Meeting Last Night on Murder in Melaque

Posted by Carol de Cuastecomates on January 6, 2012, 11:22 am
187.146.80.46

Next Action: Meeting with officials in the town square in Cihuatlin at 10:00 am Monday. All are encouraged to attend. At a party in La Manz last night, I was asked to post a summary of the meeting that was held by the community to discuss the murder that occurred in Melaque. It was quite extraordinary from my point of view. Estimates by others were that between 150 - 200 people attended. The foreigners had, of course, arrived before the meeting was scheduled to start, so they got all the chairs and were the most visible in the lights. The Mexicans, and there were dozens, arrived later, and so mostly stood outside of the lighted area, around the perimeter. The fact that there were as many Mexicans as there were and that the meeting was arranged by Mexicans was echoed in the opening words. One Mexican woman expressed her shame that this had occurred in her community. Another, took blame, saying that she was the reason Robin had initially come to the area. The request to all was for input as to what should be demanded from officials in Cihuatlin when that meeting occurred this coming Monday. Both Mexicans and foreigners enunciated very clearly a desire for safety and security, including adequate police, including the return of Tourist Police -- that were dismantled by local authorities, for adequate police services, in the form of prompt responses to reports of crime, and for adequate and competent investigations when a crime occurs. One woman complained that drug activity known to be occurring in a house located near where the murder occurred and where there have been burglaries, is known to the police, but they have not shut it down even though there have been complaints to them. A man who lives next door to where the murder occurred said that the forensics were pitiful. Mexicans and foreigners were all allowed to talk and, except for the last speaker, who interrupted what would have been a moment of silence for the victim, and who seemed to want to complain about stubbing his toe in the reduced surf in Barra (I left at that point), everyone was profound in their caring and deep in their concern. I was contacted by a radio station in Victoria through the tomzap site, so the murder is very much still on the radar in Canada. Please do set up carpooling to the meeting in Cihuatlin on Monday at 10 am and feel free to make additional recommendations of actions that could be recommended to the Mexicans who will formally meet with authorities. They already have the recommendations from the meeting so there is no need to repeat those.

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