As I write, my heart is heavy for the people of Mexico, whom I love so much.

The Intercessor Who resides in me, Who always lives to make intercession (Heb. 7:25), the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Is. 53:3), Who has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows (Is: 53:4), Who was numbered with the transgressors (Is. 53:12), Who sympathizes with our weaknesses (Heb. 4:15), is longing to comfort the people of Mexico as He longed for the people of Jerusalem...(Matt. 23:37).  

Last year was a difficult and violent year for our neighbor Mexico.

According to the University of San Diego's Trans-Border Institute, "more than 6,500 killings made 2009 the bloodiest year since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the cartels in late 2006 and deployed 45,000 soldiers to fight organized crime."  The Institute tracks and analyzes murders in Mexico, hoping to "find ways to quell the violence."  They report that more than 20,000 murders have taken place since 2001, and more than half of those have been in the past 2 years.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Juarez, Mexico has a population of 1.5 million.  There were 2,643 murders in Juarez last year (up from 1587 in 2008).  New York City has a population of 7 million, with 466 murders in all of 2009.

THE VIOLENCE HAS GROWN EXPONENTIALLY

Trans-Border Institute Director David Shirk stated in a 01.13.10 AP article, "The violence has grown exponentially, but it's not clear that it's necessarily a slippery downward slope from here."  He reasoned that since government operations have hit seven of Mexico's eight significant cartels, the Sinaloa cartel headed by billionaire Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman may become dominant, reducing the deadly power struggles.

THE QUESTION NO ONE IS ASKING

 

In a Dallas Morning News article dated 08.09.09, Alfredo Corchado stated, "For whatever reason, the level of violence in Nuevo Laredo has nose-dived.  During 2005-2007, the city was a focus of violence along the US-Mexico border, having hundreds of killings.  Today it's relatively tranquil, having had about a dozen killings so far this year."

 

Rusty Fleming, producer of Drug Wars: Silver or Lead, a docu-drama based on the Nuevo Laredo/Laredo drug violence, calls attention to "the question no one is asking." People were happy for the decrease in violence and bloodshed, but they did not ask why.  Rusty explains that-on the day the world was watching as Paris Hilton was released from jail-the heads of the two main cartels fighting over the I-35 corridor into the US met to divide the routes, ending, at least for a time, the battle.  The violence let up, but not the drug trafficking. 

Along with the violence, the level of brutality has grown exponentially.  

In early January, the body of a 36-year-old man was left on the streets of Los Mochis in seven pieces, with a note that read, "Happy New Year, because this will be your last." His torso was found in a plastic container, and another box contained his arms, legs and skull.  His face had been skinned from his skull and sewn onto a soccer ball that was left in a plastic bag near City Hall.

 

That same week in Juarez, one man was cut into pieces, another was decapitated, one was hanged, a man in a wheelchair was shot to death, and three women were killed.  The body of another man in his 30's was cut into pieces, and left at an intersection.  His head was in a plastic bag and his hands had been cut off.  The rest of his body was wrapped in a blanket.  Some had their eyes are gouged out.  Decapitations and dismemberment are a daily occurrence in Mexico.

Early in 2010 Mexico had its deadliest day, with 69 murders in one day.

Saturday night, January 30, a group of teenagers from the Villa de Salvarcar neighborhood were massacred while celebrating a friend's 18^th birthday.  Lookouts first scouted the neighborhood to make sure there were no police. Some reports say Mexican military sealed off the block. Four vehicles arrived with 24 men armed with AK-47's and AR-15 assault rifles. They stormed three houses, including the one where the birthday party was going on, mercilessly spraying people with bullets.  Some were murdered outside, including a neighborhood watchman who rode his bicycle around to keep an eye on the neighborhood.  Bodies were found in three locations, and blood was splattered on floors and against walls.  The ages of the sixteen dead ranged from 13 to 42.  Eleven were under the age of 20.  At least 12 others were injured.

 

The families and friends of the dead teenagers emphatically claim these were good kids.  Not into drugs.  Not gang members.  The list of credits I have read about many of them is impressive.  Yet it has been reported that a member of the Barrio Aztecas gang (associated with the Juarez cartel) who lived in El Paso was ordered to attack the party because it was believed some of these kids were members of the Artistas Asesinos (Artist Assassins)-rivals of the Aztecas who are associated with the Sinaloa cartel. 

It was also reported that Mexican soldiers who sealed off the scene harassed passers-by and prevented wounded victims from receiving medical attention.

 

The father of one of the young victims said he did not believe justice would be served in his son's death.   "... We know nothing is going to be done.  MEXICO'S JUSTICE IS INJUSTICE-WE ALL KNOW IT," he said.

 

Los Angeles Times reporter Ken Ellingwood wrote, "Even by the gruesome gauge of deadly violence that has come to define Juarez, the slayings seemed to hit new extremes." 

 

Dennis Blair, director of the National Intelligence Center, spoke about Mexico's drug cartels and violence during his testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Tuesday, February 2. According to Blair's annual threat assessment report for the committee, President Calderon "is determined to break the cartels' power and influence and reduce drug flows despite slow progress and continued high levels of violence... "

 

An 02.02.10 El Paso Times editorial closed with this, "From shooting their rivals, to brazen public mowdowns ... to innocent people in crossfires ... How can anyone be safe if there's no law in Juarez? The criminals show they are in total control. Into what walk of life, and where, will these killers go next?"

There have been calls for a state of emergency in Juarez, and the U.N. has been asked to send U.N. peacekeepers into Juarez. Many say Juarez is already under martial law.

WHAT IS OUR DESIRED OUTCOME?

In a previous letter I shared the conclusion of a UTEP (UT El Paso) professor, given at a Border Conference, regarding three possible outcomes:

First, President Calderon could succeed in ending the drug trafficking. Columbian cartels would already be looking for new routes-like China or other Asian nations-to smuggle drugs into the US, the prized market.

Second, Calderon could decide the fight is impossible and make concessions for peace. He could let it be known that certain corridors will be available as long as there are no visible bodies left along the way.  Ultimately the middle class wants peace. There will be some pockets of law and order and some pockets of extreme violence and poverty.
 
Third, Mexico could become a failed state, unable to care for her people. 

You may be interested in this insightful, albeit pessimistic story about Juarez.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200912/mexico-drugs

Father, what must happen to prepare Mexico for You?

While I was writing this letter, the Lord led me to read Isaiah 53.  I was drawn to a phrase from Is. 53:9 which says, "HE HAD DONE NO VIOLENCE."

That caused my heart to cry out for the spirit of David, which is the true Presence of Christ, to be released over Mexico.  The Presence of the One Who has done no violence!

One of my favorite passages of scripture comes from the book of Amos.  Amos 9:11-15 talks about the restoration of Israel.

"On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David (the Presence of Christ), which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the Gentiles who are called by My name," says the Lord who does this thing.  "Behold the days are coming," says the Lord, "When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.  I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.  I will plant them in their land and they shall no longer be pulled up from the land I have given them," says the Lord your God.

There have been many prophetic words about the day when Mexico will be overtaken with a revival that will spark a great move of God in the United States.   Posse, please join me in this declaration:

With overflowing gratitude for each of you!

Pam