The Mexican state of Nuevo Leon (NL) was in a state of war while I was in Monterrey (the capital city.)
According to one newspaper, the death toll then stands at
Military : 3
Police: 74
'Innocents': 39
It was not a conventional war. Mexico was not at war with the USA, nor any of her Central America neighbors. Neither was there a civil war. What was raging on in NL was a Narcotic War, between two main drug cartels, and between them and the state. The death toll for the criminal organization was 971, rounding off a grand total of 1087.
Every day, you expect the same headline news on the frontpage of the local tabloid: someone being gunned down in the streets of NL, completed with graphic photoes of the bodies.
As a guage of the seriousness of the war and the viciousness of the cartels, none is more significant than the presence of the NL police force. They are highly visible in Monterrey city: kevlar helmet, flak jacket, goggles and facemask to hide their identity, high-powered rifle that you associate more with the military than the police, and their new beaming American-muscle rides---the Dodge Ram pickups in blue and white. I would have taken pictures, but the locals adviced against it. One Mexican related how he had to stay in the police station for one night for taking pictures of the police. When flying out of Monterrey, I even saw one propellor plane with the Mexico Policia Federal insignia.
It is no wonder, then, that the common advice I got from the local is to stay put in the hotel and avoid moving around. But the urge to move about is hard to resist, especially since I have travelled so far just to be here. And I kind of subscribe to the scenerio of Sergei Lukyanenko's "Night Watch", that evil has its time and place. Ron Mueck was having an exhibition downtown, Monterrey is the second richest city in Mexico...how bad can the downtown be? So, during the first weekend, I left the airport hotel and went downtown.
It was a bright hot afternoon when I ventured out of the hotel in San Pedro. I have wanted to walk from the hotel all the way downtown. Distance-wise, it is possible, but the route leading downtown was mostly 3-lane highway with heavy traffic. Another reason was the fear that I may wander into neighborhood not safe even to the police. One such neighborhood is the notorious Colonia Independencia. The hotel driver said he will not drive us through its streets for any amount of money; and no police will venture in without backup...of at least another 20 squad cars, and preferrably with the army covering their arse. Ironically, Mexican drug cartels' power grew as a result of American success against Colombia's Medellin and Cali cartels.
I have to give up and took a taxi. There was no problem with the cab driver: the meter was reset without my prompting, and no attempt to make a tourist pay more. And in about 20 minutes I was in Centro Monterrey.
Centro Monterrey tourist attractions are mainly a cluster of museums, plazas (large open squares, sprinkled with statues), a walking street on one side of the plaza and a 'Old District' (Barrio Artiguo) on the other side. Further away are streets with churches and busy and vibrant roadside stalls.
There was a statue of a General Mariano Escobedo on horseback, probably the only one I have seen where the military subject wears glasses.
Monterrey being the second richest in Mexico ("Sultan of the North"), I was expecting the plaza to be grander. They were actually pretty modest in size. But I guess you need to be a communist state to afford large grand public spaces. In the hot afternoon, the crowd wasn't that huge, but as the mercury dips (a little) later in the afternoon, the crowd hanging out on the plaza grew.
The walking street actually reminded me of China. It looks similar to walking street 步行街 sprouting up in many Chinese cities. It is also in an older part of the city, where old building are conserved and turned in shops and restaurants. This little tram (disguised as a railway train) reminded me of the Shanghai walking street.
Of course, there is still no mistaking that this is Mexico.
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