Sunday, January 31, 2010

Why We've Had So Few Visitors

It couldn't be any easier to get to Mexico City from Dallas. It's a direct 2.5 hour flight, but family and friends have been extremely reluctant to visit. I have hounded my parents to come visit this wonderful country, but they're scared. So are a lot of other people.

My sister-in-law forwarded me this article today from the Houston Chronicle. The story is pretty typical of what's been going on in Ciudad Juarez, and I went on to read the comments (aka "True expressions of the First Amendment"). I posted some below, but you'll have to read the article for the other fascinating thoughts.

(218)
More violence and another killing field in Mexico. Another example why we need better border protection.

1/31/2010 1:32:49 PM

Katherina2(41)
Katherina2 wrote:
We have this failed state on our southern border and our military is building states thousands of miles away in the middle east.
For whose interest?

1/31/2010 1:37:07 PM

bobhop(0)
bobhop wrote:
Now, fishingpole don't think like that. We should just open up our hearts and the gates and let the horde come in. We only have 20,000.000 now it will surely get better when 40,000.000 arrive

1/31/2010 1:40:14 PM

Chief_Decoy(87)
Such a sad state of affairs. Time for the people of Mexico to rise and take back their country. Starting with the cartels and corrupt politicians, and law enforcement, and military, and etc,,,,etc,,,,etc,,,,,OH WAIT! The citizens are unarmed. How on Earth can they ever do that? The citizens of Mexico are truly screwed.....

1/31/2010 1:40:20 PM

Woody40(5)
Woody40 wrote:
If you didn't think there is a full blown war down there on the general population, this should serve as proof!!! I dont know why anyone would travel to Mexico these days. Its just a matter of time before something like this happens at a border crossing with heavily armed groups crashing the check point, if for nothing else, to create chaos.

1/31/2010 1:41:04 PM

TrueBeliever(89)
I can't wait for Latinamary to show up and tell us how lovely and nice the people of Mexico are and how it is all just hype. Why anyone would go to Mexico is beyond me. However, I am almost ready to contribute to a fund that would provide guns and ammunition for the people of Mexico to enable them to do something about the drug cartels and the killing. Nothing is going to make it any better because the government, as corrupt and ineffective as it is, will just sit and watch and count their money.

1/31/2010 1:43:51 PM

Antonchigurh(40)
This was not supposed to happen...A story I read right here in the Chron just 2 weeks ago said the leader of the major cartel was arrested. This should have sent a message to the evil cartel leaders. NOT! the war on drugs was lost a long time . There is nothing that can be done to stop it. If you legalize it, they will sell it for less. They will also just expand their other businesses of extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking. The border is militarized now and nothing is changing. This will be coming soon to us. Too bad we can't prioritize protecting America instead of everyone else on earth.

1/31/2010 1:46:45 PM

johnsmith(0)
johnsmith wrote:
Make no mistake about it. Mexico is our biggest national security threat. We have 20 million plus illegal aliens in this country, our porous border is subject to overwhelming security breaches, and the drug cartels have established themselves in 230 plus United States cities.
-
Will there be spillover violence? Are there any cows in Texas? Of course we've been having spillover violence for decades here from the drug traffickers. How many bodies can you count in Harris and surrounding counties that were found shot and burned in the trunk of a car. All due to drugs.....failure to pay, lost loads, ripoffs, you name it.
-
We need to seal the border completely and halt all immigration until we can figure out what we've already let inside.

1/31/2010 1:47:34 PM

I feel more scared after reading these comments, not of Mexico but of these people. What I thought was alarming were all the comments related to arming private citizens. I know it's Texas, but, sheesh, Texans really like their guns. I doubt Mexicans feel the same way.

Obviously, most of us that live down here share different opinions from those expressed above. Most of us love this country, recognize the problems, and work with and around them. And for one more desperate plea to my family and friends: I hope to see y'all real soon! I'll even take you to the Museum of Drug Trafficking.

8 comments:

  1. It's fairly obvious (especially if you've spent any time here) that a large percentage of the population of Texas are right-wing, religious, gun worshiping, xenophobic wackos.

    Personally I can't wait until my sentence (IE career) is over and my wife & I can get the heck out of here - to MEXICO!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I spent way too much time in Texas...

    So glad you and your wife are going to move to Mexico -- discredit all those naysayers who wonder why on earth people visit Mexico!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The violence in the north really is very saddening, I felt so sad for those students that were mistakenly killed at the party. But I wish more foreigners understood that the overwhelming majority of drug violence does not happen here in Mexico City.

    I found this tonight - a very light-hearted look at Mexico City from the '60s. Apparently, an episode of 'Bewitched' was set here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA6P4lMqezY&feature=PlayList&p=990957AF25C58F2A&index=0&playnext=1

    ReplyDelete
  4. You can send them to

    www.thetruthaboutmexico.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Drew, definitely, people rarely take the time to research where the violence is.

    Nancy, thanks, I'll forward it on.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Alice I also get a lot of questions from family and actually sending them to the site Nancy suggested helped a lot for my mom. My family cant come due to money but they do have their concerns about the drug wars. Something else that helped my mom is that I had found a map online that highlighted where the ¨war¨was and where I live and it showed her how small that area was and that I live far from it. Good luck with this I know its not easy to convince people.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Amanda,

    Not easy! I've told friends that the drug war mostly occurs along the border, but it's still a tough sell.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I understand that as well. What is really pathetic is the fact that the drug wars are happening on the borders because the southern texas region is where americans buy their drugs to sell to the rest of texas too...I'd know. I'm from Texas.

    ReplyDelete