MAYOR CALLS MATAMOROS SAFE

When will it be safe to return to Matamoros? The mayor has told the federal government that Matamoros is perfectly safe although nobody has seen him at Garcia's chasing down peanuts with Tecates, let alone eating at a restaurant or drinking at a bar near the plaza.

"I haven't crossed the border since 9/11 when new regulations regarding passports went into effect," says Justo Leyes. "I met my wife in Matamoros. I used to take my family across on a regular basis, but the spouse told me that she would report me to Child Protective Services if I took my children across the bridge.

"I understand her concerns. I am no longer comfortable in Matamoros. Violence can explode at any place or at any time. We don't know the truth about the danger. The government's policy endorses less coverage of the bloodshed to give the false impression for economic reasons that Mexico is safe.

"But Mexico is not safe. The Rio Grande Valley is benefiting from the flight of capital. Both the good guys and the bad guys are investing their money on the north side of the river. They fear both their own government and each other.

"I speak with friends from Matamoros and to a person they tell me they don't socialize in public places after dark. Northside restaurants in Brownsville are booming as a result while crime continues to boom on the south side of the Rio Bravo. PRI doesn't rule Mexico. Paranoia does."

Matamoros has become so volatile and chaotic that it is fertile material for febrile minds. Though there are no ogres under any of the bridges, the Brothers Grimm would be challenged to match the tales that Mexico's insecure state inspires.

Last year the mafiosos were kidnapping young women off the streets, raping them and then lopping off their breasts in homage to their Muslim brothers and the cause of terrorism. This year the same villains are kidnapping children and harvesting their organs. Don't be surprised if next year someone goes insane learning that he has eaten barbacoa prepared from decapitated Zeta heads.

"Brownsville was baptized in blood with the outbreak of the Mexican-American War," offers university historian Dr. Tony Zavaleta. "Through the Civil War to the bandit wars of the early 20th century, Brownsville engages in a blood ritual to purify itself.

"Contraband has been a profitable business on the border going back to Charles Stillman moving cotton into Mexico in exchange for fire power to supply the Confederacy. After 500 years of poverty and corruption exacerbated by a half-century of the drug trade, we have the perfect storm in Mexico.

"Not only are there two crime organizations battling for hegemony in Matamoros, but there are delinquents waging war for the neighborhoods. Mexico is fast descending into absolute mayhem. There is no hope as long as drugs remain legal in the United States.

"Then you have the Al Capone tactics straight out of a Hollywood movie depicting mafia-controlled Chicago in the 1920s. Two hoods show up at an office and demand protection money. If the owner doesn't comply, his store burns to the ground or a family member disappears.

"When I read the mayor saying that Matamoros is safe, I conclude that Brownsville isn't safe with this mayor in charge."