A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Very few parts of Mexico are immune from narco-related violence. Organized crime groups are defending or expanding their territories, and in recent months, violence has spread all the way to Mexico's southernmost state of Chiapas. Tens of thousands have fled, and that heightens fears that the violence might be there to stay. NPR's Eyder Peralta reports from one of the southern towns at the heart of that violence.
(SOUNDBITE OF HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING)
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: This is not the type of place you would normally put your feet up. Just a month ago following a firefight, 18 bodies ended up on the banks of this river. But today, the president of Mexico flew in to inaugurate the bridge, so there's an undeclared cease-fire between the criminal groups that had been fighting in these mountains. Suddenly, it's quiet, beautiful.
(SOUNDBITE OF FERRY CHAINS CLANGING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Hey, jefe.
PERALTA: A rickety ferry makes its way back and forth across the emerald waters. A farmer takes advantage of the truce to buy some antibiotics for his cows.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED FARMER: (Singing in Spanish).
PERALTA: He leans on his motorcycle, singing an old song about bandits brave enough to hold up a steam locomotive.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PERALTA: On the other side of the river, two schoolteachers use the truce to hitch a ride up the mountains to breathe some fresh air, to clear their heads.
(LAUGHTER)
PERALTA: Like everyone in this story, they ask us not to use their names because they fear cartels back home could retaliate. Both teachers come from a small town called Chicomuselo, which is at the epicenter of a fight between Mexico's two biggest drug cartels. And when they talk about their town, they grow serious.
UNIDENTIFIED SCHOOLTEACHER: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "Our town is dead. It's desolate," she says. "There are no jobs, no commerce. There are gun battles every day."
UNIDENTIFIED SCHOOLTEACHER: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "We're kidnapped in our own town," she says. The president is here, so a chopper hovers above. On the other side of the river, a huge military convoy pulls up. Any place else, this might inspire hope, but not here.
UNIDENTIFIED SCHOOLTEACHER: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "In our town, we have the whole 101 battalion close by. We have the National Guard. None of it has made a difference," she says.
(SOUNDBITE OF FERRY ENGINE RUMBLING)
PERALTA: Victor Manuel Sanchez, who studies security at the Autonomous University of Coahuila, says violence this far south represents the relentless march of organized crime in Mexico.
VICTOR MANUEL SANCHEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: Over the past few years, Jalisco cartel New Generation started expanding north toward the U.S. border and, more recently, all the way south to try to control the drug route from Guatemala. But that route has been dominated by the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's most powerful organized crime group for decades.
SANCHEZ: (Through interpreter) This is the first time the state of Chiapas has had a serious problem with narco violence.
PERALTA: According to human rights groups in Chiapas, the violence has gotten so bad that tens of thousands of people have had to flee their home. Some 250,000 kids in Chiapas missed their first day of school because of the fighting.
(SOUNDBITE OF PERFORMANCE OF JAIME NUNO ROCA SONG, "HIMNO NACIONAL MEXICANO")
PERALTA: Back in Concordia, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador cuts a ribbon to inaugurate the bridge, and he makes a brief mention of the violence.
PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "I don't like what's been going on recently," he says. Some people try to talk to him, but he flies past in his motorcade.
(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: We head in the same direction and find that every road sign is riddled with bullet holes. We make it to the center of town, where nearly every business is shuttered. We find one little restaurant still open.
(SOUNDBITE OF LUIS ALFONSO PARTIDA EL YAKI SONG, "SE TE VA ANTOJAR UN BESO")
PERALTA: This used to be a place where you could put your feet up, watch the birds, hire a boat, crack open a beer.
UNIDENTIFIED RESTAURANT OWNER: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: The owner of the restaurant says, "in the old days, you could leave your bike on the street, your car unlocked, and nothing would happen." But the past few months have been horrific.
UNIDENTIFIED RESTAURANT OWNER: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "They burnt down about five houses," she says.
UNIDENTIFIED RESTAURANT OWNER: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: The rival cartel, she says, would throw bombs inside their homes. Many of her friends have fled, she says. She's worried the violence will never end - just like what's happened in northern Mexico.
UNIDENTIFIED RESTAURANT OWNER: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "This is the new normal," she says.
Eyder Peralta, NPR News, La Concordia in Chiapas state, Mexico. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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