Monday, March 29, 2010

Keeping Up With The Neighbors

In recent months, the United States has started to worry more and more about what is going on south of the border. Well, yeah. That took long enough. In all the years I have been living in the East Coast of the United States, I can tell you that not much press coverage happens for the political and social unrest that threatens to tear apart our neighboring country. There have been many tense, late nights in my household -- waiting to hear news from the capital, to see what the latest numbers of deaths were in riots, to hear about operations to reestablish security in various cities across the country, and to hear about how our family is doing.

When press coverage is so... well actually "sketchy" is the best word for it, both here and in the United States, it's hard to tell what is really going on. I encourage you to question it. Was that supposed plane crash with government employees on it really an accident? It's hard to say. I'm not saying that I have the authority or knowledge to tell you one way or another, but all the same... don't accept things at face value when the media gives them to you. That is one thing I have learned from working there.

To give you an idea of current US strategy with the drug wars, have a look:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/world/americas/26border.html?emc=eta1

We've been hearing about the operations around that border for a long time now, but its getting more serious than ever before. During our break, American officials were killed in Cuidad Juarez: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/world/americas/15juarez.html?scp=1&sq=ciudad%20juarez&st=cse. And guess what? It will probably only get worse.

Oh wait! It already did!
A few days later Monterrey, thats right, the 3rd largest city in Mexico, was made immobile by operations carried out by the drug lords who currently control Nuevo Leon better than the military in the area can. The North is a mess. And the South? Not much better.


So before you think about taking that vacation in May or June, turn on the news.
The United States has been discouraging people from traveling to the country.
I'm not saying you are doomed, just pay attention.
Even from there, I don't think we'll be able to tell what is really going on in Mexico.
Especially since journalists who have been trying to get the story out of the country have been killed in the line of duty. Information is dangerous. Doesn't this sound familiar?
Argentina. 1970s. Los Desaparecidos.

So where are we going from here?
Probably somewhere totally unpredictable.



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