Carlos Salinas, 1988-94] who was recently exonerated. Why do
you think the PRI selectively tolerates and even encourages an attitude of impunity?
12.)
Do you think a PGR investigation, which was never made public, is enough to
exonerate a politician [Beltrones] accused of protecting drug dealers, even
though the accusations are based on more than 20 DEA documents? (In 1994, incoming Mexican president Ernesto
Zedillo requested that the United States provide his administration with
the names of Mexican officials suspected of corruption who should not be
considered for positions in the new administration.[7]
The United States indicated that Beltrones was suspected of using his power as
governor of Sonora to protect drug lords. In
2011 he was leading in all the polls as a potential Presidential candidate
until he announced without explanation that he was not going to run – clearing the
way for EPN)
13)
Do you think Attorney General Jesus
Murillo Karam, who was appointed by
Enrique Peña Nieto and could be fired by him at any moment, will ever
investigate a high level PRI politician?
14)
What do you think about the recurrent PRI tactic of intimidating and/or
eliminating its critics instead of fixing the reason behind the criticism?
15)
Is Carlos Salinas pulling the strings behind the scenes in the EPN administration?
There
are hundreds of other questions about corruption that need to be looked at and
have a light shined on them, but we can only do so much.
Education;
$35,780,880,000
pesos [US$2.7 billion] Education Money Wasted Every Year.
Years
ago, Mexicanos Primero brought up a simple question: How many teachers are
there in Mexico, and how many actually teach in a face-to-face classroom
setting? No one could answer this question. Suspicions with respect to a
massive scam in the educational budget arose.
Finally,
responding to the pressure of citizen campaigns like “End the abuse!” at the
end of 2012, President Peña Nieto had the good sense to arrange for the
realization of the Census of Schools, Teachers and Students of Basic
[elementary and middle school] and Special Education. The work was entrusted to
the professionalism of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography
(INEGI).
He
was applaud then for making the census happen; he is not being applauded now
for what it reveals. It is a national shame:
39,222 people supposedly assigned to a
school in which no one actually knows them ("aviators");
30,695 people who claim to be teachers, but
who in reality work for the SNTE [National Union of Education Workers] or the
CNTE [National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers—a dissident teachers
group];
113,259 people who claim to be in a school,
but who are located “in another place of work” (fugitives); and
114,998 people who receive pay as active
teachers, but who do it in the name of people who have already retired or
passed away.
In
all, 298,174 people are paid with educational funds from schools in which they
do not work.
It
is a fact that schools and teachers from Oaxaca, Chiapas and Guerrero, the
three states with the most corrupt and backwards systems, were not included in
the census. They refused to participate. Why would this be?
In
any case, the census reveals that almost 300,000 people live on the educational
budget, but do not serve education. This backs the saying that the national
sport isn’t soccer: “It’s living on the budget!” What shame, what disorder,
what corruption!
The Professional Teacher’s Service Law is very
clear: no one who is not fulfilling a teaching job has the right to receive the
salary of a teacher.
A
conservative estimate of the cost: 10,000 pesos [US$770] of monthly salary x 12
months x 298,174 people = 35,780,880,000 pesos [US$2.7 billion.
35
billion pesos! Every year!
With
that money one could grant, each year, 3,838,000 Opportunity grants [grants
provided to poor families to keep their children in school] or rehabilitate
35,780 schools.
Scandals
like that of Oceanografía [a company providing ships to Pemex state oil
company, under investigation for fraud] and Line 12 of Mexico City’s subway
[new line shut down due to serious malfunctions] pale in comparison to these
statistics.
Beyond
the scandalous statistics, what’s shameful is the magnitude of the complicity
of hundreds of thousands of people enabling this fraud. It is shameful also to
admit that this fraud is taking place in the national educational system.
What
an example we’re setting for our children!
How
is it possible that we've allowed this to happen? Now that we know the size of
the problem, the important thing is to act. Revealing is not the same as
resolving.
It
is up to the Secretariat of the Treasury (SHCP) and the Secretariat of Public
Education (SEP) to put an end to this robbery against public education and the
future of our country. The critical date is the first of January of 2015,
because after that date the federal government will be in charge of teachers'
payroll [federal funds currently managed by each state].
.
The
federal legislators also have a responsibility, because they are the ones who
approve the educational budget year after year. They shouldn’t approve it if it
doesn’t present a reliable and trustworthy educational payroll.
What
to say to the auditors? They should open their eyes and do their job.
Citizens,
must demand and ensure that the wasteful spending ends. If such embezzlement
doesn't move us to action, then nothing will. At www.finalabuso.org you can
sign to demand that the money that is now being wasted be used for loans, for
training our real teachers and to improve educational infrastructure.
The
corruption in Mexico has been viral; now let’s hope that a citizen movement for
combating the corruption will go viral.
Some of my sources;
DD, great post.
ReplyDeleteBut please be careful. I don't know every plaza in Mexico, but I think it wouldn't be too hard for someone with determination to figure out what plaza that is. And thus what city you live in.
Getting kicked out of the country for getting involved in politics would then maybe be the least of your concerns.
I'd move.
Or at least take down the photos, unless they're file photos you found on the internet, etc.
I agree
DeleteIts obvious what city it is.
DeleteWhat this article fails to mention as to why mexico is in such a sad and corrupt state is RELIGION!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMEXICO IS EXCESSIVELY RELIGIOUS. HUGE PROBLEM.
Look at all the rich, industrialized, first world nations of the world. The overwhelming majority of them are not crazy about religion.
IF YOU LOOK AT ALL THE MOST RELIGIOUS COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD THEY ARE ALL POOR, THIRD WORLD, UTTERLY CORRUPT COUNTRIES.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Importance_of_religion_by_country
Just look at that list. Countries with the most religious people, that country is gonna be a poor, third world, corrupt country. There's a reason for that. Religion corrupts and it is used by people in power to control the masses.
Just look at the Templarios. Using god/jesus to mindfuck poor people and make them terrify other poor people.
Ghetto lost bible thumping Morman or Christian extremists. We Mexicans take great pride in our catholic roots faith is non corruptible.
Delete@1:47 p.m organized religion maybe but not true faith! What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul! The devil is a master at the art of deception and too many ppl fall for it!!!
DeleteWikipedia? Really dude? There is so much wrong with your premise that I don't know where to begin pointing out flaws. First of all wiki is publicly created and edited material. Some subjects don't get edited sufficiently due to lack of interested parties. If you analyze the maps that you quote, you will notice that they lack qualifying data such as methodology. Are they based on percentage of population or total numbers of respondents, etc.? Only one poll question is revealed and it is a ridiculous question to ask a religious person thus causinge a huge margin of error in the poll. The. various religion maps in wiki conflict with each other. Anyone trying to make an assumption between religion and Mexico's crime and corruption has auestionable ethics and credibility. Religion is deeply personal and subjective ( individuals relation to God, Allah. Buddha etc ). Your post shows a lack of knowledge of religion and of Mexico. Please show how religion is tied to narco-corruption with facts or troll elsewhere. You have an anti-religion agenda that is not well recieved by the majority of the people in the U.S., Mexico or any other country indicated on the world map that you quote.
DeleteFaith can be dissolved with a bit of science. Faith by definition is corrupt. It's a belief in something regardless of evidence.
Delete@ !:47 PM
ReplyDeleteBAAAARRRRRRRKKKKK!!!!!! (The sound of a school alarm)
Wrong. Again!
Religion has very little to do with Mexican corruption. There are many religious people helping the Mexican people against crime and apathy. There are religious people that teach morals to their followers and most adhere to the great teachings of Jesus Christ. No, it's the deeply ingrained culture of theft and impunity of the wealthy class that keeps Mexico under.
Mexico will never come up cause everybody there is a. Snake dog eat dog country everytime I go to Mexico my own family. Is trying to snake me they pretend to forget there wallets when they invite me to eat and the Witt's pa
Delete@May 11, 2014 at 1:24 PM
ReplyDeleteReligion has little to do with it. It's all politics. The real truth is that the government is using this conflict and the ensuing fear surrounding it to greatly increase their power. Since the war began in 2006, the Mexican Constitution has been thrown out the window and the country is a virtual police state.
Basically, the biggest winner in this war will be the government, who single handedly took away the Mexican people's rights and can turn into a virtual dictatorship at will. That's the real reason why they fear those militias, as they want to fight for the people, not the government itself. If they fail to stop them, these militias could start fighting the government later on.
All those anti-religious arguments your kind of people spew out depend on the argument that people who do these crimes are actively religious and devoted to it. We know that the Templar cartel is not really religious, nor is the government. Mexico is less fortunate than us because they have had generation after generation of unstable leaders and political groups taking advantage of their nation and running it into the ground. Your arguments are just pushing the liberal agenda, which is political, which in my opinion is the real religion of the 21st Century.
@ 1:24 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI don't care what any poll shows, Mexicans are extremely materialistic. Their supposed high level of religion is only a big show. Not surprising they'd tell a pollster that religion is very important in their life.
Materialism mixed with hypocrisy - now that's a recipe for massive corruption.
In a nation where laws are not implemented or enforced,, the people of said nation need not obey those laws. No need for defense movements, although the present one in Michoacan has met success. Just keep your arms at home and have them ready for protection. Whole communnities could then mobilize at a moments notice if a threat should arise. Mexico and the PRI government apparatus has no intention of utilizing it's armed forces to protect it's people. On the contrary, Mexico's armed forces are utilized to oppress the people. Communities should not expect the PRI dominated govt. to educate them either. They should adopt the Chiapas-Maya model and build schools independent of the govt. Then aspiring teachers with the approval of communites can then proceed to educate their children. Mexico is at a "the straw that broke the camel's back" moment. Some incident is going to trigger a mass revolt that will finally put an to the hegemony of PRI machine that will render the party null and void. What good is their in a political party that oppresses it's people and loots their wealth!?
ReplyDeleteAdam and Eve were thieves. They too took something that wasn't theirs ... and then lied about it. Why? Because some third party said they could get away with it. Pretty much goes downhill from there until everyone but 8 people get wiped out in a flood.
ReplyDeleteMexico is like The Biblical Garden of Eden gone wild. People entrusted with its care steal and steal and steal because they can get away with it.
Unlike the Biblical Garden of Eden, no one has stepped in to punish the thieves of Mexico.
Adam and Eve is a story told by early man, to describe the domesticated human. When several beliefs melt together you get things like santeria, palo mayombe, and gods get turned to devils and demons. Likewise the snake was demonized. During the ice age rivers snaked through the lower, and warmer valleys. People learned to find food and later farm with help fertile silt deposits. They credited the snake, river, or god. with imparting wisdom, that would help them feed themselves through hard work. With this knowledge they no longer relied on gathering. They where now farmers. This knowledge would keep them from the paradise that IS ignorance. We where now farmers, and women had to have as many children as possible to keep the farm well stocked with workers. Honor thy father is there to keep children working. It's a fable of knowledge and farming. The men who wrote the bible corrupted the story. Like Spaniards and mexican natives help corrupt the cult to Tonantzin whom was worshiped atop the Tepeyac mountain. She still worshiped but her name is now La Virgen de Guadalupe and that's how they conquered the peoples mind and will. Perhaps we should be farming, México is fertile enough that no one person should go hungry within its borders. The three G's brought the Spaniards Gold, Glory and God. It's that mentality that enslaves its people to this day.
DeleteSo what is wrong with being materialistic? We live in a capitalistic society and with it comes the spoils if you work hard, if you don't like it go live in a communist system and get taken advantage of. BTW, most Mexicans are not materialistic because they can't afford it, simple as that. You need to check your logic because your missing some brain cells. Every time I go to Mexico my basic 501 jeans w/brand name tennis shoes are of better quality than the majority of attire worn down there and I'm not trying to impress.
ReplyDeleteI think what is also needed in order to generate the motivation the people need in order to keep fighting for change is international attention. Why is the US involved in the Ukrain when its neighbor to the south is in such a sad state? Why didn't President Obama comment on the countless protests against EPN? Why don't US media outlets accurately report the problems in Michoacan? Why doesn't the US, in general, ever report on Mexico?
ReplyDeleteYes sir thats my country a fucking shithole but we still love because is our motherland .
ReplyDelete^ how are mexican people materialistic? These people turn into narcos because there are no jobs out there and its easy money. It starts with the corruption of the government. Religion has nothing to do with this problem
ReplyDeleteYour an idiot Mexico has more apportunity than the us you don't need permits to open a. Rrestaurant or taco stan or whatever those people that make up that lame excuse you said are lazy ass drunk cokeheads who don't want to work most commonly known as people from sinaloa PS sinaloenses are pussy smirched ask chapo
DeleteMarijuana legalization in the states shows a violent crime reduction. Regulate and tax is better than a country under seige. This war on the narco has proven to be a war on the Mexican people. In the US it began with Nixon in office. In Mexico it began with calderon. When there's money in conflict, war is imminent and never ceases. The war with regards to the drugs will never end as long as the top 1% stand to profit.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember which Rothschild said. "We make mote money in a day of war than a year of people". To say the least, arms sales to the cartels and the Mexico's armed forces is good business.
DeleteThe word more not mote. Peace after a year.
Deletegodam Mexico is corrupt!!!
ReplyDeleteU should be here in Tamps, we have Governor who cares nothing about the people. I love Mexico but had to leave. I am not Mexican, but feel the pain of the good people of Mexico. They some of the best people in the world.
ReplyDeleteIts hopeless I see no end. The PRI has not changed
I live in Mexico. Mexico does require a permit. Remember Wal-Mart paying millions to get their permit. Even taco stands sometimes pay more to get their stand permit and business license approved. You can look it up on the computer. But Mexico is rated as one of the tougher countries in the world to open up a business. USA was among the best. It is on the internet if you want to take the time to find out. The government usually delays the licences and permits waiting for you to grease their hands and get the paperwork approved.
ReplyDeleteSo, Mexican narcos are now corrupt evil , capitalistic fascists ?
ReplyDeleteI just finished watching "LA Vida Precoz yvBreve de Sabina Rivas" ... And all I have to say is F Mexico! F corruption! You now belong to Satan. Never ever ever talk bad about immigration to the US, at least we aren't a bunch of f'ng animals.
ReplyDeleteMexicans arguing and talking their hateful shit on this blog now,this is what it has come to?
ReplyDelete@5:36 mexicans...lookihere cocksucker...
ReplyDelete1810, joel poinsett US ambassador, his campaign for mexican independence to pay back the spanish for not supporting the US own independence war, finances the start of the america for the americans campaign to get the latinamerican banana republics independence wars started and on their way to the conga line of US FED CORRUPTION...
--mexico 1910: the US comes up again to fuck up the europeans exploiting mexico and the supremacist ideology of porfirio diaz, trying to have an educated population exploiting the uneducated population for their own benefit...
--the US ideology dictated that the exploitation of the educated and uneducated mexicans and latinoamericans had to be for the benefit of the educated US capitalist oligarchs, UNDER HUMANISTIC PRETENSES, of course
--2010, 100 years later, the immense greed of US and globalista associates, vulture capitalistas armed with the Modern Capitalist Jesus and biblical quotes that guide their modern swords (tanks, rifles, ships, ammo, and corrupt police and military) we are witnessing THEM BLAMING RELIGION !!!
--aye aye dd getting some started with religion has brought more comments to your post than you ever imagined, most of them going off point, and not doing justice to your nice report.
--it is not religion or mexican's racism, it is US capitalista vultures fed corruption, now compounded with global cabals hellbent on exploiting the conga line of banana republics through reconquering OWNERSHIP of them said banana republics as colonies of their own, posing as korean, hindu, chinese, spanish, etc etc etc corporations they themselves own or control or both, no mexicans there at the front, maybe some hidden mexican
partners, some of which will never see their money again, like el chapo, omar ghaddafy,(40 billion dollars, or pounds, whatever) the ayatollahs, and many many other satraps, all of them victims of bank fraud, most of them too ashamed to talk about how they have been scammed by the big banks who benefit from the money stolen from their people's and who never return any of that money...
@May 13, 2014 at 12:56 AM
ReplyDeleteThe three Gs apply to all societies to a measure. God has simply been replaced by political ideologies. A lot of people today in the West especially think an atheistic, materialistic, communist/socialistic system would work better than capitalism. I doubt it, look at Stalin, Mao, and Kim Jong Il as great examples of how much crappier those societies are. They too embraced expansionist/exploitative policies as well, much worse and larger scale than any civilization previously.
The simple truth is that when any group gets absolute power, it corrupts. Doesn't matter if it's corporations, church, government, or cartels. No single being or group should have the power of absolute life or death over others, they eventually go crazy with the power and become brutal tyrants.
I'll bet a dollar that Enrique Pena Nieto will be a billionaire when his term is over, if he isn't one already.
ReplyDelete8:21 Russia Today, is bringing new higher standards to tv journalism, bringing honesty and a lot of bugging to the hypocritical journalism and their sold out yakety yak, the more you see the more you know, the US is turning into the USSR, with all the proprietary qualities of the GESTAPO and the KGB, with forced interrogations, prisoner abuse, torture chambers, disinformation teams, alliances with neo-nazis and terrorist organizations, exact replicas of the hitler-mussolini-franco falangistas, and their accompanying fedayins, conquering again all of europe, through economic disasters, all the PIIGS countries, and england, we are in very deep shit, and --i can't believe Russia, the former monster puppet of the devil is denouncing it all while nobody wants to listen...
ReplyDelete--i also can't believe that the US is willing to play chicken games with russia after two more looong drawn/not won wars against much inferior enemies who had to be supplied and resuplied by the US's own private military contractors to keep fighting against the deluded US military warrior heros still being misled and lied to by their puppet-masters who can't even serve them decent food, but have plenty of half cooked prison rations for meals for the US soldiers, aviators and marines, in a show of solidarity, some of the brass will eat that very same shitty food once in while...and i want to say i respect their sacrifices, i have eaten military food, and i have eaten prison food, and believe me, prison food beats military food, except for sheriff arpaio's whose dirty pink bloomers are said to taste better...