美国国家公共电台 NPR Last Year, A Retired Mexican Schoolteacher Vanished. His Family Still Seeks Answers

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

I'm Lulu Garcia-Navarro in Mexico City, where an election is about to take place in a week.

SUSAN DAVIS, HOST:

Lulu, I spend so much time thinking about what's driving voters here in America. Tell me what is driving voters down in Mexico.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. It's not President Trump's immigration policies. It's not even the economy. It's actually violence, Sue. More than 29,000 people were killed in this country last year.

DAVIS: Wow.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I know. That's been a record. And this year, it's on track to be even more. And people are just tired. They're scared. More than a hundred candidates and election workers have been assassinated¹ in this election cycle alone. And, you know, everyone I've spoken to said it's out of control.

DAVIS: What are the forces driving that level of violence in the country?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Well, as you can imagine, it's the drug war. But the thing that's really been interesting is that even people who are not connected to the drug trade have been touched by violence. You know, 96 percent of reported crimes in Mexico go unpunished. There's complete impunity², and it's shaping this election. So I'm going to tell you a story that really illustrates³ this problem. It's a story about a retired⁴ schoolteacher who is missing and presumed murdered. His name is Albino Quiroz Sandoval, and his disappearance⁵ took place in the quaint⁶, cobblestone village of Tepoztlan about two hours from Mexico City.

(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: We arrive at a modest, whitewashed⁷ home with mango trees in the yard.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Hola, Juan Carlos. (Speaking Spanish).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Juan Carlos Quiroz is the missing schoolteacher's son. He takes us inside, where we meet his family. And over breakfast, he tells us that his father was out running an errand and never came home.

JUAN CARLOS QUIROZ: He disappeared last year in March 16, 2017.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Quiroz says as the hours ticked by, his first thought was that his father had been kidnapped.

Why was your initial impression that it could be a kidnapping? I mean, for people who don't live in Mexico, why did - why would your thoughts go there?

QUIROZ: People may think that kidnapping targets the rich. But it actually targets everyone. You could be a professional or a retiree and still suffer these things. So that was just my instinct.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: His fear is actually based in fact. The Mexican government says that since 2007, at least 37,000 people have disappeared here. So the family went out into the town to look for the missing dad and found his parked car but no sign of him. They filed a police report and asked the neighbors for help. But people in Mexico these days are afraid.

QUIROZ: People are not trusting everybody. It's very strange. But there is distrust in this community. It indicates that the community is broken, and people don't feel compelled to share what they know. They don't know if they are going to get into trouble.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: They're afraid to speak out because...

QUIROZ: They are.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: ...They don't know the consequences because...

QUIROZ: They don't know the consequence.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: They don't know who might be behind a certain action, that...

QUIROZ: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: ...They might become implicated⁸.

QUIROZ: Yes. Or they don't know who did it and if whoever did it has any power to harm more people or come after them.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: The Quiroz family was relentless⁹, though, in trying to gather information.

Just to be clear, you had to do the investigation¹⁰ here. And you sort of had to put the pieces together.

QUIROZ: Mostly, yeah.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Quiroz says the evidence he found points to a local lawyer, an ex-cop who had been targeting many older people in the community with a sob¹¹ story about an injured child in the hospital. Quiroz says his dad had given money to the man several times, apparently¹² touched by his story, because their family had lost a child to a house fire many years ago.

Quiroz believes his dad went to ask for the money back right before he disappeared. And a witness did come forward to say they'd seen his father being beaten by the lawyer. The lawyer was eventually arrested. But he hasn't even been charged, and he's appealing his detention¹³. He claims he's innocent. Quiroz says the prosecutor¹⁴ in the case has been incompetent¹⁵, and the family is wondering what has happened, as no body has been recovered. Quiroz says he only wants the trial to start so that everyone can have their day in court.

So let me ask you - what does this tell you about the situation in Mexico writ¹⁶ large? You've lost...

QUIROZ: Yeah.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: ...Your father. He's missing...

QUIROZ: Missing for 15 months.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You think you have a suspect in custody¹⁷, but you haven't...

QUIROZ: Yeah.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: ...Been able to present any of the evidence against him.

QUIROZ: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What does this say to you?

QUIROZ: It's a terrible situation. Over a hundred thousand murders over the last decade. We have close to 40,000 disappearances¹⁸. And in the vast majority of these cases, there are no leads to bring the culprits to justice. And that's a huge crisis, and that's terrible. But we're leaving this on the other side. We are in a situation where we have a lot in our favor. We identified a subject. We have witnesses. It just takes forever because there are too many cases in the system and because the people - the police, the judges, the lawyers - they are not doing their job. So it turns into just moving papers along. And they don't look at what's at stake. And that just complicates¹⁹ getting justice.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: This election has been called the anger vote. People here are tired of the spiraling violence and a government that seems unable to stop it. And if the polls are to be believed a 64-year-old leftist leader who's run for the presidency²⁰ twice previously²¹ is set to win. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, nicknamed AMLO, is promising²² dramatic change.

(SOUNDBITE OF BAND PLAYING)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: At a recent rally in a dangerous neighborhood in Mexico City, AMLO said violence is out of control.

ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: (Speaking Spanish).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: "We must change strategies," he said, "so that there will be peace. It can't just be the use of force. You can't fight fire with fire," he said, "violence with violence. The most humane²³ and efficient way to deal with violence is by combating poverty." It's a message that resonates with voter Lucia Cardomo, who was at the AMLO rally.

LUCIA CARDOMO: (Speaking Spanish).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: She says, "We want radical²⁴ change. We are tired of the same old thing."

CARLOS BRAVO REGIDOR: People believe. And people also want to believe in him.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Carlos Bravo Regidor is a political analyst²⁵ and an expert on AMLO. AMLO has been talking about these same issues since he first ran in 2006. And Regidor says it's a message whose time has come.

REGIDOR: He has been, you know, saying over and over again that the three main problems in Mexico are corruption²⁶, violence and poverty. It's surprising in a way that, you know, in 12 years, Mexico has changed a lot. But Lopez Obrador has been, you know, talking about these issues ever since. Well, this was Lopez Obrador's time to be right.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So AMLO has diagnosed the problem, but what are his solutions? Alfonso Durazo is AMLO's top security adviser²⁷. In an exclusive interview with NPR, he told us first that the drug war up until now has been a failure.

ALFONSO DURAZO: (Through interpreter) The idea's been to use the military to target cartel leaders, the big fish. They've captured 120 cartel leaders. And yet security has not improved. In fact, it's gotten worse because the cartels have fractured, and they're fighting among themselves over territory.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: AMLO wants to get the foot soldiers out of the drug war, so he's proposed an offer of amnesty. Durazo said it won't be extended to the drug dealers²⁸ but, rather, the hundreds of thousands of subsistence farmers who cultivate drugs and the drug mules²⁹ and the kids who act as lookouts³⁰. And, in what could signal a more combative³¹ stance towards the United States, Durazo also faults America for Mexico's violence.

DURAZO: (Through interpreter) The United States must control its demand for drugs and also stop the illegal trafficking of guns from the U.S. to Mexico, which is what gives firepower to organized crime. These are high-caliber weapons that exceed those used by our own armed forces. Mexico is paying the highest price in this drug war, which is the blood of its people.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Ultimately, he said, it's not only about the drug war but, rather, everyday crime and a culture of impunity in this country.

DURAZO: (Through interpreter) We have to help our police forces with training and equipment, too, because the vast majority of violence in this country is not caused by organized crime. It's assaults, extortion, robbery, kidnapping, vehicle theft.

MARICELA: (Speaking Spanish).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Back in Tepoztlan, Juan Carlos Quiroz's mom, Maricela (ph), points to pictures of her missing husband.

MARICELA: (Speaking Spanish).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Maricela still wonders if he's alive.

MARICELA: (Speaking Spanish).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: "I don't know what they did with my husband," she said "where he is. I don't know if he's afraid, if he's alive, if he's hungry, if he's cold." She's left, she says, with a terrible yearning³² and a dread³³ that keeps her waiting.

MARICELA: (Speaking Spanish).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: With tears running down her face, she says, "this house no longer has a soul. I stay here, but I prefer to be anywhere else. I can't lie underneath³⁴ the sheets. I lay on top because before, he covered me. I felt the heat of his body. And now, even if I hug one or two or three pillows, there's nothing. Those are my days and nights. It's agony and despair."

I ask her son, do you think you can get justice in Mexico today?

QUIROZ: It's very difficult. We have trusted the system over these past 15 months. I mean, yeah. We don't have a perfect situation, but we have a lot of things that can work. If we demand that the police, that the prosecutors³⁵, that the judges do their job, I think we can change things.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: He says he doesn't believe any of the candidates will bring that change. He believes that it has to come from the people pushing things forward. He says his mother, though, takes a different view and will be voting for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador because she wants something new.

MARICELA: (Speaking Spanish).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: She tells me quietly, "My son trusts in the law and believes there will be justice. But the way things are going, I don't believe. I just don't."

(SOUNDBITE OF DR. TOAST'S "LIGHT")

1 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

2 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

3 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

5 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

6 quaint   

adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的

参考例句：

• There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
• They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

7 whitewashed   

粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The wall had been whitewashed. 墙已粉过。
• The towers are in the shape of bottle gourds and whitewashed. 塔呈圆形，状近葫芦，外敷白色。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文

8 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

12 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

13 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

14 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

15 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

16 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

17 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

18 disappearances   

n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案

参考例句：

• Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

19 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。

20 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

21 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

22 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

23 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

24 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

25 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

26 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

27 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

28 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

29 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

30 lookouts   

n.寻找（ 某人/某物）( lookout的名词复数 )；是某人（自己）的问题；警戒；瞭望台

参考例句：

• Lookouts were spotted all along the coast. 沿海岸都布置了监视哨。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Lookouts and leadsmen in bulky life jackets stumbled and slipped after him. 监视哨和测深员穿着饱鼓鼓的救生衣，跌跌撞撞地跟在他后面。 来自辞典例句

31 combative   

adj.好战的；好斗的

参考例句：

• Mr. Obama has recently adopted a more combative tone.奥巴马总统近来采取了一种更有战斗性的语调。
• She believes that women are at least as combative as are.她相信女性至少和男性一样好斗。

32 yearning   

a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的

参考例句：

• a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
• He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。

33 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

34 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

35 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。