Escobar Murder

As a Colombian, I regret the murder of Andres Escobar in Colombia (July 3). But it is not just the way he died that saddened my heart. It is that with his death, the hope for my country to be recognized for anything other than a country of murderers and drug dealers seems to be gone.

Listening to the comments of one of the players from the American soccer team was hard. It made me think about the things that are “wrong” with Colombia. It seems to be clear that we need a stronger government, able to apply gun control laws. We need to stop a drug problem that is destroying family values and we need to control violence in the media. There are too many Rambos on Colombian TV, most of which are American programs.

I do not expect this letter to change the American mentality about my beautiful country. I just hope people will read it and realize that our problems are the same as yours. Don’t fool yourself in thinking “that will never happen here.” Many famous Americans have been assassinated in the United States.

MARTHA M. HUNTER

Palmdale