Looking For The Last Place In Monterrey That’s Safe
By Wuicho Vargas
McAllen, Texas — It has been more than three years, and the violence in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas has not come to an end. It has gotten worse. Recently, three guys were killed at El Barrio Antiguo, specifically at el Café Iguanas, a place in downtown Monterrey. My friend Pablote was murdered there, it was one of the last places for creative recreation that we had. Music, concerts and some of the best pizzas you could ever ask for at three in the morning were all there.
That night was frivolous and glorious, just like any other night. They celebrated that they were alive and together at the same café. A friend told me that when the shooting happened, a couple of guys walked up to Pablote, the front door man, and shot him along with two other guys that where there. Five other people got hurt and that night, the night when Monterrey’s last cultural spot gave in to violence.
Today its doors are closed and also our collective freedom.
My friends, thankfully, had arrived after everything had happened. They weren’t hurt, but a friend of ours saw two of the corrupted cops that ran away when the guys with the guns arrived. She said that everything turned into a slow motion scene. She was scared, looking at them from behind a car. Who wouldn’t be scared — they are cops! They are your enemies and their title does not symbolize anything these days. This is more proof that Monterrey is getting eaten alive by the corrupt and hungry for money, power and territory individuals. This does not mean that the mobilization of music, art and expression will be held captive and murder. It will continue forever.
A friend from Iran once told me that they weren’t allowed to “party” and that is the reason they kept everything a secret inside their homes. They had secret private parties. This is now happening to Nuevo Leon. The parties and reunions are now being planned ahead of time and in different places. A human collective for peace is gradually awakening and an underground system of communication is being re-developed for other purposes.
Facebook, Twitter, and many other social networks are being used for the spreading of news, parties, reunions and warnings of dangerous spots.
This atrocity has branded us for life; we will carry this forever. It has also helped reaffirm our brotherhood bond with each other and to create other ways of communication. It does not matter how many walls, border, barriers, obstacles they create and violently impose. My people — mi familia, mi gente de Nuevo Leon — will always find the way to stay strong, to stay together.
Wuicho Vargas is a writer who lives in McAllen, Texas.
