In recent months, the Mexican press has been drawing attention to the violence and abuses inflicted upon illegal immigrants from Central America as they head toward the U.S. border. Particularly scandalous is the inability of Mexican authorities to stop the predators who work the confined – and therefore controllable – space of the rail line that runs from the border state of Chiapas through Veracruz and on to Mexico City. The train that travels that route is known both as "The Beast" and "The Train of Death."
In today's El Universal newspaper, columnist and political scientist Mauricio Merino points to the ongoing scandal, writing with indignation and disbelief at what he calls "the unacceptable weaknesses of the Mexican justice system."
Merino writes that the Beast "continues in circulation, as if nothing was happening…. Why doesn't someone permanently suspend the operations on this route, or at least put permanent security there?"