Peace and Corruption

"Mérida: La Ciudad de La Paz" is printed on every government vehicle, advertisement, park sign, etc, proclaiming that Mérida is a city of peace! I would agree, I feel incredibly safe here and was pleased when before coming here in January I learned that the Yucatán is the safest state in Mexico, and Mérida is one of the safest cities in not only Mexico, but also Latin America. I'll never forget my first hour in Mérida - landing, going through customs, getting to know the group, and the drive from the airport to the Central House. We all still joke about it - as we were overly excited as we took in the new sites and sounds that were soon to be apart of our everyday lives. One thing in particular made the taxi-van of seven girls start to squeal. El Arbol de Paz - the tall, white, Christmas tree shaped structure in the middle of la glorieta (roundabout) on El Paseo, which at the time had all of the white lights twinkling, and the white lit doves flying around in its center. This became our monument when asking for directions, our landmark to know when we were close to home, and an instant attention grabber. To our dismay, in the middle of March the trees was taken down (we learned it's just a seasonal thing), but the peace that it represented did not go with it. I often thought, "Sure, Ciudad de La Paz has a nice ring to it, that's cute, fitting, appropriate, etc" but I didn't realize that Mérida didn't just elect to have that printed around their city, they were chosen. 

"At the end of 2010, Merida, Yucatan was chosen to join the ranks of the 100 Cities of Peace for Peace. This program is carried out by an international institution recognized by the International Committee of the Flag of Peace of the UN-NGO. The cities that have earned this honor (100 Cities in the period 2010 to 2015) must develop a program that shows they are committed to making communication their priority, having an active and engaged citizenry disseminating a culture of peace and human rights, beginning with the right to life, social justice, and environmental balance." - Yucatán Living, News

People here in Mérida are proud of living in and maintaining such a safe area, so they are adamant in taking a stand against violence, and other issues that are facing Mexico. In fact, the Yucatán is one of the only states where the Drug War has not yet entered, so major work is being done to keep it this way. If you were to visit Mérida for even just an hour you may start to be a little skeptical, as you walk down the streets and see police officers and police cars with their lights on nearly at all times. At first upon my arrival I was slightly confused because their lights would be flashing, but they'd be in no hurry. This is because there actually is no danger. The police here in Mérida drive around in their carts and motorcycles, with lights on, to patrol the area, and simply make their presence known. Also many busy streets are monitored on camera, and they say you'd never be able to do anything risky without the police being there in less than a minute. Needless to say, I haven't tested this. But I must say I have received the kind attention of the police on multiple occasions. When I was waiting for a friend one day the police drove by, stopped next to me, and asked if I was okay or needed anything! Many times I'll be walking home and they'll just slow down while driving past me and say hello, etc. It's really encouraging to see this type of prevention and maintenance going on - something that I have yet to see in any other part, including in the States.


But as you see from this blog's title, not everything is white doves, friendly policemen, and peaceful posters. No, Mérida and Mexico as a whole deals with the issue of corruption everyday. First and foremost, the governor - a woman named Ivonne Aracelly Ortega Pacheco, from the PRI party currently governs the Yucatán. Well, or fairly? No, I never said that. I think it's fair to say no one from the Yucatán alive during her term will ever name their child Ivonne - as the simple utterance of her name brings frustration and opinions. She has been ridiculed for stealing money from the government, taking part in unfair spending, and doing little to serve or better the state. Her time in office has been seen as a huge scandal, costing the people millions of dollars... And she has only completed just over half of her six year term. Something that is big in Mérida's news is a potential Shakira concert coming to the city in July (yes, I know... I'm missing it...). This popular pop star in both the US and Latin America, would be providing a free concert for the public. But as we all know, nothing is free in life. Instead the government would be paying over 15 million pesos (1.25 million USD) to contract the singer alone, not to mention additional costs that will accompany her arrival. How can this be justified? The government says it will promote tourism... But are any of you hurrying to plan your trip here so that you can attend a two hour concert with a blocked view? Doubtful. What's the underlying problem is that the government is corrupt, twisted, and confused. Instead of allocating money to education, safety, and poverty, time and time again they are pouring money into shows, glitz and glam, and entertainment. Now the utterance of "Shakira" will evoke just about as much passion and opinions as the name Ivonne. There is an excellent editioral piece that I read last week over the Shakira issue, and the oblivion of the real issues facing the region. For all of you able to read Spanish (or up for the challenge) here is the link: Shakira sabe bailar y la Comuna sabe gastar. For the rest, this is a translation, thanks to Google (so some phrases may be a little off):


Shakira knows how to dance and the Municipal knows how to spend:
"White City, a city of dreams, illusions.This is my city, a city in North and South, rich and poor capitalization. The North, large houses, almost palaces, the South, small houses with many families, help hungry.In the most recent election was played with this and had been promised food poverty eradication in the city, erase the gap between North and South. The candidates promised that we would all be equal in the eyes of the council.And it's true: now is not addressed to anyone, we're all equal.Organizing a big concert, a concert at the height of the white city, city of peace, which will be fulfilled all the campaign promises, the restoration of the historic center, the eradication of poverty, the discount trucks, among many more, or simply forget us, to enjoy the bread and circuses.The only thing ....The concert promises tourism, consumption, profits for the city, well above the apparent and a half million invested. But recently, under the pretext of the birthday of our city, we visited another Colombian, and I, all I saw was a city paralyzed, with a party that lasted a few hours, traffic chaos that lasted days.The Colombian knows how to dance and know our council spend, spend on what is not necessary, but you see, it sells. Like everything in our country, we prefer to invest in what the citizens eyes can see, not what they really need, the proposal to save the historic center gave me hope, but that was it. Until now, we live in the Yucatan state of dreams in the city of illusions, of the parties, the show.We are the state of shopping, not clothes, but of artists. We luxuries, are the cardboard house that falls in the pay television antenna, are the family with cards maxed, yet we continue to spend, because it looks good, because despite all this, the singer Shakira, sings well.Is it worth it?But is it worth? It's just a night out, while south of our city, people are homeless, or what to eat. They can not go to the concert, because your life depends on them, unlike the government, they can not afford, and so the gap will continue, we will remain the city from north and south, rich and poor,palaces and houses, human and subhuman, of sorts, but the honor, the White City, a city of peace, where Shakira, sing in July. - Merida, Yucatan" - Mario Ovies Gage, March 27, 2011


So I'm living in a peaceful but corruption-battling city. A city that I have grown to adore and learn more about with each day that I'm here! Wanted to share some of the political and social insight that I've been accumulating during my time, and hope that you find it at least a little interesting! Today we practiced for our play, we still have a lot of work to do but I think it's going to be fun! Watched our telenovela and then the news with my mom, where we proceeded to talk a little more about the government corruption. This afternoon I headed to Starbucks with my backpack and American gift card (can you believe they accept it here???) to enjoy the air conditioning, and homework time with Katelynn, but Katelynn treated us on her own gift card (what a friend!). I was also able to Skype my family - I've been spoiled with all of the video chatting I've been able to do these last few days! Watched part of the Butler vs. UConn game this evening on a big screen projected onto the palapa wall, then headed home! Wow this has now become an extremely long post, oops :)