Quote:
La Familia are some frightening folks. Evangelists, they often carry a Bible along with their gun and the leaders quote scripture a lot.
I'd hate to see the guys who don't quote scripture, though I'm not sure they're getting the entire message, especially the part about Thou Shallt Not Kill.
I think it's very unfortunate that despite Calderon's best efforts (or maybe because of them) Mexico has been torn apart by challenging the money trail of drugs, which has led to terrible violence. Anytime a bunch of guys with a bunch of guns start shooting up everything in sight it can get very nasty for anyone in the vicinity. If your drug boss hands you a gun I don't think you're going to be very scrupulous about how accurately you use it, so you just pull the trigger. The guy who taught me to shoot would be aghast, as am I. I learned the obligation of handling a gun--try to hit the target without also putting a couple of holes in that trash can over there, don't point it at someone unless you intend to shoot him, ignore all the cop shows you've seen--but I am sure the drug cartels have no such moral difficulties. But then I just learned to shoot targets, not people.
As long as there's big money in drugs the gangs will be there. There are 3 choices, it seems to me--legalize drugs (take away the big profits), continue putting a lot of people in jail, or expect continued violence at the source. It's not bad enough that our prisons are full of drug offenders, now innocent people also have to be prepared to die while pumping gas in Mexico.
If there's a fourth choice, I'd like to hear it (and I don't mean that suddenly everyone stops using drugs--that ain't gonna happen). I think we've dug a deep hole (or backed ourselves into a corner--choose your metaphor) and we're now finding out the consequences. I admire Calderon for taking on the problem of drogistas and corruption (hand in hand, after all), but what a mess it's turned into. This is, I suppose, why his party lost the mid-term elections. I can't expect Mexico to continue to put up with this any more than US citizens would tolerate it. People are people--they want to get on with their lives without having to duck flying bullets. It doesn't happen everywhere in Mexico, but jeez--
As Porfirio Diaz said, "Poor Mexico--so far from God, so close to the United States." He may have been a dictator, but in this case he was right.
N.
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