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The fear... The anguish... The desperation that grows in the Comarca Lagunera
Its replicated in many places in Mexico
Even if the past government strongly fought against organized crime
Even though the past government focused on fighting organized crime...
and the new government that just started, decided to take a different tactique...
The reality stays the way it was...
In the past 6 years, the president, deputes, senators, mayors, etc. All the politicians talked about organized crime....
Drug lords, shoot outs, criminals, etc.
The new government of Enrique Peña Nieto and, as a first act against organized crime, he decided to change the strategy...
He changed the way the politicians communicated, and took out the drug wars out of their speeches
But, if you stop talking about violence, doesn't mean that the violence is over
The last month of Felipe Calderon (Past president) ended with 949 deaths related to drugs in the country, according to El Diario Milenio.
The last month of Felipe Calderon (Past president) ended with 949 deaths related to drugs in the country, according to El Diario Milenio.
Enrique Peña Nieto's first month as a president, ended with 982, 33 more
If you add the deaths that have happened in the first two weeks of January 2013, you get 374 homicides
If you add the deaths that have happened in the first two weeks of January 2013, you get 374 homicides
This tells us that the death per-day ratio in the new government is 29 homicides. Leaving with 27 deaths per day in the past government.
This is the situation in La Laguna
(National News): Armed subjects attacked a bar in Diagonal Las fuentes and Paseo La Rosita in Torreon (La Laguna), leaving behind them 5 deaths.
5 male dismembered bodies were found friday afternoon, in an abandoned truck.... The crime scene was reported by civilians.
We're in the middle of this war...
Its a pain that can't heal... its the pain that each one of us feels inside our hearts.
Right in my neighborhood there was a shoot out where a little kid was shot and died, not owing anything to anybody
Right in my neighborhood there was a shoot out where a little kid was shot and died, not owing anything to anybody
It doesn't matter, if you're in a shoot out, everyone gets overwhelmed by fear
I think that everyone in this city has been impacted directly or indirectly...
Organized crime has been taking ownership of the cities
Well yeah, we've been in shoot outs and stuff...
This is a silent war, ran by fear. Violence has increased too much in the past two months...
Our Torreon, is gone... it used to be calm and pretty but its gone now
Violence is not only measured by death bodies or heads rolling in the floor..
A victim is not only that who carries a bullet in their chest, but also those who's life has been strained out of motive to carry on
In La Laguna, people hide at night...
Kids go to school full of fear...
Parents go to work ready to jump to the floor when they hear a gunshot
People now stopped trusting people...
Businesses close early and those who didn't pay their quote to the cartels will find their walls filled with bullet holes
Businesses close early and those who didn't pay their quote to the cartels will find their walls filled with bullet holes
There aren't any places to have fun
Yeah I've experienced some of them... I was close to the one in the bar "Tornado"..
I was passing by and you hear the shooting so you jump to the ground
Yeah, shootouts get you scared
If you want to go out dancing at night in Torreon... you can't anymore
This club, El Tornado, was one of the last places to go out...
There's still some restaurants and bars, but to go out, dance and have fun just like the people here used to...there aren't any
Here in Tornado, two weeks ago a group of 6 people came in, and started a shoot out...
There was about 300 to 400 people inside when it happened.
The oficial data states that there was only 7 casualties, but the citizens thinks that they were dozens more
In this wall, the criminals painted, with the blood of a victim, a
There are a few candles to remember the victims and Tornado, the last club open in Torreon...closed
Torreon, Gomez Palacio and Lerdo, are the 3 most important cities of La Laguna also the most dangerous
La Laguna is the most violent zone in the past 6 years
90 homicides in December... Almost 40 in January 2013
22 casualties in a escape attempt in Gomez Palacio's prison
It was one of the headquarters, they would go out to kill, and come back to sleep
Half a dozen attempts at gas stations
5 against bars
2 police head quarters stripped to the ground
The only place in Gomez Palacio to declare a crime, closed because of lack of safety
15 attacks against police forces
The one in Torreon on December 29th was the worst...
Half and hour of shooting that went from point to point in the city
2 criminals shot to death, cars and houses were damaged, panic in a town that doesn't live anymore
We used to be a very calm community
A community with a very passive life
Now with things that back in the days were unthinkable
Like the fact that kids, know that in the moment that the teacher senses danger would trigger alarms to send the kids to shelter
Like the fact that kids, know that in the moment that the teacher senses danger would trigger alarms to send the kids to shelter
Like the fact that kids, know that in the moment that the teacher senses danger would trigger alarms to send the kids to shelter
Like the fact that kids, know that in the moment that the teacher senses danger would trigger alarms to send the kids to shelter
Like the fact that kids, know that in the moment that the teacher senses danger would trigger alarms to send the kids to shelter
Like the fact that kids, know that in the moment that the teacher senses danger would trigger alarms to send the kids to shelter
This are some of the damages that the bullets make every day.
When the authorities register that there's a shoot out
The neighborhoods protects their residents by closing the street entrances with removable cement buffers
And actually this is the limit between Torreon and the city of Gomez
Gomez is on that side, where you can see the industrial zone
And there's presence of police forces in every bridge between the cities, because...
In between the dangerousness of La Laguna, it is considered that Gomez and Lerdo are even more dangerous.
At this time, safety is really bad...
At this time, safety is really bad...
At this time, safety is really bad...
At this time, safety is really bad...
At this time, safety is really bad...
At this time, safety is really bad...
At this time, safety is really bad...
At this time, safety is really bad...
At this time, safety is really bad...
Now we can't even go out because we're afraid that somebody might rob us, or try to shoot us.
There's no life at night here, when it gets dark the streets are empty
Back in the day, you could be out at 3 or 4 am
Back in the day, you could be out at 3 or 4 am
You can still see some of the remains of bullets in this wall, you can see the holes in it...
Its actually the Red Cross hospital in Torreon...
Its actually the Red Cross hospital in Torreon...
In here, violence happens when the cartels come to "visit" the wounded survivors and finish them off right there.
It has gotten to the point that security had to be maximized to prevent it from happening
We've had low attendance at night
People just started changing their plans, dinners plans changed in to lunch and lunch in to breakfast
The war against crime has affected everyone's life
Attendance has lowered a 50% in restaurants here
Back in the days, we used to open till 1:00 AM
--And what time are you closing now? --At 10:00 PM
We still get a lot of people, but only at day
At night nobody shows up
The habit changes, have also impacted the social networks...
The people in La laguna, use this platforms to alert others of criminal activity
The "Red Code" is triggered when the authorities announce shootouts or heavy criminal activity happening in the area
The "Red Code" is triggered when the authorities announce shootouts or heavy criminal activity happening in the area
The "Red Code" is triggered when the authorities announce shootouts or heavy criminal activity happening in the area
The "Red Code" is triggered when the authorities announce shootouts or heavy criminal activity happening in the area
The "Red Code" is triggered when the authorities announce shootouts or heavy criminal activity happening in the area
Thousands of users, reply with what they're hearing or seeing from it
For some... It provides an opportunity to prevent damage
For others, just to endure...
The social networks are an excellent way to communicate
Although, sometimes they dramatize the fact or create false events...
We have to take things very seriously
Being well informed and taking precautions....
But we need to have a factual perception of what's happening...
...Not what I heard from others or I think its happening
Because that only creates more panic
People hear things, true or false things through the social networks
And that makes us have low attendance
The authorities claim that the violence comes from a war between "Los Zetas" and "El Chapo Guzman"
Activists and citizens believe that things couldn't be this way, if it the police and army forces weren't involved
Crime is really bad everywhere, I think
Its been growing this past days
Its good, police forces are a good resort for protection in our state, our situation
The damage, is beyond repair to over 290 families that one day, a loved one didn't come home
2 cars cornered him, and armed thugs came out of the cars, and took him
Nobody has since him since that, 2 and a half years ago
Nobody has since him since that, 2 and a half years ago
The authorities haven't moved a finger
Your life just changes, you keep turning 180 degrees, again and again and again, its just not the same
I've spent all my money, my savings trying to find my son
Looking everywhere...
Looking everywhere...
Looking everywhere...
In Monterrey, Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, Durango
Paying trips, lawyers, authorities, everyone I find
Paying trips, lawyers, authorities, everyone I find
It's painful to see how many youngsters I see murdered in my search
I can't see my son playing around, because I don't know where he is... I'm just asking for help here
Its been 3 years and a half since I saw my son, and I still don't know anything
It doesn't matter if you give information to the authorities, they don't do anything
It doesn't matter if you give information to the authorities, they don't do anything
We live in a very corrupt state
We live in a very corrupt state
One of my brothers got kidnapped, we haven't heard anything about him
The tragic thing is that... People ask me well why didn't you declare to the authorities
Well I did, and I was treated like if I kidnapped him
It was the scariest day of my life
because, they didn't let me in with my other brother to declare, because those where the rules
And then I got interrogated like if I kidnapped him, like if I was the criminal
So its obvious that people don't want to go through that
Are we scared of them, YES we're very scared of them.
Its a complicated situation, nevertheless La Laguna is still standing, we're still working hard
While the authorities pretend that nothing is happening or that its not that bad
We won't be able to fix any of it
We, the people of La Laguna, will endure, and we'll someday win
We should be doing peace not war
There are more good people than bad
"Let the lack of safety go out of fashion" --Even the walls protest
This is a community that wants to thrive, to work, to succeed...
That wants all of this to be over, a society that stands their ground even after this
But most importantly, that they want to stop living with fear