MEXICO CITY — Mexicans struggling with increasingly gruesome crimes at home gave the most muted reactions in recent memory to the execution of one of their own citizens in Texas. With Mexican news dominated by the kidnap-killing of 14-year-old Fernando Marti, the execution of Mexican Jose Medellin for the 1993 rape-murder of two girls in Texas appears to have sparked far less outrage than people here have shown in previous death penalty cases. Some Mexicans are even calling for the death penalty here.
“The terrible news of the Marti youngster has overshadowed the execution in Texas last night of a Mexican,” said Gabriel Guerra, a political analyst on the Televisa television network. Indeed, banner headlines about the domestic kidnapping case dominated in almost all of the country’s daily newspapers. Medellin’s execution was relegated to small mentions lower down on the front pages — and in some cases, wasn’t on the front page at all. “There is no reason for outrage. The man was a rapist,” said lawyer Gustavo Sanchez, 40, as he got a shoeshine on a Mexico City street. “If we had the death penalty here, there wouldn’t be so many crimes.
Marti, the son of a prominent businessman, was kidnapped on a Mexico City street in June and found dead last week, even though his family paid the ransom his captors demanded. Several Mexico City policemen have been detained for questioning in the death; prosecutors believe they may have supplied kidnappers with information about the victim.
Guerra noted that “there are those who see this as an opportunity to call for a return to the death penalty.” In fact, the congressional leader of Mexico’s former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, Emilio Gamboa, said earlier this week that he supported capital punishment, long a taboo in Mexico.
The Mexican government statement said officials “were concerned for the precedent that (the execution) may create for the rights of Mexican nationals who may be detained in that country.” In Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where Medellin was born, a small group of his relatives condemned his execution. “This is another murder because no one has the right to take someone else’s life, only God,” said Medellin’s cousin Reyna Armendariz. But in a Wednesday morning speech announcing cabinet changes, President Felipe Calderon did not even mention Medellin’s case.
In contrast, the execution of Mexican Irineo Tristan Montoya sparked angry demonstrations in Mexico in 1997, and his body was given a hero’s welcome here. Montoya was convicted in a 1985 robbery and killing. The difference between the two executions was not just one of time; the decade since Montoya was put to death has brought increasingly pervasive and brutal crime to Mexico.
For example, last week thieves robbing a bus on a highway north of Mexico City got mad when passengers didn’t hand over their possessions quickly enough, so they shot and killed a 5-year-old boy.
Sometimes you just have to put a sick animal down. Good Riddance.
I wholly support the death penalty for creeps like these only to rid them from society and make more room in prison.
However, I find little correlation between the death penalty and murder rates. The issue is our suck ass catch and release judicial process.
Why do we do that? Because we choose to incarcerate millions of marijuana drug users- thanks to the god damn republicans.
Mexico is on the verge of becoming a completely lawless society. Drug lords and thugs rule the cities and towns, cops, politicians and even the military are corrupt, poverty is rampant and the populous in fleeing the country in record numbers. How long before Mexico resembles your typical African Continent nation.
How about we deport the illegal immigrants. Maybe they can explain to the other 90% of Mexicans why things are so much better in America.
Andre the Giant is still alive?
So in Mexico, not only is there no death penalty, but no life sentence either. That’s remarkable.
Whether or not you believe the death penalty deters violent crime, it’s an important bargaining tool for law enforcement. Many cases are resolved (i.e. confession/body recovery) in exchange for life in prison instead.
I live in Mexico City. The problem as said before is the way the legal system works in Mexico. there’s a much greater chance to win the lottery than to be convicted of anything when you actually did it, when you didn’t the story is much different, so jails are cramped by low profile thugs and innocent people whereas the big fishes are at large. Recentrly the whole judiciary system was reverted to the USA’s way of convicting with oral trials. Until now the only kind of trials are written. You can imagine the flow of documents in the desk of a judge, which is because no one gets convicted. Trilas are driven by “memorandums”. Government has until 2013 if I recall well to revert all trials to the oral way. This “little” change will make everything change. Yet today, even if death penalty is established there won’t be much chance to kill the bastards that are kidnapping and murdering people so there’s not yet a real reason for it. After the system changes then may be a good oportunity.
#7, alobos. Good luck, and I sincerely mean it.
How much of a chance do you believe you have when the Judges and Police are just as bad as the criminals?
In reality, is there anyone left to clean up the system and get rid of the drug lords?
Kudos to Nancy Pelosi for not passing the bill that would have kept Medellin and others like him alive.(HR 6851 I think)