Crisis at the Border, AOC's Dancing

     Good morning, readers! I hope everyone has had a healthy and peaceful holiday season.

     Two news stories caught my eye today.The first is a report of the US Border Patrol agents' hurling teargas canisters through the permeable slat wall at the border toward restive immigrants massed on the other side. Especially vulnerable to the effects of this toxic gas are the children. For a variety of reasons they are beginning to sicken, both on the Mexican side of la Frontera and in the for-profit prison/ detention centers on the North American lado. Several reputable new organizations have reported that the rock throwing cited as the reason for the gas assault was observed to have taken place only in response to the Border Patrol aggression. Now the victims of this militarized violence are essentially trapped--with no way forward and great obstacles standing in the way of retreat; a desperate situation.
   
     This assault on the innocent is yet another incursion into Latino territory that is symbolic of the many that have been perpetrated by the US for centuries. 45 has moved beyond claiming the right to close the border to feeling entitled to attack and do harm to those immobilized on the other side by his policies. Mexicans in particular will be outraged in response to this action, and their newly inaugurated president (known by the acronym AMLO) is demanding a cessation of it.

     I have recently read "The Beast" by Latin American journalist Oscar Martinez, which describes in searing detail not only the train known as "La Bestia" ridden northward toward the border by southern migrants, but also the all-encompassing system of extortion, rape, murder, human trafficking, and corruption which preys upon travelers both prior to leaving home and in every aspect of the journey. The present bottleneck of desperate refugees at points of entry and unofficial crossings will surely lead to an outright feeding frenzy on the part of these intersecting exploitive forces. It will take time for the US media to report this, but surely we'll all be hearing soon about related atrocities soon.
   
 We of El Norte must do all that we can to influence our government to adopt sane and and humane border policy, to recognize migrants' humanity, and to support refugee aid organizations on both side of the border.


     On a lighter note, a more upbeat media event was the posting of a video of newly elected Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a college student, dancing with abandon at a rooftop party. The presumed intention of this was to shame Ocasio and make her an object of online ridicule, but instead it's had the opposite effect and enhanced her growing popularity. How refreshing to see images of a joyful, energetic Latina on our screens instead of the predictable pasty-faced, rigid-postured guys in suits! Let's hope that OAC's attitude in this video will be contagious and bring more expressiveness and spontaneity to a culture and political process in which they're typically lacking!