Cultural Information

Please check the entire page for new articles!

To be a good neighbor you not only need to help your neighbor, you need to know your neighbor. We know and love our American culture but most of our ministry is done in Mexico with the Mexican and Indian people. So, in order to carry out the mission God has set us on we needed to learn about our new neighbors. This is some of what we have learned and we hope you find this cultural/Governmental/travel information interesting (even the facts!) and helpful to you as you follow our ministry physically or prayerfully. This information will also be handy if you decide to visit Mexico!

Posted March 18, 2011

Mexico’s changing society

I have been reading all types of reports concerning the drug/gang violence in Mexico, the lack of control the Mexican government seems to have in fighting it and that some say the government is winning the war on drugs. I guess it all depends on who you listen to. Then there are the reports on why the drug problems and violence in Mexico is all the fault of the United States. If we did not have so many drug attics and would stop the flow of weapons coming into Mexico, Mexico would not be in the mess they are in now. We say Mexico should stop the violence in their country, stop the flow of drugs going north into the US and keep their people home. It is amazing on how easy it is to place blame on others. Everyone seems to want to place the blame on someone else and not take responsibility for their part of the problem.

The Mexican and United States government both have their views and comments about why the border is not controlled, secure and why it should be open to all or closed to most people. That is the governments view. But what are the views of the people from both sides of the border? Is anyone interested in what the people think? I think not. What we think (people from both countries) or want seems to mean nothing to the prospective governments. They have their agenda and will stick to it for as long as it is beneficial to them.

However, we the people have a voice and an opinion. I have talked to many people on both sides of the border, read all types of articles from both countries newspapers, listen to speeches and read information from Intelligence Reports (many are not published in local newspapers). What I hear and read concerning both countries is disturbing. Whether you look at it from a religious or secular standpoint, it makes no difference. As nations, we both are in trouble.

I could spend a lot of time stating how we Americans are becoming wimpy and so reliant on our government to take care of us that we are loosing our identity and freedoms. And that we are being taught that we are not responsible for our actions and not to even take responsibility for much of anything. I could also talk about how the Mexican people should stay in their own country and fix their problems instead of fleeing to America. Or how the Mexican government is so corrupt they don’t even care about their people, they only care about putting money in their own pockets. But I won’t. What I will do in this article is tell you what I have learned and what some of the Mexican people are saying, from both the influential and non-influential people. I have learned and seen a lot since becoming a Missionary in Mexico and this is what I have found out.

It is apparent that the Mexican culture has changed. To start off with is the fact that the statistics gathered from a Mexican organization show that 51% of the people in Mexico would leave their country and migrate to the United States if they could! To me, this shows a dramatic change in the way hey view their homeland. Many have adopted a culture that has had a reduction of pride, nationalism and loyalty to their home country. Add to that, the fact that the average hard working Mexican people are frustrated in many ways leads to more dissent. They are frustrated with the lack of community services, burdening bureaucracy, poor educational system, corruption in all phases of the government, low wages and the (and this was felt before the explosion of the drug influence and violence) infiltration of heavy drug and alcohol use by the Mexican people. And we can’t leave out the kidnapping, mutilations, killings, fire bombings and attacks on schools that are an everyday occurrence and becoming mundane to many people. There are even children acting as tour guides (for a fee) and taking inquiring people to see the locations where people were murdered or heads and body parts were found. They are frustrated because they are being run out of their own houses and communities by the cartels and that the government can’t or won’t protect them. They say they can’t trust the military, the police or government officials.

The people are frustrated because of these and many other problems but there are other concerns they seem to be over looking. That is, peoples slipping into complacency about the situation the country is in, their lack of following what is going in and around Mexico, the refusal to hold those in power responsible for their ownership of some of the problems and the acceptance of extreme corruption and dishonesty as a way of life. It is extremely difficult to tackle these problems and will take heroic efforts, many sacrifices, and a few generations of dedicated people loyal to their country and determination to make things better! But if you look at the alternative, they have no choice if they want some type of freedom, safety and a future for their children.

People in some communities are protesting against the military and want them out of their town. They would rather live under the authority of the Cartels! Others, like the thousands of people in Juarez, are fleeing the country and trying to migrate to the United States, leaving everything behind to get away.

What are they to do, how do they handle a situation like this? Everyone that reads this article will have an opinion of how to fix the country along with thousands of others. I am not smart enough to have an accurate opinion or solution, but as a concerned person I do have the ability to make some rational judgments. And the fact that what happens in Mexico does affect us in the United States I have a right to express them.

One thing I feel needs to be done is that people must make sure they know truth from rumors. Rumors and lies can destroy not only personal lives but entire countries. Some reports I have been getting whether true or not, tell that some of the Mexican military generals are at odds with President Calderón and say that he is allowing Mexico to fall deeper into violence so he can ask the United States for military help (I have been reading these types of comments for about 5 months). These statements are very dangerous and could have dire consequences, true or not. They can cause distrust, dissention, resentment and even hatred and may be the first step toward anarchy. Is this what the military would like, possibly? If the Mexican military generals do not like or approve of their president, could this be the first step toward planting dissention between the people and the president? Would the military consider taking over the government if their president was to bring in the U.S. Marines? If the Mexican people feel that the United States may invade their country at the request of their president, would they approve? Or would they partner with and back a military takeover of the Mexican government? It is possible. The violence, depression, helpless feeling with no end in sight that many Mexican people are feeling may be so ingrained in them, they may try anything if there is a hint of normalcy in the outcome. From what I read I feel that military action could come as early as before the next presidential election in 2012.

Listed below are articles I received via the internet that speaks openly about many concerns and what is really going on in Mexico. The articles are from Mexican newspapers and Mexican political figures and a United States source.

Currently there is a Culture of violence in Mexico

During the second half of 2010, U.S. authorities and the UN has been increasingly blunt: Mexico is unable to control drug trafficking organizations, and their inefficiency is a threat to security in several regions, including the U.S. experts say that since the Mexican Revolution the country has not been on the verge of a U.S. military intervention until now. All agree that the more destabilized the country becomes, the greater the chance that U.S. Marines will "collaborate" in Mexico. “The intervention is the main theme discussed in intelligence circles in Mexico," said an un-named source. As for Dr. Guillermo Garduño, intervention is not an immediate risk, "it's already happening." He adds that the Americans themselves believe their troops are not needed at this point in time. "It's their war, but as with most of America’s wars throughout its history, it’s being fought outside their territory. They are already here. Already involved, but those that give their lives are Mexicans," he said.

Finally, he concedes, "When the Mexican institutions are exhausted, then the Americans will have to respond directly. It's going to happen." The American military and intelligence people are here, but it's very discreet." Abelardo Rodriguez points out that for hardliners in the U.S. Defense Department, American Marines should have deployed to Mexico months ago. These are the sentiments of some of the prominent people in Mexico!

Are Mexican problems spilling over the border into the U.S.?

Although most journalists and pundits admit that the drug violence afflicting Mexico has become very bad, many of them also argue that there is no evidence of a spillover into the United States. Gabriel Arana, writing in the Nation, states it is not. Nevertheless, there are growing indications that the spillover effect is not a myth.

There have been signs for some time. Mexican drug organizations had established close connections with domestic gangs in some two hundred fifty U.S. cities—and all fifty largest cities—by mid-2008. The increasing Mexican domination of all phases of the drug trade in the United States carries with it the serious risk that the turf battles in Mexico between rival cartels could come to the U.S. There is evidence that such struggles are already underway. In at least three cases, members of La Familia kidnapped competing drug dealers in Houston and held them for ransom. Similar events have occurred in Phoenix, Las Vegas and other U.S. cities.
Cartel hit men have not only killed victims–including Americans–in Mexico, but they have apparently struck at individuals inside the United States. During 2008 and 2009, seven individuals were killed execution style in Laredo, Texas, across the Rio Grande from Nuevo Laredo—a major arena in the turf wars between the drug gangs. Authorities arrested and convicted two Gulf cartel enforcers for the string of executions. In October 2008, a Las Vegas child was kidnapped because a relative owed money to one of Mexican drug gangs.
In September 2009, three armed men dragged Sergio Saucedo, a resident of Horizon City, Texas, out of his home and shoved him into an SUV. Saucedo’s wife, as well as school children in a packed bus, witnessed the abduction. His body was found several days later in Ciudad Juárez, with its arms chopped off and placed on the chest. U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested four men, including two who were U.S. citizens, the following February in connection with the crime.

The drug lords are now bold enough to put Americans living in the United States, including law enforcement personnel, on target lists for execution. Police in Nogales, Arizona went on heightened alert in June 2010 after receiving a threat, relayed through an informant, that officers would be targeted if they continued to carry out off-duty drug busts. When off duty, the cartel warned, police were to look the other way and ignore any drug shipments that came across the border, if they valued their lives. The warning occurred just days after two off-duty police officers seized four hundred pounds of marijuana while horseback riding outside the city. What was especially chilling about the cartel warning is that it specifically named the officers who were off-duty in the area of the drug bust that day.

Perhaps the most jarring incident occurred in early August 2010, when reports surfaced that a Mexican cartel had put a $1 million bounty on the life of Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, the chief lawman in Maricopa County (which includes Phoenix and many of its suburbs). The threat originated in Mexico and was conveyed via a disposable cell phone–standard operating procedure for all of the drug gangs. Fear and anger is spreading well beyond the southwestern states. A scathing editorial in the influential conservative newspaper Investor’s Business Daily scorned President Obama’s assurance that our southern border is more secure today than at any time in the past twenty years. If that’s true, IBD’s editors asked, “why is El Paso’s City Hall taking fire from Mexico?”

The U.S. has lost control of actual U.S. territory to drug and migrant smugglers as much as eighty miles inland in Arizona. Any American who enters this area risks getting shot dead.
The Falcon Dam on Texas’ lower Rio Grande was targeted for destruction by a Mexican cartel to destroy a rival’s drug smuggling route. Had the foiled plot succeeded, 4 million people could have ended up downriver with mass casualties and deaths.
Arizona now has the second-highest kidnapping rate in the world, behind only Mexico City, with all of it due to drug and migrant smugglers and their quests for cash and territory.
Mass graves have been discovered in New Mexico, believed by lawmen to be the work of cartels.

Jitters mounted in early October when an American, David Hartley, was killed while jet skiing on Falcon Lake, which straddles the border between Texas and Mexico a few days later when the lead Mexican police investigator in the case was found decapitated—a trademark of drug gang executions.

Some chilling indicators of the extent of the danger emerged in August 2010, when the federal government began posting signs along a sixty-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, Arizona, more than one hundred miles north of the border with Mexico. The signs warn motorists that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” where they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Pinal County sheriff Paul Babeu, whose jurisdiction is in the heart of that smuggling route, goes even a bit further than the federal warning signs, contending that he and his deputies are totally outnumbered and outgunned. “Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona,” Babeu stated.

Other articles state; Massacres, beheadings, YouTube videos featuring cartel torture sessions and even car bombs are becoming commonplace in Juarez, where more than 3,000 people have been killed this year (2010), according to the federal government, making it among the most dangerous places on earth.

In 2011 we have the following information;

El Universal (Mexico) 3/2/2011
Stratfor: Alert for violence on Mexican Beaches
The U.S. security consultant firm, Stratfor, warns that major tourist destinations such as Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Cozumel and Cancun, still have pervasive drug-related violence. None of the major tourist destinations in Mexico is free of violence related to organized crime, which poses a serious risk for vacationers who visit the country during the season known as spring break. The document warns that in the more traditional resorts such as Mexico, Mazatlan , Acapulco , Cozumel and Cancun , there is both drug trafficking and petty crime. “Many coastal cities with large numbers of tourists have grown up around ports playing strategic roles in the drug trafficking business. The organized crime cartels use commercial ships and fishing boats to transport cocaine shipments from South America to Mexico, and many cartels depend on hotels and resorts to launder drug money, continues the report.

Cancun and Cozumel
Stratfor indicates the Cancun port remains a major entry point for drugs from South America en route to the United States. The presence of the Zetas in the area remains strong. They further note that there is a possibility that the federal government will deploy additional troops to reinforce security in the city. As for Cozumel and Isla Mujeres, the consultancy said that while not specifically used for drug trafficking, they are not exempt from the drug-related violence since in 2009 to 2010 there were executions in these locales.

Acapulco
Stratfor said Acapulco is the best example of a high level tourist destination turned into a battlefield, with three different groups fighting for control of the city: the Beltran Leyva Organization,those loyal to Hector Beltran Edgar Valdez Villareal, “La Barbie” ,and the third group is known as the Independent Cartel Acapulco. (Note: late today it is reported that as many as 120 bodies may be innarcograves found near this city.)

Puerto Vallarta
The strategic location of this port makes it extremely important for drug trafficking. According to the report, narcotics shipments from South America arrive and from China ephedrine, a precursor chemical used to produce methamphetamine. The document warns that the country’s most powerful cartels have operations in this tourist destination and the neighboring municipality of Jarretaderas.

Mazatlan
Stratfor has identified Mazatlan, Sinaloa, as the resort where violence has became more persistent over the last year, so the likelihood that this will generate high levels of insecurity in tourism are very high.

Los Cabos
The Los Cabos region has remained relatively insulated from the violence linked to organized crime in the country and according to the report can be considered one of the safest areas in Mexico for foreign tourists. Although historically it was considered a transit point in the traffic of cocaine, continues the document, its importance declined dramatically after the glory days of the cartels in the 90’s, coupled with the dissolution of ties between the Tijuana cartel and Colombian cocaine producers.

FNS NEWS, March 2, 2011, Ciudad Juarez News, states in their article “The Slaughter of Children”

In Ciudad Juarez and other parts of Mexico, the killings of children and young people are now routine headlines. In particular, the last week has been a rough time for many families in the border city. On Wednesday, February 23, a half-dozen young people between the ages of 8 to 16 were sprayed with bullets while playing in the Granjas de Chapultepec neighborhood. Sisters Briseida and Karen Barraza Carrasco, aged 15 and 14, respectively, were slain together their 12-year-old friend Esmeralda Lozoya Enriquez.

In a separate incident, 15-year-old Adrian Jovani Armendariz also was murdered on February 23. Described as a high grade-earner who attended the CBITIS 128 high school, Armendariz was a member of the Jaguars American football team. The Jaguars' trainer described Armendariz as a "strong" young man who was an "indispensable" member of the team. The young athlete was the son of a local transit cop who was murdered last year.

Armendariz's school is no stranger to violence: four CBITIS 128 students were among the victims of last year's massacre in the Villas de Salvarcar neighborhood.

The slaughter of children in Ciudad Juarez continued into this week. On Monday, February 28, an unidentified 10-year-old was reported among four people murdered while in a car at a busy intersection. An adolescent survivor and a younger child were wounded and transferred to Mexican Social Security Institute Hospital Number 35, where gunmen soon stormed the premises in an unsuccessful attempt to finish off the injured teenager. Gunshots, however, were fired and other patients and hospital staff thrown into panic.

On Wednesday, March 2, a 15-year-old girl who was not immediately identified was gunned down in the Toribio Ortega section of the city.

The issue of "youthcide" is grabbing increased attention at both the national and international levels. After the Granjas de Chapultepec slayings were reported, the non-governmental Network for the Rights of Children in Mexico (REDIM) demanded that federal and state authorities thoroughly investigate the atrocity.

MEXIDATA INFO, Feature 022811 Sullivan-Rosales, Monday, February 28, 2011 reports;

Ciudad Juárez and Mexico's 'Narco-Culture' Threat

By John P. Sullivan and Carlos Rosales

The cartels may not seek a social or political agenda, but once they control turf and territory and effectively displace the state they have no choice—they become “accidental insurgents.”

The warehousing of huge quantities of drugs in Mexican border cities has resulted in an astonishing increase in drug addiction across Mexico.

Mexico’s drug war continues to spiral out of control with a seemingly never-ending list of attacks, atrocities, and escalating barbarism. Mexicans call it the inseguridad. The narco threat to civil governance is characterized by violence, insecurity and impunity.

Nowhere exemplifies this toxic brew more than Ciudad Juárez—the most dangerous city in North America, perhaps the world. Cd. Juárez, the border city across from El Paso, is a city under siege. Cartels, gangs, and criminals of every stripe battle each other, the police and military, and at times attack civilians in a brutal “feral” cityscape.

The more things change the more they stay the same ... perhaps a cliché but when it comes to murder and Ciudad Juárez they coexist side by side.

Juárez has a checkered past when it comes to violence. First it had a legacy of femicides—that is murders of women. These still unsolved— and perhaps continuing—crimes and Juárez’s brutal undercurrents were memorialized in the fictional city of Santa Teresa in novelist Roberto Bolaño’s powerful novel 2666. The violence and degeneration in Santa Teresa were horrific and surreal, yet they pale in the face of the actual state of Juárez today.

In 2010, over 15,000 persons were killed in Mexico’s drug violence.
Over the past four years Mexico experienced nearly 35,000 narco- murders; nearly 10% of those occurred in Juárez last year.

The conflict accelerated in January 2008, when the Sinaloa Cartel went to war with its old partners in the Juárez Cartel, led by Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, for control of the city and the surrounding drug- distribution plaza. Both sides recruited cross-border (third generation street/3 GEN) gangs to wage their fight. The Juárez Cartel recruited Barrio Azteca while the Sinaloa Cartel recruited a rival gang called the Artist Assassins (Double A’s).

A surge of 45,000 troops and 5,000 federal police failed to stem the tide. As a consequence, every day is a virtual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Comparisons to Dante’s Inferno (El Infiero—also the name of a popular movie about cartel violence in Mexico) are not unwarranted. In the words of Ioan Grillo, “If Dante had ever been to Juarez he would have placed it squarely in the seventh circle of hell, the one housing ‘violence’ and ‘ringed by a river of boiling blood."

The Body Count

How many homicides in Juárez in 2010? Depends on who you ask, estimates will vary by a few dozen. According to Chihuahua state police 3,111 persons lost their lives in drug related violence. Frontera NorteSur, a New Mexico State University border news service, states the number could be between 3,075 and 3,156, depending on what law enforcement agency or media you source. A safe estimate is 3,100 "Souls, Lives, Persons" DIED in organized crime and/or drug related violence in 2010. Notable attacks included the murder of 16 teenagers at a party, 17 recovering drug addicts at a drug rehab center, and the March attack of a US consular employee and her husband as they left a children’s birthday party.

More than 30 Juárez municipal police officers lost their lives in a myriad of attacks. Most were ambushed and shot while they patrolled or came to work. The dead included both male and female officers.

Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on who you ask), tighter security along the US-Mexico border has slowed the smuggling of drugs through US Ports of Entry and across the porous border, forcing drug cartels to warehouse huge quantities of drugs in Mexican border cities. The result, an astonishing increase in drug addiction across Mexico. So much so that local drug sales are beginning to account for a large portion of cartel profits. The increase in addiction has also contributed to a rise in robberies and other crimes in border cities.

New Crimes

With drug smuggling activities slowed members of the cartels and other organized crime groups have turned to other "means of support." Crimes like extortion and kidnapping have been added to the criminals' repertoire, making an already ruthless cutthroat business even more dangerous and bloodier. Victims of levantones—kidnappings and extortion—range from well known politicians like former PAN party chief Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, who was kidnapped and kept for more than seven months and only recently released, to down-and-out panhandlers who sell fruit at street intersections and gunned down when they can't pay their daily quota to local gangs.

State Capacity and Feral Enclaves

Proceso called Cd. Juárez a place “Where the Narco rules.”
Essentially, we are seeing a war of “all against all.” Beheadings,
mutilations, low-tech car bombings (consider the 15 July 2010 attack on the Policia Federal), drive-bys, and fire-bombings or assassinations of civil society actors punctuate the daily press.
Indeed, the press is victim to the violence as the cartels seek to establish the agenda for public reportage.

Is Mexico a failed state? Many (especially those on the ground in contested colonias) would say yes, given the fact that several cartels like La Familia survived and grew by becoming a warped version of Robin Hood (acting as social bandits) to thousands of poor peasants who could not rely on the Mexican government for jobs and essential services. Members of La Familia provided food, shelter and yes— legitimate jobs to citizens when the government could not or would not.

Even Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman, leader of the Sinaloa cartel, the largest organized crime organization in Mexico, does it. He provides money and food to many residents of small towns in Sinaloa, not only guaranteeing loyalty but guaranteeing his safety as citizens serve as lookouts—knowing full well Guzman is their provider and they will give him a heads-up when Mexican law enforcement units show up. More recently, we see examples of Los Zetas providing social goods in their “conquered“ areas.

The cartels may not seek a social or political agenda, but once they control turf and territory and effectively displace the state, they have no choice—they become “accidental insurgents.”

Societal disintegration or Urbicide?

Juárez is expected to end up with an estimated 8,500 orphaned children by the year 2012, according to a study by researchers at the Autonomous University of Juárez. Added to the daunting specter of the cartels and war of all against all, endemic and expanding street gang violence, endemic femicides, and judicial impunity, this seems to be the recipe for societal disintegration. Civil society is chilled, journalists are silenced, and criminals reign. Police, paramedics and taxi drivers are killed; workers flee (becoming refugees or internally displaced persons)—even the mayor sleeps across the border in El Paso, Texas!

Narco-culture (narcocultura) promises to overtake established culture as the marginalized seek a viable place in the social strata. Consider the video game "Call of Juarez: The Cartel." A graphic shoot-‘em up that uses feral Juárez and cross-border conflict as a backdrop, the game has been lambasted by US and Mexican officials, but the draw of mayhem continues.

If you don’t have a computer you can opt for the alternate “narco- saint” of your liking: Jesus Malverde, if aligned with the Sinaloa crew; or Santa Muerte if you feel affinity with the Zetas. An alternate reality that challenges Western state sensibilities appears to be in the making.

Expanding Barbarization

Ciudad Juárez seems to be the tip of the iceberg, a dark spot on the map of Mexico, yet the conflict expands. After four years of dramatic military sweeps in Chihuahua (largely in Cd. Juárez itself) and neighboring Tamaulipas, the narcos are extending their control over large areas and the state governments seem powerless to stop them.

Monterrey, Mexico’s “second city,” and Ciudad Victoria in Tamaulipas, not to mention Acapulco (increasingly known by the moniker “Narcopulco”), are also under the gun.

Barbarization is also apparently on the rise. Earlier this month police found the severed head of a two-month-old baby dumped in the town of Delicias, in Chihuahua, in a cruel revenge attack.

The narcos have yet to successfully wage a major terror attack like their Colombian counterparts, who set off powerful car bombs in busy streets and killed 107 people in bombing a commercial airliner in 1989. But sicarios (hit men) have killed at least 14 mayors across Mexico over the past year….

Conclusion: Finding a solution

Cd. Juárez is effectively under siege from criminal elements. Call it brigandage, “criminal insurgency” or what you may, but the siege must be broken—both symbolically and practically.

Is there a solution? Many believe a new president may be able to negotiate with the cartels instead of declaring war on them like Felipe Calderón did. No matter who is elected the problems will continue until a solution is found to the growing economic disparity between the haves and have-nots in Mexico.

One of the reports is about Romanian weapons coming in to the U.S. and then on to Mexico, on point here since there's ongoing discussion of where these weapons are coming from. The story does not shed new light on percentages but does shed new light on the breakdown of the weapons traced to the U.S. (to recap: 12 percent of guns seized in Mexico were traced, and of those, 90 percent traced to the U.S.). Apparently, Romanian weapons are cheap and easy to modify.

Eight more killed in Acapulco, March 13, 2011
ACAPULCO, GUERRERO - Eight people in 3 different areas of the city have been killed by cartel gunmen. These included a 70 year old grandmother protecting her grandchildren, that were killed anyway. They were 6 and 2 years old. Two other children there were wounded, including a 20 day old infant. Homes, business and vehicles were burned, while schools and businesses closed due to the violence.

Tulancingo de Bravo, Hidalgo - Eight year old killed, mother & sister grave.

Acapulco - More deaths; dismembered body dumped near door of convention center; 2 executed, burned in crane on road; home invasion killed 3, wounded young woman.

As you can see by reading the above information that the culture and way of life for the people in Mexico is changing. Violence and depravity is increasing, the lack of respect for human life is decreasing and the hope of a future for many citizens in Mexico is disappearing. No one seems to know what to do and how to change the tide.

The last and latest incident that I will be sharing with you again shows that the corruption south of the border knows no boundaries and is creeping north as many believe;

Posted: 03/10/2011 04:31:20 PM MST

LAS CRUCES - United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales announced today that a federal grand jury in New Mexico has indicted eleven members of a firearms trafficking ring headquartered in Columbus, a small border village across from the Mexican city of Palomas, on firearms and smuggling charges.

The defendants charged in the 84-count indictment include Angelo Vega, the Columbus chief of police; Eddie Espinoza, the mayor of Columbus; and Blas Gutierrez, a village trustee in Columbus.

Another defendant Ignacio Villalobos has not been apprehended and is considered a fugitive. The officers also executed ten search warrants at eight residences, one business establishment, and at the office of the Columbus Police Department.

Charges are that the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to purchase firearms for illegal export to Mexico. During this 14-month period, the defendants allegedly purchased approximately 200 firearms from Chaparral Guns in Chaparral, New Mexico, which is owned and operated by defendant Ian Garland. According to the indictment, the defendants purchased firearms favored by the Mexican Cartels, including AK-47-type pistols, weapons resembling AK-47 rifles but with shorter barrels and without rear stocks, and American Tactical 9 mm caliber pistols. I decided to leave out the rest of the article (4 pages long) that goes into the account of the indictments, series of sting operations and the exact charges being filed.

The above information is just a few of the articles that state the seriousness and complexity of the problems facing every citizen of Mexico and indirectly many of us in the United States. If you have been following what is happening in Mexico over the past few years you will have noticed the difference in the violence from then to now. If not, I will explain. Two years ago if there was a person in a car that the cartel hit men wanted dead, they would usually only kill the intended person. Now if the wanted person is in a car with others, they kill that person and everyone in the vehicle, women and children included (which were known as untouchable in the past). Collateral damage is ok and a part of the process in today’s violence.

And I have not even added articles about a new people group in Mexico called the “Ninis.” They are the children that are street kids that, for one reason or another, have dropped out of society and live on the streets. They feel they have no future, no hope of a better life. Guess who will step up and bring them in to their fold, the Cartels. They will become the new recruits that have nothing to loose and have very little value of life. What else that is not mentioned is the elimination of the close ties families people use to have when they become involved in the drug trade. Drugs are not just destroying lives, they are destroying and tearing apart families.

Unfortunately I have received and read so many reports on the killings, mutilations and extreme violence I started to become accustomed to them and they were not shocking to me anymore. Sadly that is a trap many people fall into. When you hear things so many times, even though they express things that are horrendous, they become unreal after a while!

What can be done to correct this? From a human standpoint, I don’t have a clue. However, from a Christian perspective the most important thing is to pray for Mexico, its people, the Government leaders and the violent people involved in the drug trade. Pray for a change of heart, a return to respect for human life, and for ways to help end the violence. From a worldly stand point nothing has worked so far. Military intervention, pleading for calm, more laws, and finger pointing has not done very much to stop the suffering and in some cases increased violence against innocent people. As Christ followers we know there will always be pain and suffering but that does not mean we should give up.

We are called to pray and ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit to do what we can and are called to do. We are to be His hands and feet, especially in times of trouble. We can start there and see what happens as we continue to pray and trust in Him and not the solutions from man.

Dennis

Posted January 26, 2011

Huichol Indians of Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountains

Do you remember the book or movie “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre?” In reality there was no massive gold deposits in the mountains but there was treasure, it is the Huichol Indians. They are a quiet Indian tribe living in a fragile world and possibly dyeing culture. Even modern day Huichol’s offer us a view into the past, into pre-Colombian times. Their culture has been preserved for centuries hidden in the high and isolated mountain ranges of the Sierra Mountains.

They call themselves "the healers." For hundreds of years they have hidden away from the modern world, protected by the natural barrier the mountains, performing ceremonial rituals they believe heal the earth and keep nature balanced. The object that keeps the balance in this ritual is the sacrifice of a white-tailed deer to their (they have no word for God) supreme being which is nature. The blood of the deer nourishes the earth.

There ancestors are life forms created in the rocks and mountains and will teach and guide them in their obligation to care for the earth. The rivers are veins of mother ocean, sending her life-giving blood inland to their lands. Father sun warms the earth and produces the crops, but when he becomes too strong, offerings must be given to grandmother-growth-Nakawe who brings the rains to balance the drought.

Their clothing is covered with embroider symbols of nature; the flower, a prayer for rain; the deer, a request for love and bounty from their nature-deities; the scorpion, to ask their protection.

Where the Huicholes came from is debated. Some believe they were nomadic and recently arrived to the Sierra. Others think that they are a branch of the same family as the Aztecs, both having migrated from their original island homeland near the Pacific coast. The Huicholes themselves say they migrated north from the Valley of Mexico and were forced to take refuge in the Sierra hundreds of years ago by warring Indian tribes.

But we know they were in the Sierra when the first Spanish conquistadores reached the west coast in 1531. The Spaniards, under the orders of Nuno de Guzman, came seeking the lost gold mines of the Aztecs, but, finding only desolate mountains, they soon left. Indians wars led by the shamans in 1540's, l550's and l560's further reduced the Spaniards' interest in the Sierra's interior. During the 1860's, Jesuit missionaries were repulsed by the Indians, leaving behind the shells of small chapels. It was not until l890 that European anthropologist Carl Lumholtz penetrated the Sierra and, with camera and pen, documented the Huichol culture.

Since then, other invaders have come. In the 1970's, the Mexican government, determined to integrate all indigenous peoples into mainstream society, opened schools, clinics and agricultural stations to introduce new ways to the Huicholes. Air strips brought small planes bearing tourists and government officials into the most remote areas of the Sierra. Ranchers coveted the high, grassy plateaus on which the Huicholes lived as new grazing lands for their increasing cattle herds. Religious missionaries sought to convert the "pagans." But through it all, the Huicholes held with certainty to their ancestral beliefs.

As the megacity of Guadalajara drained water from the mountains, and forests disappeared, game died, illness and poverty became a way of life for the Huichol and as rumors of pollution and environmental devastation reached them from the outside world, the Huichol felt they were at fault. Their pact with their nature-deities had been broken. The white-tailed deer could no longer be found in the Sierra forests, and the Huichol were unable to perform their ancient ceremonies to please their deities and heal the Earth.

The story of their true-life 600 mile pilgrimage from the remote Sierra into the heart of Mexico City--the world's most populous and polluted city--to obtain 20 white-tailed deer from the city zoo in an effort to save the earth from environmental destruction is a wonderful comment on the devotion and sacrifice of the Huichol people for the betterment of all men.
In 1988, the Huichol were awarded the National Ecology Prize of Mexico for their efforts to repopulate the Sierra Madre forests with white-tailed deer.

Efforts are being made to help the Huichol preserve their traditional culture. The Mexican government's National Indigenous Institute now works with the Huichol elders in various educational, economic and health programs. The Cousteau Society has initiated the Punta Mita project in the state of Nayarit, an attempt to develop the state's tourism in a way that will protect the magnificent biodiversity of the Pacific coast and the interior homeland of the Huichol. And just a few years ago, 50 major businesses of Mexico, backed by Westin Hotels, have joined forces in the Save the Sierra movement. Their stores around the republic promote knowledge of the Sierra Madre flora and fauna, sell books, crafts and shirts to finance beneficial projects--and sponsor ecotours of the Sierra and adjacent coastal jungles.

The rich cultural heritage of the Huichol Indians is indeed the real treasure of the Sierra Madre. The Huichol teach us that man must be a steward of the earth, he must feel in his heart the pain of the wounded animal, the crushed blade of grass. For all souls are linked. The universal life force, kupuri, flows through all nature's creations. And when man destroys nature, he destroys the finest part of his own being, so say the Huichol.

(information gathered on the Huichol tribe was provided by the writings of Charmayne McGee)

The Huichole people, just one of the many interesting cultures that make up the country of Mexico.

Posted February 2, 2010

The Africanization of Mexico

Article by Ricardo Monreal Avila. SEE MY COMMENTS BELOW

The Africanization of Mexico ; Milenio (Mexico City) 1/26/10

The country that most Mexicans (31 out of every 100) want to be like is the United States, followed distantly by China and Canada (6 and 5 of every 100, respectively) (Nexos, Consulta Mitofsky, January 2010) [“Consulta Mitofsky” is an often cited Mexican public opinion organization.] Granted that the highest percentage in this study is from those who wanted to be like “none of the above” (34 of every 100), without specifying the motive for this “none” (outdated nationalism? ignorance or lack of interest?) the desirable model for almost one third of the Mexican population is clear. Surely, it is that same third of the Mexican population about which, four years ago, the Pew Hispanic Center warned that, if they had the opportunity, these fellow countrymen would move to the United States, or would vote without a second thought so that Mexico would become the 51st state of the United States, causing alarm in Bush’s government and hastening the building of the border fence.

That third of Mexicans who hold the United States as a model, don’t they believe in their country? “I do believe in Mexico….. it’s Mexico that doesn’t believe in me,” a Zacatecan friend, small business owner, made clear to me two decades ago, and who left fleeing from the economic crisis of 1988 to settle in Chicago.

Nevertheless, the collective tragedy that we currently suffer alike, those Mexicans who dream of being like another country as well as those of us who answer “none,” is because during the last decade, the governing political and economic elite, far from reaching the aspirations of looking like our neighbors to the north, has taken us in the opposite direction and too far: to the Africanization of our economy, government, life style, laws, education, ecology and family income.

In effect, we are ever closer to sub-Saharan Africa and farther from the United States. We have the same number of dead out on the street as Rwanda, and as many journalists assassinated as in Somalia. Our level of migrant workers is Nigerian, and the level of learning and educational skills of our children is at the level of Tunisia. Our economic competitiveness is below Botswana’s, while Morocco had more tourists than Mexico last year. The levels of corruption are root-like Algerian, while the inequalities in the salary scales are like those of Ethiopia. The influenza virus made us brother-like to the Congo as far as sanitary risks, while the loss or contamination of environmental resources per resident is similar to Namibia’s. Since the geologic times of Pangea, this territory called Mexico had not been as close to the African continent, as it has in the last decade that we are enduring. This reality takes anyone’s sleep away. It is the
insomnia of those who yearn for the American life style and, perhaps because of that, decide to emigrate. But for the rest of the Mexicans, including the “none of the above”, it is the nightmare of every day.

Who is Ricardo Monreal Ávila? He was born on September 19, 1960 in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, is a Mexican politician affiliated to the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). He is a former senator, a former Governor of Zacatecas and a former member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) being closely identified during his tenure in that party with former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

Monreal Ávila graduated with a bachelor's degree in law from the Autonomous University of Zacatecas (UAZ) and with a Ph.D. in administrative and constitutional law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He worked as a professor of law for several years and got involved in several agricultural programs and farmers' organizations during most of the 1980s.

In 1991 he became president of the state chapter of the Revolutionary Institutional Party, a political institution he represented twice at the Chamber of Deputies, once at the local congress and twice at the Senate. In 1998, after failing to become the PRI candidate for governor in Zacatecas, he switched sides and joined the left-of-center Party of the Democratic Revolution, winning the election with 44.6% of the votes.

Monreal left the governorship in September 2004 and briefly considered to compete for the 2006 PRD presidential candidacy. Instead, he joined the presidential campaign of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the former Head of Government of the Federal District. In the general election of 2 July 2006, he was elected to the Senate for the PRD as a national-list PR senator.

My comments

While I do not believe in his far left ideology, some of his comments ring true to what many in Mexico are saying. They want to abandon their country, some because of the many different problems they face while others out of selfish reasons. However, the crime, violence and corruption that is infecting Mexico, has been there for more than the last decade as mentioned by Mr. Monreal. If Mexico wants to pull it’s self up, changes have to be made by almost every element in society and it is the Mexican people that have to make it happen.

Right now in Mexico there is a power struggle and the outcome will affect the people for many years to come. Part of the struggle includes drugs, violence and people fleeing their homeland. I think the main struggle that may be even more important and affect the people to a greater extent is a choice they are going to have to make. That struggle is, do they want to live under the rule of law or the rule of anarchy?

Living under the rule of law will give them a since of normalcy, purpose and hope but to get there it will cost them dearly. Living in anarchy will cost them even more and they will be giving up their freedom and the threat of even more violence will always be at their door step.
Our neighbors to the south are in trouble, financially, socially and spiritually (as is many other countries and people are). As missionaries, Manos de Dios is interested in serving, assisting and praying with and for the Mexican people, government and its leaders. We are concerned with their spiritual health. To be effective and part of the community we have to know the people and place we serve. That is why I study and learn what we are up against while serving in Mexico.

This article is not intended to be a political one, just one to inform people of what is going on with our next door neighbors to the south. And with so much violence going on in other parts of the world and natural disasters causing untold damage to life and property, we tend to forget about and ignore our one of our closest neighbors.

You do not have to go to Africa to find people starving and without clean drinkable water, just go to Mexico. You don’t have to go to the middle east to hear about journalists being kidnapped and murdered, people of the opposition tortured, dismembered and left lying in the street and innocent women and children becoming collateral damage due to stray bullets and bombs, just look to Mexico (many times these incidents are not reported in the US papers). And we have not even mention famine, corruption and crimes against humanity that happens every day.

Now you may be asking why I brought all this up and what are we going to do. Manos de Dios will be PRAYING for and with the Mexican people. We will be serving in what ever manner the Lord leads us to serve and will offer the word of God to everyone we encounter. We are also praying for transformation in the country of Mexico, transformation in the people, leaders and in society so Mexico can become the country God has planned it to be.

What can you do? Manos de Dios asks you to PRAY with us, support us and even work with us as we bring Gods love and His word to our neighbors.

We have ignored our neighbors to the south for too long. Help us change that attitude.

Paz y bendiciones, Dennis

Posted April 6, 2009

Readers; As I read the article below I noticed it affirmed many of the realities I have learned about the violence and problems Mexico has been facing for the past 18 to 24 months. Finally, a group of professional people have gotten together and made a comprehensive accurate report concerning that violence which is plaguing Mexico as we speak.

Yes, Mexico is violent. However you can't trust the newspapers and or the tourist representatives to tell you an accurate account of where you are safe to go or where to stay away from. They both have their reasons for being biased. So I urge you to check the facts, search out the unbiased accounts and rely on the information from people that live or work in Mexico before you form an opinion and make a decision about travel and safety in Mexico. Also, I encourage you to learn the history of Mexico, the problems they encountered in the past, current hardships and to discover the true identity of the people before you form your opinion of our neighbors to the south.

I know the report is long and can be boring to some, but it is worth the read if you want to find out what is going on in Mexico.

Adjunct Professor of International Affairs
December 29, 2008

MEMORANDUM FOR: Colonel Michael Meese
Professor and Head Dept of Social Sciences
CC: Colonel Cindy Jebb
Professor and Deputy Head Dept of Social Sciences

SUBJECT: After Action Report-General Barry R McCaffrey USA (Ret)
VISIT MEXICO - 5-7 DECEMBER 2008

1. PURPOSE: This memo provides a strategic and operational assessment of drugs and crime in Mexico. Be glad to conduct a Faculty Seminar and Cadet Class lectures based on this report during the upcoming semester. This paper was based on the first three-day meeting of the INTERNATIONAL FORUM OF INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY SPECIALISTS…. an Advisory Body to the Mexican Federal Law Enforcement leadership.

2. SOURCES: A. MEXICO: 1. Secretary Ing. Genaro Garcia Luna (Conference Chair) - Secretary of Public Security, 2. Juan Rebolledo Gout (Conference Deputy Chair) - Former Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs. 3. Jorge Enrique Tello Peón (Conference Delegate) - Former General Director of the Center for Research and National Security 4. Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan - Mexican Ambassador to the United States. B. UNITED STATES: 1. Secretary Roberta Jacobson - Deputy Assistant Secretary, Western Hemisphere Affairs, Department of State. 2. Ian Brownlee - Deputy Director, Office of Mexican Affairs, Department of State. 3. Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow (Conference Delegate) - Former United States Ambassador to Mexico. 4. The Honorable Karen Tandy (Conference Delegate) - Former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. 5. Thomas Telles (Conference Delegate) - Former Senior Executive and Regional Director for South America to the United States Department of Justice. 6. Jack Devine (Conference Delegate) - Former Associate Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. 7. Major Fernando Lujan - Mexico expert. Department of Social Sciences, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY. 8. Mr. Pancho Kinney, Research Associate, (supported trip by organizing Mexico research. C. COLOMBIA: General Luis Enrique Montenegro Rinco (Conference Delegate) - Former Director of the Administrative Security Department. D. CANADA: 1. General Alfred John Gardyne Drummond De Chastelain (Conference Delegate. 2. Norman David Inkster (Conference Delegate) - Former 18th Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 3. Joseph Philip Robert Murray (Conference Delegate) - Former 19th Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. E. UNITED KINGDOM: Dudley Ankerson (Conference Delegate) F. SPAIN: Jesús de la Morena Bustillo (Conference Delegate) - Former General Commissioner of Information to the Spanish National Police Corps. Current Director of Security to Iberia Group. G. INDIA: R. K. Raghavan (Conference Delegate) - Former Director to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Current advisor for Tata Consultancy Services. H. GERMANY: Ulrich Kersten (Conference Delegate) - Former President of the Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigations in Germany.

3. THE SITUATION IN MEXICO: A. The Mexican State is engaged in an increasingly violent, internal struggle against heavily armed narco-criminal cartels that have intimidated the public, corrupted much of law enforcement, and created an environment of impunity to the law. o Thousands are being murdered each year. Drug production, addiction, and smuggling are rampant. The struggle for power among drug cartels has resulted in chaos in the Mexican states and cities along the US-Mexico border. Drug-related assassinations and kidnappings are now common-place occurrences throughout the country. o Squad-sized units of the police and Army have been tortured, murdered, and their decapitated bodies publicly left on display. The malignancy of drug criminality now contaminates not only the 2000 miles of cross-border US communities but stretches throughout the United States in more than 295 US cities. B. Mexico's senior leadership - President Felipe Calderon, Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora, and SSP Secretary of Federal Police leader Genaro Luna are confronting the criminal drug cartels that have subverted state and municipal authorities and present a mortal threat to the rule of law across Mexico. The Mexican Armed Forces are being increasingly relied on by the Federal Government given the shortcomings of civilian law enforcement agencies. o The Calderon Administration took power with a tenuous political legitimacy following their less than 1% victory over the PRD in a bitterly contested election. Senior Mexican political and security officials have showed remarkable leadership, courage, strength, and dedication as they seek to assert the rule of law throughout the state and defeat the drug cartels. 4 o Senior government officials are taking enormous personal risk; the drug cartels have demonstrated their willingness to murder political leaders and law enforcement officers who threaten their well being. The commitment of these senior Mexican Government officials to reestablish the rule of law will become a matter of historical pride to their nation if they succeed. C. The United States has provided only modest support to the Government of Mexico to date. The bold $400 million/year Merida initiative conceived by President Bush with both Canadian and Mexican Presidential participation was barely approved by the US Congress after a divisive and insulting debate. o The proposed U.S. Government spending in support of the Government of Mexico is a drop in the bucket compared to what we have spent in Iraq and Afghanistan (these foreign wars have consumed $700 billion dollars and resulted in 36,000 US military killed and wounded). Yet the stakes in Mexico are enormous. We cannot afford to have a narco state as a neighbor. D. The incoming Obama Administration must immediately focus on the dangerous and worsening problems in Mexico, which fundamentally threaten US national security. Before the next eight years are past - the violent, warring collection of criminal drug cartels could overwhelm the institutions of the state and establish de facto control over broad regions of northern Mexico. o A failure by the Mexican political system to curtail lawlessness and violence could result of a surge of millions of refugees crossing the US border to escape the domestic misery of violence, failed economic policy, poverty, hunger, joblessness, and the mindless cruelty and injustice of a criminal state. E. Mexico is not confronting dangerous criminality--- it is fighting for survival against narco-terrorism. o A terrible tragedy is going to take place in the coming decade if we don't closely ally ourselves with the courageous Mexican leadership of the Calderon Administration---- and develop a resourced strategy appropriate for the dangers we face.

4. THE LEADERSHIP CONTEXT OF THE STRUGGLE: MEXICO MATTERS: A. Mexico is a huge nation three times the size of massive Texas with a population of a 110 million people. It is the 12th largest economy in the world and the largest Spanish speaking nation in the world. Mexico City at 20 million people is one of the largest urban concentrations on the globe. Mexico is the 8th largest crude oil exporter and has gigantic known reserves of natural gas. It has a GDP of just under a trillion dollars. B. Mexico deals historically with crushing US ignorance of their vital economic contributions to the US. The US in turn deals historically with a Mexican official political system which has a paranoid fixation on the perceived injustice of US arrogance and imperialism ---and animosity toward bi-national cooperation with any policy initiatives dealing with border issues, water, migration, and security or law enforcement cooperation. C. Mexico is arguably the most important foreign partner of the United States. The United States is unarguably the most important foreign partner for Mexico. Mexico supplies a third of our imported oil. We account for 47% of all foreign direct investment in Mexico. 18,000 Mexican companies have US investment. 50% of their imports come from the US. 82% of their exports go to the US. Mexican nationals constitute approximately half of the 12 million undocumented aliens in the US, many who have found employment in and are critical to our agricultural system, meat packing industry, restaurants, day care centers, and the construction sector. THERE ARE A MILLION LEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS PER DAY along our 2000 mile shared, and largely unmarked and unfenced frontier. There are probably a million illegal border crossings a year. D. Mexico is somewhat unstable, extremely violent, and just emerging from the 71 year autocratic governance of the PRI political party. Thanks to the vision and courage of President Ernesto Zedillo and the follow-on leadership of Vicente Fox--- Mexico is now painfully building the institutions of a democratic state under the rule of law…with a free press… and a commitment to human rights. They have a difficult 25 year process ahead of them to consolidate a democratic state. E. The December 2006 inauguration of the second consecutive PAN party President Felipe Calderon represents important momentum to a modern, democratic state. With the support of a PAN plurality in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies---Calderon has ushered in unprecedented cooperation with the US on justice and law enforcement issues. He has built upon the series of crucial political reforms begun under President Fox. He has launched a serious attempt to reclaim the rule of law from the chaos of the drug cartels. F. President Calderon faces these daunting internal problems with inadequate resources and weak institutions. A general sense of impunity from the law and pervasive corruption remain problems, particularly at state and local levels. There is massive underemployment of 25%+ -- and grossly inequitable distribution of income. Only 3% of the land is both arable and irrigated. Wages are low. There are few opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the southern states. There is lack of clean water and terrible deforestation. The level of kidnappings and murder has paralyzed the population. There are high levels of violence against women, criminal intimidation of journalists (28 reporters killed since 2001), trafficking in persons, and extensive child labor. G. However, based on my years of watching Mexico--- the bottom line is this: the population is extremely hard working, humble, gracious, spiritually devout, patriotic, and family oriented. The culture and art are rich and fiercely admired by the people. The senior elite political and military leadership is world class---broadly educated, sophisticated, multi-lingual, and very easy to deal with. At a people-to-people level the affection and cooperation between the Mexican and US populations are unbelievably strong. (More than 500,000 Americans live in Mexico.) In sum, Mexico and its people are a joy to visit--- and a trusted partner in business cooperation. Mexican and Central American labor is a central pillar of US economic strength. However, Mexico is fundamentally at risk from drug-fueled crime which is so powerful that it could threaten the viability of the state.

5. THE PROBLEM IS DRUGS: A. Mexico is on the edge of the abyss---it could become a narco-state in the coming decade. Chronic drug consumption has doubled since 2002 to 500,000 addicts. Possibly 5% or 3.5 million people consume illegal drugs. (the US figure is 8.3% or 20.4 million). Since 2002--- past month Mexican national drug consumption has increased by 30% and cocaine use has doubled. The fastest growing addiction rates are among the 12 to 17 year old population -- and the consumption rates among women have doubled. B. Drug criminal behavior is the central threat to the state. Mexico probably produces 8 metric tons of heroin a year and 10,000 metric tons of marijuana. 90% of all US cocaine transits Mexico. Mexico is also the dominant source of methamphetamine production for the US market. The drug cartels have criminal earnings in excess of $25 billion per year ---and physically repatriate more than $10 billion a year in bulk cash back into Mexico from the US. C. The bottom line--- nearly 7000 people murdered in the internal drug wars since 2006--- 3,985 murdered this year alone through 25 November. The outgunned Mexican law enforcement authorities face armed criminal attacks from platoon-sized units employing night vision goggles, electronic intercept collection, encrypted communications, fairly sophisticated information operations, sea-going submersibles, helicopters and modern transport aviation, automatic weapons, RPG's, Anti-Tank 66 mm rockets, mines and booby traps, heavy machine guns, 50 cal sniper rifles, massive use of military hand grenades, and the most modern models of 40mm grenade machine guns.

6. CRIME AND CORRUPTION: A. The crime rate is staggering. The US State Department notes that crime in Mexico continues at high levels particularly in Mexico City. Criminal assaults occur on highways throughout Mexico. Armed street crime is a serious problem in all the major cities. Robbery and assault on passengers in taxis are frequent and violent. Mexican authorities have failed to prosecute numerous crimes committed against US citizens, including murder and kidnapping. 44% of all murders through November of this year were of unidentified victims--- primarily because of fear of becoming involved by family and acquaintances of the deceased. B. Kidnappings are the cruelest of all crimes. Official statistics cite 72 kidnappings a month according to the Mexican Attorney General. However, the Citizen's Institute for Crime Studies estimates more than 500 kidnappings a month with the overwhelming majority not reported largely because of lack of trust in the police-or the reality of police involvement in the crime. Kidnappings are not just targeted on the rich who live behind a wall of protection. Now even poor Mexicans present a target for ATM extortion or even death because of non-payment of small ransoms. (The rates of kidnappings in Latin-America in general are astronomical…the hemisphere represents 8% of the global population but accounts for 75% of the total kidnappings). o Law enforcement authorities under President Calderon have fought back with extraordinary measures. More than 7500 individuals are now in state or Federal prison. 51 kidnapping bands have been dismantled and 377 victims released. However, the crime wave goes on with many vulnerable families now seeking sanctuary in US cross-border communities. C. Corruption is pervasive and ruins the trust among Mexican law enforcement institutions at local, state, and Federal level. Corruption reaches into the US Embassy with a DEA Mexican national employee recently arrested for being an agent of the Sinaloa Cartel. He was corrupted by a $450,000.00 bribe. Six high-ranking law enforcement officials have recently been arrested and the current and former Director of the Interpol Office in Mexico indicted. (This is a painful personal reminder of the 1997 arrest of the Mexican Drug Czar, General Gutierrez Rebollo, discovered to be working as an agent of the Juarez cartel.) D. Mexican law enforcement authorities and soldiers face heavily armed drug gangs with high-powered military automatic weapons. Perhaps 90% of these weapons are smuggled across the US border. They are frequently purchased from licensed US gun dealers in Texas, Arizona, and California. AK-47 assault rifles are literally bought a hundred at a time and illegally brought into Mexico. Mexican authorities routinely seize BOXES of unopened automatic military weapons. The confiscation rates by Mexican law enforcement of hand grenades, RPG's, and AK-47's are at the level of wartime battlefield seizures. It is hard to understand the seeming indifference and incompetence of US authorities at state and Federal level to such callous disregard for a national security threat to a neighboring democratic state. We would consider it an act of warfare from a sanctuary state if we were the victim. The bottom line---the US is ineffective and unresponsive to Mexican concerns about weapons, bulk cash, and precursor chemicals flowing south into Mexico from the United States--- with a blow-torch effect on the security of the Mexican people. E. The Council on Hemispheric Affairs states that: "Due to pervasive corruption at the highest levels of the Mexican Government, and the almost effortless infiltration of the porous security forces by the cartel, an ultimate victory by the state is uncertain."

7. THE SECURITY FORCES: A. There is no shortage of courage among Mexican Security Forces. More than 475 police and soldiers have been murdered during the President Calderon offensive to reclaim the streets and rural areas. More than 218,000 prisoners crowd the 455 penal facilities. Of Mexico's 390,000 police only 26,000 or 6.8 % are Federal. The 39.8% of the force who are Municipal Police (more than 2,600 separate police forces) are badly trained, poorly equipped and frequently corrupt or intimidated. Essential law enforcement tools are lacking. For example, there is no National registry of police officers' nor is there a national registry of vehicle registrations or license plates. B. The Mexican people believe the justice system is corrupt and ineffective. Mexican police regularly obtain information through torture and prosecutors use this evidence in courts. The suspect is deemed guilty until proven innocent. Most ominously--- the Mexican people are losing faith in the system. At the start of the Calderon Campaign more than 87% supported the President. Now only 67% are in favor. There is increasing discussion of legalization of drugs-or acquiescence in the drug trade, which used to be presumed to be a US not Mexican problem. C. The Mexican Armed Forces (225,000 personnel) are one of the most trusted institutions in the nation. In a general sense they are disciplined, reliable, courageous, and responsive to civilian leadership. Clearly the Armed Forces are also subject to penetration--- and also subject to individual intimidation or corruption. The desertion rate of trained military personnel is also a significant threat to the state. The heavily armed "Zetas" ---now the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel--- are essentially turn-coat Army Commandos. D. The bottom line--- the drug cartels cannot defeat the government through direct violent confrontation. The Armed Forces in particular can at any point on the ground or at sea confront and dismantle a direct threat to the security forces. The most effective tool of the criminal cartels is narco-terrorism -- and corruption and intimidation of the populace to convince the political authorities to remain passive in the face of criminal behavior.

8. THE STRATEGY -- THE WAY AHEAD: A. President Calderon has charted a bold and heroic path for the state. His senior law enforcement officer - Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna - has placed his life on the line. The Federal police motto is "Ni un paso atras" (not one step back). Hundreds of law enforcement officers have been murdered. They have seized massive quantities of contraband from these criminal threat forces. (70,000 kilograms of cocaine, 3,700 tons of marijuana, $304 million dollars, 28,000 weapons, 2000 hand grenades, 3 million rounds of ammo.) President Calderon has for the first time in Mexican history boldly used the tool of extradition to the US. (83 major drug criminals sent north.) B. The strategy articulated by Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora is to break up the four major drug cartels into 50 smaller entities and take away their firepower and huge financial resources. The senior Mexican leadership have tried to organize the ten US and Mexican Border States to form active cross-border partnerships for law enforcement and drug prevention cooperation. The Mexicans know a central piece of their strategy has to be the modernization of the Mexican justice system and the modernization of the economy. o President Calderon has committed his government to the "Limpiemos Mexico" campaign to "clean up Mexico". This is not rhetoric. They have energized their departments of Social Development, Public Education, and Health to be integral parts of this campaign. Finally, there is a clear understanding that this is an eight-year campaign-not a short-term surge. C. Finally-we have the promising US-Mexican Merida Initiative. However, this vital program is under-funded and slow to be implemented. Significant cross-border law enforcement and justice system cooperation remains inadequate.

9. SUMMARY: A. Much is at stake for future US economic and national security policy from 2009 through 2017. A stable, economically healthy, and law-based Mexican neighbor is fundamental to US expectations of prosperity and peace within North America. The drug menace and drug addiction is central to much of the US criminal and social malignancy that has put more than 2 million Americans behind bars, clogged our courts, and placed enormous burdens on our health system. B. Now is the time during the opening months of a new US Administration to jointly commit to a fully resourced major partnership as political equals of the Mexican government. We must jointly and respectfully cooperate to address the broad challenges our two nations face. Specifically, we must support the Government of Mexico's efforts to confront the ultra violent drug cartels. We must do so in ways that are acceptable to the Mexican polity and that take into account Mexican sensitivities to sovereignty. The United States Government cannot impose a solution. The political will is present in Mexico to make the tough decisions that are required to confront a severe menace to the rule of law and the authority of the Mexican state. Where our assistance can be helpful, we must provide it. The challenge is so complex that it will require sustained commitment and attention at the highest levels of our two governments. We cannot afford to fail.

Barry R McCaffrey, General USA (Retired)
Adjunct professor of International Affairs
Department of Social Sciences
West Point, New York

Mexico Colonial Era

The Aztecs/Mexicas

The Aztecs were the Native American people who dominated northern México at the time of the Spanish conquest led by Hernan Cortes in the early 16th century. According to their own legends, they originated from a place called Aztlan, somewhere in north or northwest Mexico. At that time the Aztecs (who referred to themselves as the Mexica or Tenochca) were a small, nomadic, Nahuatl-speaking aggregation of tribal peoples living on the margins of civilized Mesoamerica. Sometime in the 12th century they embarked on a period of wandering and in the 13th century settled in the central basin of México. Continually dislodged by the small city-states that fought one another in shifting alliances, the Aztecs finally found refuge on small islands in Lake Texcoco where, in 1325, they founded the town of TENOCHTITLAN (modern-day Mexico City). The term Aztec, originally associated with the migrant Mexica, is today a collective term, applied to all the peoples linked by trade, custom, religion, and language to these founders.
Fearless warriors and pragmatic builders, the Aztecs created an empire during the 15th century that was surpassed in size in the Americas only by that of the Incas in Peru. As early texts and modern archaeology continue to reveal, beyond their conquests and many of their religious practices, there were many positive achievements:
the formation of a highly specialized and stratified society and an imperial administration
the expansion of a trading network as well as a tribute system
the development and maintenance of a sophisticated agricultural economy, carefully adjusted to the land and the cultivation of an intellectual and religious outlook that held society to be an integral part of the cosmos.

The yearly round of rites and ceremonies in the cities of Tenochtitlan and neighboring Tetzcoco, and their symbolic art and architecture, gave expression to an ancient awareness of the interdependence of nature and humanity. The Aztecs remain the most extensively documented of all Amerindian civilizations at the time of European contact in the 16th century. Spanish friars, soldiers, and historians and scholars of Indian or mixed descent left invaluable records of all aspects of life.

Aztec Gods

Religion was extremely important in Aztec life. They worshipped hundreds of gods and goddesses, each of whom ruled one or more human activities or aspects of nature. The people had many agricultural gods because their culture was based heavily on farming; also they included natural elements and ancestor-heroes. These gods included:

CENTEOTL, the corn god.

COATLICUE - She of the Serpent Skirt.

EHECATL, the god of wind.

HUEHUETEOTL, "the old, old deity," was one of the names of the cult of fire, among the oldest in Mesoamerica. The maintenance of fires in the temples was a principal priestly duty, and the renewal of fire was identified with the renewal of time itself.

HUITZILOPOCHTLI, (the war/sun god and special guardian of Tenochtitlan) the deified ancestral warrior-hero, was the Mexica-Aztec patron par excellence. His temple (next to that of Tlaloc) on the Main Pyramid was the focus of fearsome sacrifices of prisoners captured by Aztec warriors. Victims' heads were strung as trophies on a great rack, the Tzompantli, erected in the precinct below.

MICTLANTECUHTLE, god of the dead.

OMETECUHLTI and his wife OMECIHUATL created all life in the world.

QUETZALCOATL, (the god of civilization and learning) "quetzal (feather) serpent," had dozens of associations. It was the name of a deity, a royal title, the name of a legendary priest-ruler, a title of high priestly office. But its most fundamental significance as a natural force is symbolized by the sculpture of a coiled plumed serpent rising from a base whose underside is carved with the symbols of the earth deity and Tlaloc. The image of the serpent rising from the earth and bearing water on its tail is explained in the Nahuatl language by a description of Quetzalcoatl in terms of the rise of a powerful thunderstorm sweeping down, with wind raising dust before bringing rain.

TEZCATLIPOCA, (god of Night and Sorcery) "Smoking Mirror" (obsidian), characterized as the most powerful, supreme deity, was associated with the notion of destiny. His cult was particularly identified with royalty, for Tezcatlipoca was the object of the lengthy and reverent prayers in rites of kingship.

TLALOC, the rain deity, belonged to another most memorable and universal cult of ancient Mexico. The name may be Aztec, but the idea of a storm god especially identified with mountaintop shrines and life-giving rain was certainly as old as Teotihuacan. The primary temple of this major deity was located atop Mt. Tlaloc, where human victims were sacrificed to fertilize water-rocks within the sacred enclosure. In Tenochtitlan another Tlaloc temple shared the platform atop the dual Main Pyramid, a symbolic mountain.

TONATIUH, the sun, was perceived as a primary source of life whose special devotees were the warriors. The warriors were charged with the mission to provide the sun with sacrificial victims. A special altar to the sun was used for sacrifices in coronation rites, a fact that signifies the importance of the deity. The east-west path of the sun determined the principal ritual axis in the design of Aztec cities.
TONANTZIN, "honored grandmother," was among the many names of the female earth-deity.

TEZCATLIPOCA, an all-powerful god; Tonatiuh, the sun god.

XILONEN, "young maize ear," and Chicomecoatl, "seven serpent," were principal deities of maize representing the chief staple of Mesoamerican peoples.

XIPE TOTEC, the god of springtime and regrowth.

XIUHTECUHTLE the fire god.

CUAUHTEMOC (He who decends like an eagle.) 1520-1521 {koo-ow-tay'-mawk}.

Cuauhtemoc, c.1495-1525, became ruler of the AZTECS in 1521, during the siege of TENOCHTITLAN, and led the final desperate resistance of that city against the Spanish conquistadors. After weeks of street fighting, he surrendered to Hernan CORTES. This act marked the end of the Aztec empire and the beginning of Spanish dominion in Mexico. Cuauhtemoc was first treated kindly by the Spanish, then imprisoned and tortured, and finally hanged during Cortes's march to Honduras, on a charge of plotting treachery. A tomb below the church at his birthplace, Ixcateopan in Guerrero, is said to contain his remains, but not all scholars accept this attribution.

Traditional culture patterns - Religion Part 2

Perhaps the most significant religious event of the Colonial period was the apparition of the Virgin Mary (1531) to a newly converted Indian baptized with the name Juan Diego. While walking across Tepeyac, a hill located just north of the capital, he is said to have beheld a resplendent vision of a dark-skinned woman. She entreated him to go to Bishop Zumárraga and request that a temple be built in her honor on the sacred grounds where the Aztecs had worshipped their mother goddess Tonantzin. As evidence of the miraculous appearance, Juan Diego retrieved an armload of roses from the normally barren hillside, gathering them up in his tilma (cotton cloak). When he unleashed the cascade of flowers at the bishop's feet, he revealed a stunning image of the Virgin imprinted on the cloak. Not unlike the Shroud of Turin, the image of La Virgen de Guadalupe still defies scientific explanation. La Guadalupana, Reina de Mexico (Queen of Mexico), has since become the religious patroness of all Latin Americans.
In the aftermath of the Conquest the Spaniards began to set up Nueva España's political, social and economic structure. While the Ciudad de Mexico was being erected on the ruins of the old Aztec capital, the remainder of the conquered territory was gradually divvied up into grants for huge estates, known as encomiendas, operated under a feudal system by some 500 Spanish landlords. Under the original scheme, title reverted to the Spanish Crown upon the death of the ecomendero (estate owner), but in time heirs were allowed retain rights by inheritance.
The encomendero was entitled to reap whatever benefit he could from the estate, including the unpaid labor of the native inhabitants for working the fields or mines. Theoretically, they were also obliged to look after the physical, intellectual and spiritual well-being of the Indians. With a few exceptions, most exploited their privileges without fulfilling their obligations. Communal village ownership of tillable lands--known as the ejido system--was also established during the early Colonial Period. All of these would become significant factors in subsequent events in Mexico's history.
In any case, although the encomienda system continued into the 18th century, its importance in the overall economy of New Spain was short-lived. The Spanish soldiers responsible for the conquest of Tenochtitlan--along with thousands of new Spanish adventurers who emigrated in the century following the Conquest--took little interest in working the land, preferring instead to set out northward in search of gold and other riches in the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola. The quest for this mythical land of plenty, probably invented by natives as a ploy to send earlier adventurers onward, ultimately proved fruitless.
As colonial society grew, a well-defined caste system developed. The top stratus was formed by Spaniards born in Spain, called peninsulares or gachupines, most of whom came from titled families and held the highest ranking posts in both the government and the clergy. Next came the criollos, those born in Mexico of Spanish parents. While few of the criollos who came to occupy official positions were able to rise above a secondary level, many others managed to prosper by becoming landowners and merchants . A growing number were able to enjoy lives of leisure thanks to the toil of Indians who turned their farms, ranches, mines and commercial ventures into productive enterprises.
The dearth of Spanish women at the start of the Colonial era led to numerous unions between Indian women and Spaniards. An immediate consequence was the birth of many mixed-blood--mostly illegitimate--offspring. These so-called mestizos made up a rapidly growing socioeconomic class that, for the most part, were considered inferior by pure-blood Spaniards. Mestizos --who today make up the vast majority of Mexico's population--were to remain poor and uneducated for many generations.
The native Indians were delegated to the next rung down New Spain's social ladder. Considered wards of the Crown and the Church, the law required that legal authorities, the clergy and the encomenderos protect their welfare. Nonetheless, the Spaniards depended heavily upon native labor. Scarcely looked upon as human beings, hundreds of thousands of Indians were literally worked to death. Others succumbed to new diseases introduced by the Spaniards: smallpox, measles, plague, tuberculosis, and even the common cold. At the time of the Conquest, about nine million indigenous people inhabited Mexico's central plateau. By 1600 they numbered a scant two and a half million.

The devastation of the Indian population created a significant labor shortage. This situation was remedied by importing thousands of African slaves. (Curiously, slavery of the Indians had been prohibited in the mid-16th century by Nueva España's second Viceroy, Luis de Velasco.) Although they came at a premium, due to high transportation costs, the Spaniards willingly paid for slaves who seemed to withstand both hard labor and harsh working conditions better than the Indians. With the remuneration received for their steadfast labor, many Blacks were eventually able to purchase their freedom.
Diverse racial subgroups originated in subsequent generations, including mulattos (Spanish-African), castizos (Spanish-Mestizo), zambos (Indian-African). Added to this mix were the large numbers of Filipinos, Chinese and Europeans of assorted nationalities who emigrated to Mexico during the era. Having emerged from this singular fusion, modern Mexican society has garnered the tag la raza cósmica--the cosmic race.

Religion Part 1

For centuries Mexican Indians have had contact with Christian missionaries and all the agricultural Indians of northern Mexico are nominal Roman Catholics except for a few communities of pagan Tarahumaras, called “gentiles,” and the majority of the Huichol. Even pagan groups, however, have incorporated Christian ideas. Even though the constitution guarantees separation of church and state, Roman Catholicism is practiced by more than 95 percent of the population. The shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the nation's patron saint, is located in Mexico City and is the site of annual pilgrimage for hundreds of thousands of people, many of them peasants. A significant proportion of Indians retain traditional religious beliefs and practices, despite their adherence to Roman Catholicism. Protestant missionaries are active in the country and have been especially successful in converting the urban poor. Religion plays a major role in the Mexican culture!

MEXICO'S COLONIAL ERA
Religion & Society in New Spain

Soon after the Spanish conquistadores conquered the Aztec empire militarily the cultural conquest of Indians began.

The Spaniards were devoutly Roman Catholic. Spain's rise to power came as a direct result of regaining the Liberian peninsula from Moslem rule. In return for having driven out the Moors, the Pope granted the Spanish Crown authority over the Church within its domain, effectively making it the arm of the State. Thus Carlos V conquest of the Americas was more than just a quest for territory and material riches. His personal mission as an agent of the Vatican was the pursuit of souls for salvation.

At that time the Church's organization was divided into two distinct branches. Under the Papal grant of power to the Spanish Crown, the secular clergy was comprised of priests who served under their bishops. The missionary orders, on the other hand, were designated as self-governing bodies under the separate authority of their respective superiors, as decreed by Pope Leon X in 1521. Secular priests were prohibited from interfering with the regular clergy, on penalty of ex-communication. Thus, during Mexico's colonial era, the secular clergy worked hand in hand with civil authorities, while the missionary friars, laboring independently, tended to have greater influence over the common people.

The first Franciscan missionaries, sent by Carlos V at Cortez request, arrived in Mexico in 1523 and 1524. By 1559 there were 300 Franciscan friars at 80 missions throughout Nueva España. They were followed by the Dominicans (1525), the Augustinians (1533), and finally, the Jesuits (1571). Altogether some 12,000 churches were built during the three centuries of Spanish rule over Mexico.

Although their chief goal was to perform the sacraments and introduce the Indians to the fundamentals of Christian doctrine, in many respects the missionary friars laid the groundwork for the fusion of the Spanish and Indian cultures. They also took responsibility for the basic education of the Indians, an effort greatly enhanced by their intense study of Indian languages. They established schools where youngsters learned to read and write and were introduced to European music and the arts. Adults were trained to practice agriculture and trades, learning European methods in masonry, carpentry, ironwork, weaving, dying, and ceramics.

The first archbishop of Mexico, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, was another steadfast advocate for the indigenous people who, in conjunction with Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza, established the renowned Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco School for the sons of Indian nobles. He earned the moniker "Protector of the Indians" after founding of the Santa Fe hospices in Mexico City and Paztcuaro, where aid was dispensed to the poorest of natives. He also set up the first printing press in the Americas.

Since it was customary for Mesoamerican cultures to adopt the religion of conquering tribes, the Indians were not naturally inclined to resist conversion to Christianity. There were in fact certain similarities in doctrines and rituals that facilitated matters. Human sacrifice--a practice the Spaniards found particularly distasteful -- predisposed the Aztecs to readily accept the concept of consuming the body and blood of Christ in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Likewise, it was not a stretch for the Indians to substitute adoration of the Virgin Mary for worship of Tonantzin, their mother figure.

Although the church tried hard to put an end to most pagan practices, some ancient religious customs were assimilated in the celebration of Christians holidays. For example, All Souls Day, November 2nd, closely coincided with the Aztec's autumn rituals in honor of departed ancestors, giving rise to the unique Day of the Dead festivities still observed in Mexico today.
Look for part 2 in December update.

The African – Mexican Connection

As of the early 1990’s in Mexico, some Indian peoples still play instruments made by their ancient relatives. Their songs and dances are a tribute to their ancestors and tell of uprisings against their masters. They play African hand pianos and do the dance of the black people. They also sing “corridos” (song stories) of slave uprisings.

These are little known facts and traditions that quietly show the African presence is still alive and well in Mexico.

It seems that history of Mexico from the beginning of the 16th century was formed by three cultures. The indigenous peoples, the Europeans and the Africans.
The late University of Veracruz professor, Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán calls Africa the third root of the Americas.

Usually people think of early Africans in the Americas as associated with the slave trade in the United States. The slave trade was also a part of life in Caribbean, Central America, Peru, Columbia, Brazil and Mexico.

You won’t find it in many history books, but Mexico was also a key port of entry for slave ships and thus had a large population of Africans. Actually, during the colonial era there were more Africans than there were Europeans in Mexico.

It is said that blacks did not leave the country, but in fact took part in forging the great racial mixture that is Mexico today.

Because of inner marriages, much of the African presence is no longer visible except in a few places such as Veracruz and the Costa Chica in Guerrero and Oaxaca.

In Mexico, many of the Africans that entered came to what are now the states of Yucatan, Michoacan, Tlaxcala, Mexico, Chiapas, Veracruz, Guerrero and Oaxaca. Contrary to popular thought, they did not remain in the south but migrated throughout the whole of Mexico, where they were employed in occupations such as mining, the textile industry, ranching, fishing and agriculture. Blacks in Mexico weren't just slaves. Many were explorers and cofounders of settlements as far north as Los Angeles and other parts of what is today the Southwest United States.

Prior to independence from Spain, there were numerous slave rebellions in Mexico. The first documented slave rebellion in Mexico occurred in 1537; this was followed by the establishment of various runaway slave settlements called "palenques." Some rebellions were in alliance with Indians and mestizos even as far north as Chihuahua. In 1608, Spaniards negotiated the establishment of a free black community with Yagna, a runaway rebel slave. Today, that community in Veracruz bears its founder's name.

The principal guerrilla fighters for Mexican independence from Spain were Indians, mestizos and mulattos. One of the primary leaders of the independence movement, José María Morelos y Pavón, was mulatto, or of African ancestry, as was Vicente Guerrero, Mexico's second president, who officially abolished slavery in 1822. Slavery was actually not done away with until 1829.
Also, often left out in history is Mexico's role as a sanctuary to African American slaves during the 19th century. Unknown to even most historians, descendants of these slaves still live in Mexico.
In the summer of 1850, the Mascogos, composed of runaway slaves and free blacks from Florida, along with Seminoles and Kikapus, fled south from the United States, to the Mexican border state of Coahuila. Accompanying the Seminoles were also 'Black Seminoles' -- slaves who had been freed by the tribe after battles against white settlers in Florida.

The three groups eventually settled the town of El Nacimiento, Coahuila, where many of their descendants remain.

Note, much information in this article is from the research of University of Veracruz professor, Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán. His research was not well received in Mexico, states Gabriel Moedano Navarro, director of ethnohistory at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico. By 1946, the psyche of the Mexican nation was a mixture of Indian and Spanish blood.

Traditions in Sonora

Sonora’s most representative dance, which has distinguished the region for years, is the Mazoyiwua dance, or “dance of the deer”.

Popular festivities and Celebrations

Almost 200 popular festivities are celebrated in Sonora per year. Most of them revolve around patron saints and are combined with civic celebrations moreover, each region gives each festivity unique characteristics.

Local Dance

Sonora’s most representative dance, which has distinguished the region for years, is the Mazoyiwua dance, or “dance of the deer”.

The Dance of the Deer consists of an Indigenous Dance and it is attributed to the Yaqui Culture.
Clothes:

The deer costume consists of cotton shorts or trousers and a “rebozo” (piece of cloth) that covers the forehead and the back and is kept in place using a belt, from which deer hooves hang. Dry butterfly cocoon threads are coiled on the calves and give the movements of the bare feet a peculiar sound. They clasp two candy rattles, with which they mark the rhythm, and the dancer covers his head with a white rag with a dissected deer head, adorned with ribbons, on top of it. The individual that performs this dance has to represent a deer to the point of practically becoming said animal.

Instruments:
The "baa-wehai" or “bueja” (water drum), is a large ceramic or wood container that remains fixed to the seat and is filled with water. A “jicara”, with a cord attached to a small orifice so that it won’t drift away (and which the musician controls with his left hand), floats on the water. The “jícara” is then drummed, on its convex side, with a "baa jiponia", which is a small piece of wood covered with a dry corn leaf, and tightened with an “ixtle” string. The "baa jiponia" rests on the musician’s right hand.

There are also the "hirúkiam", which are made out of grooved Brazil twigs (one is thin and long and the other smooth and smaller in size). One end of the longer, serrated twig is placed on the “jicara”’s convex side, with the “jicara” facing downwards (which will work as an acoustic box), and the other end is held by the musician’s left hand. With the right hand, one strokes the longer twig with the smooth short one which produces a sound that resembles a deer’s agitated breathing.

There are typically two "hirúkiam" musicians. The first musician plays the primitive chants and sings them in Yaqui dialect.

Because they are completely natural, the dancer’s instruments produce sounds that bear a resemblance to those of the earth, water and air and deeply touch the audience.
Dance: It begins with reed flute music and a drum. The deer appears with the sound of the rattles and the dancer imitates the animal’s movements. After being stuck by an arrow, the deer begins a battle against death. Vigorously attempting not to die, its strength vanishes and it rises tremulously at which point one can hear a drum throbbing, symbolizing the deer’s heartbeats. Despite its attempts to live, the deer begins to quiver and is enveloped in spasms until it lies motionless. The instruments and the chanting continues and gives way to the dancer who, with his bloodied hands, becomes a medium for the deer’s spirit and thus reconstructs its movements, which can be timid, careful, feral and/or playful, giving the dance a unique and colorful individuality.

Tradition: The dance must be performed by a male Yaqui Indian whose parents have destined him for such an endeavor since early childhood. The aforementioned person is taught, from childhood, to always behave like a deer and even receives a special diet enabling him to develop a thin and agile body which will allow him to better imitate animal’s movements. The deer is considered to have a compilation of qualities that are harmonious as a whole: reality, truth and beauty. The ideal of the Yaqui Indian is to be a deer-dancer.

Crafts: Sonora has a great variety of crafts that have been passed on from generation to generation, allowing the State’s identity to persist. Each of these skills is related to the lifestyle and traditions of each region.
Crafts that can be found in our State:
• Pottery
• Indigenous crafts such as Paskola masks, Fariseo masks, leather key rings, Mayan lottery, leather sandals (huaraches), chairs, cots, dresses made by the Yaqui tribe, Chapayeca masks, bed rolls
• Ceramic crafts (bowls, pitchers, pots)
• Reed crafts (bed rolls and curtains).
• Crafts made out of tree roots.
• Marine crafts: made out of sea shells, figures elaborated out of sea products (shells and snails among others)
• Leather articles (jackets, vests, and slippers)
• Trays
• Fabric embroidering
• Hammocks and bed rolls
• Cowboy boots
• Baskets
• Brooms
• Wood Figurines
• Horseshoes
• Fine wood furniture
• Wood clocks
• Copper objects such as ash trays, paperweights, shields
• Pine wood products
• Chairs and tables
• Hats
• Leather mounting chairs, belts, harness and saddles
• Palm articles such as hats and baskets

Cultural Tips and Information

The Culture

Whether you are being God’s hands and feet or just vacationing in México (or any foreign country) it is important to be culturally sensitive to the people and their traditions. It can be fun, interesting and educational (but don’t tell the kids about the educational part). It may even keep you from getting into trouble!

The Cultural page will not bore you or load you down with a lot of stuff you have to remember. Hopefully the information we pass on to you will be entertaining and helpful.

We love the Mexican people, their culture (even if we don’t understand or agree with all of it) and enjoy living and being a part of it. We hope you will, too.

Most Americans are outgoing, question-oriented, fun loving people, even when we meet strangers.

Not so in the Mexican culture. While being fun loving and outgoing with their family and friends, when meeting and being around strangers the Mexican people can be quiet and reserved. This is a sign of respect, not arrogance or unfriendliness. Once you get to know them, there is plenty of laughter and joking. So, please be respectful of and patient with their quietness.

What would you do if someone pulled up in front of your house and blew their car horn or stood there and called out your name? I might think they are rude or lazy!

To be polite and respectful in the Mexican culture, you rarely walk up to someone’s home unannounced (especially in the barrio). The proper thing to do is to stand in front of their home and call out or honk your car horn to announce your presence and then wait for their reply and invitation to come in, “pasele”.

When you get to know someone well, then it may be proper to go into their yard and approach their house to announce your presence.

Interacting With the People

Family is of primary importance to most Mexican people. They are very relational and family time together has much more importance than material possessions. And they treat each other accordingly.

Whether we Americans are in the tourist areas or in the barrio, the Mexican people will be watching to see how we treat each other and our children.

Manos de Dios and our representatives will carry ourselves in a manner that reflects our Christian roots. We show respect to the Mexican people and their culture. We also show respect and honor to our families and friends. Your best witness will be in your actions.

Visiting the Barrio

We find most people in the barrios of Mexico are decent, hard working and compassionate. Even in the face of adversity they are joyful, positive and hospitable to friends and strangers a like. We may notice some things about the people that we do not understand. If you do, please don’t make unfounded judgments.

You may notice people and children with yellow or brown teeth. This may be caused by minerals in the water, not poor hygiene. The people in the barrio are usually clean and well dressed. If you notice someone that has dirty hair, clothes or skin the reason could quite possible be that they live in an area where water is very scarce or not available for bathing and laundry.

Many Mexicans do not treat dogs as family/household pets. They are animals that are left alone to fend for themselves. In the barrios, they eat whatever they can find in the streets and garbage cans. For this reason we suggest that you do not feed the dogs or other animals. If they are fed dog food, it may mess up their digestive tract and you know what happens then!

Donations: if someone asks for a donation of food, clothing, or money, etc. we suggest you advise them to seek assistance from their local pastor. Manos de Dios helps to stock the church food pantries and clothing banks. Pastors know who truly has a need in their area and have equitable methods of distributing items to the needy. You may also see children as young as five or six years old selling things in the streets, on the beach or even bagging groceries in a market. The sight will tug at your heartstrings and you may want to buy something from them or give them a large tip for their assistance. Before you do, please be advised of the following. If the children are successful selling items or make a lot of money from tips, it is quite possible the parents will keep them out of school so they can work the streets. While this is an immediate fix and adds needed money to their income, the children will be hurt in the long run. Working instead of going to school will deprive them of an education that could increase their chances of a brighter future. Speaking of children, we suggest that you don’t give them candy. Most children do not have access to a dentist or regular oral hygiene. If you want to give them a treat, purchase fruit from a local street vendor (helping the local economy) and pass it out to the children.

Handy Phrases in Spanish

My name is….Robert Me llamo…Roberto

What is your name? Como se llama?

Out of respect, always use these phrases when meeting people you don’t know and the elderly:

Good morning (sun up till noon) Buenos dias

Good afternoon (noon till dusk) Buenas tardes

Good evening (dusk till dawn) Buenas noches

If you are with friends, you can say “hola” instead of the formal greeting. Many people say “bueno” when answering the phone in place of our “hello”.

Where is the restroom? ¿Donde esta el baño?

People of Sonora

Indiginous Groups in Sonora

There are 9 tribes in Sonora, and 8 of them still populate the state and continue with their history and traditions.

The villages they use to live in were constructed according to the temperature of the region; towns and villages were founded on the river banks and agriculture was their economy.
They are rich and varied in their culture and extremely artistic.

We will highlight two tribes each month.

There can be friction between the Mexican people and the Indians of Mexico. Be very cautious when speaking about one people group to another. It is best not to take sides but to realize both groups may have valid reasons for their particular views.

Opatas

The same as their neighbors, The Jovas and the Eudeves, the Opatas have already disappeared as a distinct ethnic unit.

The Opata dialect, classified within the Yuto-astec family of the Taracahitiano group of the Sonora subfamily is nowadays a dead language. Ever since 1950, Opata-speaking individuals have not been registered and only some phrases and isolated words have been preserved.
The Opata dialect is part of the Taracahitian of Uto-Aztec branch. The word Opata means “hostile people” in Pima dialect, and this was the term used by the Pimas when they referred to the Opatas.

Opatas do not make any crafts except for their basketwork. The pottery they make is for their own personal use. They also make trays and wooden spoons.

The meeting points for the Opatas religious activities are the catholic temples.
San Isidro Labrador is the most popular and venerated Saint in the whole area and surrounding villages.

Seris

Seris refer to themselves as “KonKaak” which means “the people”.
Seri means “the one that really runs fast” in Opata dialect.

The Konkaak dialect is part of the filum or Hokano lineage, which also includes the Coahuilteco (Northwest of Mexico) and the Tlapaneco.

According to several experts, Seris are part of the Yumano group of the Sioux-Hokana.
Their craftmanship focuses primarily in iron-wood-carving, knitting and weaving of “coritas” (baskets) and the necklace production. Iron-wood carving started, as stated by people sayings, in 1964 by Don Josè Astorga Encinas in a critical moment for the tribe, who needed incomes to survive.

Seris people never developed a very complex festive-religious government system. Their interpretation of the world , their rituals, their festivities and cultural manifestations are closely related to nature and the biological and social concept of the group’s reproduction.
Their major festivities are still those celebrating the “puberty”, the arrival of the seven edges cahuama, the rite of the dead man and those related to the Seri’s New Year and the end of the “coritas” production.

Pimas

The term Pima means “there is no”, “it doesn’t exist”, “I don’t have”, or probably “I don`t understand”. Pimas call themselves O’ob, which means “the people”.
The Pima dialect is partof the Yuto-Aztec stem, composed of the Taracachita(Corahuichol), Nahua and Pima or Pimana branch or subgroup.

Long ago Pima women made pots, palm products and woolen garments . Pimas make products with vegetable fibers, such as hats, mats, suitcases or rectangular baskets with lids or covers to store all kinds of things.

Christianity taught by the missionaries had to be adapted to their native language and mentality. In addition , the diverse indigeneous groups added substancial elements of their own religion, rituals and ceremonies, and finally the Pimas ended up accepting San Francisco as their patron saint.

The conflicts between native and non native populations, in addition to other less symbolic manidifestations, appear dramatized in their festivities and celebrations. Celebrations held at the ceremonial centers differ from those observed in the communities.
Some festivities organized in the ceremonial centers are:
. La Santa Cruz (May 3rd)
. Holy Week ceremonies
. The celebration of San Francisco (October 4th),
. The Virgin of Guadalupe Day” (December 12)
The community celebrations are agrarian rituals that commemorate relevant stages of the agricultural cycle, such as:
. The “Yoreme”, or the San Juan Bautista festivity (June 14) which is celebrated with ritual bathes honoring the rain.

Mayos

According to the group’s tradition, the word “Mayo” means “people from the shore”. Mayos refer to themselves as “yoremes”, “ people who respect tradition”, and call white men “yori” “those who show no respect”.

The Mayo dialect is part of the Taracahitiana family, of the cahita sub-family with Uto-Azteca roots, and it is related to the Yaqui and the Guarijìo dialects.

Craftsmanship is not the main activity for the Mayo`s economy. Wool blankets, dyed wool strips woven in waist looms, water pots,stick mats, different kinds of baskets, harps and violins.

In their rites, chants and dances, the nature has a provider role. It is the world supplier. This is expressed in the character that dancers represent as deer and the pascola.

One of the Mayo legends tells how “God created gold for the Yoris and working instruments for the Yoremes”

The Mayo religion is structured around their ceremonial centers or traditional towns, composed of small commnunities congregated around their saints.

Pápagos

Pàpagos call themselves “Tohono O’odham”, which means “people of the desert”.

This ethnic group lives in the desert of Sonora and
Arizona. They occupy Caborca, Rocky Point, Sàric, Altar and Plutarco Elìas Calles. This group has two nationalities, but most of them live in Arizona (United States of America). Its territory extends to the mid-valley and the elevated portion of the Gila River.

O’odham dialect is closely related with Pima dialect, and both comprise the Pimana branch of the Yetonahua .

In July they celebrate the traditional ritual to invoke the rain “Vi ikita”, and on October 4th they have a celebration honoring their patron saint, San Francisco de Asis.

Guarijíos

They call themselves “Macurawes or Macuraguis”, which means “those who hold the soil”. Several historical documents refer to them as Ehíos, Varojíos, Warojios and Gaurijios.

Linguistically speaking, Guarijíos belong to the group Nahua-Huitlateco, Yulo-Nahua stock and Pima Cora family. They make handcrafts with natural materials like palm, clay, branches, and fibers, with which they weave baskets, mats, hats, angarias or angarillas (baskets made with three hoops of braided branches) and a natural fiber net used to carry objects hung on the back.

They are very religious, combining pre-Hispanic and catholic elements.

Their main festivities are:

• The Tuguardas

• Wakes

• End of the year celebrations

• Cava pizca celebration.

• The Tuguarda or Tuburada is the major celebration with greater presence throughout the year. The Guarijì man must have three of these celebrations in his lifetime, while women must have four because they are considered to have “more of a tendency to sin and must pay for it”. This festivity is held for diverse community reasons, in addition to those marked by the catholic calendar.
  

Yaquis

The history of the Yaqui is full of acts of heroic resistance in order to defend their territory and culture, an ancestral culture enriched by its rites and traditions, where the “Danza del Venado” (The Deer Dance) stands out; this is the symbolic representation of the deer hunt, and its artistic richness has generated an enormous interest around the world.

In 1523, the first white man trying to conquer the Yaqui territory was Diego de Guzman, but he failed. During the 17th century, Diego Martìnez de Hurdaide made a second military incursion, but was defeated again; yet, this time a Peace Treaty was signed with the Yaqui people. This smoothed the progress for the acknowledgment of two Jesuit missionaries, Andrès Pèrez and Tomàs Basilio, who also influenced the organization of the group. They started the concentration and regrouping of the Yaqui people.

Given that they were scattered in 80 communities and 8 villages: Cocorit o Espíritu Santo, Santa Rosa de Bacum, San Ignacio de Torim, La Natividad del Señor de Vicam, Santísima Trinidad de Potam, La Asunción de Rahúm, Santa Bárbara de Huirivis and San Miguel de Belén.
They make pottery and woven baskets, as well as carved-wood masks and drums used in their dances and festivities.

Yaqui tribes are very religious people, and their spirituality extends to all their activities and is apparent primarily in their collective dances and festivities. The Virgen del Carmen is their patron saint.

l

Please visit our supporter's websites :