Jesus Macias just wanted to see his mom. He journeyed into Mexico from the U.S., like so many Mexican Americans do during the holidays, because he wanted to be with family members he loved and missed.
It cost him his life.
Macias, an American who lived near Rockford, had driven through Zacatecas on Dec. 30 with his mother, wife and child and approached a random checkpoint in Jalisco, authorities said. I imagine he got nervous. Americans traveling through Mexico never can be certain if they’ll run into legit law enforcement, officers looking for bribes, or soldiers from a crime syndicate.
Macias, 61, kept driving, and the group opened fire and killed him. He was the fourth Illinoisan shot and third killed while visiting loved ones in Mexico in December.
On Dec. 27, Vicente Peña Jr., 38, and Antonio “Tony” Fernandez, 44, both of Logan Square, were fatally shot in a roadside attack in Durango, just west of Zacatecas. Peña’s son, Jason, 14, was critically wounded and later flown to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. A call to the hospital to check on the boy’s condition was not returned.
For years, the U.S. State Department has issued “do not travel” warnings for Zacatecas as well as the Mexican states of Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas because of crime and kidnappings. It advises Americans to “reconsider” travel to seven more states for the same reasons. Sixteen states and Mexico City fall under “exercise increased caution.”
A risk assessment
Some might look at these lengthy lists and wonder why folks keep going to these areas. It comes down to this: You want to see people you love at least once in a while.
I speak from experience. A few years ago an uncle of mine in his 80s developed complications from chronic illnesses. We weren’t sure he would make it. I planned a stealth visit to see him. I would fly into Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, for a weekend and tell one cousin, whom I would ask to pick me up. He would know which roads were too dangerous and should be avoided for the 90-minute trek to my parents’ hometown.
I didn’t want to stay long. Doing so would let word get out that an American was in town. Criminal organizations have had so much success with extortion and kidnappings that neighborhood layabouts have come to see it all as an easy way to earn fast cash.
“If you have to take all these precautions, why are you doing this?” my husband asked.
I wanted to see my tío, whom I adore. Besides, I was doing my due diligence to stay safe.
About this time, four Americans were ambushed and kidnapped in Matamoros, a border town in Tamaulipas. Two died. It unnerved me and I aborted my plan. Luckily, my uncle recovered.
To be sure, many Americans and Mexican Americans visit Mexico without incident. Outside of familial ties, people head there looking for sun, beaches, cheaper cosmetic procedures and health care.
But the dangers should not be ignored. On Dec. 11, two U.S. citizens from California were found fatally shot in their car in Michoacán, where drug gangs were fighting.
Last May, an American man and two Australians were killed while on a surfing and camping trip in Baja California. Their bodies were discovered in a watering hole.
‘A fact of life’
Mexico wasn’t always like this. As an adolescent, I was warned by relatives of the prevalence of drug and human trafficking along Mexico’s northern border. Later, I heard that the Acapulco area, once known for attracting celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor and Ronald and Nancy Reagan, was becoming synonymous with kidnappings. Over the last three decades, violence has seeped through the nation’s interior.
Relatives in Northern Mexico have described to me periods of calm and stretches of uncertainty, when shootouts between government soldiers and cartel members break out on city streets. Extortion is common.
The International Commission on Missing Persons says that “day-to-day disappearances” of people are a “fact of life in Mexico.”
There are no easy fixes for Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who has pledged to bring down crime. Centuries of government corruption brought the country here.
Politicians who won’t do the bidding of criminal organizations risk being killed. Between September 2023 and May 2024, 34 candidates running or looking to run for office were assassinated ahead of the June 2024 presidential election. News reports said most of the killings were linked to drug cartels.
The Mexican government’s attempts to take on the cartels have yielded “limited success,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations, and plenty of bloodshed. Since 2006, when the government went to war against the cartels, there have been more than 431,000 homicides.
It’s no wonder Americans sometimes find themselves caught in the crossfire.
Marlen Garcia is a member of the Sun-Times Editorial Board.
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