NOTES ABOUT SOURCES: CHAPTER THREE

NOTES ABOUT SOURCES: CHAPTER THREE
Crossing the Rio Suchiate: drawn from interviews with Enrique, other immigrants who made the crossing and Nazario’s observations as she crossed on a raft. Facing Chiapas state, “the beast”: from Father Flor Maria Rigoni, a Catholic priest at the Albergue Belen migrant shelter in Tapachula, Chiapas.

Lessons about Chiapas: from Enrique, other immigrants and Father Arturo Francisco Herrera Gonzalez, a Catholic priest who helps migrants at the Parroquia de San Vicente Ferrer in Juchitan, Oaxaca state.

Sleeping in the Tapachula cemetery, running for the train and a boy’s near-mutilation: from interviews with Enrique and from Nazario’s observations at the cemetery of the ritual of running for the train. Train speed: from Jorge Reinoso, chief of operations for the Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab railroad, and from Julio Cesar Cancino Galvez, an officer of Grupo Beta Sur, the Mexican government migrant rights group, who is a former Tapachula train crewman. “The train ate him up”: from Emilio Canteros Mendez, an engineer for Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab, confirmed by immigrants Nazario met on the trains. Shouted warning to the boy in danger: from Enrique.

The dangers of Chiapas: from interview with Father Rigoni. A war with no name: from Rigoni. Lourdes’ statement to Enrique that she loved and missed him: from Lourdes, confirmed by Enrique.

Locked inside a boxcar: from migrant Darwin Zepeda Lopez, 22, who survived such an incident.

How a train feels and choosing where to ride, what to carry: from Enrique and from Nazario’s observations and interviews with migrants while riding on two freight trains through Chiapas. Reinoso provided information about the age and condition of tracks in Chiapas and the frequency of derailments, one of which Nazario witnessed. Train nicknames: from immigrants, Grupo Beta Sur officers and former crewman Julio Cesar Cancino Galvez.

Avoiding branches: from Enrique and from Nazario’s observations on top of a train when an immigrant was knocked off. What immigrants yell when they see a branch: from Nazario’s observations. Enrique confirmed that the same occurred on his journey. Information about the migrant whose eye was ripped out is from Matilda de la Rosa, the resident of Medias Aguas, Veracruz state, who came to his aid. The statement from the injured immigrant also is from De la Rosa. Dr. Ronald Smith, chairman of the ophthalmology department at USC, corroborates the plausibility of such an injury.

“Two-step” on train ladders: from Nazario’s observations.

Enrique’s anxiety near La Arrocera: from Enrique and from Nazario’s observations of other immigrants on two train rides through the checkpoint. Exchange at La Arrocera between Enrique and immigration agents: from Enrique. Other train-riding immigrants told Nazario that agents yelled similar things to them. Demand by agent that Enrique stop running: from Enrique.

Agents shooting at immigrants: from C. Faustino Chacon Cruz Cabrera, a retired immigration agent; Hugo Angeles Cruz, an immigration expert at Colegio de la Frontera Sur in Tapachula, Mexico; railroad employees who said they had witnessed such shootings, including Jose Agustin Tamayo Chamorro, chief of operations at Ferrosur railroad, and Emilio Canteros Mendez, an engineer for Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab; and immigrants who said agents had fired at them at La Arrocera, including Selvin Terraza Chan, 21, Jose Alberto Ruiz Mendez, 15, and Juan Joel de Jesus Villareal, 15. Hernan Bonilla, 27, showed Enrique and Nazario scars he said came from cigarette burns received from immigration agents in the area.

Madrinas: from Elba Flores Nuñez, former coordinator of Centro de Derechos Humanos Tepeyac del Istmo de Tehuantepec, a rights group; Reyder Cruz Toledo, police chief in Arriaga, Chiapas; Jorge Zarif Zetuna Curioca, former mayor of Ixtepec, and now a member of Oaxaca’s state assembly; Mario Campos Gutierrez, Grupo Beta Sur coordinator; retired immigration agent C. Faustino Chacon Cruz Cabrera; and La Arrocera resident Guillermina Galvez Lopez.

Dangers at La Arrocera: from Enrique, other migrants, Grupo Beta Sur officers and immigration agent Marco Tulio Carballo Cabrera at the nearby Hueyate immigration station. Migrants pleading for help when they suffered electric shock: from La Arrocera resident Guillermina Galvez Lopez. How migrants hide their money: from immigrants Nazario met riding on the trains. Enrique’s run around La Arrocera: from Enrique, Clemente Delporte Gomez, a former Grupo Beta Sur officer, and Nazario’s observations as she walked around the checkpoint, witnessed two bandit chases and entered the brick house where women had been raped. Words Enrique used to inspire himself to run fast: from Enrique.

Strategies for preventing rape: from Grupo Beta Sur officers and Monica Oropeza, executive director of Albergue Juvenil del Desierto, a migrant shelter for minors in Mexicali, Mexico. The 1997 University of Houston study: “Potentially Traumatic Events Among Unaccompanied Migrant Children From Central America.” AIDS warning that girls write on their chests: from Olivia Ruiz, a cultural anthropologist at Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana, who researches the dangers migrants face riding trains through Chiapas.

Ambush at Cuil bridge: from Clemente Delporte Gomez and Grupo Beta Sur officer Jose Alfredo Ruiz Chamec.

Dislike of Central American immigrants: from migrants, professor Hugo Angeles Cruz and Tapachula residents, including Miguel Angel Perez Hernandez, Guillermina Lopez and Juan Perez. While riding trains through Chiapas, Nazario witnessed Mexican children pelting immigrants with rocks.

Derogatory words: from Juan Perez, who lives in front of the Tapachula train station and said he routinely hears neighbors address Central Americans this way. Various immigrants Nazario met on the train said they had been similarly taunted.

Begging for water: from Enrique and from Nazario’s observations on the trains. Statements by those Enrique approached begging for food and water: from Enrique. Statement by Enrique that he would risk begging water near La Arrocera and the words he used when he was begging: from Enrique.

Heat and staying awake: from Enrique. Nazario witnessed immigrants doing similar things to stay cool and awake, including Reynaldo Matamorros, who strapped himself to the end of a hopper car to nap; Jose Rodas Orellana, who took amphetamines; and Jose Donald Morales Enriques, who did squats. Nazario rode on one train where a chorus broke out at 4 a.m.

Gangsters stalking immigrants: from Grupo Beta Sur officers; Baltasar Soriano Peraza, a caseworker at the Albergue Belen migrant shelter; and Nazario’s observations on the trains. Information about gangsters forcing two boys to have sex together is from Jose Enrique Oliva Rosa and Jose Luis Oliva Rosa, 15-year-old twins who rode on a train where the incident occurred.

Judicial police shakedowns at San Ramon: from Emilio Canteros Mendez, an engineer on the Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab railroad. The denial that judicial police engage in such robberies is from Sixto Juarez, chief of the Agencia Federal de Investigacion in nearby Arriaga.

Threats and demands from judicial police at San Ramon: from railroad engineer Emilio Canteros Mendez. Some immigrants, including Dennis Ivan Contreras, 12, told Nazario that officers had made similar statements to them at San Ramon.

Enrique’s attempt to sound Oaxacan: from Enrique. Other immigrants told Nazario they used the same tactic. Words Mexican officials use to determine nationality: from Enrique, other migrants and officials with Grupo Beta and the immigration agency.

Arrival and Enrique’s activities in Ixtepec: from Enrique and from Nazario’s observations as she rode the trains and retraced his steps in Ixtepec.