Safe in Sahuayo

On Monday Night when all of Mexico was celebrating the country’s independence, bombs killed seven and injured at least 100 people in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, the state in which I live. As the governor of the state, Leonel Godoy re-enacted Miguel Hidalgo’s famous grito, bombs and bells produced a cacophony and chaos and pandemonium. Authorities don’t know who attacked, but evidence does point to drug cartels. If true, this would be the most discriminate attack yet. Usually the cartels attack threats to their business, not citizens.

Authorities are blaming either La Familia, which denied it was involved, and the powerful Zecas gang. In fact, one suspect is from Sahuayo. One other is from San Pedro, a town not too far from hereLast Friday authorities found 12 dead bodies outside the capital. At the end of August authorities found 12 decapitated bodies in Yucatan. In Tiajuana, another four bodies were found. Violence in the northern part of the state, in places like Baja California, and Sinoloa is attributed to the Arellano Felix led by Fernando Sanchez Arellano, and a rival faction led by Teodoro Garcia Simental. Sinaloa is home to one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico, founded by fugitive leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Drug violence has killed 2,700 people, including 500 police officers. This is an inevitable result of President Felipe Calderon’s crackdown on the drug trade since took office in December 2006. Calderon’s plan has sent 40000 officers and 50000 federal police to hot spots in the country. Police commanders have been purged, good officers are promoted, new positions are being added, and the federal officers are receiving more pay.

The other problem is the police itself. In the state of Coahuila, police were carrying seven drug suspects when they ran into another caravan of suspects. In the ensuing standoff, one policeman was killed and 33 more were arrested. The suspects were police officers from Torreon. The country’s former drug czar, Jose de Jesus Gutierrez Rebello, was arrested ten years ago for colluding with the drug cartels. Mexicans fear the current czar, Genaro Garcia Luna, doesn’t follow the same path.

All this is bad for business, which has to spend more and more money on security and less on paychecks, expansion, or R&D. It does help that the drug cartels don’t seem to be affecting the country’s three largest sources of income: oil, tourism, and remittances.

I’m not writing this to scare anyone, only to assure them that I’m safe in Sahuayo. I have never felt unsafe here. In fact, it’s safer than San Francisco or Washington, D.C. I don’t see any bums here. People sit on the sidewalk and talk. Shops close early. Old men sit at the plaza and talk well into the night. Although most people here can tell that I’m a native, I don’t feel awkward. That’s why I was surprised, and a little annoyed, that my landlord decided to install a security door at the entrance to my building. It’s one more door to unlock.

Every morning I wake up and see the La Parroquia, the resplendent church in the center of the city. Perhaps God watches over us after all.