Sorry to interrupt -

I was in Oaxaca a few years back where I had a bizarre and enlightening time.

One of the many wierd things about my stay was my nightly visit to the Zocolo (the main square in the city centre).

This square was surrounded on three sides by restaurants and cafes and on the fourth side by the state executives offices.

A band of farmers from the surrounding hills had set up camp there opposite the government building, and had chickens, goats ad other basic means of sustenance tethered by their tents (canvas sheets, more like awnings, held up by poles).

They had arrived the same day I did and as I passed through their number on the way to my accomodation, as they reached the end of their march and began planting their banners where their camp was about to be pitched, I asked what they were demonstrating about.

The answer seemed reasonable - we have come to ask that something be done to stop the local corrupt police/militia from coming up into the hills and killing us.

It was obviously much safer living under a tarpaulin in the centre of a busy city.

A few days later, a massive demonstration swept like a river down a main road I was using, which stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. The protestors were carrying placards bearing photos of political opponents of the local administration who had been murdered to make the job of corrupt government a little less complicated.

Later, in Puerto Escondido, further south, I met some Italian tourists who had had all their money and passports taken by armed cocaine dealers, who had first asked if they wanted to buy cocaine, then opted for a more convenient way of making money.

I was glad not to have suffered the fate of the Italians, but it seems that life is pretty cheap in Mexico if you are poor, regardless of which power you cross.

I never followed up on any of what I saw, but the images stay fixed in my mind.

Bruce, In my opinion, the solution in mexico requires serious anti corruption efforts. I suspect the dealers and the government have a working relationship of sorts.