Continuing my thoughts on the film The Dark Knight...
Gotham City, the fictional world we find in the film, is a violent, corrupt, seemingly hopeless place. Organized crime essentially controls Gotham City - their heavily-armed gangs control the streets and their influence has infiltrated the police force and mayor's office. The civil authorities are so corrupt that the real good guys (like Commissioner Gordon) are constantly in mortal danger from their own officers. It is difficult to know which officers can be trusted. To make matters worse, the police are outgunned by the heavily-armed (think RPG's and grenades) organized crime gangs. Everyone on the side of good is subject to being assassinated - especially police chiefs, mayors, DAs, precinct captains, and not to mention any street officer who resists the crime bosses. The criminal bosses remind one of the tactics al-Queda use in Iraq - the use of torture, terrorist tactics, beheadings, video clips on the internet, IEDs (secretly placed explosive devices), and anything else they can think of to extend their rule of terror. It is indeed a very bleak scene with the odds heavily stacked against the forces of good. This situation may remind many people of the current status in Iraq, but, as I sat and watched the film, I realized that it is also very hauntingly similar to Mexico.
Allow me to introduce a real-life Commissioner Gordon, a man who perhaps has the most dangerous job on the planet. His name is Genero Garcia Luna and he is Mexico's top police official in the War on Drugs. Pray for this man. He is leading the fight against massive forces of evil and if anyone is a marked man, he is. Let me list some facts:
- 90% of the cocaine consumed in the U.S. enters by land from Mexico.
- This drug trade entering the U.S. is a $35 BILLION dollar a year business.
- Last year the largest confiscation of cocaine in history - 23 TONS - happened in Mexico and the amount of $207 MILLION dollars was seized all in one house (there were entire rooms filled with hundred dollar bills stacked from floor to ceiling like cordwood).
- A powerful drug cartel left a "hit list" of police chiefs and mayors on a monument to fallen police officers in February of this year. Of the 22 names on the list, 18 were assassinated within three months.
- 500 Mexican police officers have been killed in the line of duty this year alone. In addition to this number, hundreds of elected officials have been assassinated - police chiefs, mayors, and members of the legislature.
- In a national poll taken earlier this year in Mexico, 56% of Mexicans think the cartels are more powerful than the government.
- Mexico's new president, Felipe Calderon has sent 30,000 army troops to the northern states to wage war against the cartels. These military units have often disarmed and arrested entire police forces because of corruption within the police. There have actually been fire fights between corrupt police and Mexican soldiers.
- Earlier this year the entire police force of the border town of Palomas, Mexico crossed into the town of Columbus, New Mexico asking for asylum after ten bullet-riddled bodies were tossed by a cartel on the front steps of the police station.
This is the context in which we operate and minister in Mexico. This country is fighting a brutal war for the very susvival of its civil society. Last month the U.S. congress voted to send Mexico $400 million dollars in assistance in this Drug War (this is called the Merida Initiative). While this may (or may not) help, more importantly it is crucial to focus on the spiritual aspect of this conflict. Ultimately this war, as any human conflict, is spiritual in nature and we of the Kingdom of God must rise up in prayer and action. I'll blog more on this later. For now, here are two articles.
Related articles for those interested in reading more:
"The Long War of Genero Garcia Luna," by Daniel Kurtz-Phelan in the July 13, 2008 issue of the New York Times Magazine. The is the best article out there on this conflict.
"Mexico's Narco Opera Reaches for a High Note," by John Ross in the May 25, 2008 edition of Counterpunch. This article states a lot of good facts but I am not in agreement in his conclusion to the problem - the legalization of cocaine.
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