| | |  Editorials | Opinions | September 2008 
Mexico Violence: Is America's Neighbor at War?
 El Paso Times
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| | Drug murders are virtually daily events in Nuevo Laredo. The headline on this story translates as "Beheaded." (Anthony Suau/Time) | | |
Columnist Pablo Hiriart wrote in the Mexico newspaper Excelsior that Mexico is now at war. Noting that columnists write opinions - they write what they think - we have to ask the question: Is Hiriart correct?
It sure looks like he is.
Because, now there's been a deadly two-grenade attack against civilians to go with the random shootings and kidnappings throughout the country.
Mexican citizens are saying they can trust no agency, anymore. Juárez resident Claudia Gaytan, 37, said this while shopping in El Paso this week, "It's sad. There is a lot of insecurity. You can't trust anybody, not the police."
In Juárez, alone, there have been nearly 950 homicides this year. They are due in large part to the ongoing drug cartel war, and it's evident the Mexican federal government isn't stopping the carnage.
Nearly 1,000 murders, and only a tiny handful of arrests have been made public. One gangland-style murder a week? Try about five every day.
In Juárez, Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz announced the dismissal of 400 members of the police department; they had failed confidence exams done by the Mexico federal public safety secretary's office.
Thousands of Mexican soldiers have been patrolling Juárez for months, but the average murders per month is more than 100.
Now comes terrorism against the Mexican citizenry. No more is it only drug-cartel gangsters killing rivals, or rich Mexicans being kidnapped for ransom. Now comes a 16 de Septiembre grenade attack during a festival in Morelia. It was described as narco-terror. Seven people were killed and more than 100 were injured. So far the terrorist remains at large.
And we can think back to what El Paso police Chief Greg Allen said just recently: "... To me, if you wanted to see what terrorism is like, you are looking at it full-fledged over there (in Juárez)."
Juárez resident Alicia Castor, 51, said: "In Mexico there is no law." She said residents must rely on themselves for protection.
Hiriart wrote: "The mafias have declared war on Mexico ..."
It sure looks that way - right across the international bridges from El Paso. |
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