Where is the Media???

FLASH FLASH FLASH

San Antonio is only 155 miles from Acuna, Mexico. This must be news to the media outlets in San Antonio because of the almost complete lack of news coverage about last week's floods and the loss of lives. The dramatic photos that we never saw: the cardboard houses washed away, the thousands of people left homeless and the damage caused by the storms to the thousands of families living on the river were not newsworthy.

The heart-wrenching stories of children unable to get their treatments for cancer, families without food, water, electricity and many without homes went unreported. Yes, there were very general stories about the flooding where some cities were mentioned, but where were the stories and photos about the victims.

I am deeply disappointed by this lack of coverage. Many of these stories would have been picked up by the national press if reported properly and with compassion by the San Antonio media.

Our churches pray and meet about the gulf oil spill. Yet, not a word about our neighbors to the south. Does Mexico simply not matter?

The Politics

Mexico was often described as the perfect dictatorship. For 70-years the PRI (pronounced pree) party held power. Presidents literally hand-picked their successors. For 70-years the people were offered bribes for votes.

"The process is simple. They hand the first person in line to vote a (stolen) ballot that is already completed. Each box on that ballot is already marked with an 'x'. The election official gives you a blank ballot. You deposit the one that was already filled in and return the blank ballot to the guy paying the bribe. He marks that ballot and gives it to the next person in line."

Sometimes a family receives a washing-machine. Often, a few weeks before the election, the politicians in power send money, groceries, and other things to a community. More is promised (and often delivered) when that politician is re-elected.

The party system in Mexico has intense loyalty. The governor first helps those cities where mayors are from his party. Charities are often managed by wives and relatives of politicians. For example, a city food bank may be managed by a relative of the mayor. Food is distributed to those in need - but party members and people who can 'get out the vote' come first.

The common people believe that all politicians are corrupt and that most provide help to the drug cartels. In fairness to the politicians, those that refuse the cartels are threatened and their children are threatened. Every once in a while, the cartels kill and kidnap to drive home their point.

Welcome

I am in a Mexican border city at least twice a month and walk the dirt streets of the colonias while running an NPO. Although sympathetic to the Mexican people, I am a conservative American and my country comes first.

This blog exists to share what I see, hear, read and believe to be the honest situation along the border of Mexico and Texas. What happens in Mexico profoundly impacts the United States.

For 35-years I served as a law enforcement officer, first in Baltimore, Maryland and then in Houston, Texas. I've also developed database analysis applications that pinpointed and predicted patterns of criminal behavior. I've developed analysis programs, managed large and small scale criminal investigations and have five years of experience as an instructor in various analysis techniques and programs.

Since 2002, I've created and managed Paper Houses Across the Border, Inc., a nonprofit corporation originally funded by the Police Officer's Patrolman's Union. Since that time, I've walked the streets of the colonias in several Mexican border-cities and met with clergy, business people, administrators, school teachers, children, and spent thousands of hours in the homes of ordinary, hard-working, Mexicans that live and work in the colonias of Mexico.

My hope is that this blog will provide honest insight into the problems in Mexico that directly impact the United States.