Two interesting pieces in the El Paso online news journal Newspaper Tree today about the cartel battles being waged in Mexico. The first one is an editorial by El Pasoan Martin Paredes about his day traveling with an international news crew in Juarez looking for bodies in the drug war. What’s interesting about it is he gives you more of an insider look into reporting in Juarez and what the vibe is like there right now. Paredes says that there were shady characters keeping an eye on them at each of the crime scenes they visited with the news crew. Paredes says he felt relatively safe, but he was only there for one day. Imagine being a reporter living in Juarez? i’m really in awe of the men and women working there under the constant threat of being hurt or killed.
The second piece is by Jorge Castañeda former Secretary of Foreign Affairs in Mexico under Vicente Fox. Castañeda is a former Marxist and he was an odd fit in Fox’s conservative cabinet. He left after three years and is now trying to run as an independent candidate for the next presidential election. His piece gives some very good perspective from the Mexican political side into what could be done to get out of the endless drug war we’re in. He also explains the various law enforcement agencies at work in Mexico and how they work, or are supposed to work.
A little light reading while you enjoy the last bit of Labor Day.