“If someone knocks on the door in the middle of the night, don’t open the door. Last week two women were shot in the head just down the road from here for no reason… there are very bad people here,” Josefina warns my father and I before we head to bed.
Wearing a shawl over her head and no shoes, the 83-year-old’s face tells a story of the hard life she has lived. Along with her 84-year-old husband, the two settled outside of Torreon four decades ago. In a simple house with no running water or bathroom they slowly saw life pass by as they worked hard to make ends meet.
“We are very poor, but the little we have we offer our new friends,” they said as we made ourselves at home in a small room next to their house.
Life has always been hard for them but at least it was safe. Not anymore. With the demise of Colombia’s drug cartels in the 1990’s, 90 per cent of the drugs entering the United States now pass through Mexico. Like many innocent families, Josefina and her husband are caught in the middle of the “War on Drugs.”
“My son was stabbed many times before he died,” Josefina told us as her eyes filled with water.
In 2011, 24 068 people were killed in Mexico as a direct result of the “War on Drugs.” With Cartels fighting amongst each other for territory and against the police and army, Torreon has become the second most dangerous city in Mexico – with 7 people being murdered on average every day. As you travel around the city, you can feel the tension in the air. Trucks with Police officers sporting large machine guns pass by every 3 minutes. In most street corners Army officials set up check points to inspect suspicious vehicles for arms and drugs. Every night by 10:00 pm the city is empty of people and full of fear.
Fear is what I saw in Josefina’s eyes. People are scared to leave their homes and live their lives.
“A few years ago this was one of the safest cities in Mexico. At nights the streets were full of people having fun… now the people don’t dare step outside at night because of what is happening,” a native of the city told me as we travelled through the downtown area.
The current situation Mexico is going through is very sad. With such beautiful places and kind hearted people, this violence does not belong here. And it’s all because of drugs. People dying here so others can get their fix…
Luckily I can see that the situation is slowly getting better! Many people have told me that since December things changed. Which gives me hope that a new Mexico is near. Lets think positive!!!!!
