The Road Out of Tijuana

“The apparent indifference of U.S. authorities to the many accusations of torture made against Leyzaola (Tijuana police chief) is somehow less puzzling. It is essential that the police start kicking ass in Mexico, and what’s a bit of waterboarding between friends, particularly in a national-security crisis?”

–from an earlier draft of this compelling, illuminating story on Tijuana in this week’s The New Yorker by William Finnegan.

(Subscription required to read the entire piece. And, sadly, that last line was mostly cut.)

Photo via The New Yorker

Mexico and Violence

Mexico is a complicated place when it comes to a lot of things, especially violence. When I passed through security at the airport in New York on my way here, the security agent looked at my boarding pass and told me to “be careful.” When I entered New York back in April from Mexico City, the customs man asked me why in the world would “I want to go to such a dangerous place.” I tried to explain to both that Mexico City is actually not more dangerous than, say, New York or Washington, DC and that most of the violence is concentrated on the border, but my words went over their heads. To most Americans, Mexico equals violence, period.

But though most of us who have lived here know the difference between the drug-related violence and normal petty crime, there are always surprises. This past week’s armed attempted robbery of a major grocery store took place in the expatriate and rich-friendly neighborhood of La Condesa, a place I love to walk and bike around. A drug-related drive-by shooting in La Condesa and the assassination of a drug case witness in a Starbucks in the nearby neighborhood of Del Valle also occurred in recent months. A friend, Nick Casey, wrote about the case of two Americans arrested in a border city. They were allegedly tortured in a situation where they claim the Mexican military planted suitcases of marijuana in their truck and then fraudulently arrested them for it.

I suppose that the point is that the line between drug-related violence and petty crime seems to be quickly blurring. Though rich enclaves will always be the target of criminals, places once thought to be relatively safe are no longer relatively safe. Being foreign in Mexico is not a bulletproof vest from being taken advantage of by a corrupt military. And, sadly, there is still no end in sight.

Photo via The Wall Street Journal

Wake Up to Ceci Bastida

She played at SXSW earlier this year, and critics and fans love her, but for some reason this Tijuana-bred singer is still unsigned. Nevertheless, Ceci Bastida keeps hustling. Listen to this new song, “Controlar,” by her (produced by XXXChange) and tell me this woman doesn’t need to come out with an album right now.

Photo via Latina

On the Border

Picture of the Day:

Brilliant photographer Deanna Dent recently took this photo on a beach near the U.S.-Mexico border at the point of the border fence.