I can’t fathom the anger Mexicans must feel today.
The rage of the individuals is palpable, brimming with youthful vigor, attractive and well-groomed, those five boys’ visages are captivating to behold.
In those photos from happier times, the young men radiate with undeniable goodness.
This is how they appeared prior to the creatures capturing them on or around August 11th — the day they all vanished.
As per information from the Mexican media, the narcos, the gang members of the cartel, kidnapped those young people in the western area of Jalisco.
The five friends, who were all between the ages of 19 and 22, were bound, with their mouths taped shut, and subjected to physical violence, including being filmed, injured, and assaulted.
In the final blurry picture of the young gentlemen gathered, they are crouching, gazing upwards at the camera.
The book was left on the table. The pages were dog-eared and stained. The cover was torn and tattered.Output: The book was abandoned on the table. The pages were folded and soiled. The cover was ripped and worn-out.
They are aware that their demise is imminent.
Cartels demonstrate the presence of malevolence in the world.
Do you think there is such a thing as evil in the world? My daughter, who is in her age of questioning, asked me this philosophical question on another day.
Indeed, there exists wickedness.
Those young men were mercilessly taken away from their parents, siblings, and subjected to unspeakable torment by pure malevolence.
In the urban center of Lagos de Moreno, these five companions, as reported by the Spanish media source El País, had recently joined forces to watch the film “Oppenheimer” and were last spotted at a festive event. They all had a mutual passion for biking, boxing, soccer, and the renowned Lionel Messi.
It is now believed that the young individuals were abducted by one of the criminal organizations in Mexico, transported to a ranch in close proximity, and coerced into stabbing their companions and decapitating them.
Mexican authorities have reported that four decapitated bodies were found near a building where a kidnapping took place. The images and videos posted online have helped relatives identify them. Mexicans still hold out hope that the boys will be found.
CBS reports that there may have been a discovery of a fifth body in a car that was engulfed in flames nearby.
Mexico illuminates candles to grieve for their deceased
Mexico is grieving.
Uriel González Galván, Roberto Cuellar Olmeda, Alberto Diego Santoyo Lara, Dante Hernández Cedillo, and Adolfo Jaime Miranda Martínez, friends since childhood, have lit tens of thousands of votive candles across the country.
In a press briefing held on Wednesday, the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, commonly known as AMLO, described the killings as “highly regrettable.”
That barely scratches the surface of the country’s hopelessness.
As the end of his six-year term nears, AMLO, one of Mexico’s most powerful presidents, is widely reported to hope to shape his legacy in the year he has left. It is widely reported that his popularity rating is high, placing him in the 70th percentile.
“Embraces, not gunfire” slogan encapsulated his gentle approach to the drug traffickers. Previous Mexican governments more aggressively confronted the criminal organizations, leading to outbreaks of violence. He assumed power with the pledge to suppress the violence.
In a Foreign Affairs article, Arturo Sarukhan, who served as the Mexican ambassador to the United States from 2007 to 2013, elucidated that his approach of embracing rather than using force has resulted in a higher number of casualties compared to former President Felipe Calderon’s aggressive stance against drug trafficking.
AMLO departs with a disastrous heritage
Based on U.S. Military assessments, the drug cartels have seized control of approximately thirty percent of the nation. Mexico is currently subjected to regular acts of coercion and intimidation, as these criminal organizations have infiltrated key establishments and sectors within the country.
In the realm of International Relations, Denise Dresser, a political science professor at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, argues that AMLO “accepts criminal behavior and aggression as a means to rationalize the militarization of the nation.”
Critics in the press, including those who have shown a readiness to limit civil liberties, have exaggerated reports of the demise of Mexican democracy; however, it is not completely dead. It is indeed a severe illness.
The wickedness that abducts, inflicts pain upon, and beheads the children of Mexico cannot be embraced.
It needs to be smashed.
If AMLO fails to mobilize his nation’s resources to dismantle the cartels, his legacy will be defined by those five young men.
And his everlasting disgrace.