MORMONS AT WAR

Mitt Romney's father was born in Mexico and he was, like the Republican presidential candidate, a Mormon. What is a Mormon doing in Mexico? It has everything to do with polygamy.

Josef Smith, the founding prophet of Mormonism, saw polygamy as one of the doctrines of the new church. The more wives a man has, the higher his place in heaven will be. When polygamy was outlawed by the government and polygamists were jailed, a group of Mormons emigrated to Northern Mexico. Mexican law allows polygamy and so the Mormon colonies, 6 of them, flourished. In numbers and in wealth. The Mormons successfully developed the country-side and they still own huge and prosperous farms in the region.

One of the colonies is named “Colonia Lebaron”. The name derives from the name of the dominant, founding family in the colony. One of the more dubious family-members was Irvil Lebaron. A religious serial-killer, who even used his sons as an assassin. His influence reached far beyond his grave. After his arrest in 1979 and his death in prison, a hit list circulated, and anonymous supporters, did the killing for him. Officially Mormons are forbidden to own guns.

In recent years their situation has dramatically changed. Northern-Mexico is the territory of the “narco-lords”, who supply the USA with drugs. On the other hand, the Americans supply the “narco-lords”, with weapons. The gangs, run by these “narco-lords” are armed to the teeth. They possess and use machine guns, grenades and ant—aircraft guns. The war (between the drug lords and the police and among the gangs) is a bloody one. Estimates go as high as 46.000 killed in recent years. This is 6 to 7 times more, than American soldiers, losing their live in Afghanistan and Iraq together. The dead are openly exposed on the streets, with the name of the murderer painted on their back. Apart from murder and drug trafficking, the gangs earn their money with kidnapping (often children). Eric Lebaron, a High school student was kidnapped and the criminals asked for 1 million dollar ransom. The family refused to pay and organized mass-protests. Eric was released, but the “narco-lords” had to make a point. A notorious hit man, he had shot 17 youngsters in a rehab clinic) and some 15 to 20 helpers attacked the farm of Benjamin Lebaron, the spokesman of the community. The gangsters threatened to kill his wife and children with hand grenades. Benjamin surrendered. A neighbor who came, bare footed, to see what was going on, was captured and taken as well. Two miles down the road, they were shot four times through the head.

But the communities refused to surrender and they have build a thorough defense. Patrols, armed, surveillance cars and look-out posts have to protect the Mormon colonies. Children are always under surveillance, to protect them for kidnappings. For the narco-gangs the Mormons are rich and a good target. The tension is everywhere and in the nearby future confrontations, with deadly results, seem inevitable. In the meantime the drugs keep flowing into the USA. Northern Mexico has at least four hundred passageways into the USA. They cannot be blocked and the insatiable appetite in the States, always makes drugs smuggling a very profitable business. People, using cocaine should consider this whole chain, before using this (mind altering) drug.