MATAMOROS!!!

Why doesn't the Brownsville Herald have a beat reporter in Matamoros? Because the daily would have to tell a story about a city built on corruption and teetering on collapse.

Matamoros has a population of more than one million, 80% living in poverty. The maquiladoras are leaving the border, further weakening Matamoros' depressed economy. Crime is rampant. Mafiosos are the real rulers, drugs their currency, murder their calling card.

Politicians are dismal characters. The mayor and county judge would stand out like paragons of virtue among Matamoros' corrupt politicians.

If Brownsville's future is sufficiently dark to precipitate sleepless nights for municipal leaders, Matamoros induces nightmares. The population explosion is of nuclear proportions and the fallout will be devastating.

What price will Brownsville pay for the excesses of its fun-loving neighbor who eats, drinks and whores every night with no thought of tomorrow? The Herald doesn't want to tell its readership this story.

Matamoros is deteriorating in terminal fashion. Its disintegration is one more reason why living in Brownsville is not an attractive possibility.