72 Migrantes – John Burstein W. (9)
Text #9: Unidentified Migrant.
Autor: John Burstein W.
Foto: Francisco Mata Rosas
She was probably from Honduras. The number of Hondurans has increased from the migrants who cross the south border. The proportion of women has also increased in this new economical and climatic migrant wave; the migration tsunami of our era. The Migrant Still Unidentified 9 was probably Honduran.
There is no assurance. It is said that 400,000 MIGRANTS – mostly undocumented – cross through Mexico every year. The government deports 188,000 of them. The men are disproportionally deported (88 percent). In other words, women have a slightly better probability of making it through, but there is a price.
Migrant 9 joined the obstacle race. I see her as small digit in between the large numbers. Her success consists of passing the pitfall, escaping from one trap to the next. It is hard to win the bet against the statistics constituting, rating and financing the system; it is as tough as crossing the Suchiate River (border with Mexico at Union Juarez) and the Sierra Madre mountains (peak at 5843 feet), or the Peten Jungle from one side and Lacandona from the other side, but which is no more than a bunch of tree roots.
She bets her numerical luck in this transit like if she was running from ICE (la migra), hoping to be absent from the statistics of deported or missing, or losing her name. Migrant 9 beat the unfavorable numbers against her, and made it through the South Border. However, she would have been luckier to be deported, instead of being lucky crossing the border to never be seen again.
It’s also possible that the unidentified migrant 9 was a Guatemalan man. Meanwhile tens of thousands stay working in Chiapas, other tens of thousands join the migrated American-Guatemalans, who have exceeded half million, primarily made of native mayas.
Obviously: number 9 could’ve been Salvadorian. The sixth part of the Salvadorians has already left their country. Their remittances are equivalent to the 17% of the economy. They end up substituting the dollar for the national coin. They see the rainbow with one eye pointing to the American union and the other looking towards El Salvador, effulgently. I imagine the neighbor in the corner: decided to enter in the glorious systematic streets of the transnational El Salvador. Nothing could’ve been more natural. At the end he proved himself as a guy with luck that put aside the national statistics, that talk about 50 murders for 100,000 people, overflowing by a whole lot Mexico, that only has 12 man down by 100,000.
Could be less common if the immigrant number 9’s death wouldn’t have catch him via the weapons that the dirty army buys at the other side. (In the last three years 60,000 weapons were requisite in Mexico, smuggled from United States)
Where did the gun’s registration went with the series number AK-47 (the most common weapon of traffickers) what did they use to kill him?
Translated by Rocio and Andres.