Violence and Elections

Watching America - May 24, 2012
Those of us who benefit from bi-national infrastructure projects on the Mexico-United States border see a different Mexico than those living in the middle or southeast regions of the country. Bi-national infrastructures are mostly constructed on the banks of the Rio Bravo, where organizations are unafraid of consequences regarding the exchange of illegal merchandise between Mexico and the United States. They have turned the area into a battlefield.

The Mexico-United States border has had a complicated 150-year history because it is there that the best and worst of both countries come together, where we hope that the best conquers the worst. The construction of infrastructure is one way to fulfill this hope, but there is also a struggle of the worst against the worst. This has generated violence, transforming a place of opportunity into one of danger. Under such circumstances, we have lost investments, jobs and competitiveness at the international level.

The Mexico-United States border has suffered four basic types of violence: physical/armed, psychological, structural and cultural. Physical/armed violence is the most visible form of violence, and serves to deter, coerce, wound and even kill. Psychological violence seizes the people’s hearts and minds to incapacitate the collective power of a state of mind. Psychological violence also produces mental suffering, spreading fear and hate among populations. The third is structural violence (e.g. discrimination between specific groups), incorporated in the social structure and less apparent than the aforementioned forms of violence. Finally, the fourth instrument is cultural violence, which uses culture to legitimize the other forms of violence.

In the middle and southeast of Mexico, the last thing we want is the extension of this violence past the border. The electoral seasons are fertile ground for this, as the clash between political parties and society facilitates the expansion of the territory where illicit products are traded.

Because of this, the political parties during election season must think through their strategies against opposing parties. Their eagerness to win at any cost may generate violence and destabilization, allowing those who operate outside of the law the opportunity to seize more territory. On the border, we are suffering from this violence, and we hope that it does not spread further. Instead of creating a place of opportunity for the Mexico-United States border and Mexico itself, it becomes a place of danger. We need to worry about Mexico.

By Arturo de las Fuentes Hernández, Translated By Monica McCarthy, Edited by Audrey Agot