Pain, shame and disgust

The night of Monday, March 27, 2023, was tragic. Nearly forty migrants burned or suffocated to death, all from the south, all with dreams of a better life, as humans usually dream. The following morning, during his daily conference, the president of Mexico explained that the detainees at the facilities of the National Institute of Migration (captured without committing any crime) died from a fire that they themselves caused, in protest against their upcoming deportation. He is ashamed that he shamelessly blames the victims, that he is incapable of respecting the pain of so many people, of restraining the confrontational discourse and recognizing the dunghill produced by the immigration policy that he promotes. Furthermore, it is ridiculous that while he demands that Mexicans in the United States be treated with dignity, he despises, as he does, those displaced by hunger, violence and dictatorship, plagues that spread south of our border. Pests that in some cases he does not even recognize (many of us will remember him as the pusillanimous incapable of condemning Ortega).

Hours later, a video began to circulate inside the aforementioned immigration detention center. In it you can see, it is terrifying, how the immigration officers, representatives of the Mexican State, leave the detainees locked up in a cell on fire. It hurts to see one of those people with bars try to kick their way to freedom, and to see that the padlocked door does not give way and prevents them from getting to safety. Who are we, why do we let such inhuman and base officials represent us? How much damage are we going to let them perpetrate in our name?

The hours of infamy continued, on the afternoon of the same Tuesday the Secretary of the Interior, Adán Augusto López, preferred to play the pre-campaign than assume responsibilities and pointed out that Foreign Minister Ebrard was guilty, because years ago the president entrusted the second to orchestrate the immigration policy to satisfy Donald Trump, and thus nullify his threats to impose tariffs on Mexican steel. This is what Adan Augusto did despite the fact that migration formally depends on his ministry, and he did it less than 24 hours after so many deaths, without respect. Apparently the hunger for power takes away decency, it seems that the transformers debase. Our political life and its inhabitants, incapable of taking responsibility for anything, disgust me.

I feel with all my heart that my country does not live up to the desires for equality, solidarity and fraternity that we proclaim to the four winds. For poor migrants we are a circle of hell.

Twitter: @munozoliveira