A Diez Años de San Fernando, México Se Conmueve y Se Mueve • Ten Years from San Fernando, Mexico has been Touched and is Moving
Photo from ticotimes.net. / Foto de ticotimes.net.
by Hortensia Azucena Picos Lee
Spanish Resource Editor, BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz
On Saturday, August 29, God allowed me to enjoy the wonderful experience of listening to reflections and sharing worship with many brothers and sisters in Christ from the continents of the Americas, from Canada to Argentina. This year we could not meet in San Diego as had been planned due to the circumstances that we all know, which radically changed these plans, but in the face of adversity creativity always makes its way, and in the end, thanks to God and the effort of many people who put all their love and commitment to make this happen, we met virtually to have our 2020 Summer Conference. “Beyond barriers, people move” was the motto, and we could show that.
A reflection that deeply moved me was made by Jesús Vera. He spoke of the massacre that occurred in the municipality of San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, on August 22, 2010. The state in which I live. This was news that at the time shook Mexico due to the cruelty of the act itself and the sordid images presented in the media. We learned of the disappearance and execution of 72 migrants, perpetrated by members of organized crime, in the context of the "war against drug trafficking" (which claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people). Most of the migrants were from Central America (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador), but there were also people from other countries (Ecuador, Brazil and India). And, like thousands of people in search of a better future, these migrants crossed north into Mexico and were headed to the United States. Since those years, the migrations through Mexico (especially from Central Americans), have demonstrated a humanitarian crisis of massive dimensions related to very adverse living conditions in their places and countries of origin. These difficult living conditions for Central Americans were not unknown to those of us who lived in Mexico at that time, but it was truly terrible to observe this stark and brutal act of violence that migrants suffered in their passage through Mexico.
Ten years later, the situations that forced these 72 migrants to leave their homes (seeking the possibility of a better future) do not seem to have improved. On the contrary, the number of migrants over the course of the decade has grown. Above all, for Central Americans, decades of neoliberalism and general socioeconomic deterioration have only accentuated the precariousness and adversity of their life contexts. As different migrant pro-rights organizations (REDODEM, Doctors Without Borders, among others) have documented, the structural causes that expelled them from and continue to force them out their homes never disappeared and continue: the growing and chronic poverty , the systematic increase in the cost of living, the lack of well-paying jobs, the lack of sufficient job opportunities, widespread violence, organized crime, gangs, and the socioeconomic impacts of natural events (such as hurricanes, torrential rains, floods and droughts).
But neither has the situation improved in their transit to the US. Year after year, hundreds of migrants from the northern triangle of Central America suffer various attacks and crimes by various groups and institutions (gangs, organized crime, authorities of various kinds), both in the Central American region and in Mexico. In addition, with the closure and increased militarization of the borders, the routes are more complicated, adverse and highly dangerous (social and environmental). According to the Missing Migrant Project, there are already hundreds of Central American migrants who have lost their lives in Mexico and at the US border in recent years.
The perverse triad of (forced) migration, exclusion and violence that affects thousands of people, far from being eradicated, has increased in the Central America-Mexico-USA migration corridor. Today, as ten years ago, the scenarios of the humanitarian crises related to migration still exist and, now, and for several years, they involve older and more vulnerable populations. It is urgent and necessary, not only that the transit of migrants be safe and in dignified conditions (in Mexico and the USA), but also that the contexts of expulsion that force migrants to leave their communities improve systematically and structurally.
What should be the response of the Christian people to situations like this? Dr. Luis Rivera-Pagán, who gave the main message of the Conference, shared with us the biblical and theological framework that should guide our conduct in this regard. Practice love and care towards the foreigner. Just as Jesus did when he spoke kindly and bluntly with the Samaritan woman, despised not only for her ethnic origin, but also for her way of life. In the same way, Jesus exalted the compassion and warmth of a Samaritan man, through the parable of the Good Samaritan, so well known to all, and contrasted it with the coldness and contempt shown by a priest and a Jewish Levite. An example of love and solidarity worthy of immitating.
Many centuries have passed since Jesus left us this message, but it is still tremendously current. The phenomenon of migration is not only a challenge faced by individuals, but also by the societies and governments. Instead of closing borders, today more than ever, policies are needed that support human rights and protect migrants, especially those who are more vulnerable among them, that is, children and women.
In conclusion, I can say that we all want to live in a world where racism and inequality are eradicated, based on love, cooperation, solidarity and fellowship between individuals and countries. “Beyond barriers, people move ”. And we will keep moving to break down barriers and build bridges.
