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CaboRon
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To Live in Mexico is to Cease to be a Citizen
Living with Mexico's Trauma of Insecurity
By Sergio Aguayo Quezada
· The Mexican state's routine failure to guarantee the safety of citizens eclipses even the flu-virus emergency in importance, says Sergio Aguayo
Quezada.
Mexico, since mid-April 2009, has been the unaccustomed center of global attention. The sourcing of the H1N1 flu virus to the country triggered a
national and international health emergency that has led Mexico and its people to be regarded with a new kind of alarm and suspicion in its
neighborhood and far beyond.
This experience has brought an unexpected dose of discomfort and unpleasantness to a people who are already living through a collective emergency of a
different kind: one that goes to the very heart of the state, and its ability – or rather inability – to ensure a minimum degree of safety to its
citizens. When the "swine flu" emergency passes – and current signs are cautiously hopeful in this regard – this deeper, endemic, structural crisis
will remain (see Is Mexico Moving towards a State of Failure?, by Sergio Aguayo Quezada, 02/23/09).
This crisis is consuming far more lives – and for every life it takes, its tentacles spread fear into the private spaces and hearts of many other
citizens. It affects the poor and the marginal, but it also touches those who by profession might wish to think themselves inoculated against it. What
follows is one such example of Mexico's trauma of insecurity.
The dust of life
The noise surrounding the "swine flu" crisis has been deafening, but even at its loudest it never silenced the drumbeat of the "other" danger. On the
very day that the World Health Organization raised the status of the global health alert, 27 April 2009, news came through that eight police officers
had been "executed" by gangsters in the northern city of Tijuana
As the health story subsides, the killings continue.
To understand what is happening in Mexico one fact must be recognized at the outset: very few government institutions are either committed to
representing the public interest, or even work with a minimum degree of efficiency. In particular, the security apparatus is a disaster; only the
armed forces, stretched beyond their limits, can be partially exempted from this judgment. This is a situation created by the errors, the
incapacities, and the outright corruptions of all Mexico's political forces – including President Felipe Calderón, his administration, and his party.
To live in Mexico is to suffer the uncertainty of insecurity. In most cities around the world, 21st-century modernity means having twenty-four-hour
access to ATMs to get cash. In Mexico, it is dangerous to do so. The capital city is divided into boroughs, amongst which is Benito Juárez, headed by
the rightwing Partido Acción Nacional (National Action Party). One of its officials, Jaime Slomianski Aguilar, made the following recommendation: "To
safeguard the citizen's security it would be convenient not to make withdrawals at banks. It is best to pay the commission [that banks charge to make
online payments] than take risks by making withdrawals." This flagrant confession of the state's obligation to ensure security to citizens is but one
index of how serious – yet how "normalized" – Mexico's crisis has become.
However, neither does a retreat to the seclusion of home guarantee tranquility. In early April I received a telephone call from a person who – in the
characteristic tones of northern Mexico – introduced himself as my cousin Victor, son of my deceased uncle Pancho, who had migrated to and ended his
life in the United States. My cousin, with every evidence of joyful enthusiasm, announced that he would arrive at my home the next day; he was
carrying a lot of money from his own sojourn in the US, he wanted to set up a business, and needed my advice. He expressed a wish to stay at my place
("I already have the address, cousin, see you there tomorrow.") The sacredness of family in Mexico caused me to hesitate, but a sense of
self-preservation (along with a sliver of guilt) led me to respond that it was impossible for me to house my cousin; but I compensated by arranging a
time to meet.
To live in Mexico is to be permanently on alert. After the call, I rang my Aunt Lola, who half a century ago had married an American war veteran and
gone with him to live in California. My aunt is the family's walking encyclopedia: the one who knows the comings and goings, the ups and downs, of the
hundreds of relatives who make a living on the other side of the border. Among the obligatory recounting of the latest tragedies and illnesses, she
delivered a sad piece of news: my cousin Victor had passed away from diabetes a couple of years earlier. The poor man "never took care of himself."
There were two possibilities: either cousin Victor was communicating from the world beyond or we were facing an impostor who was preparing a robbery,
a scam or a kidnapping. On balance, we decided that the latter was more likely.
A long, worried discussion with my Catalan wife followed. She instantly remembered a call received a few months earlier informing us – amid insults
and threats – that our son had been kidnapped. The fact that our progeny lives in Madrid meant that we could afford (routine alarm at the invasion of
our privacy and the threatening experience aside) to ignore this effort. But "Victor" worried us more, because we could not be sure what information
he possessed.
What could we do? We dismissed the idea of notifying the police, even though the federal (conservative) government advertises a special program
against telephone extortions. When security is at stake, Mexicans do not call the police – their inefficiency is beyond belief, and there is a chance
that they are complicit with the delinquents (see Sam Quinones, "State of War", Foreign Policy, March-April 2009).
Every Mexican has a story in this regard. Here is mine. In late 2008, burglars ransacked our flat (in a capital governed, since 1997, by Mexico's main
leftwing party). They tore down a bulletproof door, covered the floor with the scattered contents of drawers and closets, and took everything they
wanted. The city's attorney-general paid personal attention to the matter, and my house was filled with waves of detectives and policemen. They took
fingerprints of the suspects, but the case went no further because the city police department lacks coordination with the federal government and has
no access to the national databases.
To live in Mexico is to cease to be a citizen. Such experiences are not extraordinary. They are a part of the everyday existence of this wonderful
country filled with contrasts and extremes. After the robbery, we shared once more in the routine defense strategy of millions of others who
substitute themselves for the state by reinforcing doors and windows, setting up alarms, and exchanging anecdotes of impotence and fear.
The elite of pals
The collapse of Mexico's security institutions has many sources. An unavoidable one is the sheer ineptitude of a good portion of the high bureaucracy.
A research study by the civil-society organization Gestión Social y Cooperación (Gesoc) finds that – generous salaries and privileges notwithstanding
– around 40% of the senior ranks of the federal bureaucracy are unqualified for the position they occupy. No wonder: those in place simply hand out
jobs to their friends or accomplices. Felipe Calderón has participated, consciously and deliberately, in this game.
The Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Publica (SNSP) has the responsibility of coordinating actions by the federal, state and municipal governments.
Hence, it occupies a central role in the war against insecurity and its narco agents. If the system worked, the capital's police would (at a minimum)
be able to learn the identity of those who robbed my flat, and more broadly pursue the war against organized crime in a more effective way. But it
can't work as long as Felipe Calderón names one Roberto Campa as the SNSP's head – for no other reason than this political-bureaucratic functionary is
a protégé of the teachers' union leader, Elba Esther Gordillo (who in turn granted the president huge favors during the controversial 2006 election).
Mexico's president, in short, plays with Mexicans' security to pay off his political debt.
Roberto Campa spent two years (2006-08) and huge sums of money without improving security. The lack of results forced Calderón to remove him from
office in September 2008; it took six months, until March 2009, for the president to name Jorge Tello Peón (the president's national-security advisor
since October 2008) as his successor. At last a professional had arrived in the office. Would Mexico's federal agencies finally be able to coordinate
with the country's state and municipal police forces? Maybe, possibly, perhaps. To live in Mexico is to exist in doubt.
The law of one
Felipe Calderón is not a statesman but a weak ruler incapable of freeing himself from the shackles imposed by the powers that helped him become
president. The health emergency is a spasm by comparison with the institutional failures of the governing class. Amid the corrosion of the polity and
civic order, Mexicans desperately need a strong democratic state to defend us. At present their daily survival is in their own hands.
A postscript : the threat caused by "cousin Victor" was resolved the Mexican way. Instead of confronting and facing the issue we decided to avoid it.
We stopped answering the phone for a couple of days and he got the message. Or at least that's what we wish to think….
——————————
Sergio Aguayo Quezada is a professor at the Center of International Studies, El Colegio de México. Among his books is 1968: Los archivos de la
violencia (Grijalbo/ Reforma, 1998). His website is http://www.sergioaguayo.org. This article was originally published by Sergio Aguayo Quezada and openDemocracy.net (05/14/09) under a Creative
Commons license.
This article was translated by Alfonsina Peña
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comitan
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RON
JUST GO, YOU DON'T HAVE THE LOVE FOR MEXICO TO BE POSTING ON THIS FORUM.
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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Bajaboy
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I think Ron thought this was the Baja Mad Forum
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CaboRon
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| Quote: | Originally posted by comitan
RON
JUST GO, YOU DON'T HAVE THE LOVE FOR MEXICO TO BE POSTING ON THIS FORUM. |
I have gone back to America ...
And what is your deal anyway ....
You NEVER offered any friendship when I lived in La Paz ...
Go stick you head back in the sand ....
My job now is to spread the TRUTH about La Baja so that others don't get worked over....
And who made you the definer of what is posted on this forum.... I believe that is up to the moderator ....
You are such a jack burro .....
I am now living in one of the greatest countries on the planet ....
I have seen the dark underbelly of mexico and their polite (repressed) people ....
Probably one of the most corrupt and failed countries in the world....
You probably actually bought a home there .... bet you do not hold clear title in your hands .... and you never will ....
You will always be seen as a gringo in the eyes of the mexicans .....
Did you read the article ? Or simply dismiss it outright ....
Perhaps you should head the warnings by the dwindling intelligencia of mexico .... most of them have left their failing country ....
Always the mordida, tramites and none of it goes for the common good .... but mearly to line the pockets of the corrupt...
That's why you destroy your cars on pot holed, dirt roads, and cannot drink the water because most do not wash their hands after deficating on the
beaches and urinating in your yard 
I could go on, however I realize now you are in such complete denial that you will never understand what a trap you have put yourself in ....
CaboRon
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comitan
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Ron
I don't need to answer, you just did that yourself.
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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Woooosh
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?????
I think this article was about Mexicans loving and trusting their beloved Mexico. This is putting nto words what every family experineces- especially
the telephone extortions and lack of hope that things will change. We non-mexicans have no impact- other than to keep reminding Mexico to keep moving
the ball forward- even when their ball is deflated with no air.
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
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Paula
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" Life may not be the party we hoped for,
but while we are here we might as well dance."
Cabo Ron
Ron, I think you could use some dancing lessons. JMHO.
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CaboRon
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| Quote: | Originally posted by comitan
Ron
I don't need to answer, you just did that yourself. |
Thanks Comiton, it appears you agree with my assesment ....
Now try to read the article
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CaboRon
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Woooosh
?????
I think this article was about Mexicans loving and trusting their beloved Mexico. This is putting nto words what every family experineces- especially
the telephone extortions and lack of hope that things will change. We non-mexicans have no impact- other than to keep reminding Mexico to keep moving
the ball forward- even when their ball is deflated with no air. |
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Dave
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Tough love
| Quote: | Originally posted by CaboRon
To understand what is happening in Mexico one fact must be recognized at the outset: very few government institutions are either committed to
representing the public interest, or even work with a minimum degree of efficiency. |
Comitan,
Ron is simply professing the same love for Mexico as those who work for its institutions. 
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stanburn
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Ron,
I read the article, but as you point out that once I see the source it is easy to ignore it as you have made it clear that you are against all things
Mexican and have a very visceral and deep dislike for the country. Therefore just as many of us like to promote Mexico as a wonderful place to live,
going on 5 years now full-time, you are hell bent on spreading your version of the truth.
The truth is that it lies somewhere in between the extremes.
I am glad that you are happy in your country of choice as I spent 20 years defending that country and your right to free speech. However I just don't
share your views and will never understand your need to only show the negative of Mexico.
good luck & I think Baja is better off with you gone. Now maybe someone can work on your need to type.
no conocemos, pero no nos caen bien.
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CaboRon
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Dave
| Quote: | Originally posted by CaboRon
To understand what is happening in Mexico one fact must be recognized at the outset: very few government institutions are either committed to
representing the public interest, or even work with a minimum degree of efficiency. |
Comitan,
Ron is simply professing the same love for Mexico as those who work for its institutions. |
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vandenberg
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And here I had the faint hope that, with this guy moving back accross the line, we heard the last of him.
No such luck.
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Bajajack
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Keep it up Ron, remember it's always best to tell the truth even if you do get banned or slashed.
I see nothing you said that wasn't the truth, certainly the TTD's will never agree but who cares!
\"take what you can, give nothing back!\"
We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the
American people.\'
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
We can have no \"50-50\" allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all.
Theodore Roosevelt
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CaboRon
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajajack
Keep it up Ron, remember it's always best to tell the truth even if you do get banned or slashed.
I see nothing you said that wasn't the truth, certainly the TTD's will never agree but who cares! |
Thank You for your Honesty
Is TTD a word for Ostrich like behavior
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CaboRon
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| Quote: | Originally posted by vandenberg
And here I had the faint hope that, with this guy moving back accross the line, we heard the last of him.
No such luck.
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To quote yourself "stuff a sock in it"
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thebajarunner
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Keep posting those smiley face responses
They will get your post count up there a lot more quickly.
At least then you will have one positive aspect to your life....
NOT>>>>>
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CaboRon
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| Quote: | Originally posted by thebajarunner
They will get your post count up there a lot more quickly.
At least then you will have one positive aspect to your life....
NOT>>>>> |
Is that why you live in Oakdale .... I will bet you have never been more than a part time tripper to La Baja
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comitan
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After calmly thinking about Ron, I have come to the conclusion that he is like the bullies in off topic making posts that stir the pot just to get
attention.
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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Cypress
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Mexico/Baja is a fantastic place. The Mexican people, the wild places back in the desert and much more are great.  But it's silly to paint it as some sort of paradise, it isn't.  No place is perfect, there's a downside to anywhere.
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