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on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Monday, July 17, 2017

Tijuana: Understanding the impact of violence with 3 killings

Tijuana: Understanding the impact of violence with 3 killings

Violence is contagious, infectious, like a spiders web, like children playing tag, "freezing" their friends, one after another, until they all sit still, motionless.  The violence in Tijuana has devastated families and societies at all the socioeconomic levels, though obviously the lowest are hit the hardest, turning colonias like Sanchez Taboada into killing fields, where no one and nothing is safe, from crystal meth and smoldering shells, ejected onto the ground, lodged in victim's intestines. 

Scene of the murder
These three killings underscore the insecurity and relentless executions, beyond the lies, the misleading claims of all the victims being drug dealers and narcos, all guilty. 

1) July 8th:  Julio Alberto Murillo Barajas, 18, sold pirated discs, DVD's in the Siglo XXI swap meet, a relative had a business there, and he was seen frequently at the swap meet.  He was a student of Lazaro Cardenas high school. It was a hot and humid July afternoon, when he was beginning to close up, a man walked up and fired 4 bullets into Julio, two in the chest, and another two in his arms.  


His body lay on the pavement, clad in jeans and a t shirt, blood seeping from his wounds.  His classmates say he was the cheerful soul of the room, who was so certain of his spot in college, he encouraged his classmates to do the same.  He was described as beautiful, a dreamer, and having nothing to do with drugs, or criminal activity.  

Body of Julio 
He won't see college, he won't see his dreams, he won't remark upon the dreams of others.  Retail drug outlets are common at the swap meets, especially where pirated movies are sold, crystal meth, heroin, and marijuana are commonly sold at the tienditas, lin
ked to the larger cells of family run organized crime, whose names grace the comments and headlines.

It's very possible Julio was a mistaken target, it's also possible he manned a Swap Meet stand as a favor for a few extra dollars, and handed off a few points of crystal, or marijuana.  What isn't in contention is he was brutally murdered for that offense, or for having committed no offense at all.

His killer isn't special, isn't some monster, or demon, because the dynamics of the insecurity breed killers, and breed victims in the same breathe.  He was probably paid in crystal meth, or a few thousand pesos.  Concentrated poverty, high inequality, and no prospects.  You have created a generation of killers, and generation of those who they kill, and will kill. 

A society where kids are murdered in daylight, in front of witnesses, terrified to tell the police, who likely are complicit with organized crime.  This is insecurity and corruption at it's most devastating, just miles from the United States.  Where do you turn?  Who do you trust? For the Barajas's family, they have lost a son, for the killings and killers in Tijuana, it is just one of many. 

2) July 10th:  In a rural area of Tijuana, by the dam, in colonia Maclovio Rojas, bullets tear through a car, killing a 20 year old woman,  Mari Carmen, in front of her two children, and an adult male, who was wounded in the attack.  Carmen had a record of robbery, and the male had a record of narcotics, vehicle theft, and weapons possession. 

This has become more and more common, as the killings escalate each year, executions, where the target is either missed, or killed, while others are killed, or injured in the attack. These are brazen, vicious attacks, and leave children in shock and grief, watching their parents die.  Many minor victims are killed in targeted killings, that have become so brutal, so uncontrolled, and depraved, that the gunmen kill children.

Colonias like Sanchez Taboada have seen several of these in recent months, in tit for tat retaliation killings, linked to the sale of drugs in the colonias.

3) July 3rd:  The killing of Dr. Alma Angelica Ciani Gonzalez, executed outside her office in Colonia Libertad, where she dedicated herself to the community, offering free medical consultations, and services, for the last 5 years.  

The killing devastated, shocked her family, including her brother, an ESPN reporter, who were in disbelief that someone so giving and caring, having nothing to do with anything illegal, could be gunned down, like so many before her.  It happens frequently, at least 3 doctors have been murdered recently in similar circumstances.  

The killer, Daniel "N", of Colonia Libertad, was detained on Sunday, he is being held on charges of homicide, and been committed to pre trial detention.  He claims the killing was an accident, and he was paid 10,000 pesos to execute an unnamed individual, who he has refused to name.  The State Prosecutor claims at least 4 others are involved in the killing. Ciani was merely an accident.  

This killing underscores several points:  

Brother of Dr. Ciani, which gained publicity in Mexico
-People who have nothing to do with narcomunedo are killed, and it's less common, but nowhere near unheard of.  

-The killings tend to be "solved" to a degree, when there is an angle, or publicity in the case, which was found on this one, where even Pena Nieto made a statement.  This is not to fault or blame the family, they deserve the killer of their loved one to be brought to justice.  As do the victims of hundreds of other killings.  

-The killer was purchased for 10,000 pesos.  Life is cheap, and the killers are cheaper, creating a system of violence and insecurity, which churns out victim after victim, in this relentless cycle of misery, violence, and killing. 

So, you have three victims, a 20 year old woman, likely poor, an 18 year old from all accounts a good family, on his way to university, and an older woman,  educated, middle class, beloved by her community, who was benevolent and altruistic.  The narrative says it's only between the "bad guys" and no one else is impacted.

 Think of the children of Mari Carmen, huddled in the back seat, crying, and screaming, broken glass dripping into the seats, from shot out windows.  Carmen's children weren't given a chance, or a choice, when their mother was executed in front of them.  Think about these killings when you hear that repeated in parties, at dinner, in casual conversation, remember their names, their faces, and tell the truth that needs to be heard.  


Sources:  AFN Tijuana, Zeta Tijuana, El Universal, El Debate 

48 comments:

  1. Thanks for your J, I always enjoy reading your posts. The mother of my girlfriend owns a "tiendita" in Las Carpas and she also witnessed an execution last week, violence is close to us everyday.

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    Replies
    1. Why don't you get your mother in law OUT of the fire?
      Don't wait until your g/f "cooperates"

      Delete
    2. @3:28 no worries, he just wanted cool point ahaha look at the screen name (cholo guebero)

      Bladimir Payan

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    3. Sisco kid was a friend of mine

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  2. I've always wondered why the murders in Mexico are sensationalized by the media. We see equal if not more brutal crimes committed on the northern side of the border. Degenerates are everywhere.

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    1. Yeah you're clueless. we don't have mass decapitations and dismembered bodies being dumped daily on busy streets or hung on bridges, bus loads of college students go missing or hour long shootouts between rival groups with 30 to 40 killed regularly. Yes USA has a lot of violence but nowhere on the level of brutality as what you see in Mexico.

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    2. Ya m8, much more brutal crimes committed in the United States. Many instances of entire towns or villages in the United States being rounded up and killed by the bloods and crips. 60 car armoured convoys of bloods driving old Cadillacs with red rags driving through LA shooting and kidnapping people in the middle of the day. Crips having broad daylight shootouts with the military and police after ambushing them and killing them all. Or last month when ms13 shot down a marine helicopter in Colorado after attempting to apprehend their leader for selling points of meth

      Lol cmon bruh, I know a lot of you hate the US but some of this shit is ridiculous. What's going on in Mexico is not like anything happening anywhere in the US. I read on here recently that Tijuana has double the murder rate of Chicago with half the population. Chicago is always brought up as a gang infested shithole and even that isn't near what's happening in TJ.

      I'm not even a Yankee and even I find these comments irritating.

      Eh

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    3. Re:8:22PM - what are you talking about? ". .entire towns or villages, etc"

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    4. Pos Ponte VAPORUB EN EL HORNO, E.
      On the US the most aggravating ignominy is allowing drug trafficking unt the narcs k ow the bank accounts are full of money before catching the pushers, but almost never catching the billion dollar levels.
      Right next to it the police murdering even women, in daylight, some even turning their body cameras off before doing the dirty deed, and to see their "brotherhood" fraternal orders of police defending their arses all over the place, that IS facked up, at least in mexico our Law Enforcement officers are officially corrupt and it comes with the job and the cuts and the "entres" 5hat come with the.low pay and the training on police academies many times staffed by expert retired US military.
      BUT MEXICO'S GOVERNORS excuses steal the show, their incompetence is so incredible you can't help but think they are behind all these crimes, it worked.for.billionaire mafioso Alvaro Uribe Velez after all...

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    5. @ 4:07 PM yo bro and only liberal fucks deny the fact that everybody killed deserved it, rite ???

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    6. @8:07 with all these people coming into the states its just a matter of time.

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    7. Every day you get these ridiculous comments and they are based on hatred of the US and the gringo,lets be real

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    8. @11:39 i think he means allende, and the zetas wiping most of it out due that robbery

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    9. Irritating as it might sound in your ears but the truth is THERE WOULD NEVER BE NO CJNG, ZETAS OR CDS if the U.S wasn't the biggest consumer in the world.

      Delete
    10. 9:34 shut your yapper, there is no hatred here for the victimizers of the Donal'...
      Only about 70% of gringos, black and white, mexican and chinese, even the red skins hate his ass.
      And trust Obama more by about 60%
      US hate? Please bitch...

      Delete
    11. They say Chicago is more violent than Mexico, but the crazy thing is Tijuana easily beat Chicagos murder rate this year and you dont hear one word about it from the US media. Sickening really.

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    12. Bog nose, its been happening in the U.S. since the 60s and now we have mass shootings here all the time. Domestic terrorism.

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    13. 8:22 pm- That satire was on point! (Man there are some dumb mofos around here).

      Delete
  3. What happens when people flee their houses to save themselves from potential violence, robbery, kidnapping, and death in terms of property Left Behind... Do these people have mortgages...what if their cars are bullet-ridden and burnt out who pays for the loss... do they have Auto Insurance? For the poor innocent who are injured does Mexico provide Health Care?

    _Canadian girl

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think no one pays for the loss.only the People.

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    2. 7:36 they are lucky they are not fish in a barrel, but they are trapped, they should ALL run to the north ASAP, the government must be trying to empty the state of rabble and make it all available for "quality moneyed taxpaying population".

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    3. These people are all sinners and deserve the death and trauma they suffer, especially the children. Just ask EPN and he will confirm!

      Delete
  4. Good article. Really hit the pathos. Its a sad reality in Mexico especially in the bordertowns. Poor people, its a sad world and its just getting worse overtime.

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  5. Like I've said before, "Poverty and Poor education" breeds desperate people into a life of addiction, desperation and eventually to a life of crime. Mexico is desperate need of better education systems and better paying job opportunities for the public not just the elite.

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    Replies
    1. The USA is the same with the public education systems

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    2. 10:46 mexico's education budget sits on US banks that launder it for hefty commissions after being stolen by US sponsored, coddled and much reverenced mexican narco-politician dignitaries, the money each governor and secretary of government steals until it fially gets stolen or confiscated by the US government, or released to its owner after fines and fees when they get out of jail.
      --This is a Free Education Lesson for you @10:46,
      I hope you can Weaponize it some day, best regards, Ronnie.

      Delete
  6. Mexico need a true leader to fulfill the needs of the public and not just the needs or their pockets. Until that happens, Mexico will continue on a spiral into the dark which will eventually consume her neighbors as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny how you can post basically the same thing I state and yet it doesn't get posted.
      Bais and some prejudiced administrative practices on this site.
      Comments of un-American lashes always seem to make headlines.
      People complain of MSM and censorship.
      Might try looking hear.

      E42

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    2. 2:11 complaints are funny, but repetitive shitty comments that say basically the same as other dumb ass comments may not always be as lucky,

      Delete
  7. The great story on the Pueblo of Cheran, Michoacán only generated 25 comments?....God help us, we are all fucked! And probably deserve it.
    Saludos para el Pueblo de Cheran.

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    Replies
    1. I feel your pain, the articles about auto defensas have little viewing figures but are a passion of mine, though I tend to leave them to valor as he covers that area of Mex.
      I have another in draft about AD in Guerrero from Reforma, and Osorio Chong. The most hits are for the gory articles with mind numbing pictures of beheadings and the like. People queue up here waiting for them like, people in cars slowing down on a freeway to look at a car accident hoping to see some poor bastard mangled. Its a sad reflection of society.

      Delete
    2. Otis, no seas mamón.
      The fight is not about our poor illiterate hungry for carnage readers, may be if we chose to fight more relevant windmills our slow deaths would be more dignified or who knows, relevant

      Delete
    3. YEP, low number of comments AND readers for that matter, altho most of the comments were quality ones I must say. Many readers never comment at all and I will continue to post many types of pieces that may not be the most popular.
      My goal is to educate, share, shed light into darkness. All of these stories are heartbreaking and doing something is better than nothing.
      I can live w/o 100 comments of nonsense.
      The Cherán story of courage is dear to my heart for many reasons, particularly the outrageous lengths we have to go to fight for our Mother Earth, the world over.
      Go ahead ya'll, call me a treehugger if you must ✌🏽

      Delete
  8. i'm not sure the couple were innocent

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  9. Way to maximize liberty in reporting. I'm not sure if any of your story is true, but you did a great job at adding emotions to a mostly fictional account of semi actual events! Very creative! In the future, it would be great if, for the sake of full disclosure, BB would add a quick paragraph explaining that your story is only based on partial events and is not a factual rendering of news. If BB would do that, then there should be no problem in adding creative writing pieces to a news page. Just let the folks know its mostly not true....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 12:26 observe the facts, not the style.
      We are not about to have police measures of style for the writers or reporters or the comments, just be yourself and don't be a pusher of BS.

      Delete
  10. Mexico needs their European "wanna be" leaders to stop robbing that nation,and investing it "legally" in Europe.

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    Replies
    1. Lol. Theres some truth to this comment.. Bunch of politicos malinches creolos

      Delete
  11. Well now bad hombres no where wachito MIL works

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  12. Sounds like Chicago, Baltimore or New Orleans in the USA.

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  13. The world is an asshole and we all inhabitate it together... ppl are sick, but most of us aren't. Shit happens, be fortunate it missed you. Question authority, question your media source, don't believe everything you read. It's easy to point the finger, just remember, there's 3 more pointing back at you... resist the brainwash, one ppl, one world, race means nothing, we're all human.

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  14. Thanks J for another good post.
    I have read all those tragic " news " events.
    However, I don't think it's quite fair to assume anything about Julio being involved in abnormal activity or speculate on how he might have been paid etcetc.
    just sayin'..........

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    1. Thanks...Regarding Julio, It is a line of investigation in the case, according to Zeta, and more importantly, I wanted to be clear it didn't matter either way, framing it more as an epidemic issue, than simply about the horrific death of Julio. And even if it was a case of mistaken ID, the intended target would have been assumedly involved, and roughly Julio's age and appearance. I wanted this to represent all the victims.

      Delete
  15. Thanks for finally writing about >"Tijuana: Understanding the impact of violence with 3 killings" <Liked it!

    ReplyDelete

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