Americans Killed in Mexico

I saw on the news this morning that a couple of Americans were gunned down by a drug cartel in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico over the weekend. An American consulate worker and her husband were shot while driving in their car. Their seven-month-old daughter was in the car with them and was not shot. This is just the latest drug cartel related killing of Americans in Mexico.

This is a social issue, not a law-enforcement issue. The people of Mexico are afraid of the drug cartels and they are worried that if they step forward to try to stop them they will be targeted. This is the problem in most developing countries that have crime problems. It will continue until the people stop accepting the criminal activity and stand together to put a stop to it. The police and other law enforcement departments can only do so much to try to stop them. The biggest problem is that these governmental agencies typically have limited funds and manpower when compared to the criminal groups.

The Mexican government has realized that this is a social issue and has begun focusing on changing the social issues in Ciudad Juarez. The United States has continued to provide monetary support to the Mexican government allowing agencies to purchase x-ray machines and even helicopters. The FBI and DEA continue to provide support for investigations when American citizens are involved in the drug cartel violence.

My biggest problem with all of this is that if Mexico really wants to change, the people will need to be the leaders of that change. They cannot sit back and wait for the Mexican government to make the change happen, which is what they typically prefer to do. Mexico is not known for major social change happening organically at the hands of the people anymore. In the past they have had change happen in this manner, but it seems like the people have become more accepting and less active in recent history.

I personally love to visit Mexico. I find the culture and people very interesting. There is a lot of history to explore. My wife's grandfather still lives in a small mountain village in central Mexico. We have visited him there twice and have really enjoyed the trips. The village is in Michoacan, which has had a lot of drug cartel violence recently. We have been talking about going back, but I don't know if this year will be a good time with all of the violence that is happening.

Ciudad Juarez is located just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the world with a current population of about 1.5 million people. Juarez and El Paso make up one of the largest binational metropolitan areas in the world with a combined population of about 2.4 million people. The Juarez-El Paso border crossing is one of the busiest US-Mexico border crossings with more than 600,000 people crossing every day.