MEXICO'S DRUG WAR RAGES ON, U.S. IGNORANT

For the past year, whenever I watch Spanish-language news I have been
constantly reminded of the escalation of violence in Mexico and its
war on drugs.

Many do not understand or speak Spanish, and cannot rely on Spanish
news networks to keep themselves informed; but the fact that the
disorder in Mexico is ongoing and that the center of it all, Ciudad
Juarez, is less than 800 miles away from Fullerton is an issue that,
at this point, should not be dismissed.

Thousands have been killed since 2007 in Mexico's drug war. Sadly,
people are massacred every day and the bloody violence is only increasing.

Corruption and the battle between the government and drug cartels have
been the major contributors to this problem, but we cannot dismiss the
fact that the U.S. is a major contributor to this problem because it
is one of the largest consumers of drugs.

Major news networks, especially those in Southern California, should
provide audiences with more coverage of this problem.

It is the responsibility of the media to inform the public about what
is going on throughout the world and I feel there is a lack of
coverage about Mexico's struggle.

If we want to keep ourselves informed about other regions we are often
forced to research the topic on our own and thanks to the internet we
are able to find such information, but not all of us are willing or
able to look for that information and that is why major media outlets
should take their responsibility more seriously.

Early in February of this year I was watching Laura Ling's
documentary, "Narco War Next Door" on Current TV. I remember seeing
the grieving families and hearing women screaming when they saw the
bloody bodies of their loved ones.

After seeing her documentary I was able to get a firmer grasp of the
severity of this conflict.

I read newspapers and saw images on Spanish-language news, but I was
never able to see just how severe this problem was until I saw Ling
being driven around to different murder scenes.

At one murder scene Ling was informed that a doctor had just been
killed along with his daughter.

Once Ling got to the scene all her camera crew could catch was a river
of blood and the family grieving, waiting to be let on to the scene.

Ling also reported that young people are joining the cartels. This
fact showed that the demand for bodies exists and what people will do
when they are desperate for money.

There are many factors that contribute to the chaos in Mexico.
Unfortunately, the hardest thing to understand is the motivation
behind the cold-blooded killing. It seems that those committing the
murders have become accustomed to just firing at someone without ever
questioning why.

Humanity is the main issue here. People were once appalled by what was
going on around them, but they have since become accustomed to it.

Towards the end of her documentary, Ling was disturbed by the sight of
people passing a murder scene on their way to the grocery story,
walking by as if nothing was wrong. That reaction only showed how
prevalent the problem is.

It is becoming a normal part of life and my biggest fear is that such
an attitude will be carried into the U.S. The fact that news networks
are not paying much attention to this problem adds to its normality.

Humanity is at stake in Mexico.

People are being killed without remorse and it is spreading
rapidly.

We have to remember that we are not so far away from Mexico and if the
majority of us are not aware of the situation it could become
eventually become a direct problem in the U.S.

We should acknowledge that this is not just a Latin American problem,
but a human problem.

Everyone deserves to be informed of the struggle in Mexico, not just
the community that it directly affects at the moment.