No peace in the Mexicali Valley
Over the past two years, the once quiet Mexicali Valley has suffered a significant crime wave that has bathed the rural area of the Baja California capital in blood. There has been almost daily reports of mafia-style murders, with hundreds of bodies being abandoned on agricultural land and most bearing the so-called “coup de grace”– a gunshot performed to victims’ temple to guarantee their death.
According to the authorities, these homicides have occurred due to the struggle that exists among about a dozen criminal gangs dedicated to crimes such as drug or human trafficking to the United States and elsewhere. It is worth remembering that the increase in murder cases in Baja California have been on the rise for more than 15 years, when former president Felipe Calderón launched his so-called “War against Narco,” which resulted in a true fiasco that led to a wave of executions at the national level.
Given the situation, the U.S. Department of State has issued warnings to citizens to avoid visiting the Mexicali Valley. Diplomatic personnel are practically prohibited from going to the different towns that make up the rural areas of Mexicali and other Baja California cities, especially at night.
Though these problems occur between rival gangs, those who visit the populations of the Mexicali Valley could become collateral victims of the violence. And that says nothing of the kidnapping incidents that have occurred. In one recent case, a victim did manage to free himself and escape – no thanks to the intervention of local or state authorities.
The Baja California Attorney General’s Office and other law enforcement agencies such as the National Guard (created during the current federal administration to combat crime) have collaborated on some operations that have achieved little success in protecting the integrity of the community and of visitors. Just a couple of weeks ago, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador opened the offices of the National Guard in Mexicali, whose agents should be in charge precisely of safeguarding the communities. However, according to various media outlets, some of the criminal gangs have even dared to install checkpoints on rural roads to check and register those who visit these communities and to prevent the entry of members of rival organizations.
The new authorities for now have issued speeches in which they affirm that various strategies will be sought to attack criminal activity in the Mexicali Valley. However, just when the new governor of Baja California, Marina Ávila, took office, these criminal gangs conducted a dozen assassinations in the state capital. The curious thing is that this wave of homicides have gained power since the National Regeneration Movement in the municipal and state governments became the controlling party.
In his brief mandate, former Gov. Jaime Bonilla simply decided to ignore the situation and chose to focus on other matters such as the collection of debts for water services, the enactment of laws that created new taxes to increase state funds and attacks on those he personally regarded as his political enemies.
Mexicali Mayor Norma Bustamante and Gov. Ávila have decided to start their terms of office with the reinstatement of the police analysis groups involved the chiefs of all law enforcement agencies in Baja California, including the Army. The initiative represents an effort either to try to combat the problem or at least pretend to try.
For now, visiting towns like Michoacán de Ocampo to try their delicious pork carnitas or Los Algodones, where one can have dental surgery, has become a Russian roulette for which the Baja California authorities seem to lack solutions.