Mexico | Ain't Complicated

Persecution in Mexico

What do you think of when you think of Mexico? Illegal immigration? A hot vacation spot? What you may not realize is how much persecution exists there and how widespread it is.

[…]

While Mexico does have religious freedom laws, much of the persecution takes place in more rural areas where it is harder for the government to keep tabs on how Christians are being treated.

Plus, Musselman said the response to the Gospel has been tremendous throughout these villages: “One of the reasons there’s been an increase in persecution is the indigenous people are really responsive to the Gospel.”

As the church grows, Musselman said persecution increases, but then the church grows even more.

To shed light on everything taking place there, VOMC created a video, Mexican Voices: Testimonies of the Persecuted.

Source: Video seeks to raise awareness about persecution in Mexico

My Home Town

I still think of Ciudad Obregón (Sonora, México) as my hometown. I grew up there. From babyhood through late teens.

Many times I went fishing and inner tubing in Lake Oviachic:

Lake Oviachic, also referred to as the Álvaro Obregón Reservoir, appears as a dark blue curved form in the upper left quadrant, north of Ciudad Obregón. This artificial lake is found in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and fed and drained by the Yaqui River.

Lake Oviachic, Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico

been there camping, fishing, tubing

Source: Oviachic Lake

Corridos are a big part of Mexico’s music. And the narco-corridos apparently are becoming more and more so. I remember hearing them…and being amazed that such kind of glorification was deemed acceptable. So I read this article with great interest:

A new proposal from Mexico’s ruling party could send musicians to prison for performing songs that glorify drug trafficking.

The law would bring prison sentences of up to three years for people who perform or produce songs or movies glamorizing criminals.

“Society sees drug ballads as nice, pleasant, inconsequential and harmless, but they are the opposite,” National Action Party lawmaker Oscar Martin Arce told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The ballads, known as “narcocorridos,” often describe drug trafficking and violence, and are popular among some norteno bands. After some killings, gangs pipe narcocorridos into police radio scanners, along with threatening messages.

Martin said his party’s proposal, presented before Congress on Wednesday, also takes aim at low-budget movies praising drug lords. It was unclear when lawmakers would vote on it.

“We cannot accept it as normal. We cannot exalt these people because they themselves are distributing these materials among youths to lead them into a lifestyle where the bad guy wins,” he said.

Martin said the proposal’s intention is not to limit free expression, but to stop such performances from inciting crimes.

Source: Mexican ruling party proposes banning drug ballads

So…just what are the limits of freedom of speech?

I wonder how far a corrido glorifying rape or racism or “homophobia” would get in the free expression market?

Abortion: Veracruz Dice No

Life: Veracruz Says Yes

In Mexico’s state of Veracruz, human life begins at conception:

On Nov. 16, 2009 the legislature of the Mexican coastal state of Veracruz passed a law declaring that life begins at conception and ends at natural death.

So, do you think the source of this story is sympathetic or scornful toward the decision? To help, here’s more of the article begun above:

Veracruz now becomes the 17th state in Mexico to criminalize abortion in a string of hotly contested and reactive measures set off by Mexico City’s April 2007 legalization of abortion.

The reforms to the Veracruz State Constitution include a last-minute stipulation by the National Action Party PAN that women who illegally obtain abortions can avoid jail time by accepting medical and psychological treatment.

[…]

The debate in Veracruz, fueled by passion and anger, is characteristic of the larger fight throughout Mexico on the issue of abortion that spans the personal and the political. The abortion wars in Mexico involve political issues, such as the direct intervention of the Catholic Church in a secular state, and health issues deriving from the high incidence of complications from clandestine abortions.

On a personal level, the abortion debate forces the society and politicians to examine the hidden implications of stringent abortion policies and clandestine abortions on the health and lives of Mexican women.

If you’re still not sure where the article’s author stands, here’s the title: Mexico’s Abortion Laws: A Step Backward for Women’s Rights.

Therefore, laws that ban organ sales could be announced in articles similarly titled?

For example, US Organ Sale Laws: A Step Backward for Human Rights

Well, anyway, I’m thankful to believe that human life begins at conception.

Happy Thanksgiving!

New “Speed” Limit

I just learned that Mexico decriminalized small-scale drug possession:

Mexico decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin on Friday — a move that prosecutors say makes sense even in the midst of the government’s grueling battle against drug traffickers.

Prosecutors said the new law sets clear limits that keep Mexico’s corruption-prone police from shaking down casual users and offers addicts free treatment to keep growing domestic drug use in check.

“This is not legalization, this is regulating the issue and giving citizens greater legal certainty,” said Bernardo Espino del Castillo of the attorney general’s office.

The new law sets out maximum “personal use” amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities no longer face criminal prosecution.

Espino del Castillo says, in practice, small users almost never did face charges anyway.

I think this is dumb.

But I’ve been wrong before.

On the other hand, they have decriminalized small amounts of driving in excess of the posted highway speed limit. For which I’ve been glad.

But that kind of speed is different than the kind featured in the story above.

Illustrating News

Putting pertinent photos with a story adds impact and helps understanding.

So here’s a story about the US-Mexico border fence. And the story begins in Nogales, split between Arizona and Sonora.

Well, folks, I’ve been in Nogales lots of times in the course of fifty years or so. (Granted, some of those years I was too young to notice much.) The photo accompanying this paragraph is not Nogales!

Border fence at Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora? No!

I know, I know — the story makes no claim that it’s Nogales. But still.

So I let’s take this in a totally different direction.

Is the person in the photo a drug smuggler coming north or a gun runner going south?

Or is it an Islamic terrorist sneaking into the States or an illegal immigrant fleeing back to Mexico after murdering someone in the US?

Source: High Country News

The Highest Rate in Thirteen Years

I read that expression over at Mexico Today a week or so ago:

The National Geography and Statistics Institute said that unemployment reached 5.24 percent of the Economically Active Population in the second quarter, the highest rate in 13 years. (Comment: What I don´t understand is that the US unemployment rate is higher than Mexico’s. If this were true, wouldn’t there be waves of people coming down to Mexico to find a job… Any job?)

That struck me as a potentially interesting search term. Alas, it turned out to be a dud for for current results.

Here’s one of the results, via Forbes.com:

What’s more, the U.S. normally runs a negative savings rate, which means consumers spend more than they have and live off credit. Now, with the economy cratering, Americans are stashing their cash and have boosted the savings rate to 5%, according to the Commerce Department, the highest rate in 13 years. That’s bad news for state governments, as money being saved instead of spent cannot be taxed.

With less money coming in, and less to do, maybe that means tax men will be America’s next round of mass layoffs, a cause for which citizens are unlikely to support a bailout.

PS: “In thirteen years” produced some current news results, though.