Ed Vulliamy - Amexica: War Along the Borderline

Table of Contents

This book would not have been considered or written without my dear friend David Rieff, whose idea of a holiday way back was to go looking for cowboy boots in El Paso and Del Rio, and stories in Ciudad Jurez and Acua. David later introduced me to Tracy Bohan at the Wylie Agency, who many, myself included, would call a wonderful literary agent, but who I also regard as something between having ones own military wing and a sports coach with that canny enthusiasm that motivates the final extra sprint. There are three colleagues without whom the book would also not have happened: Julin Cardona, the bravest reporter I have ever met, who profoundly influenced the ensuing arguments and who remains, defying all, in Ciudad Jurez; Cecilia Ball, whose family history is in many ways that of the border, and whose compassion for its people and their lives, and keen eye across its atrocities, likewise charge this text; and Dudley Althaus, whose generosity, commitment, and expert company on the road knew no bounds. It was, sadly and belatedly, only in researching this paperback edition that I came upon a journalist covering this war like none other, a striking role model for any reporter and humbling in her courage: Sandra Rodriguez of El Diario in Ciudad Jurez, whose arguments and insight also infuse this latest version of the book.

These are times when good reporting is under siege from mediocrity, blog, and Twitterbut some fight on the ramparts of quality, and there remain moments in American journalism when a cluster of exceptional talent forms in one place. Mexico City is experiencing one such fortunate era, thanks to correspondents from whose work and in many cases companyI have had the honor to benefit: above all, the great Tracy Wilkinson of the Los Angeles Times , who also kindly amended the draft. Also Marc Lacey of The New York Times , Alfredo Corchado of The Dallas Morning News , the photographer David Rochkind and Ken Ellingwood of the Los Angeles Times , William Booth of The Washington Post plus the inimitable Dudley, as above, of the Houston Chronicle , and The Guardian and The Observer s Jo Tuckman. They are the visitors. Among the Mexicans, I owe thanks to the best of those who do the difficult, right thing: in Tijuana, Jorge Fregoso of Sntesis TV; in Mexico City, to the rising star Len Krauze; to Alejandro Pez and Ignacio lvarez Alvarado of El Universal ; and in Hermosillo to Juan Carlos Ziga and Marco Mendoza. Thanks to those who chronicle Jurez for El Diario and El Norte . And in terrifying Tamaulipas, you know who you are.

In Nuevo Len, with their works of art, Francisco Bentez, Toms Hernndez, and Jessica Salinas break new ground of resistance, humor, courage, and even hope.

North of the border, these folks are supplementedand this book enhancedby the personalities and committed work of two great heretics: Dane Schiller of the Houston Chronicle and Brenda Norrell of the Censored News and Narcosphere websites. Also Jesse Bogan, whose fine work Forbes magazine rewarded with a layoff (and theyre supposed to be the smart guys?no wonder the economys down the pan), and Sacha Feinman, who writes on Sonora (and boxing) better than anyone else but has difficulty getting hired by a two-bit sports magGod help journalism.

I am grateful for hospitality along the way: in GHQ Tucson, to Debra May and Phreddie and Olivia Bartholomaei; Trudy Duffy, Elaine Mauri-ole, Joan and Jen at the ranch, Anne and Eddie, James Romero and Rene Escalante, and Bob and Peggy Feinman. In Mexico City, to Len, as above, and to Marco and Juan Carlos in Hermosillo. To Charles Bowden in Patagonia, Tom and Nadine Russell in El Paso, Don Henry and Leah Ford in Belmont, Raymundo Ramos in Nuevo Laredo, Mario Trevio in Reynosa, Cecilia Ball in Brownsville, and Lisa Hilton in Houston. Among these are the authors of two of five great border books to which I am indebted: C. Bowdens Jurez: The Laboratory of Our Future ,and Fords Contrabando . The other three are K. Bowdens The Tecate Journals , Lee Morgans The Reapers Line , and Don Winslows Power of the Dog . Thanks to Molly Molloy in Las Cruces, for hospitality but even more so for the tenacious tracking of deaths and narco violence that makes her Fronterizo List the most reliable regular source of information by far, as well as an embarrassment for the amount of monitoring work we reporters could and should be doing ourselves. Other books and sources are listed in the notes and bibliography.

There are good and brave people in this book who will claim their acknowledgments through the narrative, but Mike Flores, Angelita Ramn, Pastor Jos Antonio Galvn, Josu Rosales, Norma Andrade, Marisela Ortiz, Rosario Acosta, Paula Gonzlez, and Julia Quiones need special thanks for their company, courage, and the influence they had on things.

I owe perennial thanks to John Mulholland, editor of The Observer , for commissioning some of the articles that gave way to all this, and to Paul Webster, my main editor for two and a half decades at The Observer and The Guardian . Also thanks at The Guardian to Holly Bentley for her assiduous research across the archives, Arnel Hecimovic for the picture research, and Finbarr Sheehy for drawing the map. There are debts and thanks due to the main editor of the British edition of this volume, Will Sulkin, and his American counterpart, Eric Chinski, for terrifying faith at the outset and subsequent and invaluable guidance on the text. Also to Kay Peddle and Eugenie Cha for their kind efficiency and patience, to Chris Peterson, to Cynthia Merman and Alison Tulett for copyediting, and to Laura Mell and Laurel Cook. Thanks also to Elena Cosentino of the BBC, Ginerva White, and to Philip Breeden at the U.S. embassy in London. Any undertaking of journalism by me will owe a debt in origin to my teachers John Ware, Duncan Campbell, and Dan Morgan.

Some precious friends propelled this book and its background: John Cale with a steady stream of information and his own caustic but always velvet observations; Paul Gilroy and Vron Ware without whose wisdom, company, and friendship over four decades I would have been locked away; Marco el Sexto Sol Roth with his irrepressible faith in uprising and complicated love for his native Mexico; Mark Dowie and WendySchwarz, in the most beautiful place on earth; and Tom Rhodes, who I met in the storm of another war. Deep thanks to Josh Lord at East Side Ink, grand master of the chisel, for our mutual design, and his execution with painless finesse of the Guadalupe/Coatlicue/Amexica protective tattoo. It was a joy to find in Toronto a precious friend from another war, Erica Zlomislic, whose deep and intelligent Catholic faith was a guiding hand through the riptide of religiosity that cuts beneath this book.

There are deepest personal thanks too, for this has not always been easy: to lovely Elsa and Claudia for being who they are and putting up with me (if they do); to Victoria for the desert and for bearing with it all so kindly (if she did); to Louisa and to Mum, Tom, and Clara. In New York, thanks to Roger Cohen, to Stacy and Leslie the propeller girls, and to Nebojsa Shoba Seri . There was a lot of tiring and miserable hobbling on crutches getting ready, during which many thanks to Hawkwind, Fairport, and the LSO for music of delight and encouragement; to Angela, Kate, and Thomas Turley-Mooneyham in Chicago; to the Uxbridge Arms and Torriano pubs; to the Frontline Club; the Tavola Calda da Maria for vera cucina casalinga , even in Notting Hill Gate; and to the Kop on the lock at the Constitution for never having to walk alone, even on crutches. For repairing the damage and getting me mobile, thanks initially to Tamara Cilliers, then Kerry Dowson, and everyone that morning at Royal Liverpool Infirmarybut no thanks at all to the Paterson wing at St. bloody Marys hospital in Paddington, which did its best to stop the whole thing happening.