México Bravo? Barbarous River? In Matamoros with the Zapatista Other Campaign

Barbarous Mexico was the title John Kenneth Turner chose for his book, in which he indignantly denounced the existence of slavery in the 20th century. Not a few of his contemporaries denied Turner his due credit. It was the beginning of the century of progress, of the railway, of electricity, of the telegraph, of the automobile. Mexico was a new nation, connected to the glamour of Europe and driven by Porfirio Díaz, a hero of interventionism who guided the country along the rails of liberalism.

The current paradox of the announcement of our supposed achievement of democracy is even more ridiculous and outrageous. Today’s slavery in Mexico is even more absurd than that of a century ago. Get your feet wet at Playa Bagdad, on the northeast edge of the imposed border, on the banks of the putrid and muddy Rio Bravo delta.

The Horse Goes for a Stroll

Around four in the afternoon the doors to the wooden huts of Playa Bagdad open up. All of them, as well as every one of the hundreds of poor family shacks, belong to Alejandro and Alicia Gómez Barrios. (How many bosses loans a house to each of their workers?) The fishermen load their nets, tools and drums of gasoline onto their 50-or-so boats. The Horse strolls down the beach.

More
http://narconews.com/Issue43/article2392.html