Breathe
By Areli Paz
A pair of shoes: luxury, sport, party, school, snow, rain, those of rest, tragedy and horror.
Teuchitlán: The door to hell will surely not be the only one we will see open.
Disdain: Reprehensible attitude of all levels of government.
I have never been a shoe lover. I have other fascinations in life.
I use them, I take care of them and I try to make them comfortable, to help me endure the day to day.
I do love and keep some black stiletto heels that remind me of a festive moment.
I am now fond of tennis shoes, I am training for a marathon and I have found in tennis shoes a special care for my body, for my physical and mental integrity.
My life is not based on shoes or tennis shoes, but after the tragedy of the extermination camp in Jalisco, the idea took another dimension.
They are not just shoes piled up, forgotten or abandoned, they are stories that were forcibly put on pause.
The images from Teuchitlán have been brutal.
A pile of tennis shoes, at least 200 pairs. Backpacks, scraps of clothing, keys that will no longer open any door, credentials and much, much negligence on the part of the authorities at all levels of government. No one is spared.
They are not just shoes. They are stories, they are vestiges of what was once a son, daughter, uncle, cousin, sister, friend, neighbor or parent on a ranch that served to recruit them, train them for the ranks of crime or murder them.
The image of stacked shoes is a reminder of the horror, one that was experienced in Germany, in Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp during World War II. Its history is shocking, just like that of Jalisco.
They are two different stories, but they have the same symbol: death.
On Wednesday morning, when the issue of the Teuchitlán death camp tragedy was already a worldwide scandal, the president spoke of water, healthy living and opened with the phrase "good morning joy".
It was unfortunate to see the governor of the State of Mexico cheering the president, to see everyone applauding while in the air was the question: "What do you know about the Jalisco extermination camp?
I mean, it is not wrong to have a good attitude in the face of anything, but such consideration and sobriety in the face of tragedy is not a presidential job, but a human response to grief.
It is not wrong to talk about water works, what is wrong is the hierarchy. The importance given to what really matters, to what hurts.
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