There
are 22,322 people missing. That’s people, not just a number.
It’s
human beings who have vanished since the beginning of the drug war in Mexico.
The
statement is drastic enough to make headlines, tweets, and Facebook posts all
around the globe.
The Mexican government recently released
its latest estimate on the number of people who have disappeared since the
beginning of the drug war in 2008. In May, the government reported 8,000 people
missing. As of August, 22,322 people are reported missing.
At the beginning of the Mexican drug war,
social media was just on its initial rise. According to CNN’s timeline of the
Mexican drug war, violence began to rise after Mexican president Felipe Calderon deployed more than 6,500
Mexican soldiers to the state of Michoacán to battle drug traffickers in 2006. It
was also the same time that Facebook
was surpassing MySpace, and Twitter was on the horizon. Today, the Mexican
government speaks less about the violence, but Mexican citizens use various
social media platforms to warn each other of cartel attacks in their region. U.S.
citizens listen and evade the neighboring country.
Gabriela Polit-Dueñas, author of “Narrating Narcos:
Culiacan and Medellin,” spent three months in Culiacan, Mexico where she saw
Mexican citizens’ appreciation of social media. She saw how they used it
to stay informed and tell others about their situation.
At her latest book talk, Polit-Dueñas emphasized the importance of American
citizens staying up-to-date on the crisis in Mexico. She said they need to know
how much the situation has worsened, but fears that knowledge will cause panic.
The latest release of information reported thousands of people missing. The
general response to the Newsweek’s headline “22,322
People Have Vanished in Mexico’s Drug War,” was a momentary concern or, on the end of the spectrum, an exhilarated
panic. Social media is a great platform to get information out quickly, but
it’s not always the most verifiable source to look to. Polit-Dueñas predicts that social media will continue to
influence the perception of reality when it comes to the drug war in Mexico
regardless of its credibility. “There are a lot of myths around narcotrafficking,
about the stories, about these characters…I think it’s part of the culture that
we live in, and the rise of social media continues to contribute to it,” she
said.
While the latest update on the number of
people missing in Mexico is a drastic change from the report earlier this year,
the government in Mexico today is attempting to downplay the intensity of
violence, so as not to detract tourists. The Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, talks less about drugs and
violence. However, Mexican citizens still rush to social media to get
their stories heard, and U.S. citizens keep their eyes open.
For years, New Braunfels resident, Ann
Lee, used to travel with her family to various locations in Mexico. In recent
years, the family has opted for alternative vacation spots within the U.S.
“Even though the areas of high tourist
attraction are usually proclaimed ‘safe,’ knowing that surrounding areas are so
highly affected by crime would definitely worry me during the trip. Today, I
would definitely look to social media to see what Mexican residents have to say
about the area. They are more likely to tell the truth, not hide anything just
to attract tourists,” Lee said.
Even those with deep connections to
Mexico hesitate to visit the country. Sixty-two-year-old John Christian, a
Florida native who calls Mexico City his hometown, spent many childhood years
in Mexico City. He developed a sense of
belonging and a deep love for Mexico, but he hesitates to visit the country
today. Christian still remembers a peaceful Mexico. “Children were independent.
You could go everywhere, and no one bothered you. The whole situation [with the
drug cartels] has turned Mexico’s communities completely upside down. You hear
it all over the media. You can’t trust anyone,” Christian said.
Social media continues
to create these perceptions of the reality in Mexico. “The immediacy of these images makes us
believe that we are there,” Polit said. With one click of a button, a viewer
can access thousands of images and words that relate to the Mexican drug war.
The number of people
who have disappeared has nearly doubled in the course of four months; that is
something the Mexican government cannot keep hidden. The audience no longer depends on the
government to keep them informed, and social media continues to rise as the
source of information in this drug war.
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