"In 2009, some of my students from Indiana University took one of those inexpensive “Spring Break in Cancun” packages. Every one of them was the victim of crime. Separate crimes, except one group mugging.

The guys who used to truck arts and crafts from the interior to the Mercado Central are out of business. Nobody will risk death to buy huaraches from Oaxaca or tile from Saltillo or coffee beans from Chiapas or even a cheap bottle of tequila.

The barbacoa joints on the main drag where I used to sit and eat tortillas and beans when I had no money are out of business.

The guys they called the Green Angels who patrolled the highways between the border and the major cities below are all out of work. Motorists travel, when they do, in high speed convoys that stop for nothing.

The granny who used to roast pepitos on the Plaza Mayor in Reynosa lost that income. The shoeshine boys now run dope, I presume, because there are few shoes to shine. A friend who lives near Ciudad Acuna sent me a photo he took on a Friday afternoon. It was sad and shocking to see nobody on the street at that hour. "

Get the Story:
Steve Russell: A Requiem Rant for the Borderlands (Indian Country Today 5/22)

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