Paradise Lost Part Two

Director of Security and Wife Murdered

In case you missed part one, that entry is archived here for your reading convenience.

I wanted to make a quick entry to tell you that Guanajuato is a city under siege. The military is here lining the streets, guns, scary looking attack dogs, and chalecos balas.

Cervatino began last night and we stayed home. We began to suspect that there was some sort of intelligence afoot regarding another Narco-Terrorist attack from the subtle increase in security days after the attack in Morelia on Independence Day celebrations and days before the beginning of Guanajuato, Mexico's 36th International Cervantes Festival.

The opening ceremony had a HUGE police and military presence and the local daily, El Correo, reported that backpacks were searched and metal detector were used. There were also bomb-sniffing dogs on hand.

The thing is that almost daily you can read in the Gringolandia online forums how living in Mexico is so safe, so peaceful, so tranquil, where there is no crime.

Now, that is not a hyperbolic statement as evidenced by this:

I agree, we have lived here in Mexico for six month s and love it , the people are so loving, weather is one of the best world wide, crime is nothing compared to the states.

Crime is nothing compared to the States? Somehow I do not think that would be much consolation to the survivors of Morelia, Michoacan's domestic Narco-Terrorism attack on Independence Day celebration:

In Morelia, Michoacan during Independence Day festivities last night, two hand grenades were thrown into the crowd gathered in the city's Melchor Ocampo Plaza. Eight people were killed and many more were injured. Throughout Mexico people are shocked and outraged at these events, which are particularly disturbing because they came during a national celebration and targeted innocent party goers. It is speculated that drug gangs are responsible for the violence.

Nor would it be any consolation to the survivors of the murdered couple in Jerécuaro, Guanajuato in which the director of public security and his wife were mowed down by Narco-Terrorists on the morning of October 8th, 2008 after taking their eight-year old to school. A six-month old baby was in the car but left unharmed as the result of her mother shielding the baby with her body as they riddled the car with gunfire.

I doubt too that the dentist and his receptionist in Guanajuato's San Javier barrio would find it comforting to learn that their attack, at one in the afternoon, in which the woman was severely injured and the dentist robbed

...is nothing compared to the states.

I spent the evening reading the local daily called "El Correo". In it was an editorial by Juan Ignacio Morales Castañeda.

In his piece titled, Corrupción Generalizada, he writes of the widespread corruption in the Guanajuato government in which they are in cahoots with the Narco-Terrorists.

Narco-Trafficante, Román Medel Pacheco, or "El Chicago" is on this video in which he reveals a long and steady relationship of paying protection money to the federal police, state and municipal authorities to "look the other" way for his nefarious business dealings.

If you can understand or read Spanish follow the hyper-links in this blog entry to hear some really chilling stuff about what is going on in Guanajuato.

We sat in the home of a lady from Argentina who has been living here for work reasons for as long as we have been in the city. We asked her how she thinks Guanajuato has changed in the past six years. Her first response is that it is more dangerous.

So, perhaps you can see why I am so persistent in pushing the point that Gringolandia Fairyland is not where you want to be. The only way to wake up and smell the reality of living in any city in this country is to learn Spanish.