Where is Mexico Going?

I was reading the New York Times and an opinion article caught my attention because it was about Mexico. The article talked about a recent phenomenon in some Mexican cities; the article refers to it as the “art of renting”. This basically consists on renting a person for any purpose. For example: if you are arrested for whatever minor crime, you can rent a person to spend the nights in jail you were given; or you can rent a person to be your signatory for a “legal” business deal.

I was more than ashamed people from our country are actually doing this. I haven’t read about any of this on the newspapers from Hermosillo. I think it must be a really big deal in other bigger cities because the New York Times is talking about it. I can’t believe this people are willing to leave their dignity aside in order to get money. What’s going on with us? In these times of economic crisis, a lot of employments have been lost. I never imagined we will get to that point. If you think about it, it is a new kind of prostitution. People are paying someone else to spend time in jail in their place. I never thought that was even possible. We are definitely going beyond all levels of corruption and injustice. We are also suffering from a lot of insecurity in Mexico. The drug-related violence is worse than ever and all over the country. I used to believe Hermosillo was a safe city but not anymore. We have no idea what may happen to us as we walk down to the grocery store, as we eat with our family at a restaurant or as we hang out outside our school. Just like the two students from Tec de Monterrey who died tragically.

Renting people will affect the economy and our society if we do not stop it. Imagine all the crimes that will not be punished. This may become a major problem in the future. Today it is really hard for the government to impose the law. Our president is having a really hard time taking control of the drug-related situation in the country. It is such a shame that our justice system cannot do anything to better our security. Our police department is contaminated by criminals all over the place. These made me question on whether our government has the power an actual government should have or not. We learned in class about several countries where the government has no longer control of its people. I am concerned and really afraid we might me heading to that point.