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By Root 1420 0

árez businessman. His assailants psychologically torture him for four hours—mainly by driving him around in a car while they point pistols at his head. The businessman notes a curious fact—his kidnappers know every detail of his banking business, all the account numbers and the amount of money he has in each account, facts he does not even share with his family. The story suggests this is only possible if someone inside the Juárez bank is cooperating with the kidnappers. But the newspaper fails to print the name of the bank that works with a kidnapping ring.

We must be careful. Saturday, two were machine-gunned. Sunday, five more. Monday, that lawyer was mowed down. And now, early Tuesday morning, a state cop in his fine Dodge Ram takes a lot of rounds. They have hauled him to the hospital, but this is not a good idea, considering the killers’ excellent follow-up capabilities. That is why at least seventeen people have fled to El Paso with their gaping wounds.

Also, the city and state are concerned that so very few Mexicans wear seat belts when they drive. Something must be done to educate the public.

At any time of the day or night, the machine-gun fire can cut you in half. This can happen anywhere. No need to watch your back, to keep eyes peeled. No need to be afraid. And of course, everyone but the authorities knows there is no need to wear a seat belt. Just go about your business and relax.

A few weeks ago, a man was machine-gunned just downriver from Juárez. His daughter went to his funeral. And she was machine-gunned. We do not know more. Nothing has been reported. Just as a few days ago, the government said it seized thirteen hit men in a tiny village just downriver from the city. But again, we have heard nothing more about them.

And then, this very morning, in the middle of June 2008, a group of businessmen put up a short video on YouTube. They demanded that the violence stop, that they would meet violence with violence. They demanded security, they demanded justice, they asked for an awful lot of things. And then, after one minute and twenty-seven seconds, they signed off and forgot to tell anyone their names. Or show their faces. But they did provide nice background music—Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

The next day, leaders in the business community denied any connection with the announcement. Then, at six busy intersections, banners went up from people purporting to be the business community and announcing roughly the same warning. These were taken down almost instantly. The banners were puzzling. If they really did come from the well-heeled business community, they misspelled El Chapo Guzman’s name.

So I relax. It hardly matters that I go to a fine restaurant, and then it is burned. It hardly matters that I drink coffee in a café, and half a block away, a fistful of people go down in a burst of machine-gun fire.

The DEA and the Mexican authorities have told the newspapers that this is a war and it is being won. It seems that elements of the Gulf cartel and the Juárez cartel have joined with elements of the Sinaloa cartel in order to crush El Chapo Guzman and create a mega-cartel. And so once more, killing is done, order will return to the city and the nation, and we can all go back to a good night’s sleep. Either way, la gente cannot lose, don’t you see? Of course, not a single person quoted has spoken with one of the architects of this mega-cartel, and so our knowledge is based on something that we cannot really know. We must trust the authorities, even though they give us no facts that we can verify. Nor will they let us ask them questions. They simply announce things to the press, who then print these announcements for us. The only real facts are the dead people, and they are barely facts since we do not always learn their names, and more and more, we do not even learn that they have been killed.

That is why I can finally relax. There is no way to be safe. So there is no reason to worry. And, once the mega-cartel arrives, calm returns. And the army can declare victory.

It is all in the papers.