Mexico in Focus

Marisela’s fight was the fight of all Mexicans

There are not enough words to describe the indignation caused by the killing Thursday night of Marisela Escobedo, the fearless and exemplary woman who had the determination to fight and to stand against of what most Mexicans should be protesting nowadays: impunity.

 Marisela, the mother of Rubí Marisol Frayre Escobedo, had the courage to denounce and to expose the painful failures of the judicial system, which absolved the confessed assassin of her daughter arguing deficiencies in the preliminary investigation.

Marisela was fighting impunity and she was killed because of that. Her crime is a shame for the state and the federal government, but also for the entire society, which  failed to give her enough support.  Marisela’s fight was the fight of all Mexicans, but we didn’t realize.

Few days ago, Francisco Blake, secretary of the interior urged Mexican citizens “to shake the fear” and to denounce crimes. He asked citizens to collaborate with the government because, he said, there is not time for omission.

Unfortunately, the killing of Marisela in front of the state government offices was a clear reminder of the situation of vulnerability in which citizens who denounce crimes are exposed to.  She raised her voice, but nobody listened to her.

In Mexico the rights of the victims or the rights of the victim’s family are less protected than the rights of the criminals. There is not any kind of protection for a person who denounces extortion, kidnapping or torture. What is worst is that when people denounce a crime, their names and sometimes their photos are released to the press without any considerations.

Marisela had received death threats and she denounced it, but nothing was done to protect her. Now, she is dead and her killer and the killer of her daughter are freely walking on the streets.

And that is the heartbreaking result of impunity.

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More on impunity

A total of 150 immates escaped yesterday from a prison in Nuevo Laredo. They walked out using the main door and without any sign of violence. Nobody knows where the director of the prison is right now. What else do we need to document corruption and impunity?

 

Young assassins. A reflection of society's failure

At the age of 14, an average boy would be thinking about sports, girls and probably videogames. If he is lucky and he attends school, he would be also concerned about his classes and passing to the next grade.

But that would be only if he is fortunate and has had the blessing of parents, teachers or relatives taking care of him.

That was not the case of Edgar “N,” the 14-year-old assassin arrested last week in the state of Morelos, in central Mexico. Edgar, also known as “El Ponchis,” began his criminal career at the age of 11, when the Cartel del Pacifico recruited him. According to his own testimony, he participated in four executions and he beheaded and mutilated his victims. For every killing he received between $2,000 and $3,000.

Unfortunately, El Ponchis’ case is not unique and it illustrates the way that criminal organizations are recruiting members among children. According to his testimony, he didn’t become a criminal of his own will, “I was dragged into that,” he said.

Criminal organizations recruit soldiers among the more neglected sectors of the population. Their soldiers usually come from dysfunctional families, where poverty, lack of educational opportunities and a weak system of beliefs and values prevail.  A quick look at Colombia’s experiences gives an idea of the gravity of the situation.

 According to Corpades, a Colombian non-profit organization, recruiting minors is becoming a constant pattern of organized  crime in that country. “We think that 60 percent of the criminal groups in Medellin are integrated by minors between 11 and 17 years-old,” said Luis Fernando Quijano, president of the organization to the newspaper El Espectador. “We have registered cases in which children as young as 8 are used as mules and others are trained as hit men as young as 11.”

Colombians know how serious this problem is. They have seen generations of children being recruited by guerrilla members, paramilitary men and now organized crime, and for years they have been dealing with the problems of how to legally prosecute minors. 

It looks like Mexico is heading in that direction and will have to deal with this problem as well.

One of the challenges that the Mexican judicial system is currently facing is the adequacy of its laws in judging and punishing minors.

In Mexico, the age at which you are considered an adult is 18, which means that below that age, a person can’t be judged or put in trail as an adult. Some are calling for the government to reduce that age to 16, so the children who commit horrendous crimes, such as the ones committed by “El Ponchis”, can be punished with all the weight of the law.

As a 14 year old, El Ponchis might be punished with three to five years in prison, but according to criminal lawyer Cipriano Sotelo Salgado, if it is demonstrated that he committed his crimes before turning 14, he won’t go to prison because the law doesn’t sanction this for children below that age.  If that is the case, he will be sent to receive psychological treatment and to be re-educated and re-integrated into society -whatever it means.

The debate around changing the age to be considered an adult will definitely be controversial, because it is not as simple as they committed a crime, so punish them. Children’s rights, psychological issues and international threats are just some of the issues that will be part of the upcoming debate.

Nothing is more truthful, and thus equally painful, as the fact that El Ponchis and all the children who have been recruited to commit crimes are the sons and daughters of a broken system. As with a mirror, they offer us the most dramatic images of how poorly Mexico, as a society, is doing with its children.

As children, they should have the opportunity for an education, good health and a system of values and beliefs–but some of Mexico’s children haven’t had these opportunities and because of that they are also victims.

“El Ponchis” committed horrible crimes and, yes, he should be judged and punished for that as a minor, not as an adult. But most importantly, his case should be seen as a significant indicator of all of the failures in the system.  Mexico’s government, politicians and all of civil society should really think about where we are heading and what can be do to change the fate of hundreds of children and teenagers that deserve opportunities and a better life.

 

WikiLeaks and the truth behind the scenes

Thanks to WikiLeaks, we have learned how the US has really evaluated Mexico’s efforts to fight the drug cartels.

Thanks to WikiLeaks, we are able to see beyond the typical lip service paid by diplomats and to know that some high-ranking officials in the US don’t trust President Felipe Calderon’s publicized accounts of success in the war against organized crime.

What WikiLeaks has revealed is something similar to what many Mexicans probably were concluding after four years of the drug war: that Mexico’s Army was not fully prepared to fight organized crime, that corruption continues to permeate security agencies and that some regions of the country are lawless and under the control of criminals.

However, it is not common to get such access to the truth hidden beneath the politically correct statements of the diplomacy world.  It is more common to hear US officials praising President Calderon’s efforts to fight organized crime than to hear that they are concerned about how the President Calderon is dealing with stress. 

If U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is really concerned about Calderon’s state of mind–as was revealed in a leaked cable–or if US Ambassador Carlos Pascual has seen that President Calderon has been “down” at meetings, does that mean they are questioning Calderon’s abilities to stand up to the pressure? Do they trust him now? I would say that they probably don’t.

What makes the WikiLeaks’s documents about Mexico more significant is the fact that they have exposed a certain amount of distrust regarding Calderon’s strategies–which is lamentable because Mexico needs the US to fully support this effort.  It also exposes the tension between the US and Mexico in their collaborative efforts. In one of the memos released, the writers said the Mexican Army has been slow to react to US intelligence tips about the location of drug cartel leaders. Another memo reveals the US’s concern about giving money to Mexico through the Merida Initiative because of the levels of corruption they believe exists within the government.

Just a few hours after the documents on Mexico were revealed, officials from both countries have begun to react. The Mexico Foreign Relations Ministry was the first to react, arguing that “the leaked documents and their content are partial and inaccurate.” It also added that the criteria used to select the documents are unknown. Today, the US Ambassador also sent a letter to Mexico City’s newspaper, El Universal, asking the public to put the documents in context and stressed the importance of a strong relationship between Mexico and the US.

Until now, we just know about a small portion of the more than 2,600 documents leaked by WikiLeaks on the US’s real vision of Mexico. It is predictable that the rest of the documents will expose more truths behind the diplomatic-political scene. However, the same revelations could force both countries to come together again and to analyze honestly what they can do to strengthen their collaboration and so both can succeed in this war that affects both countries.