About Secret History

Commentary on Latin America.
Mostly about Mexico - but not always.
Designed to encourage readers to learn about
the apparently "secret history" of 500 million people
spread across two continents
- but not always.
You can always count on a little snark.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The OTHER Violence in Mexico

As the narco-violence in Mexico grows, my students are expressing extreme distress about our upcoming trip to Mexico City and Oaxaca. Aside from pointing out to them that 2 people an hour are murdered in the US, I pointed out a statistic that worries me a little more. Last year at this time the Calderon administration discussed a fairly disturbing number: 80% of women murderd in Mexico are killed by a family member, and 30% of women assaulted felt the attacker did it out of love. At the same time, Calderon mentioned that the traffic of humans - not just for migration - is the third most profitable crime in Mexico, with 80% of the victims being young girls and women.

I hate that my students watch the news and have a "Barbarous Mexico" moment, one that will probably stop them from going to Mexico and learning more about it in a way that could help them contribute to it as fellow citizens of the world. Well, a way beyond stopping their own possible recreational narcotics habits and funding the cartels...but I guess that is best left for another post.

1 comment:

Lillie Langtry said...

I remember very well the reactions of others - family members, fellow students, others - and my own feelings before my first trip to Latin America (Ecuador, in my case). Especially as a lone woman, there was definitely a fear barrier to be overcome, and there still is when I go back actually... I just know that it's worth it!