Border Blogs: Expressing our Border Culture

Photo: Mexican revolutionaries Francisco "Pancho" Villa (left) and Emiliano Zapata.

Call for submissions/www.wingedlionmedia.com:
For anthology on the 200th anniversary of the Mexican War of Independence and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution: "Mexico 2010: Reflections on the Destiny of a Nation."

Seeking, in English or Spanish, essays, short stories, poems, or other writings.
Due: Sept. 30, 2010
Contact us for details at
info@wingedlionmedia.com

Convocatoria para trabajos literarios:
Para la antología del Bicentenario de la Guerra de la Independiencia de México y el Centenario de la Revolución Mexicana: México 2010: Reflexiones sobre el Destino de una Nación.

Solicitamos, en inglés o español, la entrega de ensayos, cuentos cortos, poemas u otro tipo de escritos y composiciones.

Fecha límite: 10 de septiembre del 2010.
Para mayores detalles, comuníquense a info@wingedlionmedia.comThe Killing Fields: Harvest of Women, the first investigative book about the Juarez murders by a U.S. journalist.

It is time for local, state and federal officials to consider closing down the urban ports of entry to private and commercial motorized vehicle on the US - Mexico border. The violence in Mexico related to drugs is on the rise and it is only a matter of time before it hits with full, bloody and mortal force in El Paso. A few days ago, a 7 year old girl was held at gunpoint during a carjacking. jaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com2

It is now or never. Many people talk about their desire to make a difference and participate in the life of the community. On Monday, August 23, 2010, the El Paso Commissioners Court will set a new tax rate that will increase property taxes by 4 percent. All those that are tired of increasing taxes have an opportunity to walk the talk and be heard before the decision is made. The jaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com0

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/august10/border_080210.htmlThe Killing Fields: Harvest of Women, the first investigative book about the Juarez murders by a U.S. journalist.

I met an interesting fellow the other day. He recently completed two tours of service in Iraq and has made El Paso home. He told me he wanted to make a difference and has decided to do his best to be a voice of reason on the national scene. There are many people, like Gabriel Jimenez, that have a burning desire to participate in the national life of the country. But, unlike Gabriel, they stop jaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com0

Hace tiempo, en el blog de Liz, leí una frase que a su vez ella habia visto en otro blog y que la verdad no entendía mucho la situación. Ahora ya la entiendo y dice así:

“Brindo porque todos tengamos vidas tan… pero tan… pero taaan interesantes, que no nos de tiempo de venir a bloggearlas; que valga la pena capturarlas, pero que no nos de tiempo de subirlas el Flickr y que estemos tan entretenidos viviendo que se nos olvide prender el msn, actualizar el twitter, el facebook… porque andamos allá afuera, ya saben dónde… viviendo.”

Y aunque la situación actual está muy dificil de sobrellevar aqui en Mty, sobre todo porque nos quita la tranquilidad, no podemos dejar de seguir viviendo….
¿Y qué les puedo contar de mi? Pues que sigo felizmente casada, me siento super agusto y contenta en mi matrimonio y cada día mas enamorada, también que hice mi último viaje de soltera (estando casadaaaa, mi esposo es un amor), me quedé en casa de una amiga en Elche España, conocí Alicante y Orihuela y muchos lugares muy bonitos de la comunidad Valenciana. Y gracias a mi esposo, que me regaló un viajecito de cumpleaños, pude conocer uno de los lugares que estaban en mi lista de imperdibles: ¡¡¡Londres!!!
También conocí Galveston, de donde es la foto del post.
Sigo en Nuevo León, ya prontito me voy a Veracruz. Y por andar de viaje no me tocó vivir el Huracan Alex, pero regresé viendo a mi Monterrey deshecho, lo bueno que cada vez aprendemos más y hacemos mejor las cosas.
También que ya tengo mis fotos de mi boda y el video, que fué regalo de mi primo de su empresa RGA Digital, ya solo me faltan las fotos de estudio ampliadas y las fotos de Carlos Bravo en el Mercado Juárez jeje
Como ven, tengo un buen de cosas y anécdotas que contar con imágenes y tantos recuerdos que se me han venido en mente, que me gustaría compartir. Así que el fin de semana, me pondré las pilas.

The global financial crisis of 2008-2009 has had a significant impact in all countries and, in particular, most levels of economic growth and employment have been significantly affected.

In the case of Mexico, given the close commercial link with the U.S. due to NAFTA, the effects of the mortgage crisis resulted in a lower level of exports and employment. The commercial link between the two countries is so great that the contraction of the U.S. economy impacted an economic decrease for Mexico by 6.5 per cent. This contraction rate has not been seen since 1932, and it is the result of both the contraction of imports, consumption and tourism, and the dramatic rise in inflation. Mexico’s growth decline was the third highest in a comparative list of more than 180 countries.

However, when we look at employment figures, surprisingly, Mexico has had quite a reasonable behavior. In 2009, employment in Mexico behaved significantly better than in most OECD countries. The Mexican economy observed an unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent in 2009, while the OECD average was 8.3 per cent. Only five of the OECD countries (Netherlands, Korea, Switzerland, Austria and Japan) had unemployment rates lower than Mexico. Obviously, when comparing ourselves with the emerging BRIC countries, only China, with a 4.2 per cent rate, has a marginally lower level of unemployment.

Mexico has been through several financial crises in the last decades, and though this last global one has been by far, the greatest since the great Depression of 1930, it is the one that has least impacted our employment level. While the economy shrank by 6.5 per cent, unemployment has only fallen in less than half point. Furthermore, in the case of youth employment, we can see that Mexico has been one of the countries that have dealt with this in the best manner. Even though youth unemployment rate has decreased since 2007 as a result of the financial crisis it is now at 8 per cent, compared with the world average of 13 per cent.

Moreover, if we compare with ourselves with our 90s situation, unemployment levels are lower today. In the 1995 crisis, we had an unemployment rate of 8 per cent while the general rate today is 5.5 per cent.

We should also have in mind, that Mexican migration has had a net decrease in recent years. According to INEGI figures, net migration shows a downward trend, which means that Mexico expels fewer persons from the country as time goes on. This index has declined from 5.4 people per thousand inhabitants who left the country in 2007, to 1.4 per thousand in 2010.

Fewer Mexicans leave the country, and yet employment has been relatively protected during this period of global crisis. Mexico appears to be a safer place to keep a job.

The obvious question is then, why do we perceive that the situation is tough unemployment figures are significantly lower? Why are there so many questions about whether migration is drastically reduced? What are we not seeing about employment? Acknowledging ourselves is the first step, to powerfully see what is missing and how we can make a difference.

Article by Matt Sanchez - Fox News

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/18/mexico-journalists-increasingly-enda

Evaristo Ortega Zárate, a journalist in Veracruz, Mexico, was an ace at reporting details. He covered rival drug traffickers, criticized the inaction of local authorities and investigated politicians. Thanks to his efforts, his paper, Espacio, grew from a local weekly to a statewide presence.

But the focus of Ortega's writing changed this year. “They’ve arrested us,” he wrote in a desperate text message. “They have made us get into a police car.”

And those were the last words he wrote. Like dozens of other Mexican journalists in recent years, Evaristo Ortega Zárate simply vanished.

The life of a journalist has never been easy in Mexico, a country noted for its one-party rule, corruption and lawlessness. But in recent years, since President Felipe Calderon challenged the control of drug cartels that “sought to rule the nation,” practicing journalism has become a deadly occupation.

The numbers vary according to the source, but roughly 70 journalists, photographers, editors and producers have been killed in the last decade in Mexico, in what Reporters Without Borders calls, "the Western Hemisphere's deadliest country for the media."

The deadliest place in the world to get a quote remains Iraq, where 140 journalists have been killed since 2003, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a nonprofit that tracks violence against journalists worldwide.

But in many ways the streak of violence south of the Rio Grande is even more disturbing. At the height of the war in Iraq, journalists were often killed in sporadic crossfire, homicide bombings and inconclusive murders. And the number of journalists who have been killed has plummeted – from 32 in 2007 to four last year – as the war has wound down.

But in Mexico, the violence is almost never random. Druglords meticulously target journalists for execution, and the method is often very personal. Journalists have had their throats slashed and their bodies dissolved in acid; they've been dismembered and tortured by having a message carved into their bodies; they've been set on fire and they've been buried alive, head first.

Even the bullet to the head has been anything but straightforward: The body of reporter José Bladimir Antuna García's had a note attached to it that read: “This happened to me for giving information to the military and writing what I shouldn't have. Check the texts of your articles well before publishing them. Yours faithfully, Bladimir." It is not known whether Bladimir himself was forced to write the words before he died.

The climate of fear extends to reporters north of the border, as well. El Paso Times reporter Diana Washington Valdez routinely visited Juarez City, just on the other side of the Rio Grande. But she says, “I had to stop going. I just won’t go back.”

In April, she said, “I received a message, recommending that I should stop writing about drug-trafficking.

“Because of all the chaos and mayhem, I’m becoming too recognizable as a journalist."

Separated from El Paso by a small creek roughly the length of a football field, drug traffickers in Juarez City have commandeered radio stations to issue warnings to the press: "Do not mess with us. Do not arrive at the scene of the crime when we are still there.”

The warnings are being taken seriously. "We're seeing more auto-censorship among members of the media in Mexico,” said Carlos Lauria, a CPJ analyst.

Auto-censorship is common in Afghanistan, a country that has known war for decades and one in which freedom of the press is a relatively new concept. But Afghanistan actually ranks low among reporter-averse countries -- over the last 20 years, "only" 22 journalists have been killed there, including nine in 2001, the year American forces routed the Taliban.

Precautions are prudent in a nation that has known generational war, but now they are a reality in Mexico, right across America's southern border.

Some Mexican cartel members are seeking to control their image, and they have even kidnapped journalists to barter for television air-time. And the threat to reporters doesn't come only from the lawbreakers. The lawmakers pose problems, as well.

Of the 244 assaults on journalists, 65 percent came from public officials, according to Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa.

And the threat may not be contained south of the Rio Grande.

“On this side of the border, there’s a constant flow of intelligence and counter-intelligence,” Valdez said. “We know from our sources that some criminal activities are being coordinated from El Paso.”

While the journalists who were interviewed for this article insisted that they want to maintain their professional integrity, they say they are necessarily concerned that poking or prodding the wrong person may not be worth the risk.

There is “no magic solution for stopping the violence of the cartels or to protect freedom of the press,” Carlos Lauria said.

###The Killing Fields: Harvest of Women, the first investigative book about the Juarez murders by a U.S. journalist.

KFOX-TV Channel 14 morning anchor Stephanie Guadian and photographer Rudy Reyes are currently in Kuwait awaiting a flight into Afghanistan where they will be embedded with the U.S. Army for about 10 days. They will be reporting from the Middle...

Jose Rodriguez, the Democratic candidate for state senate, is having a community forum tonight to talk about boosting job opportunities and decreasing poverty along the border.

Rodriguez faces Republican businessman and economics professor Dan Chavez in the general election this November.

The forum will be at 6 p.m. at Democratic Unity Campaign Headquarters, 6430 Gateway East, Suite A.

“Given the on-going recession, jobs continue to be a critical issue for El Paso," Rodriguez said in a press release announcing the forum. "While our Chambers of Commerce, REDCO, and others are working very diligently to develop new jobs and attract new industry, we must also focus on the needs of working families struggling to make ends meet."

Below is a portion of the release that provides a list of issues that will be discussed.

•Promoting decent wages and working conditions: (Johnny Ruiz, Building & Construction Trades Council) Are unions the only viable alternative to increase workers’ wages? What are the challenges workers face in their search for better wages and working conditions? How are the “right to work” laws helping or hurting Texas workers?

• Improving Workers’ Skills and Earning Potential: (Lorenzo Reyes, Workforce Solutions) What government programs have proven to be successful in transforming the skills of minimum wage workers? What labor skills does El Paso require to accelerate the transformation of our economy?

•Helping Working Families Build Resources & Prosper: (Mark Alvarado, Neighborhood Services of the City of El Paso) What role do the public housing programs play in helping low income families to come out of poverty? What is the importance of the neighborhood programs in strengthening the prosperity of low-income residents?

Despues de que los policias federales se rebelaron contra sus susperiores y hasta los acusaron de ser parte del narco, los policias federales mencionaron que ahora si le ivan a echar mas ganas a su trabajo.  Pero, parece que se les olvido o a esos policias se los llevaron para otro lado porque segun las noticias ayer mismo fueron asesinados como 20 personas.

Pues que paso ahi con los policias??  Pues no que se ivan a poner a ayudar a la ciudadania??  Se entiende perfectamente  que no pueden estar en todos los puntos de la ciudad a la vez.  Pero ayer hubo varios homicidios como para que los policias  no se haigan dado cuenta, de perdida de un incidente.

Bueno, yo solo digo, no?

Below is an e-mail Stuart Leeds wrote to El Paso Times editor Chris Lopez regarding a story Lopez published today entitled "Paralegal, husband indicted in $1 million law-firm embezzlement." Read Stuart's e-mail to learn what Lopez and his reporter Maggie Ybarra intentionally left out of the story they published. After the e-mail, I have pasted Lopez' innacurate and slanted article so that you can compare information. RE: Paralegal, husband indicted in $1 million law-firm embezzlement‏ 7:57 AM Reply ▼ stuart leeds To chris lopez, milan simonich, mybarra@elpasotimes.com, Theresa McGill Mr. Lopez: How could you publish this story and not mention, not one time, the salient relationships, that by the way, the entire legal community and their families are aware of? This woman is being told she better plead to 40 years or else. And as Mr. Gibson correctly said, 40 years is more than what most murderers get. I would add, a lot more. So why the vehemence and the outrageous plea offer from Esparza? Because the alleged victims are his friends, political allies, and relatives of his lawyer, County Attorney Joanne Bernal. But then you should know all this. CA Bernal, Esparza's lawyer and friend who has made a career covering up for Esparza, is a close relative of complainant Bernal. Do you know what that relationship is, Mr. Lopez? And if you don't, why not? Shouldn't this have been a basic question asked and answered in your story? Oaxaca is the same Oaxaca on the Ethics Commission who votes continously to keep Joanne Bernal as the Commission's attorney thereby compromising the Commission's independence. This is a debate that has been raging for 6 months, a debate I am confident you know not one whit about. And as the editor of the newspaper, you don't care. The connections beteween the DA's office and the alleged victims are profound. Esparza should have disqualified himself from this prosecution. And as long as you continue to hire insipid reporting ..

Someone in cyberland published a 'call out' piece. In it, he wrote: Someone called bigots, racists. and Someone said many bigots hate Obama because they are racists. The writer takes umbrage at the statement because he self-identified as a target of the statement. The writer adds he dislikes Obama because he disagrees with his policies. The writer concludes that if someone points to a bigot andjaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com0

The El Paso Press Club has new board of directors officers. Gustavo Reveles Acosta, the growth and transportation reporter for the El Paso Times, was re-elected for a second term as president. He has been a board member of the...

Gov. Rick Perry's campaign is hoping to continue talking about race to hammer at his opponent Democrat Bill White.

Perry has called on White to apologize for telling a group of African-American business and community leaders, “We need a governor who's a servant, as opposed to Rick Perry, who wants to be treated as master."  The quote was reported in the Dallas Morning News.

A new web video from the Rick Perry campaign calls White's comments "insensitive", "offensive", and "divisive".

It also mentions Republican Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams. Williams stood behind Perry and demanded that White apologize.

The video does not mention the White campaign's response to Perry's criticisms.

White's campaign has said that his comments were rooted in religion and had nothing to do with race. The campaign also provided a list of instances when White had made similar comments and said Perry never complained before.

Democratic state Reps. Barbara Mallory Caraway, who co-hosted the event, and Garnet Coleman came to White's defense. They said Perry was wrong and White's comments were not meant to be racial.

Two Texas lawmakers are arguing that undocumented immigrants are entering the United States to have children who will later be trained to become terrorists and conspire against the country.

The lawmakers claim that terrorists are plotting against the country with a plan that takes decades to develop. Under, this suggested plot, they say an undocumented immigrant would have a child in the country to establish citizenship. That child would then be trained to commit terrorist acts intended to hurt Americans.

Evidence has not been provided to substantiate such claims.

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, went on CNN to defend that claim but the conversation quickly deteriorated when Anderson Cooper pressed the congressman for evidence.

Cooper asked Gohmert to provide evidence after referencing an interview with a former FBI official who dismissed Gohmert's and Republican state Rep. Debbie Riddle's claims that FBI sources told them such tactics were being used.

Gohmert never offered proof to validate his claims. He did, however, yell at Cooper throughout the interview.

Gohmert told Cooper that he and the Daily Show's John Stewart could continue having fun at his expense.

A frustrated Cooper shot back, "Sir, I don't think there is anything fun about a congressman going onto the House floor and spreading scare stories. I don't think there is anything fun about that and going on some tv show where you don't get challenged about it. If you want to just yell about it all day long, you're certainly welcome to do that. We don't usually do that on this program. I've offered you to present some form of evidence and you've presented nothing."

Dear Editor: Please help me to understand how you make choices relative to your news stories. I dare say, I have sent perhaps more than 50 press releases regarding various issues important to the community including my philosophical, political, economic, border and other issues and analyses. Most recently, I sent you my budget recommendations for next year in which I call for a tax freeze. jaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com0

Gov. Rick Perry's campaign today demanded that Democrat Bill White apologize for "racially motivated" comments made during a speech to a black audience in Dallas.

The campaign pointed to an article in the Dallas Morning News that quoted White telling a group of African-American business and community leaders, “We need a governor who's a servant, as opposed to Rick Perry, who wants to be treated as master."

Perry's campaign manager Rob Johnson issued a statement calling the remarks "insensitive".

“Yesterday, Bill White showed just how low he will go in his race for governor, by making racially motivated remarks attacking Gov. Perry," Johnson said. "Instead of talking about issues that will move this state forward, Bill White has chosen a path based on scare tactics and division."

White's campaign said the former Houston mayor has been talking about "servant leadership" with many groups and added that his remarks have nothing to do with race.

"Bill White would welcome a debate with Rick Perry about servant leadership and ethics," Bacon said. "Perry's lack of ethics and his belief that state government exists to serve him shine through every day. Perry, a 25 year career politician, thinks he's the master of Texas."

Bacon provided the following list of White's comments to different groups.

•Bill White Speaks to Kingwood Tea Party
"We need as our governor somebody who is a servant, not a career politician who's acting as if they're in control and they're the master," White said. "Leadership is not about dividing a state or a community up into red teams or blue teams or teams that are on the sidelines and playing people off against each other. It's about finding common ground and moving us forward, and that I know how to do." (Ultimate Kingwood, Bill White Visits Kingwood)
  

•Bill White Speaks to Texas Farm Bureau
"If a governor ever acts like he owns positions on state boards and commissions, and appointees are expected to serve his personal re-election agenda, then surely it is time to find a new governor. We need a governor who understands that he should serve as a humble servant rather than a demanding master," White said. (Bill White for Texas, Bill White's Remarks before the Texas Farm Bureau)

•Bill White's Speech at Democratic Convention

"In Rick Perry's Texas, state boards and agencies are pressured from the top to serve those who help the Governor's re-election. In our Texas, government will be the servant, not the master, and our customers will be ordinary Texans," White said.  (Texas Observer, Bill White's Acceptance Speech at the Democratic Convention)

•Bill White in Palestine, TX
"We need somebody who will be a servant and not think they are the master of the state," White said. (Palestine Herald, Governor hopeful White says he wants to serve Texans, not tell them what to do)

•Bill White in Corsicana, TX

Bill White said he wants "to be a governor who is a servant, and not a master." (Corsicana Daily News, White Greets Local Dems)

•Bill White in Seguin, TX
Texans, White said, deserve a governor with a servant's heart who knows he works for them. "You deserve someone who will be responsive to you," White said. "I will have a servant's heart, and I will never forget where I came from. With your help, we will have a new governor in November." (Seguin Gazette, Gubernatorial hopeful makes Seguin stop)

Republican Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams provided this statement:

“Bill White’s use of the terms “servant” and “master,” conjuring up images of slavery, are simply ignorant and offensive.  Pandering to an all-black audience by inserting race into this political campaign should be offensive to not only us African-Americans, but all Texans.

“This is another example of a politician who doesn’t have a record to run on.   As mayor of Houston, home to the largest African-American community in Texas, he missed an opportunity to earn a record of inclusion, diversity and expanding opportunities for all Texans.”

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, issued this statement:

"The Governor needs to stop trying to use African-Americans as a wedge for his divisive and partisan political campaign.  We don't have to parse the Governor's words to find animosity towards communities of color, a simple look at his actions during his 25 years in office makes clear his position."
 
"Rick Perry has spent the last ten years as Governor ignoring the values of the African-American community in Texas, in both his policies and his politics.  Rick Perry has cut vital state services that affect communities of color in education, health care, and housing.  He's passed policies that allow for skyrocketing college tuition rates and homeowner's insurance rates, placing a target on the backs of both limited and middle income families.  Rick Perry has tried to limit Texans' right to vote and put secession on the table.  Rick Perry actively celebrates state's rights, a movement to return our country to a time when separate but equal was still the law of the land.  Rick Perry has celebrated the Tea Party movement, a movement that has sanctified some of the most racist behavior we have seen in our country in almost fifty years -- and never once has he denounced any of it."

   

In recent months the debate about violence in Mexico has heated up significantly. Most news channels have been giving a broad coverage on the facts of crime, which are usually focused on the issue of combating organized crime.

When it comes to human lifes, it is always difficult to speak coldly about figures. But when we need to know what really is going on, in terms of crime, we can do nothing but refer to them.

The indicator which measures the violence in a country is the number of violent deaths per 100,000 people. This indicator has the advantage of allowing us to compare figures between countries with different population sizes.

This indicator is highly reliable and comparable between countries of the world, since in all countries it is necessary to produce death certificates to account for a death caused for any reason whatsoever. In the case of violent deaths, there is no possibility that this indicator, unlike others, observe significant levels of sub report because violent deaths are registred by law in all countries.

According the available indicators, Mexico as a country has a general level of 13.3 violent deaths per 100.00 inhabitants, making it one of the safest countries in Latin America. Levels in Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela surprised us since they are at high as 16.8, 36.7 and 44.9 deaths per 100,000 population, respectively. Brazil and Venezuela are two and almost three times more violent than Mexico, respectively.

Moreover, if we compare this indicator with some U.S. cities we will see that our country is much better than we would expect to imagine. Comparing Mexico to Washington DC, New Orleans or Detroit the difference is very big, violence is a tangible problem in those cities. And without going too far, Mexico City has 9.8 violent deaths per 100,000 people, far below of other major cities like Houston, with 12.5, Phoenix, witn 12.6, and Los Angeles, with 17.1. It is true that there is a big problem in Ciudad Juarez and three other municipalities, which altogether sum up to more than 50% of violent deaths in Mexico. The rest of the 2,396 municipalities which form the country have relatively low violence levels.

According to figures provided by the government of Mexico, the battle against organized crime has caused 24,826 violent deaths in the last four years. As it is continuosly said, inside and outside the country, it has turned Mexico in an extremely dangerous country to live. A country that sadly some have said is in “civil war” and that is a “failed state.” This is definitely not true.

Although a number like 24,826 seems pretty high, it is time to put it in context. This number represents a little over 6,000 deaths per year on average. Each year, 20,000 people die in Mexico in road accidents and more than 50,000 because of diabetes. If we look at violent deaths to compare, in the U.S. 6,000 veterans commit suicide every year. So, during the same period, the same amount of persons have died as a consecuence of the U.S. post-war trauma, as the war on drugs in Mexico.

And while there is some exposure about this phenomenon in the U.S. media, it does not reach the same exposure as in Mexico. Here we are in a frenzy of daily information that the only thing it communicates is the presence of violence. Our conversations with family, friends, office, restaurants, are all about violence. We enrol ourselves and enrol others, including foreigners, in the idea that violence in Mexicohas reached unsuspected levels. And there’s no evidence to support that. It is only our perception. We find ourselves filtering and searching all events and news, looking for those that speak of violence. And likewise, those are the news we speak about. It is a conversation, just a conversation.

This has affected the levels of tourism, investment and economic prospects for the country, and it is not supported by real figures, data and facts, it is only a perception. The good news is that we have the power to change that perception. It just takes to take a look at the data and facts.

Ultimately, the best way to combat any violence is to leave the fear that is generating this behind and doing something that makes us confident. Enrol ourselves and enrol others with the fact that violence stops us, it paralyzes us. What would be possible if we focus on facts anda data to make us and others see that we can be responsible for creating an environment to grow and prosper instead of creating a violent space with our everyday conversations? You have this power, do it for north America and in the end you will be doing something positive for yourself and for others.