HispanicVista Columnists

Shades Of Pancho Villa

By Richard N. Baldwin T.

     In the colorful history of México there was a man, Francisco (Pancho) Villa, who was a major player in the Mexican revolution period between 1908 and 1917. One of the things he became famous for was crossing over the Texas border and robbing banks there to finance his revolutionary activities.

     This upset both the Texans and the US federal government. So rather than declare war on México, the US appointed General John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing to lead an effort to secure the border from Pancho Villa's excursions into Texas. The upshot of this was that Pershing finally caught Villa red handed and gave chase. When Villa crossed the border, Pershing followed under the "hot pursuit" rule that justified pursuit across jurisdictions as long as the offender remains in clear view wherever he is going. And that was the second invasion of the US into México that still bristles Mexicans.

     Pershing never caught Villa, but there was quite a chase all over northern México. I had the opportunity to meet one of Pershing's soldiers, still on active duty at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in the 1960s. He was serving Pershing in the Army "Observation Corps" in the balloon brigade. They were using balloons tethered by ropes and went up, looked and pointed to where the foe was running.

     Pershing went on later to become the one and only six-star general in US history (in World War I as "General of the Armies").

     But now, something more modern catches my eye. As reported in the Dallas Morning News, the Mexican "Zetas" are extending their violence into Texas. If you remember, the Zetas are a highly trained former military group from the modern Mexican army formed to fight the drug cartels here in México. They were probably the best-trained unit in the Mexican army. The Juárez cartel simply "purchased" the unit with their endless financial resources and now they work as enforcers for the cartel, much to the embarrassment of the Mexican army.

     Make no mistake, these guys are good. They are probably responsible for most of the over 130 drug related assassinations since the start of this year on the Mexican side of the border.

     Authorities in Texas and the US have detected their presence in both Texas and as far north as Nashville and Atlanta. They have also tied a number of assassinations on the US side of the border to the Zetas and their hired locals.

     These guys are smart and do much of their activity by hiring US street gang members to do their dirty work. As an investigator for the FBI says, "These guys are anything but wannabes, they're the real thing and a threat to law enforcement officers on both sides of the border".

     The Juárez cartel is becoming the major operator in the drug business from the South into the US drug market. With this consolidation, the organization is becoming more powerful than either the Mexican or US governments in this violent business. This should give pause to the US to see what their citizens’ drug habit is financing. To drug cartels the border means nothing. To them this is nothing more than multi national business.

     In the meantime, México is also fighting a new gang threat from the south called the Maras. Interestingly enough, the Maras had their beginning in the Los Angeles area and were deported back to their homelands in Central America. They are active in the human smuggling trade from Central America through México into the US. Their trademark is violence, with a capital "V". There are also theories that there are ties between them and the drug business. One of their trademarks is to board freight trains carrying illegals from the South and demand money for passage. Those who do not pay are simply thrown under the wheels of the moving trains. What they do to women will not be discussed here, but there is a growing number of train wheel survivors missing limbs in Mexican hospitals now.

     Now the latest thing to surface is that the Maras are threatening reprisal in Arizona against the US "Minuteman" border vigilantes.

      What is needed, of course, is even better cooperation between the US and México. It concerns both of us. The alternative to real national cooperation is to let the border get completely out of control. And that is grim for both countries.

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Richard N. Baldwin T., a HispanicVista.com (http://www.hispanicvista.com/) contributing columnist, lives in Tlalnepantla, Edo de México. E-mail at: R1041643422@aol.com