When In Doubt: Blame the Yankees?

I've read about those Mexican mayors, blaming America for the abyssal mess Mexico's in.

Actually, they've got a point.

Sort of.

Please bear with me. There's been a lot of nonsense said and written about Mexico and Mexicans. I think a few things need clarification, about how I see the situation.

Mexico: Getting Past the Stereotypes

Mexico isn't a country filled with beautiful women, men with skin conditions and bad teeth, and the some guy sleeping under a sombrero.

It isn't a land marching forward in glorious revolution against superstition.

It isn't a breeding ground of foreigners who don't look like 'real' Americans.¹

Mexico is a real country, one that's earned a place on the Committee to Protect Journalists's Impunity Index: and whose government may collapse. (June 17, 2010)

Mexico Matters

What happens in Mexico matters to the United States. We share a long border: and if Mexico's government dissolves into the sort of mess that Somalia is today, it's going to spill over into California, the American southwest, and points north and east. (August 28, 2010, June 17, 2010)

Oh, come now: could Mexico's government really collapse?

Yes. That's not just my opinion - assuming that somehow Mexico hasn't gotten a whole lot better at managing itself since 2008. (January 14, 2009) Looking at the attrition rate among Mexican mayors and law enforcement officials, I'd say things aren't getting a whole lot better.

Let's say that Mexico's federal government collapses. Regional and local government leaders would, most likely, learn to cooperate with whoever's got muscle nearby - or get killed. In that worst-case scenario, I think it would only be a matter of time before some criminal leader / warlord realized that there places to plunder north of the border.

Think of something like that Monterrey Holiday Inn raid in April, in a San Diego suburb. If you didn't read about it, don't feel bad. It wasn't exactly front-page news in the States. (April 24, 2010)

Not-Yet-Shot Mexican Mayors, Yankees, and a Complaint

When I ran into 'Mexican Mayors blame America' headlines I was ready to read more of the standard-issue stuff about Yankee Imperialists being to blame for whatever the local bosses had bungled recently: particularly since it's only days after Iran's President Ahmadinejad's rousing U.N. speech. (September 24, 2010)

Turns out, the Mexican mayors involved have a point:

"A coalition of Mexican mayors has asked the United States to stop deporting illegal immigrants who have been convicted of serious crimes in the U.S. to Mexican border cities, saying the deportations are contributing to Mexican border violence.

The request was made at a recent San Diego conference in which the mayors of four Mexican border cities and one U.S. mayor, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, gathered to discuss cross-border issues...."
(FOXNews)

I'm not going to copy the whole article - that's what the links are for. I suggest reading it, by the way.

One more excerpt:

"...Those convicted of crimes in the U.S. are required first to fulfill 'any sentence imposed by the U.S. courts,' ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice told FoxNews.com.

"She said all of the deportees are then inspected by Mexican immigration authorities when they arrive in Mexico, and if they are wanted for crimes in Mexico, they are also met by representatives from the Mexican Attorney General’s Office.

"But if they don't have charges pending against them in Mexico, they are free men and women once they cross the border regardless of what they have done in the U.S...."
(FOXNews)

Particularly since this is an election year in America, slogans about this situation are very likely going to be flung around like doo-doo in the primate house.

I'm going to be very glad when the seemingly-inevitable lawsuits following the election are over. Which I hope happens before the next national election. What a way to run a country. And that's another topic.

And My Solution is - - -

I'm in the happy position of not holding any public office. Since the country I live in allows its citizens to express themselves (somewhat) freely, I can spout off on what I'd do if I was in charge.

Maybe.

Or, maybe if I was sitting in the Oval Office, I'd have access to information that would change my mind. In any event, as I've written before, "it's different, when you're in charge." (September 17, 2009, July 3, 2009, July 1, 2009, February 21, 2009...September 27, 2007)

In this case, though, I think my 'what I'd do' notions are so vague that I wouldn't have to change them.

What the American judicial system and Mexican local authorities seem to have in common is the problem of what to do with people who want to hurt other people.

Remember: Evil is Not Nice

It's my opinion that the American judicial system is on a voyage of discovery, in which it will discover that it's okay to protect folks who want to be nice and pay the judge's salary - from the ones who don't. How long it'll take for that idea to soak through - and reverse decades of daft decisions - I have no idea.

I do think the notion that people who hurt other people are "'victims of society" has lost some of its luster. The acknowledgment of "victims' rights" ² is an example of the change, in my opinion.

This does connect to the Mexican mayors' complaint.

Law, Human Rights, and Other Bothersome Necessities

The American judicial system has limitations on how long people can be locked away. Whether sentence length is reasonable or not is something well beyond the scope of this blog.

The point is that, at some point, most people who are locked up in America will be released. If they're in this county illegally, it doesn't make sense to release them within this country's borders.

Releasing them to the legal authorities in their country of origin, in my opinion, makes sense.

That's where it gets sticky.

Mexican authorities, apparently, can't lock someone up just because they feel like it. Which is just as well.

My opinion is that:

• The American judicial system needs to continue reevaluating what should be done with dangerous individuals
• Mexican authorities need to take a look at what they can legally do about the dangerous individuals who get released at their border

Simple? No. Easy? Certainly not. Something that's going to be resolved by November? Of course not.

"Bothersome Necessities?!"

In the previous subhead I called law and human rights "bothersome necessities." I think I'll stick with that: but the phrase needs explaining.

I'm a passionate man, and can sympathize with the 'kill them all' feeling when it comes to rapists, murderers, and crooked politicians. That doesn't mean that I think there should be an 'open season' policy on members of Congress.

America is coming out of an era when, in my opinion, the "rights of the accused" were expanded to a ridiculous degree. On the other hand, I'm rather glad that I live in a country where "innocent until proven guilty" is at least a theoretical principle for the judicial system. Particularly since I've yet to be on the same page as 'the establishment.' And that's yet another topic.

So, what about the Mexican Mayors and their 'it's the fault of the Yankees' complaint?

They've got a point.

I hope they're also putting pressure on their own regional and national leaders, to start regaining control of Mexico.

Related posts:

• "9/11 and the One-Size-Fits-All Explanation: 'It is the Fault of the Jews' - and the Yankees"
  (September 24, 2010)
• "Mexico: It's Not Just a Problem for the United States"
  (August 28, 2010)
• "Mexico, Losing America, Getting a Grip"
  (June 17, 2010)
• "Falcon Lake, Texas: Sometimes Terrorists aren't 'Terrorists' "
  (June 3, 2010)
• "Holiday Inn Raid in Monterrey, Mexico? What Raid?"
  (April 24, 2010)
• "The 90% Solution: American Guns, Mexican Raids, and Common Sense"
  (April 2, 2009)
• "Pakistan and Mexico Collapse Possible: Why I'm Glad Somebody Else is President"
  (January 14, 2009)

In the news:

• "U.S. Worsens Mexican Violence by Returning Criminal Aliens to Border Cities, Mayors Say"
  FOXNews (September 29, 2010)
• "Mexican mayor killed in a town threatened by drug traffickers"
  Los Angeles Times (September 27, 2010)

---

¹One of the few things I'm not very concerned about is Arab terrorists passing themselves off as Mexicans and sneaking into America. I've discussed that before, too. (June 17, 2010)

² 'Victims' in this case being defined as the folks who were hurt by someone committing a criminal act. We've come a long way since my 'good old days.' And I don't ever want to go back.

Mexico: It's Not Just a Problem for the United States

From today's news:

• "U.S. diplomats told to send their children out of Monterrey"
  CNN (August 27, 2010)
• "Chief investigator of Mexico mass killings goes missing"
  BBC (August 28, 2010) (It's been Saturday in the U.K. for several hours)

Mexico is a mess.

I discussed Mexico earlier this summer. (June 17, 2010) The bottom line is that Mexico's troubles connect with the war on terror - not because Mexicans don't look like "real Americans," but because the criminal groups who apparently control much of the country are killing people - and the violence occasionally spills over into America.

If Mexico's national government goes down the drain - a real possibility - we'll have an analog of Somalia, right across the border from California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. That would be a very real problem for America - and a worse one for those Mexicans who aren't involved in illegal activity.

Mexico is a serious threat to folks in other parts of the Americas, too. A CNN article discussing the missing criminal investigator (and another law enforcement official) told a little about what Mexico's chaos does to people looking for a better life:

"...Authorities have identified 31 of the 72 migrants whose bodies were found on a ranch near San Fernando, the attorney general's statement said. Of those identified, 14 came from Honduras, 12 were from El Salvador, four were from Guatemala and one from Brazil, the official said.

"A young man from Ecuador who led navy personnel to the scene of the massacre said he escaped after pretending he was dead. He suffered a neck wound and remained hospitalized Friday....

"...Central American migrants traveling through Mexico on their way to the United States are often the victims of violence and other crimes.

" 'Every year, thousands of migrants are kidnapped, threatened or assaulted by members of criminal gangs,' Amnesty International said in a report this year. 'Extortion and sexual violence are widespread and many migrants go missing or are killed. Few of these abuses are reported and in most cases those responsible are never held to account.' "
(CNN (August 27, 2010))

My ancestors came to America from northwestern Europe, not Central America: but most of them had the same motive as the people murdered recently in Mexico. They weren't satisfied with the limited economic opportunities in their homelands, and thought they could do better in America.

Happily, they didn't have to walk through Mexico: so I'm here today, writing about what folks with the same dreams face today.

As for what I think of strangers moving in with their foreign ways? So far, it's meant a new selection of food in the grocery my family goes to, and some new faces in church: both of which are fine by me.

Related posts:

• "Mexico, Losing America, Getting a Grip"
  (June 17, 2010)
• "Falcon Lake, Texas: Sometimes Terrorists aren't 'Terrorists' "
  (June 3, 2010)
• "Pirates Aren't Good for Business: or, Views From Zapata, Texas"
  (May 30, 2010)
• "St. Rose of Lima, Decisions, and Being Catholic"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (May 29, 2010)
• " 'Those Immigrants,' Assumptions, and the Catholic Church"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (May 18, 2010)
• "Holiday Inn Raid in Monterrey, Mexico? What Raid?"
  (April 24, 2010)
• "Raid on Monterrey, Mexico, Holiday Inn: Bad News, But That's about All We Know"
  (April 21, 2010)
• "The 90% Solution: American Guns, Mexican Raids, and Common Sense"
  (April 2, 2009)
• "Pakistan and Mexico Collapse Possible: Why I'm Glad Somebody Else is President"
  (January 14, 2009)
• "Committee to Protect Journalists Unveils the Impunity Index"
  (April 30, 2008)

In the news:

• "U.S. diplomats told to send their children out of Monterrey"
  CNN (August 27, 2010)
• "Chief investigator of Mexico mass killings goes missing"
  BBC (August 28, 2010) (It's been Saturday in the U.K. for several hours)
• "Lead investigator in Mexico massacre is missing"
  CNN (August 27, 2010)

Mexico, Losing America, Getting a Grip

Life was simpler when I was young.

No, that's not true. But in my 'good old days,' there were folks who lived in a fairly simple world. For some, the virtues of Mom, Apple Pie and America were threatened by commie plots. For others, the forward-looking peoples' revolution was thwarted by the military-industrial complex and Yankee imperialism.

That was then, this is now. Some folks haven't gotten the memo that the fifties and sixties are over; that disco's dead; and that Russia's leaders are digging their way out from under the wreckage of the worker's paradise.

For the most part, though, I think many - maybe most - people know what decade they're at. Which is a good start.

Mexico: Beyond the Sombrero and Rotten Teeth

Remember when Jennifer Wilbanks said she was kidnapped and sexually abused by a Mexican with rotten teeth? ("Runaway Bride's Tall Tawdry Tale," thesmokinggun.com) She wasn't: she had decided to join a fairly large group of Anglos who used a fictional Hispanic man as a fall guy.

It's true: some folks who are Hispanic also commit crimes. A teenage girl was raped not too many miles from here - and, as it happened, the man who was convicted was no Anglo. That conviction I'm inclined to believe, by the way, on the basis of evidence of testimony.

But let's get real: people with complexions as melanin-deficient as mine rape, steal, and murder, too. We're all human beings. Which is another topic.

Particularly considering a real problem that's brewing south of the American southwest, I think it's high time that Americans review what we think about Mexico.

Like any other place in the real world - it's a place in the real world. Mexico is not

1. An exotic location for stories
   • Colorful
   • Sleepy
   • Populated by
     • Beautiful young women
     • Men with bad teeth
     • Some guy under a sombrero who's been sleeping against the same wall for years
2. A glorious land of revolution
   • Against
     • Oppressors
     • Superstition
   • Striding forward into an enlightened tomorrow
3. A breeding ground of foreigners who
   • Don't look like 'real Americans'
   • Are criminals
     • All of them
   • Sneak into America
     • To get welfare
     • And mow the lawn
       • For less money than 'real Americans' demand

Assumptions 1 and 2 are, I hope, less common these days. Number 3? That stereotype is still with us. ("St. Rose of Lima, Decisions, and Being Catholic," A Catholic Citizen in America (May 29, 2010)) Illegal immigration/undocumented aliens/whatever is a real issue - but I do not like the emotional baggage that some 'real Americans' bring to it.

Sadly, Mexico is a place that has earned a place on the Committee to Protect Journalists's Impunity Index - that select group of nations which are least likely to look into the death of a bothersome journalist, and reveal who is responsible.

It's also a nation which may not have a functioning government soon. Along with Pakistan, it's been cited as among the 'most likely to collapse.' (January 14, 2009)

The good news is that Mexico doesn't seem to be as badly off as Somalia. But then, few nations are.

At least, Mexico has a central government that says it's trying to control the drug lords. Which is a nice gesture, I think. And certainly makes more sense than denying that the drug wars exist - or are some kind of CIA plot.

And some of the violence in Mexico may be the result of Mexican governors and the Mexican national government getting around to making an effort to enforce their own laws.

The War on Terror? Yeah, It Connects

All of this may seem very off-topic for this blog. I don't think so.

I'm pretty sure that Mexican nationals could spot someone who'd been born in, say, Yemin or Saudi Arabia, and was trying to 'act Mexican.'

Just as someone in northern Minnesota would probably be able to spot the Frenchman who's trying to act just like the locals: you betcha. We're 2nd, 3rd, and up - generation Scandinavian Americans, with a mix of German and Irish. It's not the ethnic differences that'd give the Frenchman away: it's the dialect and customs.

But, getting back to Mexico - I think it's likely enough that Americans, particularly 'real Americans,' might very well not notice the Middle Eastern national who's claiming to be a Hispanic immigrant.

Ethnic profiling? I've discussed this before.

Radical Islam isn't the Only Threat

The potential real threat on America's Mexican border hasn't been Islamic and/or Middle Eastern terrorists trying to get across the border. We've had small-scale incidents of piracy on Falcon Lake, which runs along the Texas-Tamaulipas border. And a bit under five and a half square miles of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge has been off-limits to visitors since October 6, 2006. ("Media Advisory," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (June 6, 2010))

The reason was that the Mexican governments were either unwilling or unable to control illegal human trafficking and drug running along that section of the border - and American governments had decided that it was too much trouble to enforce our laws, on this side of the border.

I'm not happy about the situation on either side of the border.

Mexico's lawlessness, coupled with America's perhaps-reasonable unwillingness to control activity at the border, is as real a threat to the safety of American residents as crazed Muslims. (Not all Muslims are crazed - another topic.)

I rather hope that the folks who are making decisions for the official state and national units in Mexico decide that, on the whole, it's best to bring Mexico up to speed with those nations that enforce their own laws and don't let inconvenient reporters get killed. That would be nice.

I also hope that America's state and national leaders get it through their collective skulls that there's a real problem at the borders (Canada, too - that's another topic).

Reality Check?

I'm afraid a change of direction on the American side will take a serious reality check. The impression I have is that the current situation, where illegal immigrants/whatever provide a source for easily-fired, cheap labor, is just too comfortable for our leaders.

Some state and national leaders are decent folks, and in many cases are - not poor. I have no problem with people being wealthy. But when you've got an estate that requires a domestic staff for proper maintenance: The temptation to maintain a pool of unpeople who will work for a fraction what you'd have to pay an American resident must be extreme.

Enough with speculation.

Mexican Schools, American Wildlife Land

What got me started on this post? Two news article:

"Violence closes schools early in Mexican state, governor says"
CNN (June 16, 2010)

"Elementary and middle school classes in the Mexican state of Nayarit will end Friday, three weeks early, due to concerns over safety, the governor announced.

"Saying that Nayarit faces difficult days, Gov. Ney Gonzalez Sanchez also announced that his administration is taking over command of the state police, the official Notimex news agency reported.

"Gonzalez also denied on his Facebook page a media report that he has faced death threats...."

Apparently, Mexican media has reported that Governor Gonzalez said that he's certain he'll be assassinated and that he'll laugh at his killers from Heaven.

Governor Gonzalez says, on his Facebook account, that he's not threatened and that he doesn't make "bravura" statements.

"U.S. Parkland Bordering Mexico, Shut Since 2006, Remains Off-Limits As Violence Escalates"
FOXNews (June 17, 2010)

"Four years after federal officials quietly surrendered thousands of acres of America's border to Mexican drug gangs and illegals, there still are 'no plans to reopen' the taxpayer-owned national park lands.

"Roughly 3,500 acres of taxpayer-funded government land in Arizona have been closed to U.S. citizens since 2006 due to safety concerns fueled by drug and human smuggling along the Mexican border, according to a statement posted on the website for the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge...."

3,500 acres is a little over 5.4 square miles: not a huge tract of land.

Although I think I understand the park officials' reasons for closing that section of the wildlife refuge: I am also not happy that a swatch of American land is now off-limits to Americans.

I also think that it will be a very bad idea to effectively cede more territory to the criminal organizations which appear to be the practical rulers of parts of Mexico at this time.

Related posts:

• "Falcon Lake, Texas: Sometimes Terrorists aren't 'Terrorists' "
  (June 3, 2010)
• "Pirates Aren't Good for Business: or, Views From Zapata, Texas"
  (May 30, 2010)
• "Holiday Inn Raid in Monterrey, Mexico? What Raid?"
  (April 24, 2010)
• "Raid on Monterrey, Mexico, Holiday Inn: Bad News, But That's about All We Know"
  (April 21, 2010)
• "The 90% Solution: American Guns, Mexican Raids, and Common Sense"
  (April 2, 2009)
• "Pakistan and Mexico Collapse Possible: Why I'm Glad Somebody Else is President"
  (January 14, 2009)
• "Committee to Protect Journalists Unveils the Impunity Index"
  (April 30, 2008)

Falcon Lake, Texas: Sometimes Terrorists aren't 'Terrorists'

If you say "terrorist" these days, many Americans might think of an Islamic fanatic. Sure enough, the folks in outfits like Al Qaeda and the Taliban are convinced that they're defending Islam against foreigners - and 'insufficiently Islamic' Muslims.

But not everybody who wants to indulge in wholesale destruction fits that mold.

From today's news:

"Agents feared Mexican drug cartel attack on border dam"
Houston Chronicle (June 2, 2010)

"An alleged plot by a Mexican drug cartel to blow up a dam along the Texas border - and unleash billions of gallons of water into a region with millions of civilians - sent American police, federal agents and disaster officials secretly scrambling last month to thwart such an attack, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

"Whether or not the cartel, which is known to have stolen bulk quantities of gunpowder and dynamite, could have taken down the 5-mile-long Falcon Dam may never be known since the attack never came to pass.

"It may have been derailed by a stepped-up presence by the Mexican military, which was acting in part on intelligence from the U.S. government, sources said.

"The warning, which swung officials into action, was based on what the federal government contends were 'serious and reliable sources' and prompted the Department of Homeland Security to sound the alarm to first responders along the South Texas-Mexico border.

"Mexico's Zeta cartel was planning to destroy the dam not to terrorize civilians, but to get back at its rival and former ally, the Gulf cartel, which controls smuggling routes from the reservoir to the Gulf of Mexico, said Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, head of the Southwest Border Sheriff's Coalition, as did others familiar with the alleged plot.

"But in the process, massive amounts of agricultural land would stand to be flooded as well as significant parts of a region where about 4 million people live along both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border...."

Good news: the dam is in one piece, and will probably stay that way. Those "allegeds" notwithstanding, I'm willing to assume that there really was a plan to destroy that dam - and that it was stopped.

I hope that the folks involved in law enforcement continue to look out for the rest of us - and that they're allowed to do so.

No rant about 'those foreigners.' For one thing, my ancestors were 'those foreigners,' not all that long ago. For another, I'm rather glad to be living in one of the nations on Earth that folks are trying to break into.

About the issue of undocumented immigrants / illegal aliens / whatever? I think there are problems to correct - but I also think that's it's silly to either assume that all people who are in America without the right government papers are:

• Troublemakers
• Victims of racist oppression

I also think it's a huge mistake to assume that maintaining the polite fiction that the Mexican national government is either capable of, or interested in, controlling its 'drug lords' is dangerous - for folks on both sides of the border.

Related posts:

• "Pirates Aren't Good for Business: or, Views From Zapata, Texas"
  (May 30, 2010)
• "St. Rose of Lima, Decisions, and Being Catholic"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (May 29, 2010)

Pirates Aren't Good for Business: or, Views From Zapata, Texas

Say "Pirates," and many Americans may think "Somalia." Some folks in that part of the world put their territory on the map by reviving the old custom of piracy. Economically, it worked: for the pirates, anyway, and whoever was providing them with boats, supplies, and support.

But that's Somalia. I doubt that reviving piracy in parts of northern Mexico will have the same effect on the local economy.

Here's what got me started thinking about pirates, Mexico, and southwestern America's border waters:

"Pirates threaten boats on US-Mexico border lake"
The Associated Press (May 29, 2010)

"The waters of Falcon Lake normally beckon boaters with waterskiing and world-record bass fishing. But this holiday weekend, fishermen on the waters that straddle the U.S.-Mexico border are on the lookout for something more sinister: pirates.

"Twice in recent weeks, fishermen have been robbed at gunpoint by marauders that the local sheriff says are 'spillover' from fighting between rival Mexican drug gangs.

"Boaters are concerned about their safety, and the president of the local Chamber of Commerce is trying to assure people that everything's fine on the U.S. side of the lake...."

I'm not faulting the local Chamber of Commerce. That's what they do: try to present whatever's going on in their area in the best possible light. Here in Minnesota, it's a matter of emphasizing things like "four seasons of fun," instead of discussing our wildly variable climate.

Zapata, Texas, Falcon Lake, Names and Change

Something that jumped out at me, reading the AP article, was the names. The Associated Press did a pretty good job of interviewing - and quoting - several different people. Presumably getting a representative sample of local views.

The first person's name, Jack Cox, is what would have been called a 'regular American name' in my youth, shortly after the Truman administration. Mr. Cox also has what I think are valid concerns, considering the regional situation:

"...At the fishing camp his family has owned for 50 years, Jack Cox now sleeps with a loaded shotgun at his feet and a handgun within reach.

In the American waters, Cox said, 'you're safer, but you're not safe.' Mexican commercial fishermen regularly cross to set their nets illegally, why wouldn't gunmen do the same? he asked...."
(AP)

My nobody in my household owns a firearm - but I do see why Mr. Cox takes the precautions he does. I also think he's got a point, about the border: Pirates are notorious for a lack of scrupulosity in observing legal restrictions.

A Few Boats Get Boarded: So What?

What's put Falcon Lake's pirates - or "gunmen" - in the news are a couple of recent incidents on the lake. The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a warning, two weeks ago, to stay away from the international border that runs the length of the lake - and notify relatives if they plan to go out on Lake Falcon.

I suppose you could say that last request was self-serving, on the part of Texas authorities. Telling your next of kin that you planned to ply Lake Falcon's waters would give American law enforcement an idea of where to look for the bodies.

Since they issued that warning, American boats have - by and large - stayed on the American side of the border:

"...'That's a good indication. It means they're getting the message,' Texas Parks and Wildlife Capt. Fernando Cervantes said Thursday as he patrolled with two other game wardens. 'They're still coming out, but they're not going across.'..."
(AP)

Apart from the interior of some cities, Americans don't expect to be accosted by bandits. Let's put it this way: Tijuana, Mexico, isn't Irvine, California. So, when we have two incidents of piracy in a short space of time - it stands out.

Names, Again

Remember what I said, about 'regular American names?' Fernando Cervantes doesn't fit that stereotype. But he's a captain in the Texas Parks and Wildlife department.

Change happens.

Mexico: Beyond the Stereotypes

If your mental image of Mexico was formed by watching movies like "Thunder Over Mexico" (1933), you might want to do a little research on your own. Things have changed. A little:

"Ecomomy:
"Mexico has a free market economy in the trillion dollar class. It contains a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. Recent administrations have expanded competition in seaports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution, and airports...."
(Mexico, World Factbook, CIA (last updated May 19, 2010))

It's a sort of good news / bad news situation: Mexico's national government is at least making an effort to appear to be pulling Mexico into the late 20th century - and succeeding to some extent. That, in my view, is the good news. The bad news is that there seems to be only so much that the Mexican national government is able - or willing - to do about the country's tradition of relaxed and/or corrupt law enforcement.

Back to "Thunder Over Mexico:" a comment on the IMDB entry for that movie recalled the killing of Cardinal Posadas Ocampo at the Guadalajara Airport in May, 1993. PBS says it was a case of mistaken identity. (February, 1997) The assassins were supposed to kill somebody else.

That shootout at Guadalajara was between parties with an interest in one of Mexico's important exports: illicit drugs.

As the World Factbook put it:

"Illicit drugs:
"major drug-producing nation; cultivation of opium poppy in 2007 rose to 6,900 hectares yielding a potential production of 18 metric tons of pure heroin, or 50 metric tons of 'black tar' heroin, the dominant form of Mexican heroin in the western United States...."
(Mexico, World Factbook, CIA (last updated May 19, 2010))

My hat's off to Mexico's leadership, in a way. Faced with tourist-killing levels of violence in formerly money-making spots like Tijuana, they looked to America in the sixties for wisdom - legalizing heroine and cocaine. In "small doses." ("Heroin and cocaine now legal in Mexico – in small doses" Guardian.co.uk (August 25, 2009))

From the looks of things, that didn't do much to make the drug cartels play well together.

So: that sleepy little village, with a peon sleeping under his sombrero and a tumbleweed blowing down the middle of an empty street? If that ever was a valid image of Mexico, it isn't now. The country's getting up to speed with the top nations of the world - by fits and starts. I think that there's a good chance that, generations from now, most Mexicans with get up and go will stay in Mexico: instead of getting up and going elsewhere.

Law Enforcement: It's Not the Same Everywhere

Not all nations approach law enforcement the same way:

"...Game wardens and the U.S. Border Patrol watch over the lake but do not cross into Mexican waters, and no Mexican law enforcement is visible...."
(AP)

As 'sophisticated' as it sounds, not all countries are the same. (June 9, 2009) Some make an effort to control violent conflicts within their borders, some either can't or won't. Mexico isn't the only country with a law enforcement deficit. The outfit that's supposed to be Somalia's national government was having a hard time controlling the capital city, last I heard, and Jamaica looks like a contemporary analog of gangland Chicago ("Lemming Tracks: News from Jamaica," Apathetic Lemming of the North (May 25, 2010))

I mentioned the Committee to Protect Journalists' Impunity Index in 2008. (April 30, 2008) Mexico was on the list then, and it still is. The index reflects how many unsolved murders of journalists a country has to its credit, adjusted for population. Although it's focus is quite narrow, I think it may be a useful indicator for how comfortable - or uncomfortable - a nation's leaders are with people who go around asking questions. There's more it than that - a number of the top nations have experienced massive armed conflict recently - several notches up from Mexico's drug wars.

Impunity Index
2008: Iraq Sierra Leone Somalia Colombia Sri Lanka Philippines Afghanistan Nepal Russia Mexico Bangladesh Pakistan India	2010: Iraq Somalia Philippines Sri Lanka Colombia Afghanistan Nepal Russia Mexico Pakistan Bangladesh India Not listed

What - if Anything - Does This have to do With the War on Terror?

Tourists getting killed, a dead Cardinal, and a little piracy of a border lake, aren't 'national security issues,' like some dude trying to set off a bomb in Times Square.

That piracy thing is getting close, though.

The connection I see is that Mexico may - or may not - be able and willing to bring the drug bosses to justice. If the Mexican national government can't - or won't - do so, I think it's just a matter of time before the folks who make a killing by selling heroine in America will realize that they can use the same resources to bring weapons and terrorists into this country. For a price, of course.

On the other hand, maybe the drug bosses are sharp enough to realize that if an outfit like Al Qaeda ended up controlling America, they probably wouldn't be as diplomatic and diffident as the current government has been, dealing with rowdy neighbors.

Related posts:

• "Lemming Tracks: News from Jamaica"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (May 25, 2010)
• "Raid on Monterrey, Mexico, Holiday Inn: Bad News, But That's about All We Know"
  (April 21, 2010)
• "North Korea and the Kim Jong Dynasty: Not All Countries are the Same"
  (June 9, 2009)
  Particularly
  • North Korea, Burma / Myanmar, India and Germany - They're Not All Alike
• "The 90% Solution: American Guns, Mexican Raids, and Common Sense"
  (April 2, 2009)
• "Pakistan and Mexico Collapse Possible: Why I'm Glad Somebody Else is President"
  (January 14, 2009)
• "Guinea, Military Rule, and Terrorism: Beware Hasty Judgment"
  (December 29, 2008)
• "Committee to Protect Journalists Unveils the Impunity Index"
  (April 30, 2008)

Holiday Inn Raid in Monterrey, Mexico? What Raid?

More news about the raid(s) on Monterrey, Mexico, hotels. But not all that much:

• "At least six people kidnapped in Mexico hotel raid "
  CNN (April 22, 2010)
• "Gunmen abduct 6 from hotels in northern Mexico"
  The Associated Press (April 22, 2010)

I've been checking American news services, for the most part. That little affair, involving dozens of attackers and roadblocks, was reported by BBC, too, - among others.

• "Mexico gunmen kidnap at least six in hotel raids"
  BBC (April 22, 2010)
  • Includes video

Looks like the 50 - give or take - attackers knew who their targets were, and achieved their goal. Also that this looks like another operation involving Mexico's non-legal drug industry.

So why is this raid close to being a non-event that never happened?

Drug Lord Troops Seize hotel, Not News: So, What is 'News?'

Maybe Mexican drug lords sending their troops to seize someone who has incurred their wrath isn't very interesting. Not when there are riveting events to report on, like:

• An American financial institution allegedly trying to make money
• Tornadoes
• And that ever-popular Catholic sex scandal!

Sure:

• There may be something improper about Goldman Sachs acting like an investment firm dealing with an economic downturn.
  • Or, not
• Tornadoes are powerful and unpredictable
  • Therefore, exciting.
• As for following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Thomas Nast and Maria Monk: well, that's natural enough, in American culture.
  • I've discussed that sort of thing in another blog. (I'm one of those Catholics, and not appropriately apologetic about my faith: so you may not want to follow that link.)

I think American news media has a tendency to be very - sensitive - about making Mexico's leadership look bad, giving the impression to American readers that Mexico is anything other than a thriving modern nation. Unless Yankee imperialism can be blamed.

Honestly, though, it looks like the new-car smell of "Yankee imperialism" has faded. We're seeing new slogans, these days:

• "The 90% Solution: American Guns, Mexican Raids, and Common Sense"
  (April 2, 2009)

So What?

As I wrote before, I'd be somewhat surprised to learn that the Monterrey raid(s) were directly connected to the War on Terror.

On the other hand, I think the reticent and restrained coverage of this event is a pretty good case-in-point for why it's important to study the news: not just read it.

Related post:

• "Raid on Monterrey, Mexico, Holiday Inn: Bad News, But That's about All We Know"
  (April 21, 2010)

Raid on Monterrey, Mexico, Holiday Inn: Bad News, But That's about All We Know

---

Update (April 24, 2010)

• "Holiday Inn Raid in Monterrey , Mexico? What Raid?"
  (April 24, 2010)

---

I don't think the raid on a Holiday Inn in Monterrey is a Mexican replay of the Mumbai attack back in 2008. (December 31, 2008, for starters)

But I could be wrong.

Mexico had a rather rude wake-up call in 2008, when too many tourists were killed in Tijuana. Word got around, and gringos started avoiding the place. Can't say that I blame them: but it was bad for the tourism industry there. (April 30, 2008, comments)

The New York Times and Los Angeles Times imply that the raid - which appears to have been partly a kidnapping - is related to Mexico's drug industry. The non-legal one.

They could be right.

A snatch involving 50 men, and possibly netting the raiders seven captives, seems like a rather large-scale operation.

Details are sketchy. No surprise there: the raid apparently happened early today, and - well, Monterrey police apparently had trouble getting to the hotel. There were roadblocks.

So, right now: it's an - interesting - development. And a troubling one.

But I don't have enough information to have much of an opinion: except the obvious "something bad happened."

Related posts:

• "The 90% Solution: American Guns, Mexican Raids, and Common Sense"
  (April 2, 2009)
• "Pakistan and Mexico Collapse Possible: Why I'm Glad Somebody Else is President"
  (January 14, 2009)
• "Committee to Protect Journalists Unveils the Impunity Index"
  (April 30, 2008)

In the news:

• "At Least 7 People Abducted in Mexican Hotel Raids"
  The New York Times (April 21, 2010)
• "Armed gang abducts seven Mexicans in hotel raid: official"
  AFP (April 21, 2010)
• "Monterrey hotel attacked in Mexico kidnappings"
  Los Angeles Times (April 21, 2010)

The 90% Solution: American Guns, Mexican Raids, and Common Sense

By now, my guess is that "everybody knows" that 90% of guns in Mexico come from America: You know what those Americans are like!

Everybody's saying it!

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
• CBS newsman Bob Schieffer
• California Senator Dianne Feinstein
  • " 'It is unacceptable to have 90 percent of the guns that are picked up in Mexico and used to shoot judges, police officers and mayors ... come from the United States. " (FOXNews)
• Assistant director for field operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives William Hoover
  • "...there is more than enough evidence to indicate that over 90 percent of the firearms that have either been recovered in, or interdicted in transport to Mexico, originated from various sources within the United States. " (FOXNews)

Just one problem with what 'everbody knows.' In this case, it's not true.

"90%" Does show up in ATF statistics. No question about that.

A clarification of the ATF's assistant director " 'is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S.' "

Well! That's 90%!

Just one thing: a big percentage of guns recovered in Mexico don't come over the border to America for tracing. There's no point: their markings make it obvious that the didn't come from the United States.

If you believe that FOX News is part of the vast right-wing conspiracy, and always lies: you're probably not reading now.

The rest of us aren't likely to read it, either: unless traditional news services decide to research their stories a little deeper than is their wont. In cases like this.

Here's what special agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Matt Allen said: " 'Not every weapon seized in Mexico has a serial number on it that would make it traceable, and the U.S. effort to trace weapons really only extends to weapons that have been in the U.S. market.'..." (FOXNews)

No (Intentional) Deception Here, I Think

I do not believe that Clinton, Schieffer, Feinstein, and Hoover said something that they do not believe to be true. In fact, a horrifying 90% of weapons whose origins can be traced back to America can be proved to have come from America.

So, they say, '90% of weapons [redacted] confiscated in Mexico come from America.'

The [redacted] part is a point which I think they may not even be aware of: 'whose origins are obviously in America.'

That 90% statistic fits very well with the assumption that if America would stop being a big meanie, most of the world's problems would go away. Never mind that "...only 17 percent of guns found at Mexican crime scenes have been traced to the U.S.'..." (FOX News).

This sort of filtering isn't limited to America's leadership. During Australia's Victoria fires, quite a few people sincerely believed that the Muslims, or Islamic terrorists, had set the fires. One particularly enthusiastic defender of Islam (his view of the matter, not mine) had even called for a 'forest jihad.' Turns out, some sincerely non-Muslim nut case set at least most of the fires.

But I think some of the people who were convinced that the Muslims did it will never believe otherwise.

Those Four People Are Stupid, Right?

Wrong. America is still, to a great extent, a meritocracy: You get a job, or a position, because you're at least competent for the post. And, generally, I don't think that people rise to the top of their field unless they're very competent at what they do.

Those are four very smart people. They're also human, just like everyone else. And part of human nature is to filter out what we don't want to hear. If one is part of a group that dominates the culture, that person may never become aware of the filtering: and be genuinely intelligent.

America is a Republic with Strong Democratic Roots - Citizens Have to be Knowledgeable

Even - or especially - when the official leadership isn't.

I think that many American leaders in government, information media, and education, have at least a mild form of hoplophobia. Don't bother looking that up. Unless you've got an extremely extensive or specialized home library, or pretty good research skills, you won't find that word in your reference books. Researching for another post, I ran across "Contemporary Diagnosis And Management of Anxiety Disorders" (Ninan and Dunlop (2006)). This book defined hoplophobia as an irrational fear of weapons. At least, that's what I found in late 2007. The book may have been (corrected?) by now. These things happen occasionally.

Since, in my view, hoplophobia is endemic to American culture - and most likely to Western culture as a whole - most of the 'best and brightest' would see nothing odd about a fear of weapons that goes beyond reasonable caution.

I think that this '90%' SNAFU has some of its roots in hoplophibia. And, since some of the people involved are in a position to affect American foreign policy, I think it's well to know what the facts are - even if the leaders don't.

It comes down to the old cliche - 'write your congressman/woman/person/whatever.'

News and views:

• "Do U.S. government arms exports play a part in arming Mexican cartels?"
  (April 2, 2009)
• "The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S."
  FOXNews (April 2 2009)

Vaguely related posts:

• " 'the Catholics are super-duper terrorists': Who Knew?"
  (April 1, 2009)
  • Despite the date of this post, it's no joke - that comment, posted March 23, 2009, is very real
• "Sounds of Silence: 2009"
  (March 31, 2009)
• "CCSU Students Talk About Guns: Naturally, Their Professor Called the Police"
  (March 4, 2009)
• "Australia's Victoria Fires: Mass-Murdering Muslims, a Media Hoax, or Something Else? "
  (February 9, 2009)
  • Turns out, it was "something else" - but some people will probably never believe that
• " 'Hot Eagle:' the Space Marines Are Coming"
  (October 19, 2008)
• "DC Gun Ban Nixed - Second Amendment Defined (Finally!)"
  (June 26, 2008)
• "EEEK! Guns! Hoplophobia and Foreign Policy"
  (December 23, 2007)

Pakistan and Mexico Collapse Possible: Why I'm Glad Somebody Else is President

Oh, great:

• Somebody, possibly Hezbollah, started firing rockets into northern Israel, adding another front to Israel's war
• Meanwhile, Pakistan's leaders are making Indian chauvinists' claims about the Mumbai attack sound less loopy
• And now it looks like Mexico may collapse

The Joint Forces Command's "JOE [Joint Operating Environment] 2008" went public in November of 2008, got discussed in a few blogs, and seems to have hit the news this month. So far, it's just barely in America's national news.

I'm pretty sure that'll change as President Elect Barack Obama becomes President Obama.

Sudden Collapse of Mexico: Think Somalia South of the Border

But first, two points:

The Joint Forces Command says, right inside the cover of "JOE 2008:"

"The Joint Operating Environment is intended to inform joint concept development and experimentation throughout the Department of Defense. It provides a perspective on future trends, shocks, contexts, and implications for future joint force commanders and other leaders and professionals in the national security field. This document is speculative in nature and does not suppose to predict what will happen in the next twenty-five years...."
("Joint Operating Environment 2008")

A sudden collapse of the governments in Pakistan or Mexico are "worst-case scenarios," as "JOE 2008" points out on page 36.

Mexico in (More) Chaos: Not Good News

Mexico's drug cartels and gangs aren't making life easy for anyone these days. The country's politicos, judicial systems, and police, may not crack under the strain. Or, they might.

If they do, having to re-schedule those vacations in Cancun will be the least of America's worries. Besides more-or-less-organized crime leaking over the border, I think it's a safe guess that terrorist organizations will be happy to provide humanitarian aid to the suffering Mexicans. In exchange for access to Mexican territory and other favors.

Possibilities like that may be one reason for President Elect Obama's less-than-gleeful expression, after one of his briefings after winning the election.

Anyone Can Become President - But I'll Pass

"Anyone can grow up to become president" may be a cliche, but there's some truth to it in America. Whoever has a shot at it has to have a fairly unusual set of abilities, of course - but this is still a remarkably open society, when it comes to who can rise to the top. Or, head in the opposite direction.

In my case, though, I'm profoundly glad that I'm not president, nor likely to be in the Oval Office. There's some seriously heavy-duty responsibility that goes with the job. I'd much rather be sitting out here, free to opine on what goes on in Washington and the world, without having billions of lives and the course of history depending on what I decide today.

More-or-less related post:

• "President-Elect Barack Obama and Rhambo: Change Begins Now"
  (November 7, 2008)

News and views:

• "Military Report: Mexico, Pakistan at Risk of 'Rapid and Sudden Collapse' "
  FOXNews (January 14, 2009)
• "Will Mexico Collapse? Will America?"
  Capital Commerce / U.S. News and World Report blog (January 14, 2009)
• "Pakistan, Mexico and U.S. nightmares"
  The Great Debate / Reuters blog (January 7, 2009)
• "What the heck did they tell him?"
  Oddly Enough / Reuters blog (November 6, 2008)

Background:

• "Joint Operating Environment 2008"
  United States Joint Forces Command (November 25, 2008)

Committee to Protect Journalists Unveils the Impunity Index

There's a new list of nations that let journalists get killed. The idea is to embarrass leaders whose countries are on the list, so that they'll follow up when someone kills a reporter in their territory.

To get on the list, a country would have to have an outstanding number of cases where a journalist was murdered, and no murderer found or brought to justice. And, maintained this level of inaction for the last nine years.

And the winners are:

1. Iraq
2. Sierra Leone
3. Somalia
4. Colombia
5. Sri Lanka
6. Philippines
7. Afghanistan
8. Nepal
9. Russia
10. Mexico
11. Bangladesh
12. Pakistan
13. India

The top three, marked in red, are preoccupied with armed conflicts: which tend to make any sort of law enforcement awkward. The others, though, seem to have earned a place on the Impunity Index through sheer merit.

Although I think that reporters can be a royal pain in the neck, they also serve an important function. In theory, at least, reporters find and report facts that people in free societies need.

And no group should fall outside the law's protection.

About the Committee to Protect Journalists' hope that national leaders can be embarrassed by having their shortcomings published: I think it's worth a try.

• The Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
  • "Getting Away With Murder"
    Committee to Protect Journalists (April 30, 2008)
    "DPJ's Impunity Index ranks countries where killers of journalists go free"
    The lead paragraph told me that we're looking at something a bit off the norm for this sort of report.
    "Democracies from Colombia to India and Russia to the Philippines are among the worst countries in the world at prosecuting journalists' killers according to the Impunity Index, a list of countries compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists where governments have consistently failed to solve journalists' murders."
    The page includes the methodology used, a statistical table, and a video.
  • "Statistics: Journalists Killed"
    "Since 1992, the Committee to Protect Journalists has compiled detailed accounts of every journalist killed on duty worldwide."
    This page links to detailed reports and resources.
• The News:
  • "New index names 13 countries where killers of journalists get away with murder"
    International Herald Tribune (May 1, 2008)
    "UNITED NATIONS: Thirteen countries are the worst offenders in letting killers of journalists get away with murder — from war-torn Iraq and Somalia to peaceful democracies including Mexico, Russia and India, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
    "The committee said governments in the 13 countries have consistently failed to solve murders where journalists were targeted from 1998 through 2007.
    "There are at least 199 unsolved murders in these countries during that 10-year period — 79 in Iraq, 24 in the Philippines, at least 20 in Colombia, 14 in Russia, 9 in Sierra Leone, 8 in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, 7 in Afghanistan and Mexico, and 5 in Somalia, Nepal and India.
    " 'This is a naming and shaming exercise,' Prof. Sheila Coronel of the Columbia University Journalism School, said at a news conference Wednesday at U.N. headquarters launching the new Impunity Index."
  • "Iraq tops 13 countries where journalists' killers are not prosecuted - CPJ"
    KUNA (Kuwait News Agency) (April 30, 2008)
    "UNITED NATIONS, April 30 (KUNA) -- Iraq tops the "Impunity Index" of 13 "democracies" where governments consistently failed to prosecute journalists' killers, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) which released the Index for the first time in connection with World Press Freedom Day to be marked May 3rd.
    The 13 countries where governments are unable or unwilling to prosecute the killers are: Iraq, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Afghanistan, Nepal, Russia, Mexico, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India.
    The committee acknowledged that the first three countries have been mired in conflict, but the rest, it noted, are "peacetime democracies," such as Mexico, where elected governments have failed to protect journalists.
    " 'Every time a journalist is murdered and the killer is allowed to walk free it sends a terrible signal to the press and to others who would harm journalists,' Joel Simon, CPJ Executive Director, told a press conference on Wednesday."
  • "CPJ Names 13 Countries Where Journalists' Killers Go Free"
    VOA ( Voice of America) (April 30, 2008)
    "The Committee to Protect Journalists says governments in South Asia are among the worst in the world at prosecuting the killers of journalists. In a new Impunity Index that covers unsolved murders over the past nine years, six of the 13 countries that have consistently failed to solve these cases are in South Asia. From U.N. headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.
    "CPJ's new Impunity Index cites 13 countries as having the worst records for letting killers of journalists get away with murder.
    " 'There are many problems confronting journalists around the world - censorship, incarceration - but there is no greater threat to the free circulation of ideas and information than murder,' said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. 'Especially murder without consequence. And that is what this Impunity Index measures.' "