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Paulina
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3810
Registered: 8-31-2002
Location: BCN
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by MrBillM
For years my wife and I have discussed what we would do if we were to run across a dead body in the Baja desert. One thing we are completely in
agreement on. Just keep Driving. |
I know of someone who came across a dead body in the desert. He drove back to town and reported his 'find' to a very well respected member of the
community. After this elderly gentleman was sure of the body's location, his words were, "You didn't find that body. I did." I'm sure he had an idea
of what the American would possibly go through should he have reported it to the authorities.
[Edited on 17-6-2006 by Paulina]
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
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Patton
Kudos for being human.
Ditto for legs.
Villa, indulge yourself :
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=1432
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=9072#pid73949
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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PATTON
Newbie
Posts: 2
Registered: 6-14-2006
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Hello again. It all started when I went to the police station in Loreto to get my Mexican driver's license the day before we headed north. Across the
room a photograph was posted on the wall. I assumed it was the face of a most-wanted criminal, and I walked over to take a look. I was stunned. The
picture was not the face of a hardened criminal, but that of a young man. His face, in death, was simply a kind one. His lips were badly chapped. His
hair was curly and his body looked young and strong. That afternoon, I happened to be meeting friends for lunch at La Picazon, the little restaurant
along the dirt road to El Bajo?the road of the young man's death walk. At lunch I asked the owner if she happened to know any more about the case. I
was startled when she matter-of-factly said she had met him as she was driving into town in January. She thought perhaps he was lost, so she stopped
to talk to him. He said he was "headed for the highway" and she suggested he turn around and go back through town?that he was on the wrong road. She
handed him her partial-full bottle of water she had in the car and continued on her day. She said he was wearing a green jacket and had nothing with
him. I asked her if he looked like he was drunk or on drugs, and she said no. He was responsive and took the bottle of water. His body was found later
that week.
I believe that with compasion and caring on the part of anyone in Loreto, he could be identified with relatively little effort. I guess I just regret
I am not there to continue asking questions, or to show his photo to each and every one of the hundreds of Loreto Bay workers until I found the group
he arrived with in town. I believe if asked, someone will answer with his name and place of origin. It only takes the time to ask. Anyone in Loreto
has an opportunity to give that silent gift to his family.
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Diver
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4729
Registered: 11-15-2004
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Well, I guess he told you guys ! 
Good karma, PATTON !
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Don Alley
Super Nomad
Posts: 1997
Registered: 12-4-2003
Location: Loreto
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New homes are being offered to North Americans at costs of $300 per square foot or more in the Loreto area. In return for building these North
American priced homes for North Americans, Mexican workers receive low Mexican-level wages and often poor living conditions. And it has been suggested
that in this case, a worker was considered too insignificant to rate an investigation sufficient to even establish his identity after death.
Maybe the man should have slipped across the northern border, illegally, looking for work. He couldn't be worse off, could he?
Then again, on either side of the border, the name of the game is to find the cheapest source of labor, with little consideration for law or justice.
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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You are a good man, Patton.
I hope someone will take up your cause.
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Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
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Mood: Just dancing through life
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Kudos
to both newby's for caring. Hope you can ignore the slings and arrows of a few and stay with us.
We need you lurkers to come out and help balance this forum with positive vibes.
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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Paula
Super Nomad
Posts: 2219
Registered: 1-5-2006
Location: Loreto
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It is a crime that Mexican and other non-resident workers anyplace can disappear with no one concerned about what has become of them.
Patton, did the woman at La Picazon say if he had said he was a Loreto Bay worker? As I remember, in January, this was assumed but not known. I had
also heard around that time that a number of workers had walked off the job.
I would like to think that if I owned a business that employed people who were away from their homes and families that I would check up on them if
they went missing. If a worker simply didn't show up for a few days, I think I would talk to his co-workers to learn if he is OK, and then to the
police if I didn't find him. Had his employer reported him missing, they at least would know who he was.
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Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
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Place the blame where it lays
| Quote: | Originally posted by Don Alley
In return for building these North American priced homes for North Americans, Mexican workers receive low Mexican-level wages and often poor living
conditions. And it has been suggested that in this case, a worker was considered too insignificant to rate an investigation sufficient to even
establish his identity after death.
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It is MEXICAN contractors, who often intentionally fail to pay IMSS and other benefits, who hire low-wage MEXICAN workers.
And it would be MEXICAN police who would determine whether a death was insignificant or that a case should merit investigation.
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Don Alley
Super Nomad
Posts: 1997
Registered: 12-4-2003
Location: Loreto
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Dave
| Quote: | Originally posted by Don Alley
In return for building these North American priced homes for North Americans, Mexican workers receive low Mexican-level wages and often poor living
conditions. And it has been suggested that in this case, a worker was considered too insignificant to rate an investigation sufficient to even
establish his identity after death.
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It is MEXICAN contractors, who often intentionally fail to pay IMSS and other benefits, who hire low-wage MEXICAN workers.
And it would be MEXICAN police who would determine whether a death was insignificant or that a case should merit investigation.
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Hey, you can place the blame wherever you want.
I'm just suggesting that a system that allows US and Canadian investors to walk away with big profits CALCULATED largely on low labor costs may reach
a point of injustice, particularly in a case of a worker dying such an anonymous death. I also imply a certain irony in a system where Americans blame
Mexico for the prevailing low wages that drive illegal immigration, yet Americans rely on those same low wages to make their growing Mexican
investments more profitable, and wouldn't dream of interfering with the Mexican contractors they hire.
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Don Alley
Super Nomad
Posts: 1997
Registered: 12-4-2003
Location: Loreto
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Braulio
Originally posted by Don Alley
Hey, you can place the blame wherever you want.
Where would you place the blame Don? What would you have the Amereicans do - not go to Mexico - not legally buy there? Would Mexico be better off
then?
Originally posted by Don Alley
may reach a point of injustice,
I think we may have already arrived.
[Edited on 6-19-2006 by Braulio] |
Developers, contractors and buyers:
People set up a system to insulate themselves-and their money-as much as possible from the Mexican worker. Foreign enclaves bought from foreign
companies that employ Mexican subcontractors to hire the workers. So we have a peninsula awash in both gringo dollars and Mexican poverty.
I'm not convinced this is a Mexican problem. Western economies function best when there is a balance between laissez-faire capitalism and government
and unions protecting the interests of workers.
Those days have yet to reach Mexico, where a few families own almost everything. And they are disappearing from the USA, where manufacturing and now
even service jobs are outsourced overseas, minimum wages stay flat, CEO pay skyrockets, and we see once unimaginable displays of wealth among the few,
like spending over $150,000,000 for a painting.
I don't think you have to be a communist or socialist...I just think the Golden Rule should have some influence on business models. (No, not "those
with the gold, rule.") In the long run, keeping a class in povery to reduce prices to the well off and to increase profits to the very well off
results in a dangerous imbalance that leads to instability...if not revolution then increased crime and lawlessness.
Police:
Loreto is faced with very rapid growth. Only a few years ago said to have 10-12 thousand people, recently the munincipal presidente claimed two-year
growth of 5000 people. For government services, that can cause problems. For the police, the quantity of work, from traffic work, to disturbances, to
crime, rises. And as the city grows, bringing in new peoples and more money, the nature of the crimes change as well. Murder was not much of a concern
in "sleepy little Loreto," but if/when we reach the projected 150-250 thousand people it will happen. Local police simply are not equipped with the
manpower, the expertise or the experience to deal with these new challenges. More funds are needed for training, for more personel, and for more pay.
And it has to be done NOW before a culture of apathy takes hold. But there is no money for these things in Baja.
Just money to turn beautiful beaches into strips of palatial houses, mazes of condos, towering hotels and sprawling golf courses. There's always money
for that. And with the arrival of Gated Communities, safety and security also become commodities reserved for the wealthy, so maybe we don't need more
or better police.
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SiReNiTa
Special Correspondent
Posts: 881
Registered: 5-5-2006
Location: Ensenada, B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
Mood: Savoring life while saving the world!
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ok ok ok i?'m not big on investments i guess i don't understand much about it...but really how can you place the blame on other mexicans...mayb it was
an accident maybe not..i agree the police should have looked in to it...but hey...it's like saying alll mexicans are to blame because of one
man...rest in peace...and to every one who showed compassion thank you...i just want to remind you it could be a member of your family or mine that is
missing one day and i am sure we will not like it a bit!
Live life as well as you can,
don\'t regret the things that once made you smile,
learn from your mistakes,
and thank God for every second he gives you upon this earth.
Visit me at
Http://BajaScents.Scentsy.com.mx
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