Re-Living the Experience of Ciudad Juarez, Essay Example

The vagaries of life are by no means a fuss of the human illusion, but indeed a contribution to the ongoing saga that adds to the flavor of life. It even finds greater expression in youthful exuberance. Nature being what it is, the prime stage of youthfulness is defined by an insatiable thirst for adventurous satisfaction often times at greater costs than ever envisaged.

In the winter of 2007, I was driven by a strong desire to explore what the world in the southern most boarder line between the United States and Mexico looked like. Looking back retrospectively I cannot clearly state what I expected to discover besides the fact that I was under the influence of sheer curiosity. Eventually, I decided to go deep into Mexico unaccompanied and without any pre-scheduled travel plans. Looking back today it sounds somewhat bizarre but ultimately I remain gladly grateful for all that I acquired by way of experience.

My decision was not in any way a form of juvenile delinquency but much of an inner craving to as it were come out with startling revelations about our southern neighbor. Another interesting aspect of my entire story is that the series of coincidences that characterized my expedition almost makes it look like a fiction. If anybody else sees that I personally take specific exceptions to any suggestion thereof.

With my backpack firmly tagged behind me, I boarded a bus headed for Santa Barbara. In all honesty I am clueless as to why I chose to begin my journey into Mexico from Santa Barbara. But as fate would have it, I met a nice looking fellow passenger in the bus I was travelling in. We had a pretty long conversation on almost about every subject matter. It turned out that this good looking gentleman, called Carlos happened to be a temporary worker from Mexico. Having discussed my intentions with him he agreed to give me a ride in his minibus the following day into Mexico because he was also travelling back home to spend time with his family. Without any hesitation I agreed to travel with Carlos.

Carlos and I set off for Mexico after spending the night in his residence in a Santa Barbara suburb. We drove through long stretch of a dusty rough road for over a couple of hours before reaching a little village, as I recall Carlos telling me was within the territorial boundaries of Mexico. My eyes glow with curiosity without knowing exactly what to expect. Carlos then asked about my international travel passport, with a look of surprise I told him I did not have one. He did not appear so surprised by my answer and continued driving until we came into another bustling town called Ciudad Juarez where I opted to alight from Carlos’ minibus. After expressing my gratitude to Carlos, he zoomed off leaving behind a tale of dust.

Barely being able to communicate in Spanish, I struggled to locate a bank where I entered and converted some dollars into Mexican Pesos. Still burning with enthusiasm I took an unguided tour of the city watching keenly how people clustered in groups apparently engaged in discussions that I did not have the slightest idea about. In less than five minutes I long convoy of military personnel heavily armed drove pass the street adjacent the bank I carried out my transaction, the military convoy was followed by a loud siren of six ambulances headed towards the same direction. Later that night, a steward in the hotel I checked into engaged me in a conversation, which was mainly centered on the siege placed on Mexico by drug cartels. The military patrol team seen earlier that afternoon was headed to a murder scene in the neighborhood of the steward.

It kind of gave me a fair idea of the environment that I was in and in another way it was an orientation into what I should expect during my stay in Mexico.

Pablo, the steward was somewhat a kindhearted fellow, whose knowledge about his country was so boundless. He reported for duty every night during which time he would spend over an hour lecturing me on almost about everything I needed to know. It often concluded with him given me a detailed outline of recommended places for me to visit the following day. From this moment it was increasingly appearing to me that I was perhaps on a tourist vacation, but I still could not tell what in the world I was doing in Mexico. The city of Ciudad Juarez is literally a police cum military controlled area yet I witnessed several murder incidents allegedly carried out by the rival gangs in their fight for control of turf.

Sadly, the greatest heartbreak occurred on the fifth night of my stay in the hotel when six gun men walked into the hotel and summarily executed Pablo to the horror of all present. The gun men drove off in their SUV car. I was later told Pablo was targeted to send a message to his elder brother who had just being appointed as the new police commander of the city of Ciudad Juarez.

Shocked by the level of violence in the city of Ciudad Juarez, I soberly reflected over the history and trends of the violent crime in the area. Significant issues became clear to me, first of all the drug trade is a multimillion dollar venture explaining cartels motivated by the high profits are determined to consolidate their grounds even if that means crushing any perceived or real opposition. Ciudad Juarez is also strategically located on the US-Mexico boarder line and is therefore the main point of entry into the largest market for the cartel operators. The route taking by Carlos and I during my entry into Mexico also points to how porous the boarder lines can be.

Beyond these issues, my heart was moved by the thousands of innocent victims who pay the highest price to keep the drug business going. Then I wondered if illicit drug consumers in the United States had any idea about how their actions were fueling carnage in our poor neighborhood. Short of blaming the cartels and their operators, it is true that demand fuels supply and as long as people in the US consume narcotics then its production will persist. If its production and proliferation would have to continue then lives would have to be sacrificed along the way. For every sniff of cocaine in the US, then another Pablo would have to be killed because hard currency is wired back to empower the cartel establishments in their quest to undermine law enforcement and eventually make fetish the legitimacy of the state in this impoverished country. There is therefore a push and pull factor in the escalation of violent crime in the city of Ciudad Juarez and by extension the entire state of Mexico.