Bicentennial Mexico

In a week marked by the murder of a journalist, media pleas to end violence, floods, and a hurricane, celebrations were underway for the 200-year anniversary of independence, which was gained on September 16, 1810. The parades were described as a mix between a World Cup celebration and the Olympics combined. Included in the celebration was the unveiling of a 104-yard tall arch made of steel and covered in quartz that will be on a main street in Mexico City. There was also the unveiling of a 245-acre park in Guadalajara.
As the drug trade and violence gets worse along our border, the main newspaper in Ciudad Juarez has called for a truce with the cartels as one of it reporters, Luis Carlos Santiago Orozco, was murdered. The “El Diario” asked the cartels what they want them to publish or not publish to keep their employees safe. In 2010 alone over 2,000 people have been killed in Juarez leading the newspaper the say that the cartels are the “de facto authority” in northern Mexico. The newspaper has given up its right to free speech out of fear of the drug cartels. With over 4,200 police and military personnel in Juarez one would think that things would be getting safer, but they are not.
The hurricane Karl death toll is now up to 16 as schools have closed due to massive flooding and mudslides in southern Mexico. Most of the flooding has been in the Veracruz state where there had already been flooding in past weeks. Looting has also broken out around the state.