More on the Massacre

The execution of 72 immigrants in Tamaulipas is being attributed to the Zetas, and reportedly happened over the weekend. The immigrants were accused of being hit men, and then fired upon. The only reason the authorities knew that the event had happened because an Ecuadorian survived the assault, including the shot to the back of the head that each received (a bullet meant to kill him went in the neck and came out his jaw), and ran more than 20 kilometers seeking help before he found it.

El Universal's editorial page, among many others, had a strong reaction to the event in today's paper:

The tyranny of the Zetas in the North and the anarchy in the South [along immigration routes] was well known. The alarming things isn't just the massacre, but the incapacity of the state to anticipate it, not to mention formulate some answer.

For years, the northern border in has demonstrated itself untamable because of the violence and social decomposition, but the southern border, quieter until now, turns out to be as or even more decayed. We would do wrong in forgetting again.