What's next in Reynosa and Tamaulipas?

We are living an emergency situation in Tamaulipas…mainly at border cities like Reynosa, Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo but even at Tampico that is the most southern city, drug delinquency has reached everything. We are living an emergency situation in Tamaulipas…Even though many of us don’t even know it.

We are seeing a lot of blockades from drug cartels; they are fighting against other people involved in drugs, mainly local gulf cartel against Z’s cartel. We are seeing Gulf Cartel against federal soldiers, against federal police even against marines have been involved and we see Z’s Cartel against Soldiers, marines and Federal Police. We are seeing and hearing about people dying from cartels itself, from soldiers, federal nd we are seeing and hearing about civil people dying at streets. Right now we are seeing people moving away from small cities and communities, complete families for thousands are moving away from Z’s threat, without counting the people that have moved away from bigger cities as N. Laredo, Matamoros or Reynosa a lot of people that had moved in the past from southern states to work at maquiladoras are going back to their original birthplaces in order to get saved from violence.

In addition to the street fighting we are seeing violence against citizens like kidnapping, extortion, blackmailing, drug dealing exponentially increasing and a devotional attitude mainly from young people to the drug cartel culture: “narco corridos” (drug cartels-praising north music), Santa muerte” devotion (holy dead adoration and devotion), cartel style dressing and accessories using, etc.

We are seeing a lot of new people (mainly young people working for drug cartels as informants called “halcones”) but the leaders being older people that have been in this business for many years.

Right now Z cartel has the whole Tamaulipas State taken, the only places that Gulf Cartel has controlled yet are the ones near the USA border i.e. Gulf Cartel and border cities and towns are surrounded by Z’s Cartel; that is why many towns and cities away from border but inside Tamulipas have been populated with very bloody crimes, for example 72 migrant killing and many else. Traveling from border to the rest of Tamaulipas State or Country is a very dangerous adventure because Z’s cartel is watching on all the Tamaulipas roads in order to get money, trucks or lucrative kidnapping. Ciudad Mier and General Trevino have been depopulated due to Z’s Cartel threat. We don’t have to forget that these and other towns have been involved in the drug business since many decades ago. In addition, we don’t have to forget that Z’s organization was created, invented by Gulf Cartel, now Frankestein is trying to kill his former master.

But all these is not free, this was not a sudden and spontaneous creation of delinquency and bad guys, this has been a many many years attitude of conceding things happen. Allowance to the rising and empowerment of drug cartels under the table because “they were not creating any problem to Mexico”. Political authorities allowing, supporting and helping drug cartels to operate and receiving many benefits from it. Complete towns dedicated to drug business with complete families involved; some of the members working directly on it, some doing “honest” work like repairing theirs trucks, installing communication equipment, renting buildings to them, washing money that they knew was coming from wrong sources, etc. . Even some families members that didn’t want anything related with drugs they allowed that other family members worked, supported or made business with outlaw groups, that is why many tamulipas families have an uncle, a friend, a brother, a brother in law, an schoolmate, a neighbor or anybody else involved in drug business. How many? Some people think maybe 20% of people is drug related some way or another. Local police and local government officers are involved (many of them); some directly; some indirectly; some allowing things happen. This same attitude applied for local media that was seeing things happening without talking about anything because of the same reasons everybody was quiet. Same responsibility guilt applied to we all common citizen too, because we have allowed the rising of all this.

WHY NOW?

For many years drug related issues were considered a business, (an activity to be proud of, a worthy activity but that had to be maintained hid) many people was involved but authorities were allowing things, closing their eyes, everybody knew they had to be discrete, that they had to talk as if they were aware of drug related activities were bad even though they had some family members in the business, it was a money issue, just business. Drug was not running at Tamaulipas streets, drug cartels were not damaging civilians but instead they were creating wealth, there was no kidnapping, extortion, blackmailing or local drug dealing in a large extent.

But what changed?

1.-A new political party took the country presidency an decided to attack the drug trafficking that everybody knew its existence but officially was not there (as many things with old political party enthroned)

2.-A new no-censorship policy was issued in order to let media to talk about everything they wanted, some way Mexicans knew the reality about their country and border young people began to make drug cartels their heroes, they left the anonymous position they had and now they could openly celebrate daddy’s, bro, uncle, etc. business. They were proud of them. I am talking about national media except local media that was controlled by local drug groups.

3.-USA reinforced its drug trafficking methods detection making hardest for Mexican cartels to move drugs into USA.

4.-Drug cartels members had grown and new cartels were created looking for new markets

5.-They watched over their shoulders and saw mexico itself as a good market, don’t forget NAFTA moved millions of people from all over the country to the border looking for the job promise, and the Narcos saw this big opportunity to create a million captive buyers. The pigeons arrived by themselves for the thousands. Many guys with a secure job receiving payment every week and very near the drug kingpins, it was a god gift.

6.-It seems that even the lower hierarchy drug guys hadn’t realized the big business they were dealing with until newspapers began to talk about the magnitude and scope the drug influence had, then they began to spin out from old main cartels and began to create new ones. Since old cartels had formed their “sicarios” groups in order to get rid of enemies and people that was not following the rules and to confront the government first inrushes, these bloody guys decided at the end to spin out leaving their former patrons and beginning a new business by themselves. Mexican crisis like HN1 flu and economic world crisis at 2008 helped to reinforce the conviction of this new cartels to get more involved.

Then Tamaulipas is not living something sudden, unexpected and without explanation, Tamulipas is living the result of many past actions that are bouncing back, Karma law says that if you commit that actions something will be back sometime later. Common sense says something similar, civil laws say the same, then why Tamaulipas in particular and Mexican in general are surprised for what is happening here?

You made mistakes in the past then you are receiving the correspondent reaction of same magnitude but opposite direction, we Tamaulipas people and Mexico People have the solutions:

1.-Religion says you have to correct your behavior and get closer to god, you have to stop doing the evil things and some penitence but if you don’t stop you will be going directly to hell (we are almost in hell).

2.-Civil laws say that you have to correct your behavior and pay your faults, if there is no correction many parents, sons, relatives and innocent will continue dying and many more will finish at jail or killed in the street fighting’s.

3.-Common sense say that if you don’t correct your attitude everything will get worst , more evil will be generated and more blood will run. It has never seen that a group with particular interests had got a triumph against a whole country government but worst, if Mexican government cannot control these fighting’s US surely is not going to permit that violence so near its border.

Many actions must be initiated right now in Tamaulipas, mothers play a key role in this, they must change the way children and teens see the folkloric activities their grand parents and parents have been doing for many years, they should know that drug trafficking is not a noble activity, the should know there is nothing to be proud of, they should know there is not any proud to seem like one of them, to sing their songs and to tell their stories. Even though it is the local history, it is the local tradition, they should know that is something that should be buried and begin a new cleaner, more legal history.

But it is hard because many consumer and many dollars are waiting behind the US border.