There was gunfire just across the river from Laredo this week. Guests said they heard a gun battle while sitting around the courtyard pool at the La Posada Hotel on the north bank of the river. Monday morning in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, the U.S. Consulate, schools, and public transportation were suspended as government troops set up roadblocks around the border city. Reports from Mexican media indicated a cartel was fighting government troops after the arrest of a prominent drug trafficker. There were reportedly five cartel members killed in the confrontation.
We used to cross the river almost every weekend when we lived in Laredo. It was a safe, happy place, the people food and music still live in my memories. What has happened because of drugs and bad government is a tragedy immeasurable.
Dec 4, 2022·edited Dec 4, 2022Liked by Jim Bob Moore
I recall competing in the Border Olympics in college in Laredo each year. And I twice drove to Mexico City through Nuevo Laredo in the '80s, when one could do such things. I have some great stories of those drives. I was once stopped by a group of kids holding a string across the highway, demanding I pay them a few coins to pass.
That was pretty common, Ed, even on the old Pan American Highway. We used to encounter it driving around the Sierra Madres and visiting villages. We'd come around the corner and there would be armed men in khaki with a heavy rope stretched across the road. They asked for a "donation" for a local politician or to help their community. Who could say no?
One of my greatest joys was crossing the border, mainly at Laredo. The Posada was like second vacation home. It was a rite of passage, from my teens with my parents and their friends, and later with my high school buddies, and on through marriages and bringing my children and their friends. But the cartel violence ended all that. The last time I was over the border, Laredo was a ghost town. All the old places, the market, the restaurants and bars were either gone or slowly disappearing. That was a decade before Abbott and his foolishness. All he has done is heap an additional layer of misery onto the region. He denies the promise that the border provides in so many ways.
Great piece, Jim. The story of Esequeil Hernández is such a tragic example of how militarization of the border does not help anyone and yet nothing seems to change, nobody learns. In fact I was recently seeing if I could find anything about my great great grandfather who I have heard was a Texas Ranger, and in the process ran across this story about the "Loyalty Rangers." Sounds incredibly familiar, doesn't it? http://genealogytrails.com/tex/texasrangers/1919investigation.html
The Loyalty Rangers is, my view, an historic attempt to suggest their behavior was "rogue" and that the Rangers simply didn't act that way, generally, which is a dark misreading of the facts. The Rangers were scourges from the time they organized themselves, and were predominantly racist even through the Civil Rights era. Did you find anything about your "great great?"
I'm really not surprised. It just struck me that the role of governors and the legislature using them at the border, even the name "Loyalty Rangers," seems to show how little has changed in the attitude and approach of state leadership in over a century. No I haven't found anything on him, don't have much to go on. Will have to ask my remaining relatives on that side of the family if they know anything.
I don't think there was any place in North America that rivaled the cultural authenticity of the Cadillac Bar. The food and drinks were great, there was always music, and energy just filled that dining room. I always had the great sense I was with people who were very much alive and happy in the moment for being there. I miss it still.
Build a Jurassic park 10000 volt fence with automatic motion sensor activated sentry machine guns. Problem solved overnight . Any mule or otherwise caught snuggling drugs is executed on the spot. The buzzards need food too.
Years ago, I used to enjoy crossing the border from Nogales, AZ to Nogales Mexico to buy stuff at the thriving border outdoor market from the merchants enthusiastically summoning you to take in their wares. I remember a tent of particularly kitschy velvet painting, including several of Elvis. “Mira, Mira” exclaimed the proprietor, directing my attention to one of a rather voluptuous bare breasted woman. Just to fend him off, I explained, “I already have that one.”
Another time I bought two handsome large birds (cranes) sculpted out of polished onyx, weight maybe 25lbs. each. I persuaded the artist to also throw in the rough onyx rock with holes drilled where rebar legs of the birds were inserted for display. Perhaps another 50lbs. Had two friends bring the birds across the border while I carried the rough onyx display mount. Border agent asks, “What’s that?” Reply, “It’s a rock.” His response, “A rock? We’ve got rocks here!”
O/T. Do you have access to last week's (Nov. 28) New Yorker? Five page critical review of Ted Conover's book "Cheap Land Colorado," about people who live without utilities or much else "off the grid" in the San Luis Valley flats on the hundreds of plots that had been abandoned by developers after the 1970s subdivision bubble burst. Also a look at that Hunter S. Thompson style "immersion" journalism. Enjoyed it. I know you are familiar with that side of the Great Divide.
We used to cross the river almost every weekend when we lived in Laredo. It was a safe, happy place, the people food and music still live in my memories. What has happened because of drugs and bad government is a tragedy immeasurable.
I recall competing in the Border Olympics in college in Laredo each year. And I twice drove to Mexico City through Nuevo Laredo in the '80s, when one could do such things. I have some great stories of those drives. I was once stopped by a group of kids holding a string across the highway, demanding I pay them a few coins to pass.
That was pretty common, Ed, even on the old Pan American Highway. We used to encounter it driving around the Sierra Madres and visiting villages. We'd come around the corner and there would be armed men in khaki with a heavy rope stretched across the road. They asked for a "donation" for a local politician or to help their community. Who could say no?
Always wondered if those 10 year olds were practicing for guns and a real rope.
One of my greatest joys was crossing the border, mainly at Laredo. The Posada was like second vacation home. It was a rite of passage, from my teens with my parents and their friends, and later with my high school buddies, and on through marriages and bringing my children and their friends. But the cartel violence ended all that. The last time I was over the border, Laredo was a ghost town. All the old places, the market, the restaurants and bars were either gone or slowly disappearing. That was a decade before Abbott and his foolishness. All he has done is heap an additional layer of misery onto the region. He denies the promise that the border provides in so many ways.
Great piece, Jim. The story of Esequeil Hernández is such a tragic example of how militarization of the border does not help anyone and yet nothing seems to change, nobody learns. In fact I was recently seeing if I could find anything about my great great grandfather who I have heard was a Texas Ranger, and in the process ran across this story about the "Loyalty Rangers." Sounds incredibly familiar, doesn't it? http://genealogytrails.com/tex/texasrangers/1919investigation.html
Jack - there are so many atrocities that were perpetrated by the Rangers some were artfully covered up. Recent research has turned up the dark history of the Porvenir Myyassacre in 1918 near Presidio. Just executions conducted by the Rangers. https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/porvenir-texas-massacre-documentary-texas-rangers/ And there is a great book about the Rangers written by a former Dallas Morning News reporter Doug Swanson. I consider it the definitive history. https://www.amazon.com/Cult-Glory-Brutal-History-Rangers/dp/1101979879/ref=asc_df_1101979879/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=509032833991&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9230710497445080670&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028249&hvtargid=pla-1214307506061&psc=1
Thanks, Jim. Looks like an interesting book.
The Loyalty Rangers is, my view, an historic attempt to suggest their behavior was "rogue" and that the Rangers simply didn't act that way, generally, which is a dark misreading of the facts. The Rangers were scourges from the time they organized themselves, and were predominantly racist even through the Civil Rights era. Did you find anything about your "great great?"
I'm really not surprised. It just struck me that the role of governors and the legislature using them at the border, even the name "Loyalty Rangers," seems to show how little has changed in the attitude and approach of state leadership in over a century. No I haven't found anything on him, don't have much to go on. Will have to ask my remaining relatives on that side of the family if they know anything.
My father bought me my first shot of tequila at the Cadillac Bar and showed me how to drink it properly.
We lived in Corpus.
So many South Texans used to go to Nuevo Laredo for shopping and the great margaritas and guacamole at the Cadillac Bar.
Thank you for remembering Esequiel Hernandez. His sad story is the most powerful argument I have ever heard against militarizing the border.
I don't think there was any place in North America that rivaled the cultural authenticity of the Cadillac Bar. The food and drinks were great, there was always music, and energy just filled that dining room. I always had the great sense I was with people who were very much alive and happy in the moment for being there. I miss it still.
Build a Jurassic park 10000 volt fence with automatic motion sensor activated sentry machine guns. Problem solved overnight . Any mule or otherwise caught snuggling drugs is executed on the spot. The buzzards need food too.
Roger Burke
just now
So cogent, so moving.
Years ago, I used to enjoy crossing the border from Nogales, AZ to Nogales Mexico to buy stuff at the thriving border outdoor market from the merchants enthusiastically summoning you to take in their wares. I remember a tent of particularly kitschy velvet painting, including several of Elvis. “Mira, Mira” exclaimed the proprietor, directing my attention to one of a rather voluptuous bare breasted woman. Just to fend him off, I explained, “I already have that one.”
Another time I bought two handsome large birds (cranes) sculpted out of polished onyx, weight maybe 25lbs. each. I persuaded the artist to also throw in the rough onyx rock with holes drilled where rebar legs of the birds were inserted for display. Perhaps another 50lbs. Had two friends bring the birds across the border while I carried the rough onyx display mount. Border agent asks, “What’s that?” Reply, “It’s a rock.” His response, “A rock? We’ve got rocks here!”
O/T. Do you have access to last week's (Nov. 28) New Yorker? Five page critical review of Ted Conover's book "Cheap Land Colorado," about people who live without utilities or much else "off the grid" in the San Luis Valley flats on the hundreds of plots that had been abandoned by developers after the 1970s subdivision bubble burst. Also a look at that Hunter S. Thompson style "immersion" journalism. Enjoyed it. I know you are familiar with that side of the Great Divide.