halcitron

http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=e2ad04c6d2eb189f930db6d6aadb3002

Watching the Border Watchers: What the Minutemen Look Like From the
Streets of Oaxaca

Youth Commentary, Angel Luna,
Pacific News Service, May 26, 2005

Editor's Note: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent "welcome"
to the Minutemen -- an Arizona group that has taken it upon itself to
police the border -- caused controversy locally. The reaction south of
the border, one young immigrant found when he returned to Oaxaca for a
visit, has been even stronger, and potentially more extreme.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--When I first heard about the Minutemen -- a group of
vigilantes rounding up illegal immigrants along the Arizona border --
my first thought was, "I wonder what the reaction will be back home in
Oaxaca." On a recent visit, I got a chance to find out.

The Minutemen drew a lot of attention recently when California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed his support for the group and
"welcomed" it to expand its operation to his state. Here in the United
States, the response has been mostly soft pressure -- letters to
congressional representatives and candlelight vigils. In San Jose,
Calif., where I live, many people feel the situation is a lost cause
and are just waiting for the worst. Folks like my aunt, who immigrated
here three years ago, say "Hay Dios mio, protégé a esa pobre gente
(Oh my Lord, please protect these poor people)," whenever the topic of
the Minutemen comes up. But on the other side of the border the
attitude toward the Minutemen, and how to handle them, is stronger.

I recently went back to my hometown of Oaxaca, Mexico, for a visit. A
lot more folks talk politics in Mexico than in the United States, and
the Minutemen in particular had caught everyone's attention. It's the
talk at the local bar, in the back of taxicabs and on campus at Uabjo
Universidad Autonoma Benito Juares de Oaxaca. One of my old friends
there told me that he had planned to go and reunite with his son in the
United States, but all the hype about the Minutemen was stopping him.

He said, "Pinches gueros culeros que no quieren que progrese la raza
(Damn white boys, they don't want us to make progress)," and "Que mal
les hace uno (What harm do we do them)?"

The border itself looks very different from Mexico. First off, it's
farther from home than people think. It is dangerous, tricky, dirty,
unfriendly, and you can trust nobody. My aunt told me a story of how
she almost got ****d when she was crossing the border from Mexico to
the United States. It is no easy decision to go.

If you have enough money for a coyote (guide), you go through the
desert. In Oaxaca, they tell stories of people -- not necessarily the
Minutemen, but others who don't want to see people make it --
sabotaging the water stations that volunteers have placed in the desert
to help prevent deaths by dehydration.

If you don't have money, you catch a cargo train while it's running. If
you don't stay awake, you can fall off and kill yourself. I heard many
stories in Oaxaca of people getting their limbs chopped off, and
getting stuck in between trains.

Talk of these dangers has recently been upstaged by the question of how
to deal with the Minutemen. Word on the street is that the narcos (drug
lords) are going to give rewards to anybody who kills a member of the
Minuteman organization.

I was in a bar with my friends, drinking and joking around until the
soccer game on the TV was interrupted by a news flash about the
Minuteman. Everyone gathered around this older man who said he was a
lawyer. "The only thing that these people are doing is pissing off the
narcos, the coyotes and the Mara Salvatrucha (a gang that spans Latin
America)," he said. Some of the folks laughed.

In the neighborhood where I was raised in Oaxaca, the narcos have a
pretty strong following. They are thought to be generous with their
allies and dangerous to their enemies. Even though people know the
narcos are up to no good, the drug lords are thought of as people who
don't forget where they came from, and don't forget their folks.

Before he left he bar, the lawyer said, "El narco no perdona, y la
sangre va a tener que ser derramada (The narco doesn't f****ve, and
blood will have to be spilled)." The room cheered.

PNS contributor Angel Luna, 20, writes for Silicon Valley De-Bug, the
voice of young workers, writers and artists in Silicon Valley and a PNS
project. He came to the United States from Mexico seven years ago.

--
Border Watch should be armed or have some backup.


:/

editor

Halcitron quoted Pacific News:


Then Mexico's people really are useful idiots. In this image of
narcos as Mexican Robin Hoods, what have the narcos ever REALLY done
for Oaxacans?
Face it, if the narcos really were the Mexican Robin Hoods and
Oaxaca a Mexican Sherwood Forest, the narcos would have used their
wealth and arms to overthrow the corrupt oligarchy oppressing the
Mexican people and keeping them poor - long ago.

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don gabacho

Halcitron quoted Pacific News:


"Then Mexico's people really are useful idiots. In this image of
narcos as Mexican Robin Hoods, what have the narcos ever REALLY done
for Oaxacans?"

Most Oaxacans hate Mexicans, and, in fact, love Arnold Schwartznegger.
If he were to make a film about what to do with Mexico's narcos. They'd
take even more heed. As far as the "Robin Hood" image, they were
watching television and were viewing and hearing what the Mexican
government wants them to see and hear.

They know better. What they don't know is what they can do about it.
Their government certainly won't.

"Face it, if the narcos really were the Mexican Robin Hoods and Oaxaca
a Mexican Sherwood Forest, the narcos would have used their wealth and
arms to overthrow the corrupt oligarchy oppressing the Mexican people
and keeping them poor - long ago."

As in Mexico's narcs overthrowing themselves (the government)?

When you read news stories of police chiefs in Mexico being killed do
you assume it is because they are attempting to arrest narcos?

**** you taco boy.

juan

<< Talk of these dangers has recently been upstaged by the question of
how
to deal with the Minutemen. Word on the street is that the narcos (drug

lords) are going to give rewards to anybody who kills a member of the
Minuteman organization. >>


And when that happens, the Border Patrol will be on the MiniMen's case
for provoking the situation. And in 99% of the US no one will give a
damn about some racist that bites the dust.

the phantom

so it's open season south of the border, too then, eh? Bring it on.

graphic queen

Bwahahahahahahahaha
Wrong once again! You haven't been right ever in this group. Give it
up idiot.

strabo

In What the Minutemen Look Like From the Streets of Oaxaca on 26
May 2005 13:20:42 -0700, by Halcitron, we read:


Yep. Sounds just American blacks and females. Everybody
is against them.

In Mexico revolution is a lost cause. The Indians tried it
several times, and actually won, but didn't have the cultural
values and leaders that could formulate an independent country.
So, it was back to medievalism.

One can imagine what these natural victims would do
to the American republic in a few generations.


Here we are again - Americans are those "who don't want to see
people make it."

This "voice of young workers, writers and artists" is just
another Marxist out to get even with his parents.

strabo

In Re: What the Minutemen Look Like From the Streets of Oaxaca on
26 May 2005 13:43:39 -0700, by Juan, we read:

The "Minimen" organization is an unofficial delegation
that represent millions of Americans.

When it comes to maintaining that border and keeping
undesirables out, you can count on about
80% of North Americans being "racist."

And we look forward to encounters with your gangs.
These we can slaughter with impunity.

don gabacho

"And when that happens, the Border Patrol will be on the MiniMen's case
for provoking the situation. And in 99% of the US no one will give a
damn about some racist that bites the dust."

Do you really think that Mexico's propagandists will keep the wool over
the eyes of the most ardent pro-(so-called) immigrationists once
Mexico's government---opps "narcs"---start shooting Americans for being
in their way?

Btw, what is the difference between Mexico's government and Mexico's
"narcs"?

When one is not the other they are nonetheless mutally inclusive. Areh
they not?