Mexico, a place where criminals rule the streets, crime goes unpunished, and the only authority you can rely on is the bullet in your gun.
Thinking of Mexico as this last standing remnant of a wild west makes it seem so much more exciting, doesn't it? I'll be the first to admit that I'm guilty of perceiving Mexico as being a place where crime runs rampant. There's no helping it, the stereotype is everywhere. The last film that I watched that even bothered to portray Mexico was Sin Nombre. The entire movie revolved around the Mexican criminal gang Mara Salvatrucha and their cruel methods, needless to say, there were killings galore.
So, is there killings galore? According to Carlos González Gutiérrrez, Sacramento's Consul General of Mexico, there isn't. During the speech Gutiérrrez gave in Sacramento State's University Ballroom on Monday, he claimed that the violence that stems out of Mexico's criminal activities effect only a small portion of the population. Out of a recent sample taken of 100,000 Mexican citizens, 10 deaths are labeled as homicides each year. Much lower then Columbia, another place known for its troubles with crime, especially drug trafficking. In Columbia there are 48 murders a year for every 100,000 citizens.
"The Mexican government has been successful so far in their efforts in stomping out crime," Gutiérrrez said with a seemingly confident tone.
It is something worth being concerned about, as Mexico has had an extremely aggravating time in dealing with crime in the past, and it continues to. According to the Mexican Crime report of 2009, the unreported crime rate could be as high as 85 percent. Organized gangs and drug cartels in Mexico still account for most of the heroin, cocaine and marijuana brought into the United States. Political corruption has only recently been a problem brought to the surface, and has adversely effected the way crime has been dealt with in Mexico.
And with border security remaining just as high, apparently our government still perceives there being a threat on the other side.
As bad as it may be, it's good that somebody is at last trying to fight back. Before Monday's speech, I was just another one of those stereotypical people that believed that the place was just letting criminals run amok. Gutiérrrez gave me a more accurate picture of the modern Mexico, and how they've been just as fed up with the problem as how they've been pigeonholed. Assuredly Gutiérrrez knows how difficult fighting back crime in Mexico will be, and that's why it's especially important for people to know that its being fought.
During his speech Gutiérrrez said, "As the levels of violence go up, our efforts to prevent it increase as well." He continued on to mention how conflict, and bloodshed, was inevitable. There is a war raging between criminals and law enforcement right now in Mexico. If Mexico's authorities are being as vigilant as they'll need to be to put an end to crime in Mexico, then this certainly isn't going to bode well for the Mara Salvatrucha.
The writer did some good thinking aloud in this, which would have been stronger if he could have avoided the first personal pronoun.
ReplyDeleteIn his second paragraph he used a good image - a movie - but could have been expanded with details to make the point.
This sentence was powerful, but then was not followed up:
"As bad as it may be, it's good that somebody is at last trying to fight back."
The writer didn't give a clear picture of what he meant. Did he mean police, the army? Where, when, how?
The ending did wrap things up well, with going back to the criminal gang mentioned earlier. That gang - and a focus on their part in the violence - might have made for a stronger column.