VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN MEXICO TOUCHES LOCAL RESIDENTS

 "And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand." Book of Job

By Juan Montoya
She was the bedrock when her son was murdered by undocumented immigrants in Houston oh so long ago when he was just in his 20s.
And she held her husband together after his brother's body was found dumped in a municipal dump near Victoria, Tamaulipas after he was accused of working as a traffic cop alongside the Mexican Marines in Soto la Marina.
At that time – about a year ago – they were prevented from traveling to the capital city of Tamaulipas because of the dangers to motorists on the road there from Matamoros.
Less than a month ago, as her next to youngest son prepared to run a marathon in Austin, he was taken to a hospital when he complained of pains in his left side. A personal physical trainer, he was the picture of health and fitness. An examination indicated some plaque partially blocking one of his arteries and doctors decided to try an angioplasty procedure.
Even though the risks were mentioned, the potential gravity of the situtation warranted that he undergo the procedure. Bits of plaque were dislodged and traveled to his brain stem, creating a blood clot that prevented oxygen from reaching his brain. He hovered in a coma between life and death.
For the last month, he has undergone a partial recovery, communicating through sign language, the only way his family knows that he is still there behind the confused gaze and a body that does not respond to his frustrated, trapped intellect.
Through all this, she has been at his hospital bedside every chance she and her husband got to visit their son. She sang church songs softly in his ear with a tenderness that wrenched your heart. Her faith is invincible. After her weekend visit to her son was over this past Sunday, the family told her as gently as they could about the horrible news that family members from Victoria, Tamaulipas, had relayed to them and which they had withheld from her until she was done visiting her ailing son.
Her brother, Rafa, was reported kidnapped by unknown gunmen who intercepted the car he and three other passengers were in and no one had heard from them. There were some initial reports of some ransom being demanded, but then the communication stopped.
It had happened to him before and the two vehicles he had had been taken from him. He had been forced to turn over a small plot of land he owned and even some pigs he was raising to earn some money were taken by his kidnappers.
He had nothing left to give them. Later he learned that the notary public who had prepared his property transaction was in with the kidnappers, some of who worked for the local police. There was no one to complain to.
This time the family learned that he had helped a relative to get her daughter out of jail in Victoria. Unbeknownst to him, the mother had previously tried to get a lawyer to help her but he had been threatened not to continue or face the consequences. He had called a lawyer friend and accompanied them to get the woman's daughter released.
When they departed with the girl in tow, they were intercepted and taken forcibly. They were all found executed a few days later along the same stretch of killing ground where her husband's brother had been found.
The Department of State has issued numerous travel warnings to inform U.S. citizens about the security situation in Mexico.
It warns U.S. citizens that travel in Tamaulipas, including Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, Victoria and Valle Hermoso are particularly dangerous.
"You should defer non-essential travel to the state of Tamaulipas. All USG employees are prohibited from personal travel on Tamaulipas highways outside of Matamoros, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo due to the risks posed by armed robbery and carjacking. US Government employees in Matamoros are subject to a midnight to 6 a.m. curfew. Nuevo Laredo has seen an increase in the number of grenade attacks within the past year, particularly against night clubs within city limits.
In June 2012, a small car bomb exploded in front of the Nuevo Laredo city hall.
Both Matamoros and Ciudad Victoria have experienced grenade attacks in the past year. All travelers should be aware of the risks posed by armed robbery and carjacking on state highways throughout Tamaulipas, particularly on highways and roads outside of urban areas along the northern border. Traveling outside of cities after dark is particularly dangerous. In August 2012 an American family was forced off the road, resulting in one death and several injuries, in an apparent robbery attempt soon after crossing the bridge from Texas into Nuevo Laredo. While no highway routes through Tamaulipas are considered safe, many of the crimes reported to the U.S. Consulate General in Matamoros have taken place along the Matamoros-Tampico highway, particularly around San Fernando and the area north of Tampico.
The number of kidnappings and disappearances throughout Mexico is of particular concern. Both local and expatriate communities have been victimized. In addition, local police have been implicated in some of these incidents. We strongly advise you to lower your profile and avoid displaying any evidence of wealth that might draw attention."
To most border residents, these warnings are old hat. We have grown inured to them because they have been made so often. But to the common people with relatives and friends living in northern Mexico, it signals a death knell.
She won't be able to travel and bury her brother or comfort her nephews and nieces. All she will have is the memories of them growing up and surviving through the hard times in childhood that formed the bond that unites them as it does most families.
A friend of ours says it has been two years since they have heard from a cousin who was abducted by gunmen and who have warned the family not to look for him or face death themselves. A local family still don't know the fate that befell one of their daughters who was kidnapped by her jealous drug lord boyfriend even after three years. He has since been killed in a shootout with the military and took the whereabouts of her body with him to his grave.
You don't have to live in Mexico to feel the jeering, leering face of violence and death at our doorstep. It has literally reached out and put forth its hand upon us.