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Mexico: Hard Situation and Hope by Claudia Durán Miranda

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DSCF4063I live in a beautiful country, diverse in culture and with a wealth of natural resources. It is the 4th most biodiverse country in the world and has more than 60 indigenous groups. Sadly, for many years, Mexico has had problems that are reaching a critical point today.

More than 50% of our population lives in poverty or extreme poverty. In fact, Mexico is the only country in Latin America where the poverty rate has increased rather than decreased. It also has one of the most corrupt governments in the world and corruption continues to grow (http://www.transparency.org/gcb2013). The violence caused in some states by drug trafficking is enormous. In 2013 Mexico became the second highest place in number of violent deaths of civilians: 9,000. The first place was Syria (55,000) and just below us was Afghanistan (http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/el-mundo/2013/siria-mexico-muertos-971948.html).

Abductions, rapes and murders of women have soared with more women being killed in Mexico than ever before – and the vast majority of murders are never solved. Women in conflict zones are often seen as “territory” to be conquered, and raping and murdering women is a way to intimidate rival gangs and the local population. Authorities say victims are getting younger and the attacks more violent. Experts say the spike in violence against women is worst in areas hit hard by the drug war, similar to what happened during the civil wars in Colombia, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Human rights groups claim security forces are often involved in sexual abuse and the disappearance of women. Also Amnesty International has reported a serious problem of torture by police and the army, that the Mexican State is the author and accomplice of many human rights violations.

The psychoanalyst Raúl Páramo Ortega, in the article “Torture, Antipode of Compassion,” offers valuable clues to understand the magnitude of the tragedy that we face, and foundations to signal the responsibility of the Mexican State for practicing torture and also generating at different levels and dimensions, favorable conditions for mass practice. Paramo says: Society creates conditions conducive to torture is that educated for competition, selfishness, blind obedience, authoritarianism and violence. Undoubtedly, all these features are found in Mexico today.

However, not every part of the country is that violent, but even in the quieter parts we find social inequality and discrimination.

A few months ago 3 students were murdered and 43 disappeared at the hands of the police in Guerrero, which has caused people to take to the streets to demand justice as never seen before, demonstrations across the country and beyond, demanding the government to clear the case and punish the guilty. This case shows the serious human rights crisis in Mexico … but it also shows us that compassion, unity and empathy are still alive in people.

It took me a while to write about the situation in my country because sometimes it’s hard to stay positive when all these things happen but we must never stop believing that things can be better. The other day I heard Eckhart Tolle talking about chaos and how we should not see it as wrong, as chaos creates the energy necessary for change. This chaos can bring the change that so many of us we want!

The coat of Mexico is an eagle devouring a serpent, in various cultures a bird with a serpent symbolizes creation, a shift in consciousness, and it is certainly what we need to improve as a country…

The present convergence of crises – in money, energy, education, health, water, soil, climate, politics, the environment, and more – is a birth crisis, expelling us from the old world into a new. – Charles Eisenstein

ABOUT CLAUDIA DURAN MIRANDA

claudiaBorn in Mérida, Yucatán in southeast México, Claudia has love and concern for nature which is why she became a biologist. She now works with ONG’s in conservation projects. She sees the root of our climate and environmental problems as being the separate vision of ourselves and our environment. Claudia has no religion but believes Science and Spirituality are complementary and that we need science with consciousness during this time.


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