CITY RESIDENTS PUT THROUGH EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER THIS PAST WEEK

By Juan Montoya
First came the death, funeral and eventual burial of ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata on the San Luis Potosi-Mexico City highway.
Then, later in the week, the city set about to celebrate the annual Charro Days fiesta with dancing in the streets, the Sombrero Fest and grand parade. Parties were going on everywhere and residents visited carnivals and dressed up in traditional outfits.
"Como es la vida," commented a Cameron County deputy sheriff eating at the cafe in the judicial building Friday. "First we are in mourning for the dearth of Zapata and now we are all getting ready to dance and celebrate Charro Days with dancing and singing. It's enough to drive people crazy."
Although Charro Days will soon be forgotten, the death of the young agent will be with us for a few more months as the killers are hunted down in Mexico and the public is informed through the media. Already there are doubts that the government's chief suspect was caught too soon and too conveniently identified.
Of the 83 shell casings at the scene of the crime, we now learn that seven struck Zapata as he sat in the armored SUV stopped by Zetas at a road stop.
The questions started at once and still remain on the motive for his assassination and the suspicious details surrounding the attack, swift investigation, and suspiciously rapid confession by a criminal out on conditional release by Mexican courts. In other words, the gathering assumption is that the Mexican government produced a suspect more for public relations purposes to appease U.S, public than because the man was really the perpetrator of the crime.
The case reminded too many of us that anyone would confess to being anything once they went through questioning and interrogation by the Mexican authorities.
A typical tale goes something like this:
With the demise of communism, all the world's intelligence agencies held a contest to determine who would close up shop and which country would keep their agencies. It was decided that whichever intelligence agency could catch the largest hare (a big rabbit, or liebre) would be declared the winner.
The CIA took off and came back in less than half an hour with a five-foot hare from the western desert. The KGB followed and in about an hour they came back with a slightly bigger, but white, snow hare. Soon it was the Mexicans turn and they took off. Time passed. About three hours later they arrived in a cloud of dust and hauled off a huge beast an set it on the examining table.
"Alli esta la liebre," they told the unbelieving judges.
"That's not a libre," they were told. "It's an elephant. It's got a trunk and tusks and a gray hide."
At that point the elephant speaks and pleads, "Si señor. Si señor. Soy liebre. Soy liebre."
In other words, the elephant would be anything the Mexican authorities wanted him to be just so they would stop the "friendly" interrogation.
Meanwhile, the decals on cars commemorating the life and death of Zapata are already visible on local cars. For his friends and family, the memories will never die, of course. And Charro Days 2011 will be a bittersweet memory for the entire city.