Monday, January 16, 2006
Homicide Rate in Mexico is Appalling
By Jerry Brewer
Impunity in Mexico’s homicide rate is not acceptable at any international humanitarian level. This, an issue that must concern all free nations of the world that value the dignity of human life. Too, it must be a major concern of each presidential candidate in the upcoming Mexican elections. The citizens of Mexico, as well as victims and victim families, must demand action and plans to bring the guilty to justice. A democratic nation must be dedicated and prepared to act on their behalf for humanitarian purposes
According to figures cited in the Mexican media, more than 1,500 people died in 2005 of violence linked to “organized crime.”
It is believed that approximately 500 women have been murdered in the state of Chihuahua since the late 1980s. Many have simply disappeared. The killing of women has continued virtually unabated since 1993. The causes of this aura of femicide vary – domestic violence, suspected narco-executions, gang shootings, and sexual assaults. Many of the murders of these women seem to follow the long-pattern of young women who suddenly disappear and are later found raped and murdered.
Violence against women is epidemic in Mexico. In Ciudad Juarez alone, six years of killing sprees have claimed the lives of 182 women. Many human rights organizations believe that figure to be even greater, with many still missing. At least 100 of the Ciudad Juarez victims fit a pattern in which a young, slender woman was sexually assaulted, strangled, and dumped in the surrounding desert. In the state of Chihuahua a significant number of cases of young women and adolescents were reported missing.
On the “organized crime,” or drug trafficking front, the victims have included many current or former police officers, government officials, politicians, and journalists. In 2005 more than 187 people were murdered in the Nuevo Laredo area alone. Many victims have simply vanished into the control of armed groups.
As equally disturbing as the staggering body count in Mexico, is the level of sophistication of the killers/assassins and their facilitation of movement to avoid capture. The weaponry used by these killers have included grenade launchers, bazookas, AK-47 automatic weapons, and others. In Nuevo Laredo, after a violent firefight with police, an apparent hit list of officials sentenced to death was found, as well as addresses, maps, and photographs of municipal police officers.
As for the “killing expertise,” Los Zetas, a group of elite former Mexican soldiers have led the way, hired by organized drug cartels. Later, former members of a Guatemalan special forces unit known as “Kaibiles” emerged. The Kaibiles are known for their grueling jungle-survival training, paratrooper skills, and counterinsurgency operations. Seven alleged members were arrested last year in the State of Chiapas.
Mexican drug cartels are also recruiting hired killers in the U.S. Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, Mexico’s anti-drug prosecutor, said that the “great majority” of gunmen for the Sinaloa Cartel are U.S. citizens “who live in the United States.”
How can so much death and violence in Mexico take a backseat to massive world media detailing less pressing issues? Is the value of human life (in Mexico) not regarded as a top world concern? Are we more concerned about migration or should we also be concerned humanely for many of the reasons people flee for their lives?
The death toll is real and there should be no confusion on that issue. In case the murdered victims, women and children, and the countless missing do not move us to action, let us look beyond walls and fences to the fact that the U.S.-Mexico border area remains one of the most dangerous anywhere in the world. All of these dangers pose a serious and immediate threat to public safety on both sides of the border. Walls do not stop murder. Walls do not prevent sophisticated weaponry and elite-trained paramilitary assassins. In plain fact, a horrendous war is taking place that knows no boundaries.
This epidemic of violent murder and impunity must end. There is no reasonable expectation of any police force in Mexico to have, or acquire on its own, the resources necessary to effectively win this fight alone. For the insurgents are far too well armed, trained, and financed.
Mexico needs help with their profound deficiencies in justice and security, and an inability to cope with many of the needs and rights of their citizens. The world must lend a helping hand.
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Jerry Brewer, the Vice President of Criminal Justice International Associates, a global risk mitigation firm headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, is also a columnist with MexiData.info. He can be reached via e-mail at
Cjiaincusa@aol.com