Mexican opinions about "the war on drugs"

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Sunday, 3/31

I arose an hour or two after dawn, and again hung around the trailer.  I’m starting to get comfortable with my routine, which doesn’t include camping on the islands.  For one thing, these islands are so barren there’s not much reason to spend time on them.  For another, I’m getting the best possible nighttime experience by paddling—much better than I would get spending the night on some barren shore.  And, I’m avoiding the hottest time of day, and sun, but leaving every afternoon.  You have to adapt to each environment, and this routine works here.

At 11:00, I left the trailer to have lunch at the food tent.  Grandfather Juan (60) was there.  I had the usual fresh fish tacos—batter fried fish strips, with a tomato/onion/cilantro salsa on top, maybe adding lettuce and cucumber, with a squeeze of lime or dash of roasted jalapeno salsa.  Served up with hot corn tortillas and a side of refried beans.

Juan’s daughter (the cook) showed me here pictures of an island to the north (Coronado) with white beaches.  She so had taken some photos of a whale shark.

I talked with Juan and his son Eric (a local “social” policeman) about the drug war.  I asked them if they thought now was a good time to stop the war on drugs.  They both agreed that it was, although that it was complicated.  Juan thought that the cartels were able to survive despite the attempted cackdown because of official corruption, which turned a blind eye.

Another young man joined in, who spoke fair English.  He also agreed with the proposition, and helped translate.  He said that he had lived in LA for many years, and had been engaged in crime, and then deported.  He said that if he went back (and he wanted to), that he would get 5 years in jail for illegal entry, so he was afraid to try, though he wanted to go back because much of his wife’s family was there, and because he wanted a better US education for his children. (Mexican public education is said to be poor, with corruption in the teacher’s union).  He had a dilemma, because he wanted to go back, but felt that it would be impossible with his criminal record in the US, where he spent some time in jail.

This young man spoke well of the US political system, in comparison to the Mexican.  He said that anyone, no matter how powerful, could be thrown in jail in the US—as evidenced by Bill Clinton.

The young man explained that now he was going straight, since he was married to a Cambodian woman, and had several young children.  He expressed a lot of affection for his son (about 5 yrs) who spoke very good English, and also Cambodian and Spanish.  When he was deported from the US, he arrived here with just the shirt on his back.  But now he was doing well as a speculator in real estate—that he owned 10 properties.  He sells to Mexicans, not Americans.

Grandfather Juan said that the Loreto municipal government was very corrupt—and he made gestures of passing money under the table.  He said that the Federal government said they wouldn’t give any more money to Loreto (…until they cleaned up their act, I presume).

Juan and several of his sons work as security people for an American named Dan Williams, a retired special forces soldier, about 80? Years old, who has a house worth millions in Loreto, and another mansion in Montana.  Williams owns a huge amount of land around Ligui, and has the concession on the beach.  (I believe that means he pays the govt to lease the beach area, and in turn he can use the beach for commercial purposes.)  It sounds like he’s the “Duke” of Loreto, or at least of Ligui.