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The drug war in Mexico has become pretty much a daily assignment here in the country – news of headless bodies turning up in the Yucatan and mass shootings in Chuihuaha tend to dominate the headlines. Combined with the huge crime wave and rising kidnappings, the country probably has one of the worst reputations abroad.

The New York Times has a great piece online today about how just regular citizens are reacting to the drug war.

“We all live in fear now,” he said. “Any of us could be taken or killed. I try to wear nothing and do nothing that attracts attention. I wear T-shirts and a hat. I have no jewelry. I don’t want to stand out.”

In modern Mexico, a new way of cautious thinking is setting in. A Hummer pulls beside one’s vehicle at an intersection? Better keep looking straight ahead. Or better yet, many recommend, do not stop at red lights at all.

Click here to read the full piece.

For nearly daily coverage of the drug violence in Mexico, stay tuned to the Los Angeles Times Mexico Under Siege page and the NYT’s Drug trafficking in Mexico topics page.

A girl wielded a photo of Monica Alejandrina, who was kidnapped in 2004, during this Saturday’s march for peace across Mexico.

Thousands of protesters of all social classes hit the streets of cities across the country, expressing their anger and indignation at rising levels of kidnappings and crime across Mexico.

Click here for the video dispatch from the march.

Anger has boiled over in the weeks since the death of Fernando Marti, the 14-year-old son of a wealthy businessman, whose body was found after his family reportedly paid millions of dollars to kidnappers.

At least two Mexico City police officers were suspected of involvement, provoking more fury among residents weary of endemic corruption and apparent impunity.

The Calderon government has struggled to show results from its 21-month-old offensive against organized crime.

More than 2,600 people have died this year in drug-related violence, according to unofficial counts by Mexican news outlets. [Los Angeles Times]

The Huamantlada pits man against beast in potentially disastrous circumstances. The annual event, which takes place in the otherwise sleepy town of Huamantla in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala, saw 24 bulls let loose in the town’s narrow, uneven streets to be confronted by locals and visitors alike – many of which had been drinking since early in the morning on what was a scorching hot day.

My loyal readers may remember the Huamantlada from last year – the film we made has proved one of our most watched and the coverage was one of the earliest missions of MexicoReporter.com – then known as NewCorrespondent.com. Well, this year I was back – for the Los Angeles Times this time around – and I wanted to apply my new video training to the event which had proved entertaining 12 months ago, although a little hard to watch. One man had died and there were 24 injuries during the 2007 event.

Everything was for sale as Ulises and I made our way through the throng of men, women, children and babies come to watch the show: tacos, tequila glasses, hats for the sun, balloons, toy torros, headbands with horns attached, cigarettes, sweets and lollipops, chewing gum, t-shirts, pulque (Mexican moonshine), tamales, corn-on-the-cob,  beers made into spicy micheladas (condimented with chile, Tabasco sauce, Worcester sauce and other ingredients that can work their way through the walls of one’s stomach), caramelized peanuts, chopped fruit, ice-cream, ink-stamps of bulls for children’s faces, bright squishy toy balls and even mouth organs.

The sound of hammering could be heard all around as the men from the town constructed the make-shift bleachers / stall seating that lined both sides of the streets that would transform into temporary (torture) pens for the bulls later that afternoon. Most of the seats were just thick planks of wood lain along wooden scaffolding. Sol beer branded boards ran along their front – protecting the families behind them from the frenzied street activity to come.

The incessant chatter of friends and family mixed with the hammering, along with the drunken chanting and laughter of the inebriated. The woman at the taco stand, fruit-sellers, a boy selling tequila glasses and a boy who proffered toy torros were all happy to be filmed, and there was lots of environmental action to catch on tape before midday, when the bulls were released.

Francisco Hernandez Villera was hanging out in the street with his friends, bending his knees and practicing postures with an old and faded pink cape that had no doubt seen more glorious days than today would prove to be. Slight of build and 24 years old, this was his eighth year at the Huamantlada, but luckily he had yet to acquire the scares to prove it. It’s a big adrenalin rush, he told us, because of the audience more than anything.

“They apply a lot of pressure,” he said.

Come eleven, the stalls were filling up and we needed to bag a seat. It proved difficult – most of them were already full. We ended up on the third row back on the north side of the street Juarez, flanked top and bottom by a group of girls and then boys respectively hell bent on having a good time. I was annoyed with our positioning, and wanted to be closer to the action. Ulises chatted with Laura Pimentel, a young teacher who befriended us and – who despite being a vegetarian for moral reasons came to watch the show for fun with her mates. She said many of them had been coming to the feria since they were children. But I was distracted, looking around for a better place to be.

A firework sounded and a rowdy roar came up from the crowd. It was close to kick-off. From where we were, I could see up and down the street at least 200 yards each way, and the people still in the street drinking and laughing suddenly parted like the red sea as men tried to jump into the stalls out of the path of the 500 kilo black bull who ran through the masses. The enormous animal shone magnificently in the sun and looked utterly confused.

And so the games began.

Contrary to last year, when I have to admit I spent the first 15 minutes hyperventilating, I adjusted pretty soon to the risk factor and the knowledge that everyone standing around in the street was only five seconds away from a violent and painful death. My sympathies were a hundred per cent with the animal, who was surrounded by humans mad with booze and testosterone. I cringed internally as I watched a man kneel down, arms outstretched, in front of the confused animal as the crowd egged him on. The bull would only have to step forward a meter and toss its horns to change this man’s life forever.

I was annoyed with my limited angles for shooting – where we were positioned allowed me very little movement because of the groups of people above and below us.

I was pondering a move down into the street when the bull tore past once again, men scattering every which way in front of him. Once of them tumbled to the ground but the bull – too distraught to focus – passed him by. Girls screamed hysterically. The whole thing gave me the creeps in a way it hadn’t last year.

I looked towards the opening in the wall that separated the stalls from the street – maybe I could slip through there and just run out of the way when things got hairy? But the entrance was blocked by drunken men, smoking and watching for the bull to tear by again at which point they piled through the gap out of harm’s way. I didn’t fancy the challenge, nor my expensive new LATimes camera’s chances of getting safely out of the way in time.

So I stayed put – this story simply wasn’t one worth risking my life and my gear for.

After tormenting the bulls for a couple of hours, they were roped in and dragged, pushed and beaten into the metal crates from which they had emerged. Pimentel, our friend in the stalls, told us that they would be taken away to be killed. Once a bull has been in the ring with a human, he can learn how to charge and fight – these bulls had already had too much experience now to be ‘safe’ to torrear (bullfight). The name matador – that given to professional bullfighters – suddenly made sense. It means, literally, ‘killer.

The results of the shooting you’ll see in a day or so once the film is done in editing.

Photo: A man falls prey to the bull, but escaped unharmed. Credit: Ulises escammila haro / MexicoReporter.com

More than 20 people were gored or injured by bulls this weekend in Huamantla in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala after taking on one of the 24 bulls let loose into the streets as part of an annual festival.

The Huamantlada, which is often compared to the running of the bulls event in Pamplona, takes place every year in this small rural town. The comparison to the event in Spain is inaccurate – the bulls didn’t run anywhere. The town’s 17 central streets were transformed into huge pens for the half-ton animals, which were mercilessly taunted by the crowd and pelted with plastic bottles and beer cans.

Many of the men who challenged the bulls, matador-style, knew what they were doing and approached the animals with caution and capes. But many didn’t. The combination of alcohol, a screaming crowd and poor judgment was too much: 23 people ended up being carried away on stretchers by the Red Cross.

But all of those men who survived the wrath of the bulls- scathed or unscathed – were treated like homecoming heroes.

“Give me another beer — it didn’t hurt” shouted Armando Ortiz, a 25-year-old student who earned a standing ovation from the crowd after one of the bulls rushed at him and knocked him down.

The festival is a big family event, and mothers sat with tiny babies in the makeshift bleachers that had been put up around the town. The Huamantlada is a legacy of the Spanish settlers, who used to bring their bulls through this city to be quarantined on their way to bullfights in Mexico City. The locals caught the Spanish passion for bullfighting, and the tradition stuck.

“It’s a tradition that’s very much ours,” said Laura Pimental, a 30-year old teacher sitting safely in the stands.” “But take care!”

She and her three friends were staying well above the action.

“Like this – observing and nothing more because it’s very dangerous. We prefer being up here, watching, saying hello to friends, and having a good time.”

Not everybody was so cautious, but at least nobody lost their lives. Last year, there were 24 injuries and one death — Pimental saw the whole thing. The victim was an older man, and very drunk, she said. He didn’t want to sit with his family — he wanted to touch the bull.

“The animal took out his insides,” Pimental recalled.

Watch La Plaza for a video dispatch on this weekend’s event.

– Deborah Bonello in Huamantla, Mexico

Photos: An amateur bullfighting festival in Mexico sees men with varying experience take on 1,000-pound bulls. Deborah Bonello / Los Angeles Times

This post was written for La Plaza

An email from Conley’s wife Eowyn reads:

We just got word that Brian and friends are on a plane to Los Angeles, arriving Monday morning. He was released with 7 other US citizen detainees: Jeff Goldin, Tom Grant, Mike Liss, James Powderly, Jeff Rae, John Watterberg and Jeremy Wells.

They have been released 6 days early, largely (we believe) because of political pressure and media attention that forced the US Embassy to take action.

The fate of the other 2 international detainees, Florian Norbu Gyanatshang a Tibetan with German citizenship, and Mandie McKeown from Britain, is not clear. Please feel free to call their respective embassies and urge their immediate release. For more info on phone numbers and other action steps, see the Free Tibet 2008 website.

There are other important steps we can take to make sure that their detention gets the international attention it deserves and that the underlying cause — freedom for the people of Tibet — is advanced. We can keep putting pressure on media to tell the real story of the Olympics in China. We can continue to raise awareness about the oppression and violence in Tibet. We can work to support independent media, so we actually get to hear these stories.

Welcome home Brian. Alive in Baghdad this week is expected to feature a short section on his detention.

Brian Conley, who runs the award-winning video blog Alive in Baghdad, has been detained in Beijing whilst documenting pro-Tibet protests in the city running alongside the Olypmics.

Conley has been of incredible help to MexicoReporter.com, helping me with video editing and filming tips during the early days, and also helped the Frontline Club promote the Frontline Club live video channel. Conley has “dedicated his life to helping oppressed people communicate their struggles to the world. Since 2004 he has worked on the video blog Alive in Baghdad which produces and distributes weekly video segments about daily life in Iraq and the impact of the war,” says his wife Eowy.

According to an email from Eowyn – who is 31 weeks pregnant with their first child – Conley was arrested by Chinese authorities for this work, along with 5 others working with Students for a Free Tibet, Jeff Rae (who also works with Alive in Baghdad), James Powderly, Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss, and Tom Grant.

As of about 8 pm Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, August 21 Brian and 5 others had been detained for approximately 77 hours, with no communication from them and minimal direct information from the Chinese authorities.

Earlier on Thursday, according to the Agency France Press the Beijing police disclosed that “Thomas” and 5 other unnamed activists had been sentenced to 10 days administrative detention for “upsetting public order.” We believe that the 6 detainees are Brian Conley, Jeff Rae (who also works with Alive in Baghdad), James Powderly, Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss, and Tom Grant.

After 72 hours of detention, foreign governments are expected to inform local embassies of the detention of any foreign nationals. The US Embassy has been confirmed the names of the 6 detainees with the Chinese authorities. The Embassy has also been in touch with Eowyn and assured her that they are working diligently to gain access to Brian and the other detainees.

For more information about the detention of Brian Conley and 5 others in Beijing, please see www.freetibet2008.org . Please consider donating money to Students for a Free Tibet to support their work. To get regular updates about Brian’s situation or to arrange an interview with me (Eowyn Rieke, Brian’s wife), please email brian.conley.update@gmail.com.

Remember the English-language newspaper The News which launched last October, pledging independence?

English language newspaper The News hit the streets of Mexico City today after a five year hiatus.

Its directors have promised a more independent tone this time around. In its prior incarnation The News kept its head under the parapet, preferring to keep its advertisers and powerful readers happy rather than rocking the boat.

Victor Hugo O’Farrill Ávila, owner and chairman of The News, said in the opening pages of today’s edition that the aim of the newspaper is to be ‘constructive and serious’, as his grandfather said some 60 years ago when launching the original form of the title in 1950.

But John Moody, chief executive of the paper, was much more bullish when he spoke to MexicoReporter.com a couple of weeks ago.

“I think that we’re going to be the only newspaper in Mexico that sells its readers and not paper and ink. I’m at the service of my readers and not my advertisers.”

Well, after a longer-than-expected wait, the daily has launched its website which you can see here at TheNews.com.mx.

According to my contact there, the site actually launched a month ago, so apologies for the delay – better late than never.

“Perez won a decision over Dominica’s Yulis Gabriel Mercedes by scoring early. Mercedes was unable to come back until just seconds before the bell, when he connected with a back kick.

“The two went into overtime, but neither scored. The judges declared Perez the winner,” writes the Associated Press.

The win for Pérez, who according to the Mexico City newspaper El Universal is inspired by martial arts film-star Bruce Lee, is prompting celebrations across Mexico, which until today has had a rather lackluster performance at the Olympics. Pérez is the first Mexican man to win gold at an Olympics since 1984.

TV hosts on Televisa’s morning show Wednesday showered themselves in confetti and waved the Mexican flag in jubilation over the win for Pérez, who is from the state of Michoacan, as is Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

– Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Guillermo Pérez celebrates victory in the 58-kilogram taekwondo event in Beijing. Credit: Marcelo Sayao / EFE

This post was written for La Plaza.

Last week’s statement, which advised women not to get into “spicy”conversations with men if they wanted to avoid rape and violence, saying:

“If you want to avoid sexual aggression….do not use provocative clothing…watch your glances…don’t be alone with a man, even if you know him…Don’t permit spicy chats or jokes… look for help  when you suspect bad intentions….”

Women protested in front of the cathedral in Mexico City’s Zocalo over the weekend – wearing miniskirts of course – and the statement has been lambasted by newspaper columnists and women’s rights activists.

“Guadalupe Loaeza, a renowned Mexican social commentator, said she worries the priest’s statements will be taken seriously and make it acceptable to blame the victim.

“”It gives rapists permission to say, ‘Well, she had on a miniskirt,’” Loaeza said. “What the church says has credibility – that’s why this type of statement is so dangerous.”" Associated Press.

The number of kidnappings in Mexico grew by 9.1 percent in the first five months of the year, according to figures published this week.

The statistics, from the anti-kidnapping branch of the attorney general’s office (Procuraduria General de la Republica, PGR, in Spanish), will serve to justify the fear currently gripping the country over insecurity and high crime levels. A march is planned at the end of the month in Mexico City to protest the rising level of crime and public insecurity.

The discovery earlier this month of the bullet-ridden body of a 14-year-old kidnap victim prompted a public outcry in Mexico as kidnappings rise and drug-related violence takes a heavy toll on the civilian population.

Read the rest of this post, written for La Plaza, here.
]]> http://mexicoreporter.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/kidnappings-in-mexico-up-by-9-percent/feed/ 0 MexicoReporter http://mexicoreporter.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/mini-skirts-banned-to-stop-provoking-rape-in-mexico/ http://mexicoreporter.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/mini-skirts-banned-to-stop-provoking-rape-in-mexico/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:11:32 +0000 MexicoReporter http://mexicoreporter.wordpress.com/?p=304 ]]> A Mexican university has banned miniskirts and other “provocative clothing” in an effort to stop “provoking” violent attacks against women.

Héctor Melesio Cuen Ojeda, rector of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, said that minskirts worn by many of the pupils are an invitation for attacks both inside and outside the university, according to El Universal.

He advised the women among the university’s 46,000 pupils to lower their skirts to knee-level.

The Mexican Catholic church has asked women not to wear “provocative clothing” or to get into “spicy” conversations or jokes with men, in order to avoid sexual assault.

“Si quieres evitar una agresión sexual… No uses ropa provocativa… Cuida tus miradas y tus gestos… No te quedes sola con un hombre, aunque sea conocido… No admitas pláticas o chistes picantes… Busca ayuda cuando sospeches una mala intención…”, señala la ficha.

Translation: “If you want to avoid sexual aggression….do not use provocative clothing…watch your glances…don’t be alone with a man, even if you know him…Don’t permit spicy chats or jokes… look for help when you suspect bad intentions….” (see the story in Spanish here)

The suggestion that women are responsible for the pervasive sexual aggression and violence in Mexico’s macho society is sure to provoke reaction from human rights activists, feminists and the general public.

Amnesty International in Mexico says that 1 in 4 Mexican women has suffered physical or sexual violence at the hand of their husbands, and that 82% of women who are victims of violence do not report it to the authorities. Although a law promising women a life free from violence was adopted by many states last year, no measures have been taken to enforce it, says the human rights group.

The story on the issue in the Mexican national newspaper El Universal has received more than 6,500 comments in response. Click here to read them, in Spanish.

This post was written for La Plaza