EAST TEXAS MEXICANO SEAT BELT RAIDS Pg. 13

A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES OCTOBER 14, 1994 • $1.75

BY MARIA EUGENIA GUERRA official extortion and conspiracy to commit nity 47 miles downriver from Laredo. official extortion. Unable to convince jurors that he and San Ygnacio Guevara offered another explanation for Gutierrez were conducting their own inves- HE DEAD DEPUTY DEFENSE was the events that led to his indictment and ar- tigation, the flamboyant county judge was a first for prosecutors Nancy G. Her- rest, an explanation that may well have found guilty on six counts of official extor- T rera and Bernard E. Hobson, the assis- caused the late Zapata County Sheriff's tion and conspiracy to commit official ex- tant U.S. attorneys who took Zapata County Deputy Jorge A. "Toto" Gutierrez, a bur- tortion. The panel of 10 women and two Judge Jose Luis "Pepe" Guevara to task in glary investigator and 30-year lawman, to men found Guevara not guilty of cocaine federal court in Laredo last June on drug turn in his tomb. and money-laundering charges. trafficking, money laundering and public Guevara's defense did not argue the Tape recordings of conversations made corruption charges. by government witness Guevara, along with • Ramiro "La Enchilada" his brother-in-law, Mi- - Murioz Jr., beginning in guel Angel Rivera, was .early 1992 ,document stung February 19 in Guevara guaranteeing Operation Prickly Pear, protection for the aircraft the five-agency federal landing at the county's undercover operation tiny airport, outlining that also netted Zapata money-laundering County Sheriff Romeo schemes to an IRS un- R. Ramirez and District dercover agent and of- Clerk Arnoldo "Shorty" fering to transport drug Flores on drug, money- proceeds from San An- laundering and public tonio to Zapata in Gue- corruption charges. Ini- vara's maroon Cadillac, tiated by the U.S. Cus- which included a large, toms enforcement office behind-the-dash com- at Falcon Heights and partment for concealing coordinated by the FBI contraband. The tapes and the IRS, Operation also document pay- Prickly Pear required the ments of $24,000 that collaboration of those operative Murioz made agencies with the DEA to Guevara and $400 and the Texas Depart- paid to Rivera for trans- ment of Public Safety porting drug money. narcotics task force. Confronted by prose- Guevara, 39, was VALERIE FOWLER cutors Herrera and Hob- named in a 14-count indictment that al- events, only the intent of the events. The son, FBI agent Jostle M. Martinez and IRS leged that he and Rivera worked with traf- judge testified that he and Gutierrez were agent Enrique Fasci, the county judge stuck fickers and received money from them to running their own sting of narcotics and resolutely to his claim that he had informed allow a northbound 300-kilo load of co- money laundering that ran concurrent with the late deputy investigator Toto Gutierrez caine to land at the Zapata County Airport, Operation Prickly Pear, which culminated in of his every contact with the drug traffick- a desolate airstrip surrounded by ranches. the arrests of the three public officials and ers who had approached Guevara for The indictment also alleged possession of Miguel Angel Rivera in a 50-agent sweep cocaine, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, across this small border ranching commu- Continued on pg. 6 DRUGS, LIES & VIDEOTAPE IN ZAPATA COUNTY PERSPECTIVES The Past 40 Years; The Next 40 Years

A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are ded- icated to the whole truth, to human values above all in- terests, to the rights of human-kind as the foundation of democracy: we will take orders from none but our own conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit. Writers are responsible for their own work, but not for anything they have not themselves written, and in publishing them we do not necessarily imply that we agree with them, because this is a journal of free voices.

SINCE 1954

Founding Editor: Ronnie Dugger Editor: Louis Dubose Associate Editor: James Cullen Production: Peter Szymczak Copy Editor: Roxanne Bogucka Editorial Interns: Todd Basch, Mike Daecher, Angela Hardin, Darvyn Spagnolly. Contributing Writers: Bill Adler, Barbara Belejack, Betty Brink, Warren Burnett, Brett Campbell, Peter Cassidy, Jo Clifton, Carol Countryman, Terry Fitz- Patrick, James Harrington, Bill Helmer, Jim Hightower, Ellen Hosmer, Molly Ivins, Steven Kellman, Michael King, Deborah Lutterbeck, Tom McClellan, Bryce Mil- ligan, Debbie Nathan, James McCarty Yeager. Editorial Advisory Board: David Anderson, Austin; Frances Barton, Austin; Elroy Bode, El Paso; Chandler Davidson, Houston; Dave Denison, Cambridge, Mass; Bob Eckhardt, Austin; Sissy Farenthold, Houston; Ruperto Garcia, Austin; John Kenneth Galbraith, Cam- AIM POGUE bridge, Mass.; Lawrence Goodwyn, Durham, N.C.; Jim Mattox and Ronnie Dugger at the Texas Legislature, 1988 George Hendrick, Urbana, Ill.; Molly Ivins, Austin; Larry L. King, Washington, D.C.; Maury Maverick, Jr., San Antonio; Willie Morris, Jackson, Miss.; Kaye I am very proud of my part in having, in was often hard to come by, but discourse Northcott, Fort Worth; James Presley, Texarkana; Susan Reid, Austin; Geoffrey Rips, Austin; A.R. (Babe) cooperation with many others, created and was still valued. Schwartz, Galveston; Fred Schmidt, Fredericksburg. maintained, in the Texas -Observer, a place So, in 1954, a roving band of Texas Poetry Consultant: Thomas B. Whitbread for truly free expression and high social democrats—who had the audacity not only Contributing Photographers: Bill Albrecht, Vic Hin- conscience in this culture, and I am pro- to believe in such values as democracy, terlang, Alan Pogue. Contributing Artists: Michael Alexander, Eric Avery, foundly, profoundly happy that the perma- civil rights and common decency but to Tom Ballenger, Richard Bartholomew, Jeff Danziger, Beth nence of this free place is embodied now in think they could be operating principles for Epstein, Valerie Fowler, Dan Hubig, Pat Johnson, Kevin its ownership by and protection of the government, even Texas government—de- Kreneck, Michael Krone, Carlos Lowry, Gary Oliver, Ben Sargent, Dan Thibodeau, Gail Woods, Matt Wuerker. Texas Democracy Foundation, To the sec- cided to found a journal, this very Texas ond 40 years of the Texas Observer! Observer, as part of their efforts to take Business Manager: Cliff Olofson —RONNIE DUGGER over Texas politics. This august bunch Subscription Manager: Stefan Wanstrom Development Consultant: Frances Barton didn't fit the mold of Texas political N THIS TEXAS Observer enter- thought current at the time because they had SUBSCRIPTIONS: One year $32, two years $59, three years $84. Full-time students $18 per year. Back issues $3 prepaid. Airmail, foreign, group, and prise began, the information super- an abiding faith in the power of average bulk rates on request. Microfilm editions available from University Micro- highway was barely a path in the forest, people to govern themselves, they didn't films Intl., 300 N. Zecb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Any current sub- scriber who finds the price a burden should say so at renewal lime; no where the hammering of manual Royal think oil was the mother's milk of politics one need forgo reading the Observer simply because of the cost. INDEXES: The Texas Observer is indexed in Access: The Supplementary typewriters was like a flock of woodpeck- and they had an unshakeable addiction to Index to Periodicals; Texas Index and, for the years 1954 through 1981, The ers marking the way. People still had time Texas Observer Index. the idea of equality. THE TEXAS OBSERVER (ISSN 0040-45 I9/USPS 541300), entire contents to think, to talk, to reflect, to build one-on- About 150 of these hard thinkers met in copyrighted, ID 1994, is published biweekly except for a three-week interval between issues in January and July (25 issues per year) by the Texas Democ- one relationships. Television did not domi- Austin one evening and decided to hire racy Foundation, 307 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701. Telephone: (512) 477-0746. E-mail: [email protected]. nate the evenings or determine the news. brash, young Ronnie Dugger to edit their Second-class postage paid at Austin, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE TEXAS OBSERVER, Computers were in their oversized infancy, house organ. Dugger turned them down. He 307 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701. and ideas could still be kicked around— would be no one's mouthpiece, he told though not always in public. Information them. Think how frustrating that must have

2 • OCTOBER 14, 1994 been to some of those political warriors. Nicaragua. Ronnie and I did not agree on They planned for a publication to represent several major issues at that time. I decided rd." THE TEXAS the views of the Democrats of Texas who to open up the Observer to the debate tak- were loyal to the national party, and, in- ing place in this country. Ronnie wrote his stead, they got Ronnie Dugger. Dugger set piece for the Observer. I wrote an editorial 111P server out the conditions for his employment. taking issue with his position. Maury They have run in every issue of the Texas Maverick and many others contributed to OCTOBER 14, 1994 Observer: the discussion. It was a passionate debate, so much so that it became the subject of a VOLUME 86, No. 20 We will serve no group or party but story in the Washington Post. Here's the will hew hard to the truth as we find it point: Never during that entire debate did I FEATURES and the right as we see it. We are dedi- feel that Ronnie Dugger as publisher was Dead Deputies Tell No Tales; cated to the whole truth, to human values trying to squelch the debate or to influence Body Mikes Sing in Zapata above all interests, to the rights of hu- editorial decisions. This is a journal of By Maria Eugenia Guerra 1 mankind as the foundation of democracy; free voices. we will take orders from none but our So, now, with Ronnie Dugger at our Street 'Crime' in Palestine own conscience, and never will we over- side, we enter a new era. While the Ob- By Darvyn Spagnolly 13 look or misrepresent the truth to serve the server has been non-profitable for decades, interests of the powerful or cater to the it has never before been able to declare it- DEPARTMENTS ignoble in the human spirit. self intentionally non-profit to make the most of the opportunities non-profit status Perspectives Thus, the Texas Observer was born. And bestows. This will allow us to bring in new Geoff Rips and Ronnie Dugger 2 so it continues. money for new writers and for those who On this 40th anniversary of the Observer, want to stay in or come back to the fold. Editorials we mark a new phase in that continuum. In We've already talked to a bunch of excit- Why Rush GATT? 4 1967, Frankie Randolph passed sole owner- ing writers, who are lined up just waiting Making Hay Off Welfare 5 ship of the Observer to Ronnie Dugger. for the chance to write for the Observer Jim Hightower This summer, Ronnie Dugger passed the about politics and the culture and to say torch on to the Texas Democracy Founda- what they really think. There aren't many Fishy Cheetos; Ban Dioxin; tion. The Texas Democracy Foundation is a journals of free voices around. We are White Trouble; Lobby Dollars 15 non-profit foundation, whose board con- working on other changes that will reveal Molly Ivins sists of Observer veterans Molly Ivins, themselves in the months ahead. We want 16 Dave Denison, Cliff Olofson, Jim High- our editors to be able to take the Observer Congress Due Bashing tower and Frances Barton. I serve as its in new directions while continuing to turn Books and the Culture president. The foundation provides the Ob- out the political and investigative reporting Dagoberto Gilb's Craft that is its lifeblood. server with the opportunity to raise money Book reviews by Michael King 17 from foundations. Individual contributions In the first issue of the Texas Observer, are now tax-deductible. So all of you can Ronnie Dugger's editorial quoted Thoreau: Sex, Drugs and Democracy now legally take the deductions you may "The one great rule of composition is to Movie review by Steven G. Kellman 19 have been claiming all these years. speak the truth." That remains our rule. But, Corridos on the Border What we are looking for is a way for the in some ways, our challenges are more BY Louis Dubose 20 Observer to survive and grow. Ronnie will daunting than they were when the Observer continue to be on call as an advisor and seer began. There is greater access to informa- Political Intelligence 21 for Observer editors and this publishing tion, but the ability to sort and think about it Two Poets group. He has agreed to keep writing for the has been made more difficult. Power re- Observer. Think of what Ronnie-has done sides in the ability to control information. Poetry by James Hoggard for democratic thinking, for investigative Judgment has become road kill on the in- and Carol Coffee Reposa 23 journalism and for hewing to the truth by formation superhighway. Because it is dif- carrying this journal, with the help of his ficult to turn values, such as truth and sym- Cover art by Valerie Fowler friends, for four decades. pathy, into commodities, they are often left When I think of Ronnie Dugger and the by the roadside. One-to-one relationships Observer, I think of an untamed passion for have been replaced by E-mail. the truth, an enormous and insatiable intel- Where does that leave the Texas Ob- lect, the uncanny ability to turn out pages of server? You may be surprised to know that EDITOR'S NOTE thoughtful copy, translating from reporter's we've got computers. We even have sent Former Editor and Publisher Ronnie notepads to a manual Royal typewriter at the issue to our printer by modem. But we speeds (and with accuracy) that would give come to you in a rather archaic style, Dugger will have more to say about pause to any journalist now armed with a newsprint, and at a rather archaic pace, fort- his 40 years with this Journal of Free laptop computer. I think of his generosity nightly. We want time for our editors and Voices, both in this space at a later toward younger writers, helping them with writers to think, to dig, to ruminate, so that their thinking, their stories, their careers. I you will be able to think with them, to argue date and at the Texas Observer Bene- think of his requirement that Observer edi- with them, to act. That's what we're about: fit Banquet and 40th Anniversary Cele- tors be whole people, conversant with liter- hard thinking and good writing. A thought- bration Saturday, October 15. in ature and philosophy, science and the ful conversation on these pages. world. Please join us as we move forward into Austin (see details on page 24) . But what I think about most is the time I the next 40 years. served as editor during the upheaval in - GEOFF RIPS

THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 3 Why Rush GATT?

HEN U.S. SENATOR Ernest and ruled in favor of Mexico when it chal- and trade negotiations that U.S. negotiators WHollings announced that he would lenged the U.S. dolphin protection law as an had insisted upon for the past 20 years. exercise his prerogative as chairman of the "illegal barrier," Cohen and Solomon noted. "World trade will not significantly improve Senate Commerce Committee to delay a The European Union is using GATT to chal- living standards in the underdeveloped na- vote on the General Agreement on Tariffs lenge U.S. auto fuel economy standards as a tions unless and until multilateral trade and Trade (GATT) for at least 45 days, the barrier to European gas guzzlers. Europe agreements enforce the rights of working New York Times called it "Trade Bill Sabo- says other "trade barriers" include the U.S. people to associate freely, to form unions, tage." There may not be enough dynamite to Consumer Nutrition and Education labeling to share in economic progress and thereby blow this train off the tracks but resistance act as well as state recycling laws. The to create broad markets for goods and ser- led by Hollings, the Democrat who is seek- WTO, in a process that would be closed to vices," the council stated as it urged ing to protect his South Carolina textile in- the public, could direct the United States or Congress to reject GATT. dustry, and some belated attention stirred by state legislatures to change the laws in ques- "GATT doesn't establish level playing radio talk shows may at least slow it down. tion or face automatic economic sanctions. fields. There are still huge differences in tar- President Bill Clinton had hoped to get While U.S. Trade Representative Mickey iff rates among countries and the United Congress to vote quickly and without Kantor has said U.S. sovereignty is fully States still will have the lowest average tar- amendments on the agreement that was protected and the new GATT does not im- iffs in the world," said Mark Anderson of the worked out with 123 countries last April in pose rules that states do not already observe, AFL-CIO task force on trade. "It certainly Morocco. GATT, like the North American Laurence Tribe, a professor of constitu- makes things easier for multinational corpo- Free Trade Agreement last year, is one of tional law at Harvard University, has argued rations. It's very difficult to organize and bar- those issues that can bring together mem- that GATT represents "a significant restruc- gain a contract when the company threatens bers of Congress to support big business at turing of the power alignment as between to close down and move to Guatemala—and the expense of people. The legislation was the national Government and the States." that happens. And they're not bluffing." passed out of the House Ways and Means The Center for Policy Alternatives re- AFL-CIO lobbyist Bill Cunningham said Committee after the White House agreed to cently reported that GATT gives license to most Democratic members of Congress Republicans' demands that workers' rights nations that want to challenge state and fed- were flopping around on GATT, but he ex- and environmental regulation be stripped. eral laws that inhibit international trade. pected it would pass by a wider margin than GATT is supposed to open foreign markets "GATT explicitly favors 'national consen- NAFTA unless the public rises against it. to American goods but critics fear it will sus' over state differences, putting at risk While Senator Phil Gramm of Texas sent simply open American markets to foreign progressive, cutting-edge responses to de- conflicting signals that indicated he had competition, accelerate the flight of Ameri- veloping needs such as fuel efficiency, tim- reservations about GAIT, Cunningham can manufacturing jobs overseas and sur- ber conservation, asbestos phaseout, bans snorted at the suggestion that the right-wing render sovereignty over domestic trade mat- on toxic materials and food labeling for Republican might end up on the same side ters to an bureaucracy in Geneva that will be cancer risk. Foreign countries also may ob- with the AFL-CIO, Ralph Nader and the authorized to overrule U.S. trade policy. ject to the fragmentation of regulations Sierra Club. The union lobbyist said Originally launched in 1948 to reduce tar- among the states. GATT requires a "harmo- Gramm and other Republicans questioning iffs, the latest Uruguay round, which culmi- nization" process to achieve uniformity of GATT were merely posturing to get parti- nated in the agreement in Marrakesh, has be- standards to facilitate trade. san digs at Clinton before the election but come, as Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon The Sierra Club also warned that GATT would be safely within the GATT fold described in their syndicated column, "a places state environmental laws at risk. whenever the votes finally are counted. power play by multinational corporations to Texas laws at risk, according to the Sierra Progressives may squirm as they find weaken the authority of national legislative Club, include limits on the amount of themselves in the same pew with Ross bodies in protecting consumers, workers and volatile organic compounds in windshield Perot and Pat Buchanan but, despite the the environment." Although the honchos at wiper fluid in smog-prone areas; labeling rush order Clinton is putting on it, GATT the New York Times, the Washington Post, of plastic containers to ease recycling; and does not require nations to decide on WTO the TV networks and Texas media appear to the requirement that school . and commer- membership until July 1995. Ralph Nader, have bought the Administration line that the cial buses be fueled with natural gas to re- who in testimony before Congress de- treaty is a "win-win" situation that will re- duce smog. nounced GATT and the "megacorpora- duce tariffs an average of 40 percent and A study by the Texas A&M Agricultural tions" that negotiated it, has yet to be taken open markets overseas, you have to look far- and Food Policy Center forecast that GATT up on his offer to pay $10,000 to the charity ther afield to discover that the secretive would cause generally higher prices for of choice for any member of Congress who World Trade Organization, which the GATT feed grains and livestock, mainly due to in- has read the entire 540 pages of the agree- creates to administer the treaty, would have creased exports. However, it found that ment and could correctly answer 10 ques- the authority to overrule domestic health and eight of 10 cotton farms nationally would tions on it. As he wrote in The Nation of safety regulations, environmental laws, farm see lower net incomes. So would Texas rice October 10, "there is no need for Congress subsidies and other measures that might re- farms and dairies. to rush to judgment on a trade pact that was strain international trade. Also, the WTO The AFL-CIO Executive Council pre- conceived and negotiated secretly. More would be governed by a one-nation, one- dicted GATT would cause further eco- time is needed to let the American people vote system that would give Luxembourg or nomic disruption, job losses for millions know just what our country is getting into." St. Kitts equal power with the United States. and suppression of worker rights. The If you agree, call your member of GATT tribunals already have obliged unionists also noted that the agreement had Congress at 202-225-3121. J.C. Thailand to lift its ban on tobacco imports weakened the link between worker rights

4 • OCTOBER 14, 1994 Making Hay Off Welfare

EW ISSUES LEND themselves to dem- ing jobs that will help welfare recipients imum wage of $4.25 an hour the mother Fagoguery more than crime and welfare. become independent, pointing to a San would earn only $8,500 in a year. That We already have seen the manipulation of Antonio program that gets businesses to would make her ineligible for AFDC but, crime figures by George W. Bush and by create jobs and then trains welfare recipi- perhaps more importantly, she and her chil- other politicians from both political parties ents for those positions. dren also would lose Medicaid coverage, around the country. Now comes Bush with Even that moderate- approach does not which is worth another $252 a month. She TV ads accusing Gov. Ann Richards of al- impress Teresa Funiciello, a former welfare still would be $3,075 below the federal lowing welfare rolls in Texas to swell. mother from New York who experienced poverty level. Bush calls for narrowing eligibility for gov- firsthand the indifference and sometimes "There are times when it makes more ernment aid and cutting off recipients after outright hostility of the welfare bureau- sense to spend your time rearing your chil- two years. cracy toward its subjects. In her 1993 book, dren than flipping burgers," Funiciello said. Bush proclaims in his ads that state wel- Tyranny of Kindness: Dismantling the Wel- She argues that the state would be better fare spending increased 142 percent during fare System to End Poverty in America (At- off increasing its welfare 'payments and Richards' first term in office. He neglects to lantic Monthly Press, recently issued in pa- stopping the stigmatizing of recipients. say that his own father presided over the en- perback) she argued forcefully that welfare Texas gets a 64-cent federal match for actment of federal laws that broadened Med- must be radically recreated to spend more every dollar it spends on welfare and that icaid eligibility for pregnant women and money directly on the needy recipients . money goes almost immediately into the children and caused most of that increase. rather than on government and charitable state's economy, but precious few are the Bush Junior does not worry that Texas is still bureaucracies that normally soak up wel- legislators who will take up this cause. one of the stingiest states in the union when fare appropriations.. Funiciello noted that widows can get it comes to providing for its poor. The maxi- Funiciello, now a welfare reform activist $430 a month in Social Security payments, mum monthly welfare grant for the typical from the mothers point of view, partici- plus another $430 for each minor child, family of three in Texas is $188. Only Mis- pated in a recent conference organized by without public disparagement, while a sissippi and Alabama pay less. State Comptroller John Sharp to discuss mother on welfare in Texas receives $188 Bush says the state is spending $17 bil- public assistance. While welfare recipients for a family of three and she is considered a lion on "welfare" every two years. He are getting poorer and AFDC payments are chiseler. When she pulls out food stamps, glosses over the fact that this amount in- worth only one third of what they bought in all eyes behind her check out her purchases. cludes aid to the elderly and disabled. State 1975, Funiciello said the welfare industry, She attributed the difference in attitudes spending in the current biennium for Aid to which she calls "the fifth estate," has toward Social Security and AFDC to differ- Families with Dependent Children, the "never been richer, it's never been more ences in race and class and the refusal to main welfare program, is $416.5 million, or powerful and it's accountable to no one." admit that welfare mothers work for their about 2.5 percent of Bush's total. It accounts for 6.3 percent of the gross do- money too. • In his heyday, Ronald Reagan convinced mestic product, she said, while AFDC ac- She also noted that New York has rela- the middle class that welfare recipients counts for less than 1 percent of the federal tively high benefits—not high enough to drove up to grocery stores in Cadillacs, budget. "These people have a vested interest live on, but three times as high as Texas— pulled out their food stamps to buy oranges in poor people staying poor," she said. but it has a lower rate of teen-aged unwed and then used the change to go next door and Moving welfare mothers into jobs to mothers than Texas. Mississippi, with still buy vodka to make screwdrivers. Phil make them self-sufficient sounds good, but lower benefits than Texas, has higher rates Gramm for years has called for the poor to it ignores the realities of poverty and eco- of unwed mothers. And she argued that cut- be thrown out of the wagon that is pulled by nomics. Funiciello reminded the audience ting off welfare for women who have more self-respecting people who work for a living. that recent federal monetary policy (which babies ends up punishing the baby. So it is politically acceptable and indeed is set by the Republican-dominated Federal Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty in the advantageous to whip the welfare mother Reserve) has been to adjust interest rates to 1960s spewed social service dollars in and George W. Bush is willing to lay on the dampen economic growth and ward off in- every direction, Funiciello writes, but few leather. He would limit most poor women flation. While this is good for the middle poor people got the jobs the programs were to no more than two years on welfare and and upper classes, which turn out to vote, it designed to stimulate. "Most of the decent never mind that half already spend less is bad for the less privileged members of ones went to middle-class social welfare than two years on AFDC. He would refuse the working class who find themselves professionals, who were perceived to be an to pay women more money for having ad- scrapping for minimum-wage jobs with no important cog in a deteriorating Demo- ditional children while receiving benefits, health benefits. cratic party machine." even if that would leave less money to feed, Like President Bill Clinton, Bush would Next month Republicans hope to regain clothe and house those babies. He would require welfare moms to get jobs after two control in Congress for the first time in 40 require unwed teens to live with their par- years of assistance, but at least Clinton rec- years and if polls are to be believed they have a shot at it. The social contract of the ents or guardians • in exchange for their ognizes that it would only make things monthly checks, even if parental abuse worse to simply mandate a two-year limit New Deal and the Great Society is coming may have figured among the reasons the without other reforms to improve mothers' apart and the GOP hopes to replace it with woman left home. abilities to get and keep good jobs while the New Paradigm (also known as "I Got Richards has proposed to strengthen caring for their children and those other re- Mine"). Funiciello realizes that Texas is not child-support collections and increasing forms have conservatives howling. the most fertile ground to sew ideas about penalties for those who do not pay. She has One of the main problems with forcing guaranteed income but, as she said, "At least put a priority on the creation of well-pay- welfare mothers into jobs is that at the min- you should start talking about it." — J.C.

THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 5 Drugs, Lies & Videotape Continued from cover money-laundering services. Guevara, the Solis, testified that Guevara had spoken to neral," Toti Gutierrez said after the trial. only witness for the defense, testified that him about the traficantes, but that Guevara "My father was an old-fashioned lawman. Gutierrez, a burglary detective who died in had seemed more interested in reward He was guided by his sense of justice, work- late 1993, was his guide, adviser and law money than in an investigation. Guerra told ing from gut instinct and his instinct was that enforcement contact in his own attempt to Solis that he believed Guevara was fishing he didn't think much of the judge.... That my entrap the traffickers. for information as to whether any agency father, a 30-year veteran, would have put Yet the judge had failed to include any was conducting an investigation. himself or anyone else in such danger with mention of Gutierrez in the three-hour inter- "You wouldn't work a case like that no backup, no surveillance, no protection, is view and subsequent statement he made to alone. That's the department policy," said ridiculous. That he would have allowed an agents Martinez and Fasci at the FBI office Coco Villarreal, whose daughter, Nina, is airplane full of cocaine to land at the county just after his arrest on February 18. Accord- married to Gutierrez's son, Jorge Arturo airport without consequence is an insult to ing to prosecutors, the dead deputy became a "Toti" Gutierrez Jr. A narcotics case and my father's reputation." component of Guevara's defense much later. any information about a drug deal would have gone to Chale Guerra, Villarreal said in court. When U.S. Attorney Herrera The Defendant The Dead Deputy asked Villarreal to describe the late law- Pepe Guevara was a survivor, a public offi- As much as Guevara and defense attorneys man's relationship with Guevara, Villarreal cial who had squeaked through three sepa- Ricardo De Anda and Albert Pella wanted answered curtly, "They didn't socialize." rate grand jury investigations into his the jurors to believe that Guevara had "I worked with him for 22 years. He shredding of the certified copy of the 1992 worked undercover with Toto Gutierrez, would have told me he was working a case county budget, the use of a county tar prosecutors Herrera and Hobson set out to like this," Beto Gonzalez testified. Gutier- heater on his private property and the ques- dismantle a defense that could be corrobo- rez, Villarreal and Gonzalez, who often tionable administration of the county indi- rated by no living person. The testimony of began workdays with breakfast at the gent program. Even after he was indicted in a roster of Zapata County lawmen, includ- White House Restaurant in Zapata, worked mid-February, Guevara was able to win a ing Gutierrez's partners, Heberto Gonzalez closely with each other. "We always talked March 8 primary election, defeating Norma and Eustorgio Villarreal, did much to dis- about our work. It's a pact we made a long Villarreal Ramirez by 43 votes. And mid- credit Guevara's alibi. time ago to protect ourselves, because way through his federal trial, when he re- An experienced investigator with three much of what we did was dangerous to us ceived word that an appeals court had up- decades of service to the Zapata County and our families," Gonzalez said. "We had held a district court decision to hold a new Sheriff's Department, Toto Gutierrez was no secrets from each other. Toto also be- election on July 26, he refused to remove an officer unlikely to violate department lieved that you didn't work alone. He be- his name from the ballot and vowed to run procedure to the extent that Guevara de- lieved you needed backup and witnesses to again "to give voters a choice." (He lost by scribed. Gutierrez's ability to crack bur- what you were working on." Gonzalez also a two-to-one margin.) Among the irregular- glary and theft cases was legendary among recalled Gutierrez's frequent assessment of ities found in the March 8 election were his partners, who testified to his detail with Guevara's performance as a public official: votes cast by 11 felons and by 73 voters case notes and files and who also testified "Tarde o temprano, va caer. (Sooner or whose names did not appear on the that Gutierrez did not work drug cases. later, he will fall.)" county's voter registration lists. Both investigators said they knew of no Gonzalez said that the indicted sheriff had Guevara, a former county treasurer, had files in the Zapata County Sheriff's Depart- also planned to use the dead deputy in his been a popular and outgoing county judge, ment that supported Guevara' s claim that defense. "The sheriff told me the day of the although he was given to condescending he and Gutierrez were conducting their arrests that he had been working with Toto tirades and angry outbursts when things own sting operation. in an undercover sting. I told him, 'Sheriff, I didn't go his way. He often spoke in halting, The testimony of Gonzalez and Villar- don't believe you and neither will they.' malapropisms ("We are illegible for federal real, the sheriff (albeit the indicted and Toto Gutierrez's son, Toti Gutierrez, a grants") and at public occasions read long- plea-bargained sheriff) and the county's narcotics officer with U.S. Customs in winded proclamations, reportedly written chief narcotics officer, Carlos "Chale" Roma, testified that his father would have by a banker or a newsman, depending on Guerra, confirmed that Gutierrez had never informed him, had he been involved in the the subject. Ranchers who were not fond of mentioned or documented the alleged un- case and that he knew of no relationship be- the judge's style referred to him as "the dercover narcotics surveillance with Gue- tween his father and Guevara. "My father Holstein judge" or the "Jersey judge" for vara. Though Guerra said the judge had knew that drug interdiction operations in- his trademark black and white wardrobe. made mention of the traficantes who had volving an aircraft are handled through U.S. In federal Judge George P. Kazen' s visited him, Guevara had not mentioned Customs," Gutierrez Jr. said on the stand. courtroom, Guevara was subdued and busi- Gutierrez's assistance. The county attor- "It hurts that my father would be used in nesslike. His dark hair was trimmed short. ney's chief narcotics investigator, Joaquin this way, that the judge thought so little of Gone was the heavy gold chain with the him or my mother and my family to use him giant anchor, the flashy diamond, the garish as a convenient component of his defense, tie, the long sideburns and the lingering, Maria Eugenia Guerra is a rancher and as his only defense. Though my father was a heavy cologne that permeated his Zapata writer living in San Ygnacio. She is the former long-time county employee, I don't recall County courtroom. Guevara' s quiet federal editor of the defunct Zapata Weekly Express. that the judge even came to my father's fu- courtroom demeanor and gray and blue

6 • OCTOBER 14, 1994 suits with monogrammed shirts , and taste- red-haired mechanic who worked closely eral of his own businesses. The ride through fully patterned ties suggested the coaching with federal agents, testified that Miguel town and the bank visits were recorded with of skilled attorneys hunkering down with Angel Rivera inquired in February 1992 if body wires worn by Murloz and Carrillo. the judge for the fight of his life. Mufroz knew anyone who wanted to launder "What kind of protection can I get here?" Guevara's wife Elva and children, his fa- large sums of cash. According to Mufioz, Carrillo asked. ther Antonio Guevara Sr. and his wife, and Rivera told him that he knew of someone "You got no problem here. Just call me Guevara's brothers Antonio, Juan and Ri- who owned five businesses and could ar- ahead of time," Guevara replied. He offered cardo and their families filled several range laundering. Though Rivera initially protection from law enforcement and from benches in the courtroom. Their show of had said his contact was from Laredo, the seizure of any currency. Guevara coun- support for father, brother and son was evi- County Judge Jose Luis Guevara was the seled Carrillo on paying taxes on "capital dent in abrazos and quiet exchanges man who accompanied Rivera to an April 6, gains" and told him that on whatever sum throughout the weeklong trial. Even within 1992, meeting to outline money-laundering was laundered through his businesses, 20 the close-knit circle of family, Guevara plans with Mufioz. percent had to be paid in taxes to avoid stood out from his father and brothers who Munoz' s involvement in such a scheme alerting the Internal Revenue Service. In were known to work hard at the family's was plausible, given his arrest in 1989 for a one laundering pitch, Guevara offered to auto parts and repair business. He was dif- cocaine transaction that was to have tran- sell Carrillo one of the convenience stores ferent, too, from his sister Rosa, a middle- spired at his place of business, Lake Auto he owned, telling him that the sale would be aged pharmacist who enrolled in medical Repair, on U.S. 83. The charges against reportable and documented but that Jesse school two years ago. Mufroz later were dropped. was to refrain from executing the warranty In proximity to the close-knit Guevaras in the courtroom were the no-nonsense feds, the men and women who spent the last sev- eral years gathering the evidence that had brought them to this moment in federal court. They had built the case with govern- ment witness Munoz not only against Gue- vara, but also the cases against Sheriff Ramirez and District Clerk Flores. Varying in age from just out of college to the mid- to late 40s, the agents came across as stern professionals. Only now and again during recesses following particularly hard-hitting evidence did they allow the slightest indica- tion of the enthusiasm they had brought to the case.

The Evidence "When the United States government says it's ready, it's ready," said prosecutor Her- ZAPA1A CONY AIX* rera, a native South Texan, of the govern- '•;;•••• • •,••••%.••• ••. • . ment's vast library of tapes, transcripts, • •••. . video footage and surveillance photos en- tered into evidence to document Guevara's alleged participation in the drug trafficking and money-laundering schemes he shared with government witness Murioz, under- ZAPATA WEEKLY EXPRESS cover IRS agent Luis Carrillo and FBI Spe- County Judge Pepe Guevara cial Agent Edward Preciado. Revealed in those tapes were public offi- cials hiding covert acts behind the cover of Guevara, the tapes reveal, told Mutioz and deed on the transaction. official badges and titles, living to excess federal agents listening nearby in a surveil- "He was trying to Sell me the business to and in the quest of what prosecutor Hobson lance vehicle that money could be run come out from under the loan," Carrillo tes- termed "a fast, easy dollar." It is the tapes through his convenience store or through J tified after prosecutor Hobson and agent and their transcripts that likely convinced and R Trucking Company, a business owned Martinez played the audio of the meeting the jurors that the judge took money to by his brothers. "He asked if my money man for the jurors, who read from thick, white allow the landing and protection of a 300- was a big shot," Mufioz testified. notebooks- of tape transcripts and listened to kilo load of cocaine at the Zapata County According to Mutioz, he brought IRS spe- the tapes through headsets. "I asked him Airport on November 22, 1992. According cial agent Carrillo, posing as "Jesse," a Dal- what businesses he would use to launder my to prosecutor Herrera, the jury felt that the las drug kingpin, to Zapata on April 29, money," Carrillo said "He mentioned his judge was not entitled to those funds. 1992, to meet Guevara. Mutioz, Carrillo, bonding company, a construction company, That the load in the plane was a dummy, Guevara and Guevara's brother-in-law, his convenience stores." Guevara explained except for a one-kilo package, may have Miguel Angel Rivera, spent the afternoon in to Carrillo that he had purchased a valuable saved Guevara from the cocaine possession the judge's maroon-and-gold-trimmed corner piece of property on U.S. 83, an old and conspiracy charges that carry a mini- Cadillac driving around Zapata, visiting two gas station, in just this manner and that he mum sentence of 10 years. banks and discussing how the judge would and the new owners of one of his conve- "La Enchilada" Muiioz, a soft-spoken, be able to move drug money through sev- nience stores had the same contract-for-

THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 7 deed arrangement. We bought a lot of votes." Guevara said, ished Guevara "not to bring that kind of According to Carrillo, he and Guevara explaining how he helped Sheriff Ramirez people into my bank, mafiosos." went into the Zapata National Bank to ob- in the spring 1992 race against challenger "We came to take him to lunch," said Car- tain a printout of Guevara's notes at the Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr., an investigator for rillo of the June 1992 drop-in visit at Gue- bank, while Rivera and Munoz waited in the county attorney's office. vara's office on the first floor of the county the vehicle. "This bank here is mine," Gue- The county judge outlined a scam he said courthouse. "He wasn't open or friendly. He vara told Carrillo as they entered. Gue- he conducted through one of his stores, said, 'I can't help you with anything.'" vara's ingratiating chit-chat with an officer selling "crooked diesel," left-over fuel from Guevara's brother-in-law, Rivera, how- of the bank is recorded on Carrillo's wire. a diesel truck that serviced gas-drilling rigs ever, was accommodating when Murioz Upon exiting the bank, Guevara greeted in the county. The scam included using a asked Rivera to drive a vehicle loaded with Louis Giordano, a narcotics investigator drill to turn back the meter on the pump at currency from San Antonio to Laredo on with the county attorney's office. the end of each month. "They could fuck August 21, 1992. Mufioz and Rivera made Back in the Caddie, Guevara told Carrillo themselves," he said. the trip to San Antonio in the judge's blue that if he had any problem with the "narco" "If you go with one who is a chickenshit four-door Oldsmobile. Another trip was he had just seen, he'd fire him, "run him the businessman, you are more at risk," he told made on September 12, 1992. At a five- fuck off." Carrillo "We've always been in business. minute meeting with undercover agent Car- At the International Bank of Commerce, Father is the owner of Guevara Auto Sup- rillo, Carrillo told Rivera how the judge had Guevara and Carrillo met with IBC Zapata ply. Rosa is a pharmacist. My sister, she's behaved at the June meeting in the court- President Renato Ramirez, a rancher and the owner of Ted's Drugstore. Ricardo is house. Rivera was paid $200 for each of the the brother of Sheriff Ramirez. The conver- the owner of J&R Contractor. Juan, my drug money transport trips. The tapes and sation, which eventually drifted to bringing brother, is part owner with him. I'm the transcripts of those trips provide an earful large sums of currency from Guevara's owner of all the Quick Picks." of who's who in the Zapata and Starr Mexican godfather to Ramirez's bank, "You control the whole county, no?" County drug trade. began with Ramirez stating that he was Carrillo asked. "Fuck, I'm the county catching heat from the bank directors for judge, also Ricardo is running for school some of Guevara's notes. The conversation board. Now he's going to win. He will win The Aircraft Landing meandered to the topic of a ranch fence for Saturday. No problem there. We can work On October 27, 1992, Mufioz told Guevara which Ramirez felt he was overcharged by it any way you want to. One thing to re- that a plane loaded with cocaine would a fenceman buying barbed wire locally at member, if I am going to wash money, need to refuel at the Zapata County Airport $36 a spool rather than $23 elsewhere. whatever, I'm going to pay 20-percent November 7 or 8.10n November 2, Guevara The banker took time to digress on what taxes," Guevara continued. told Mufioz that everything was "well-pre- many Zapatans will say is a favorite per- When Carrillo asked about protection pared" for the 300-kilo-load landing, and sonal theme—a bitter, 30-year political from law enforcement, Guevara answered. that he would be at the airport under the feud with his uncle by marriage, former "Well, entering my county, it would be dif- pretext of supervising the moving of a County Judge Angel Flores, whom ficult for them to take you down." He cited portable building for Precinct One Com- Ramirez helped defeat in 1990 by throwing the example of a reputed drug dealer land- missioner Felix Garcia. support and money behind Guevara. ing at the Zapata County Airport with a load Despite thick, gray clouds and steady In the bank, Guevara introduced Carrillo of cash. "No problem. No fucking problem. rains that fell November 8, Guevara and as his cousin from Mexico and asked If you had an airplane that you wanted to Muiloz prepared for the plane's arrival at Ramirez about large sums of cash coming land with half a million dollars, you call me the county airport, discussing drug deals from Mexico. Ramirez later testified that up saying you'll be landing with half a mil- gone bad as they drove out to the airport. he outlined for the two the legalities and lion. There's no problem," Guevara said. "Cesar Cuellar is singing better then Vi- documentation required to deposit cash in "Sometimes I use the Quick Pick, and cente Fernandez," Guevara said of a former the bank. sometimes I'll use J&R or sometimes I use county attorney investigator arrested re- "No hay quien sospeche una chingada. South Texas Bonding. Look at that gas sta- cently for possession of 500 pounds of mar- Controlo todo el pedo. Ahora cuando nos tion, that's the one I told you I [sold] ... It's ijuana. He alluded to Fernandez, a famous trataron de tumbar el sherife, que estd con a good property. I paid $200,000 for that Mexican singer of love ballads, rancheras nosotros, se peyeron pa'dentro. Les one, cash," Guevara said as they drove and corridos. ganamos," Guevara told Carrillo, in the through town. Texas Department of Public Safety in- company of Mutioz and Rivera, as they "This is what I can do for you," Guevara vestigator Alfonso De la Garza, hiding in ' continued their drive around Zapata. They said to Carrillo, offering to assist in trans- the thick brush on a ranch at the Highway suspect nothing, he told the undercover IRS porting currency. "What do I get?" Gue- 16 turn-off onto the caliche road leading to agent, he controlled the show. Recently, he vara asked. "A little bit of money, which as the airport, directed one surveillance team said, when they tried to knock down the you know, I need." On one of the tapes, that communicated with another team sheriff, "who is with us, we beat them" so Guevara commented, "I have more notes closer to the airport. De la Garza testified bad that they "farted inwardly." than a piano." 1 that on November 8, 1992, he saw Guevara "Yeah, it was the narcs who were trying When Carrillo, Mut-1oz and a female un- arrive at the airport shortly before noon in to take us down," Guevara continued. dercover agent visited the judge in his of- the blue Suburban, followed by Guevara's "They were running a narc against the sher- fice a month and a half later on June 17; brother Juan, driving the brown two-tone iff. Yeah, and we fucked them. On the first 1992, Guevara, Can illo testified„ was Guevara Auto Parts wrecker truck, and a one, we lost with six votes. About two "cold, standoffish." According to the testi- third vehicle, the blue four-door Olds regis- weeks back, we beat them in the election by mony of banker Ramirez, he had rebuked tered to the county judge. 300 votes. But no, man, we are all well the judge shortly after the April 29 bank According to De la Garza, he and an in- placed. But fuck, we put in a fucking lot of meeting with Guevara and Carrillo. vestigator, Sergeant Orlando Juarez, set up money. Look, just me alone, I helped him Ramirez said he also contacted Zapata Na- surveillance November 7 after nightfall, to out with 18,000 [dollars] to be sheriff. We tional Bank president Bill Carpenter about ensure that their operation was not in con- bought votes, because we had to buy them. the nature of Guevara's visit and admon- flict with any other agency or with counter-

8 • OCTOBER 14, 1994

surveillance set up by any one else. "It was at first in full view and then to a view of his fered to transport drug money in his Cadil- raining and cold through the night," De la chest and midsection as he came closer to lac, an offer he would make several times Garza recalled. "We stayed up until 7 or 8 greet the pilot. The camera caught the same through December. p.m. to observe any other traffic and to shot of Guevara approaching the plane as When on December 15, Munoz bought avoid detection," he said. Munoz introduced him to Andrew. "You Guevara the $3,000 balance for the Novem- De la Garza testified that the same set-up won't have any problems. Tell your people ber 22 safe landing, Guevara offered to move and procedure were followed for a resched- if there's anything we can do, to let Ram money by airplane for Munoz' s bosses. "He uled landing date on November 22. "The blue Olds arrived be- fore noon, then the two-tone Suburban and a white road tractor be- longing to Baldo Rivera, Mike Rivera's brother," De la Garza testified. "We don't carry any risks," Guevara told Munoz as they waited November 22 for the aircraft to land. Murioz communicated with the approaching aircraft by hand-held two-way radio, and Guevara of- fered landing instruc- tions to compensate for a change in wind direction. Guevara advised Munoz that he could cut Mike Rivera out of the deal because he, Gue- vara, had made all the arrangements. Munoz told Guevara that he had ZAPATA WEEKLY EXPRESS $7,000 stashed in his Jorge A. "Tote" Gutierrez with wife Marina and grandchild boot to pay him. "He asked me if I was working with narcotics officers in (Munoz) know," Guevara told the pilot. said he would tell Charlie they were on Roma and he said 'Don't fuck me over," The judge leaned into the plane to view county business," Munoz testified, adding Munoz recalled. the packages on the rear seats of the aircraft. that Guevara referred to airport manager, While they waited for the aircraft, Gue- Munoz' wire captured the audio. Once the pilot and county employee Charles Averitt. vara estimated that Munoz's cut from the plane took off, the judge marvelled at the Munoz recorded the $3,000 cash payment 300-kilo coke load would be $150,000 and airplane and he told Mui-loz that perhaps it to Guevara, and Guevara offered to sell that the load had a value of about $3 million. could be arranged so that his brother could Munoz an acre lot in Zapata. Mufioz de- "The gate's open, the deer lease is ready," take them up for a flight in the craft. clined and Guevara lamented the cost of re- Munoz radioed to the pilot, "Andrew," who "The plane landed at 12:28 p.m., and the modeling the Resendez Grocery on Highway was actually U.S. Customs Special Agent vehicles left around 1:40 p.m.—first the 83. It cost him about a thousand dollars a Tom Morgan. The undercover recording is blue Olds with Pepe driving, then the white week in salaries, he told Munoz, to convert scored by the plane's props ch6pping road tractor driven by Baldo, pulling the the store into office space he planned to rent through the clear South Texas sky. portable building, and the two-tone Subur- to the Department of Human Services. He Once the plane landed, Guevara directed ban," DPS Sergeant De la Garza would later offered once more to move money and to use the pilot where to park for refueling. The testify. He would also tell prosecutors that a secret compartment in his maroon Caddie. pilot told airport employee Chonte Martinez he did not observe any other law enforce- "No one can mess with me," he told Munoz. which cap to remove for fuel. Guevara, ac- ment vehicles in the vicinity of the county cording to Munoz, walked from the runway airport on November 8 or 22. He had The Seal on the Deal to the building that Baldo Rivera was mov- checked, he said, with area enforcement of- ing from the airport. ficers, including the sheriff's department On January 16, 1993, Guevara drove with When Guevara returned to Munoz, he and the Zapata County Task Force, to deter- Munoz to San Antonio, in the Caddie, to asked, "Does he have the shit in plain mine if there were any independent investi- meet with Carrillo and another undercover view?" They walked to the aircraft together. gations going on at the same time. agent, the "main man," and to transport drug Jurors viewed video footage recorded by a Documented on Murioz's Nagra recorder money back to Zapata. In that meeting with camera mounted on the pop-up door of the after the aircraft landed is Murioz paying agent Carrillo and FBI special agent Edward twin engine Piper aircraft. The camera Guevara $7,000 in Guevara's vehicle. Gue- A. Preciado at the Embassy Suites Hotel, caught Munoz walking up to the open door, vara asked for an additional $3,000 and of- Guevara referred to the "narca" who had ac-

THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 9

_1 1 companied Carrillo to his office in June Pack Alley or that he could purchase the that says, 'We busted a judge.' " 1992. "I shit my pants when you came in Beacon Lodge on the Lakefront and claim On the drive to Zapata from San Antonio with that Anglo lady," Guevara told Car- that all his Mexican national clients had with Munoz, Guevara reiterated his fear of rillo, explaining that the blond woman paid cash. He also offered a scam selling having fallen into a trap at the meeting with made him cool his jets about doing a deal purified water in Zapata. "One of those Carrillo and Preciado, telling Mufioz, "All with Carrillo's organization. windmill things," the judge explained. "A the busts that have been made, they are The Embassy Suites conversations of thousand-gallon sale would allow $1,000 to done in rooms just like that one." Mufloz Guevara and Munoz, with agent Carrillo be laundered. You could hook up a tanker testified that Guevara made several refer- and Preciado, bordered on the bizarre, cov- and throw away 500 to 1,000 gallons. You ences to being set up, asking if there were ering topics as broad as Guevara's tie, could adjust the meter to show more sales," any cameras or recorders in the room. "He women, politics, visits and real estate in Las Guevara elaborated. was scared of being busted," Murloz testi- Vegas, Mufioz's health, Rolex watches and The judge recounted his ability to fast- fied. "He said if he was taken down, there scams to launder money in Zapata. During eject people from jail, as much in neighbor- wouldn't be anyone to help people who that visit, Guevara offered assurances for ing Starr County as in Gwinnett County, trafficked," Mufioz said, adding that Gue- repeated safe landings at the Zapata County Georgia, where he had recently gone to post vara had said that if he were taken down, airport. bail for Anastacio Flores, a Zapatan who when he got out, he would get even. Mufioz "That's the airport, what about the had been arrested on a controlled-substance offered Guevara $1,000 for taking him to cops,?" Carrillo asked Guevara, wondering charge. Guevara had used a lot he owned in San Antonio for the money. "He refused the if he could buy Sheriff Romeo R. Ramirez Zapata as bond for Flores. "I've always money," Mufioz testified. to guarantee the safety of their operations in helped myself out with my people. I've If he were busted, Guevara speculated on Zapata County. helped people take my people out. I have a the drive home, there were people who Guevara answered at one point that bonding company," he explained. would help him, including, he told Mutioz, Ramirez's word "is gold" and added, "His Guevara told Carrillo and Preciado of his a Webb County assistant district attorney, ass is mine." He detailed that he had given goal to run for the state Senate seat vacated the DA himself and others in Rio Grande Ramirez $5,000 of his own money for his by Frank Tejeda. According to Guevara, City. A few days after the trip, Guevara told reelection and that a dealer in Starr County state senators Judith Zaffirini of Laredo and Mufioz that he hadn't been able to sleep, had, at Guevara's request, coughed up an Eddie Lucio of Brownsville and Attorney thinking he would be arrested. additional $5,000. Guevara named County General Dan Morales knew he was going to On instruction from the federal case Attorney Arturo Figueroa as the real foe in run. Guevara bragged that they said, "No, agents with whom he was working, Mutioz Zapata County. "He is my political enemy," man. We're with you judge, no problem. avoided Guevara and had no occasion to see Guevara said. "The problem with Arturo is We'll take it from there." him until March when they ran into each that he's an Arab." Guevara said, however, that a conversa- other in the parking lot of a Highway 83 When pressed hard by Carrillo and Preci- tion with Tejeda, who was running for clothing store. Guevara. told Mufioz that he ado to offer the sheriff money for protec- Congress, had made him reconsider run- needed to be paid $1,500 for the trip they tion, Guevara backed off from his claim ning because Tejeda had explained to him made to San Antonio in January. That pay- that he controlled the sheriff and suggested the protocol of "waiting your turn." Gue- ment, which is documented by Mufioz on that perhaps Mufroz could better approach vara dropped the names of some of his pur- the tape, is the basis for count 11, the final the sheriff. ported political connections, including extortion charge against Guevara. The judge elaborated on his knowledge Henry Cisneros, Tamaulipas Governor of flying at attitudes undetectable by radar. Manuel Cavazos Lerma and John Longoria, "I'll tell you . exactly where they are and who was then Bexar County Judge. GueL The Defense where to cross ... I know this area," he told vara commented on Longoria's staff, "His Guevara looked grim as he was sworn in as a Carrillo and Preciado. "You call me before. secretaries are brutas (hot, pretty)." witness by Judge Kazen on June 24. The If you fly money in, my officials in the area Guevara commented to Carrillo and Pre- young county judge fidgeted with his suit won't touch you." ciado that they could well be setting him up. coat, buttoning and unbuttoning it as he Guevara told agent Carrillo that money "Let's say that we're talking right now ant stood when the jurors entered the courtroom. could be laundered by Carrillo picking up that Ramiro was setting me up because, you Though the defense originally had the six back installments he owed on Six know, you guys want a feather on your hat planned to call over 40 witnesses, including a priest and two nuns, 10 employees of the sheriff's department, county commission- ers, justices of the peace, the county trea- surer, the tax assessor-collector, the water plant manager, he former and current super- intendents of public schools, bankers, and the judges from three neighboring counties, Guevara was his own sole witness. PEOPLE Questioned by his attorney, Ricardo De Make a world of difference ! Anda, Guevara testified that he had told his We're proud of our employees and their contributions to your brother-in-law, Rivera, from the first con- tact with Munoz that he wanted nothing to success and ours. Call us for quality printing, binding, mailing do with a money-laundering scheme, and so and data processing services. Get to know the people at Futura. opposed was he to such an idea that he con- tacted Zapata County Sheriff Romeo P.O. Box 17427 Austin, TX 78760-7427 Ramirez and the county attorney's investi- FUTUM gator Joaquin Solis about Rivera's ap- COMMUNICATIONS, INC 389-1500 proach. "I was being approached not only by my brother-in-law, but also by Ramiro

10 • OCTOBER 14, 1994 Munoz. I was being approached to commit a plane." "No." crime," the judge said in language and tone "Why didn't you disable the airplane," "Texas Rangers?" distinct from the voice recorded over two defense attorney De Anda asked Guevara. "No." years by undercover wire. "That's not what I was there to do," he "Toto's son?" "Did you feel odd about going to the sher- answered. "No." iff about your brother-in-law?" De Anda Prosecutor Hobson chiseled away at Gue- Hobson continued dismantling Guevara's asked. vara's adherence to the undercover opera- story. "You talked to Toto and no one else. "At the time I had misgivings," Guevara tion he was conducting with Gutierrez. The only person that knows about this be- answered. "You love your brother-in-law and yet sides you is a dead man. He can't talk. He "Why were you willing to incriminate you set him up like this. You worked with can't confirm your story." your brother-in-law?" the attorney asked him and sent him down the primrose path. "I have a family. It was either him or my Did you ever try to stop him? Your conver- The Element of Intent family. I have a position of trust. I wasn't sations with Deputy Gutierrez, did you going to put my family, my wife, my chil- make any notes, keep a calendar or a diary? It was the element of content, Judge Kazen dren, my brothers, father and sister through All these meetings (with the traffickers) you told the jurors before closing arguments, something like this," Guevara explained. knew about ahead of time, to your knowl- that they would have to establish.. "There By Guevara's account, though the sheriff edge there was no surveillance, no photos, oddly is little dispute about most of the later testified to the contrary, Guevara said no videos, no tape recorder, no other officers facts;" Kazen said. "Guevara maintained he that Sheriff Ramirez told him to contact bur- involved, no backup? Not even when a load was functioning as Munoz was operating, as glary investigator Jorge "Toto" Gutierrez. of cocaine is coming in?" Hobson asked, an undercover. You have to resolve this im- "Officer Gutierrez told me to act like I knew casting doubt on the judge's testimony. portant issue of the defendants' intent." He what to do," Guevara continued, "and that I "This officer is going to let this planeload instructed the jurors that they would have to could be helpful to them." of cocaine fly in and out, no backup, no determine whether Guevara engaged in a "The tapes have you using rather rough surveillance? Deputy Gutierrez, who works criminal act for personal gain or as an un- language," De Anda offered. "Is that nor- burglaries, is working this investigation dercover operative. mally how you speak?" with you as undercover?" Allowing only the "This is an old story about power and "No, sir. It was for the role I was playing," slightest pause for an answer, Hobson con- greed," Hobson told the jurors, "A public of- Guevara answered. tinued. "The three million dollars you refer ficial getting money he is not entitled to. The According to Guevara, he and officer to, what is that?" defendant is conjuring up a specter of a Gutierrez met frequently at Guevara's "I made it up," Guevara answered. ghost and stands behind it. This is a phan- home, at the White House Restaurant, at "Made up what about what?" tom defense by all accounts. His alibi is a Gutierrez' office, in Guevara's office and on "I don't know," Guevara bristled. dead man, a good man." the street, always for the purpose of keeping "You don't know what you're saying? Hobson reiterated that Guevara in his ini- Gutierrez abreast of developments in the Why do you bring up three million dollars? tial FBI interview denied he had received case and for law enforcement advice in deal- You seem pretty knowledgeable about takes money from Muiioz and denied he had been ing with the traffickers. Gutierrez, Guevara and percentages." part of the airport landing. "Not a word testified, told him to act like he could guar- "I just made it up," Guevara reiterated. about Toto comes up," Hobson reminded antee the traffickers safety in the county and Referring to the transcript of Guevara's the jury. "That cover story hadn't been in- also to act willing to launder money through airport conversation with Munoz, Hobson vented yet. Toward the end of the interview his or his family's businesses. asked Guevara to read an excerpt in which the defendant finally admits he kept the Guevara testified that he took bank presi- Guevara asked, "Does he have the shit in money, after they played one of the tapes for dent Ramirez's April 29, 1992, scolding to plain view?" Mufioz responded, "Si, hom- him. The defendant has amazing resiliency heart and he had wanted to abort the investi- bre, it's 300 kilos." Guevara answered, and creative recall," Hobson said. "Does his gation he had launched with Toto Gutierrez. "That's great. It's three million dollars." story make sense? None of it is backed up "I told Toto that I had misgivings, that Mr. "If it's in the transcript, I said it," Guevara by evidence. Is it believable, credible, logi- Ramirez was very angry and he was giving told Hobson when Hobson was relentless cal that this is an undercover judge out there away my cover. Officer Gutierrez told me it about whether or not Guevara had made the acting solo?" Hobson hammered at Gue- would be equally dangerous to pull out," statement about the value of the coke. vara. "The defendant's story is a fairy tale, a Guevara testified. "You're not denying you received these fabrication. It is unworthy of the position of Citing the recent arrests of deputies in the funds?" Hobson asked of the $24,000 Gue- trust he held," Hobson concluded. sheriff's department for theft of pot from the vara accepted from Munoz. Defense attorney Alberto Pella, who evidence room and the arrest of an investi- "No." maintained a low profile throughout the pro- gator in the county attorney's office for pos- "But you're saying you gave them to your ceedings, called the prosecution's case, session of 500 pounds of pot, Guevara said brother-in-law?" "The best that money can buy," and asked that he and Gutierrez agreed to complete se- "Yes." jurors not to believe that Ramiro Mutioz was crecy about their undercover surveillance of "Your brother-in-law you loved dearly, a Boy Scout. Pella called Sheriff Ramirez "a the traffickers. Guevara testified that he fully expecting him to be arrested and pros- shameless witness," citing Ramirez' recent turned all of Ramiro Munoz' s payments ecuted?" plea bargain with the government for the over to Rivera, who wanted to buy a tractor "You asked Mr. Munoz for money to pre : money-laundering and trafficking charges truck, so that Rivera would not be aware of tend to be greedy. Just playing the role? You against him. the undercover operation he was conducting didn't talk to the DPS?" . "Liberty shouldn't be taken away so with Gutierrez. "No." cheaply," lead defense attorney De Anda ar- "I was to be officer Gutierrez's eyes and "DEA?" gued, chiding FBI officials for not recording ears," Guevara said of the aircraft landing "No." and transcribing their initial interview with on November 22. "And to get as much in- "FBI?" Guevara after his arrest. formation as possible. I took the tail number "No." "The issue isn't whether we did these down and gave it to Toto. It was a leased "IRS?" things. It's our intent. Did we intend to laun-

THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 11 der? Did we take the money to continue our tales. He trampled all over his oath of office. In a quiet moment just after the verdict investigation?" De Anda asked, conclud- He trampled all over the oath he took in Was pronounced, the jury had been dis- ing, "This is not a case of corruption and here. He trampled on the reputation of a missed and the courtroom vacated, prosecu- greed. This is a case of government over- good cop," Herrera told the jurors in closing. tor Herrera said, "They believed him to be a reaching." The jurors deliberated quickly, asking corrupt public official. He wasn't credible. "Was he playing the role when he took after three hours for a clarification of the They gave no credence to Guevara's use of the stand?" prosecutor Herrera asked. "To 10th count, the conspiracy to distribute co- Toto, his public-authority defense. The ju- believe the defendant's story, you would caine count. After Judge Kazen explained rors used their common sense to convict have to believe that Toto would violate all the count, the jurors filed quickly from the him. This is a significant victory, one that sound procedures. Wouldn't a 30-year vet- courtroom, none of them making eye con- says that the U.S. Attorney of the Southern eran protect an important civilian like the tact with GueVara as they walked past him District of Texas has every intention to judge with backup and surveillance? To be- to continue deliberations. Less than an hour prosecute those who violate federal law. lieve Guevara you would have to believe later, they pronounced their verdict, finding Public officials who engage in corrupt con- that Toto turned his back on his oath and al- Guevara guilty of six counts of official ex- duct will not be tolerated." lowed a plane with 300 kilos to land and re- tortion and conspiracy to commit extortion Defense attorney De Anda said the ver- fuel," she continued. and not guilty of possession with intent to dict proved there is a great deal of skepti- "The story that the defendant told is just distribute cocaine and not guilty of money cism about government sting operations. "I not true. It's fiction. You'll find it in fairy laundering. became involved because I saw the case as shooting fish in a barrel. You had federal agents initiating a crime and seeing whether local officials would agree to be part of the crime." Not so, said U.S. Customs resident agent Travelling to the Dan Lynch of the Falcon Heights enforce- ment office that initiated the case against Guevara. "It is not. entrapment when the Davis Mountains, subject shows a propensity for the acts of which he is accused. It was clear to us, and the evidence supported us.... "When it became a public corruption case, McDonald Observatory, the FBI took the lead on the investigation," Lynch said of the operation, which began in 1989. Of the judge's conviction on six pub- or the Big Bend? lic corruption counts, Lynch said, "Consid- ering the length of the investigation and the amount of evidence that had to be argued in Stay overnight at beautiful Fort McKavett. so short a time, this turned out very well." He added that at times his entire staff worked on the case. "Special agent Jose Lozano was •••••••• • • our full-time officer on the investigation," • • • Lynch said. "On the morning of the arrests, he and FBI agent Juanita Benavides found Planning a trip out west this fall? Take a break at beautiful, historic Fort McK- the judge at the county courthouse and ad- avett, just 24 miles north of 1-10 at exit 442 (on your official Texas Highway vised him that he needed to accompany them map, coordinates 0-13). Bring your sleeping bag and spend the night in one to Laredo," Lynch explained. Agent Lozano, a former Texas DPS offi- of our historic buildings, or count stars 'til you fall asleep under crystal clear cer, recalled that as he and Benavides West Texas skies. drove Guevara north to Laredo they en- countered the impressive fleet movement Ft. McKavett, located at the headwaters of the San Saba River, is three hours of southbound teams of Operation Prickly from Austin, and three hours from San Antonio, and a perfect place to stop Pear agents making their way to Zapata and rest (especially if you get away from home later, than planned). With from the Laredo FBI office where the op- eration was coordinated. "We communi- some advance notice we can even have a little supper ready for you! cated by radio with those teams and with Laredo," Lozano said. During the day, take time to visit one of the best restored 'Buffalo soldier' era "Up to the time we saw the agents mov- forts in the country. We have a great museum and bookstore, and lots of hik- ing to Zapata, the judge had been making ing options available on our 80 acre site. Prices start at $15.00 per person for small talk and trying to figure out what the indictment was about. He asked us if it overnight accommodations, families are welcome. For reservations, call was about a truck his brother had. Once he 915/396-2358 or 512/458-1016. saw the cars, he became very quiet. I could see that he was very concerned," No smoking or alcoholic beverages allowed on the premises; however the Fort McKavett Trading Post is lo- Lozano recalled. cated 1/4 mile from the Fort and they permit both smoking and drinking. Fort McKavett Historic Site is oper- For Pepe Guevara, the burlon, the ated under contract with Texas Parks and Wildlife by Texas Rural Communities, a non -profit corporation charmer who had seduced some of his con- stituents while he intimidated others, his long, fast ride had come to an end. ❑

12 OCTOBER 14, 1994 Street 'Crime in Palestine

BY DARVYN SPAGNOLLY

OING TO JAIL is never pleasant, local paper. "It gave the courage to a few to sought Galvan's indictment because of the but going there on a seat-belt rap is say, 'Hey, enough is enough,'" Shores said. vague nature of the charge.) Galvan spent 73 especially galling. Then, after the TCRP report came out and days in detention, where other inmates as- G saulted him. He missed the birth of his first Police in Palestine, Anderson County, made the front page for four days running, stopped Rosa Vasquez on May 23 on her complaints poured in. "The phone didn't child, and was denied medical treatment way to work. She was arrested on charges stop ringing," said C.X. Rodriguez, a for- during a serious bout of fever and chills. of not wearing a seat belt, not having her mer council member who helped present • Cesar Albino Canas was arrested for driver's license and not having proof of car the report in Austin. failing to wear a seat belt. He was detained liability insurance, all Class C misde- Rosa Vasquez, Shores said, was the first and later released after paying a fine. Ten meanors. Even after her husband showed Hispanic to file an official complaint. "T,he days later the same officer and his partner, up and produced the insurance proof, which very next day after that was filed, a couple with guns drawn, arrested Canas on a had been in the glove compartment, she of deputies known to some as `Starsky and charge of "organized crime." Canas spent was taken away in handcuffs. Hutch' were blocking the road on the way 33 days in the Anderson County Jail (all in According to Mrs. Vasquez's testimony to the meatpacking plant where a signifi- the same set of white jail overalls, without to the Texas Civil Rights Project, the offi- cant number of Hispanics work. ... When I underwear) but the district attorney's office cers radioed for a backup car, which arrived called to ask about it the chief_ deputy never moved to secure his indictment. bearing a shotgun-wielding officer. A didn't even know; [he] claimed not to • Abel Garcia Cabrera was arrested by neighbor who offered to interpret for know anything about the roadblock. And if sheriff's deputies on June 8, 1994, after he Vasquez, whose English was limited, was he didn't, well then these guys were taking was stopped at a roadblock near the meat- threatened with arrest if she interfered. Po- it upon themselves to show these Hispan- packing plant where he works, on a charge lice searched Vasquez's car without her ics, 'You know, you complain, this is of driving without a valid license. The consent before the police finally allowed what's going to happen.'" deputies would not let a bystander interpret the , neighbor to tell her she was being ar- For an example of what could happen in for Cabrera, whose English is poor. After rested. At no other point during or after the Anderson County, population 49,915 several hours in jail, which cost him a day's arrest was a translator available to Vasquez. (18,203 in Palestine), there are the lawsuits pay, Cabrera secured his release by paying In order to obtain her release she was com- filed with the assistance of the TCRP in fed- a $45 towing fee and $250 in fines, includ- pelled to sign papers she could not read, eral court in Tyler. Gerald Jordan, a parole ing a $175 fine for failure to show proof of and her husband had to pay $148. violator detained at the jail, seeks damages insurance even though the , truck's owner The Austin-based Civil Rights Project has and an injunction under section 1983 of the had shown the proof of insurance to the charged that Hispanic and African Ameri- Civil Rights Act. The lawsuit alleges that jail deputies. Ray Larson, an Anglo contacted cans in Anderson County, in East Texas, officials beat and hog-tied Jordan and teth- by TCRP investigators, said he was stopped suffer an inordinate number of false arrests, ered him to a sewage pipe overnight. The jail at the same road block and could not pro- are more likely be arrested for offenses that guards also denied him access to law books. duce his license but was able to recite his li- generally merit a field-release citation, are Jordan believes he was singled out because cense number; the deputies never asked required to post excessively high bail for he is a plaintiff in an earlier, separate civil him for proof of insurance, he said. misdemeanor or non-violent charges and are rights case against the sheriff's department. • Javier Olvera Vargas on July 4, 1989, sometimes 'detained for months in cases in The second civil rights lawsuit, on behalf of was arrested for drinking a bottle of water which no formal misdemeanor charges or Gerald Battles, claims that the jail officials he had taken from a railroad car. He was felony indictments were ever filed. removed law books from his cell after he held 36 days on a charge of burglary of a Rev. Dexton Shores, the Southern Baptist filed a civil rights action generated by an in- vehicle before the district attorney declined pastor to a Hispanic congregation in Pales- jury to his hand after a jail officer closed a to prosecute the case. tine who did most of the report's initial re- cell door on it. • Adolfo Bravo Vasquez was arrested on search, said the victims were too intimi- The TCRP published its findings in a 60- January 27, 1988, after police, answering a dated to speak out, and the authorities knew page report after visits in June and August by disturbance call, pursued several Hispanics it. He originally tried acting on his own four investigators and an attorney from the into the woods and returned to find after his experiences as a volunteer court in- Austin-based non-profit, civil-rights litiga- Vasquez, who says he had not been involved terpreter led him to examine court records. tion program. Among the cases documented: in the disturbance. Vasquez was charged He then turned to the Anderson County • Eduardo Trejo Galvan was arrested on with hindering apprehension and was found Community Relations Council, which held January 15 for littering, a Class C misde- guilty so that, in the words of District Attor- a public forum. There, the district attorney, meanor. He was held for 24 hours and re- ney Jeff Herrington during Vasquez's trial, a the police and dip sheriff's department all leased after he paid a $105 fine. A month "message would be sent to the Hispanic denied that any problems existed. later, he was arrested oh a warrant that community that these kinds of situations The forum made the headlines of the charged "gang related activity," in connec- would not be tolerated in Anderson tion with a shooting, and a judge set his bond County." Vasquez's punishment was the 26 at $100,000. (Anderson County Sheriff days he already had spent in jail. After his Darvyn Spagnolly is a graduate student in Mickey Hubert said later that Palestine has release, he left Palestine. His guilty verdict journalism at the University of Missouri at "no more [gang activity] than normal for this was reversed on appeal but Vasquez appar- Columbia. size town." The district attorney never ently has never learned of his exoneration.

TiE TEXAS OBSERVER • 13 Among the other cases cited in the report, The report also cited statistics compiled pearance of making an effort, but he's fear- which cited 15 county residents, were com- by Shores that show discrepancies in the ful that it's only temporary. The racial dis- plaints about police stopping people for treatment of African Americans and His- crepancies in misdemeanor judgements carrying red bandanas or attaching them to panics and of Anglos for similar criminal have levelled out, he said, the city is spon- their car aerials. Police have issued moving offenses. While Anglos accounted for 56 soring a "Hispanic Health Fair" at the mall, violations to Hispanics and African Ameri- percent of felony dispositions in 1993, they and on a call-in TV show, an inmate calling cans when their vehicles were sitting in received a disproportionate share of dis- from the jail commented, "We've never driveways with the ignition off. missals. Nineteen percent of Anglos re- seen 'em so nice." Sheriff Hubert said the report is part of ceived dismissals on felony charges, while "There's` still a lot of people that don't ploy to attract attention. "You've just got charges were dismissed for African Ameri- believe it," Shores said. "There have been one or two or three individuals down here cans and Hispanics in only 6 percent of the some call-ins on this TV program, [saying] that went to the community leaders. Even cases. And whereas 3 percent of Anglos re- `That is ridiculous! There's no way that the the community leaders knew that there .was ceived dismissals for felony driving while police would do that!'" no basis for this, so they couldn't get any intoxicated and 13 percent received dis- Sheriff Hubert said feelings in the town sympathy from anybody, so they had to go missals for violent felonies, African Amer- are mixed. "If you listen to me, I'd tell you to Austin and get this outfit to do the trot- icans and Hispanics received no dismissals it was positive in my behalf. If you listen to lines for them. And that's all it was. There's in these categories. Hispanic and African them, they'd tell you it was positive in their no basis to any of it. Americans received longer prison terms behalf." "Now, there may be some isolated cases than Anglos, on the average. Anglos also The problem may be cultural as well as that they may have quoted, that may be iso- were more likely to get probation rather racial. C.X. Rodriguez, a native Texan, set- lated, but you're going to find that in any de- than prison terms and they were more likely tled in Palestine in 1965 when there were partment in the United States... You'll al- to get deferred adjudication probation, only about a dozen Hispanic households in ways have a little isolated cases. But to the under which the defendant's record is the town and has never experienced dis- magnitude that they portray, not even close." cleared after he completes probation. crimination of any kind. Now that the According to the report, despite the Among the cases cited was that of Tomas county's population is 8.2 percent His- county's sizable number of Spanish speak- Ybarra, who was . held for a year in lieu of panic, those who are discriminated against, ers, neither the city nor county law enforce- $75,000 bond on a charge of murder of a he said, are the newer arrivals from Mex- ment agencies have Spanish-speaking staff. man who had beaten him. Ybarra eventu- ico, who have difficulty with English. Further, neither the Anderson County Dis- ally accepted a plea bargain of 30 years in Shores said he realizes it's also a matter trict Court nor the justice of the peace re- prison. He was sentenced to a minimum of of who you know, being in or out with the tains interpreters for arraignments, despite seven years in prison. Good 01' Boys. Poor whites, having been the criminal code requirement that accused The man Ybarra killed allegedly was an treated just as shabbily as the minorities, persons understand the charges against accomplice of Daniel Mennerick, who was haVe started to join with the minorities to them as well as their rights. Local lawyers charged with murder in the death of a Mex- make their grievances heard and to work said it was common for the county courts to ican who was shot, dragged behind a truck for change. use other Hispanic inmates to translate for and thrown into the Neches River. The Dorothy Redus Robinson, 85, chairman Spanish-speaking defendants. charge was reduced to voluntary man- of the Community Relations Council, is the The report also noted that more than 35 slaughter, to which Mennerick pleaded widow of African-American civil-rights ac- Hispanics were placed on probation in guilty in return for a 10-year sentence. tivist Frank Robinson, who was shot- 1993, joining more than 100 Hispanics who Mennerick served six months and was re- gunned in his garage in 1976 at age 72 after already were on probation and who pay a leased on shock probation. having won a class-action suit requiring the monthly supervision fee to a probation offi- "The DA really hasn't denied it," Shdres use of single-member districts for local cer, "For those who do not speak English," said of the report's allegations. "Nobody's city-council elections. Two days into the the report states, "this means they must pay been able to talk to him since this thing investigation, officials deemed his death a for supervision from someone with whom came out. He hides anytime anybody calls. suicide. Robinson still believes her husband they have no way of communicating." In His secretary was heard asking someone was murdered. addition, many individuals have been re- the other day, that took her place when she "I feel positive that the people who were quired to pay for, and attend, alcohol was on break, 'Do I still say 'no comment' in charge at the time swept it under the rug awareness classes offered only in English. to anybody who calls?'" because they were afraid to face the conse- Sheriff Hubert said his force had no major The report also complained that the local quences. ... I would imagine that what's problems with the language barrier and that authorities conduct unwarranted enforce- happening in Palestine now, the way the he has two Spanish-speaking deputies. One ment of federal immigration laws. Nor- law enforcement people operate—I suspect of the Spanish-speaking deputies, said mally, they are not authorized to question that it's much like it is elsewhere. Except, Shores, recently tried to resign, but the sher- an individual about his or her legal resi- the fact is that Reverend Shores did some iff refused to accept it. The other is a former dence if no other violation has occurred but research and has come up with some infor- constable whom a co-worker at his day job police in Palestine routinely question His- mation that is factual," she said. described as a very overweight 60-year-old panics and demand proof of residency. "I came here in 1931, as a bride," she with language skills insufficient for filling Pascual Diaz Garcia was stopped by said. "Back then there were several minor out official forms. Palestine police as he walked down a street ... I suppose you might say embarrass- "We had tried to actively recruit quali- near his home. When asked for identifica- ments. I have experienced everything in fied Spanish-speaking officers," Hubert tion, he had to walk home to get a Social Palestine, I guess, that a human being can said, "but mostly big cities get them. We Security card, which the officers suspected experience. don't get an opportunity because our pay was a forgery. He was detained for several "In the many years I have lived here, I've scale's quite a bit lower and we don't have days before he was released at the request seen all the conditions anyone could see, a big selection to choose from. We don't of his dance teacher. and despite how negative it might appear, have a whole lot of applicants. In fact, we Shores said that in response to the public- we have come a long way. But we still have haven't had any." ity the town is now at least making the ap- a long, long way to go." ❑

14 OCTOBER 14, 1994 JIM HIGHTOWER

Fishy Cheetos and Ban Dioxin tion" if you're going to function and pros- Free Trade per in today's high-technology workplace. The old "cowboy code" teaches that when But an independent analysis by the Eco- Who says "free trade" won't bring progress you're confronted with a big, coiled snake nomic Policy Institute offers some jarring to all the world's people? you don't appoint a committee to study the news to counter that bit of wisdom: Today, America's new wide-open trade arrange- reptile—you kill it! college-educated, computer-literate, white- ment with the repressive, dictatorial gov- A deadly snake called Dioxin has been collar, white men—who are assumed to be ernment of China, for example, is only four confronting us for years, yet a cabal of ig- America's vanguard in global competitive- months old and it's already paying off! Pep- norance and arrogance between govern- ness—are also losing the wage wars. sico, the giant food conglomerate, has just ment and industry has kept us from doing In the past four years, the pay for a man announced a deal that will bring Cheetos anything but study it. Meanwhile, this with a bachelor's degree has fallen by more to China! snake strikes again and again, giving hun- than $1,100 a year, and even men with OK, it's not exactly a Big Deal for Amer- dreds of thousands of us cancer each year, postgraduate study under their belts have ica, since the crispy cheese puffs won't be warping our immune systems and organs lost ground to inflation. made here—Pepsico is building a new and causing babies to be born with under- "Wait a minute," you say, "I keep reading plant in China to make them there. developed hearts, lungs and brains. that corporate profits are up, the economy is And, they're not technically Cheetos, Dioxin is a family of supertoxic chemi- expanding robustly, overall income is since the Chinese don't much cotton to cals that have raised their ugly head in the higher and more people are working." Well, cheese, so Pepsico ran taste tests on 600 fla- form of everything from DDT to Agent Or- yes ... but you've got to learn to read be- vors—including cuttlefish—before settling ange, and cropped up in such infamous tween the lies when Washington and Wall on a "teriyaki-type taste." Mmmm-mm, mass poisonings as Love Canal, New York, Street put out such rosy economic news. teriyakitos! and Times Beach, Missouri. The economy is growing, but more of the But trade goes both ways, and the 999 But you don't have to be sprayed or live wealth is going to the very few at the top, Pharmaceutical Company—China's largest atop a waste dump to be exposed: while educated, upwardly mobile families drug manufacturer—has announced that it * You eat it: Dioxin contaminates beef, are scrambling to take on second jobs to is expanding into the U.S. market. What's chicken, milk, fish and eggs. offset declining pay. So average income so exciting, "free trade-wise," about 999 * You breathe it: Waste incinerators and may be up, even though most of us find Pharmaceutical is that it's owned by the diesel, exhausts spew it across our country. ours down—and that second job you took Chinese Army, those enterprising brutes * You drink it: Manufacturers of paper, counts statistically as an increase in na- who constantly oppress China's democratic plastics, paint and pesticides dump it in our tional employment. water. activists, religious leaders, union organiz- If the economy is doing , so well, why are ers, ethnic minorities and others. The army * You pass it on to your babies: Dioxin we all doing so poorly? It's time for white- tosses thousands of them in prisons without accumulates in a mother's milk. collar and blue-collar employees alike to the niceties of a trial, keeping them in un- At last, though, a study to end all studies team up and challenge America's powers speakable conditions and routinely tortur- has been issued by the Environmental Pro- that be for good jobs at good wages. ing them. tection Agency. A 2,000-page, six-volume These prisoners are also forced to work report on a three-year study by 100 scien- as slave labor in the assorted industries tists concludes that—sure enough—Dioxin Lobbies Feed Lawmakers owned by the army—making everything is a snake, and even microscopic amounts They say a shark eats constantly, that it's so no exposure from drugs to toys, textiles to electronics. of its poison are so deadly that voracious it doesn't even sleep. By selling to us, companies like 999 Phar- to it is safe. But now, scientists have discovered an- maceutical pump billions of dollars into the Still, the paper, pesticide and other pol- other animal even more voracious: "Con- Chinese Army, allowing it to keep terroriz- luting industries are lobbying Washington gressorum Dollarorum Eatemupum," better ing, imprisoning, torturing and enslaving to put a leash on the snake, rather than known by its common name—"Member of killing it. Their motivation? Pure greed. anyone who opposes it. Congress." SO, you see, thanks to "free trade," you They have a vested interest in that snake. Because the Dollarorum Eatemupum can keep people from being free with If you're worried about the snake killing consumes such astonishing amounts of every bottle of pills and ointments you buy you and your family, join the effort to BAN campaign money, it has formed a symbi- from 999. Dioxin. Contact Greenpeace: 202-319-2444. otic relationship with a subhuman species Will the prisoners get any of those Chi- called "Lobbyem Congressorum," or nese Cheetos? If you want to stop "convict White Collars in Trouble "Lobbyist," also known by scientists as trade," look at the label. If it says "Made in The term "wages" is rooted in a Latin "Green Pond Scum." China," don't buy it. phrase meaning: "To challenge in combat." Through a process of natural selection, There's no doubt that it's a war out there members of Congress are fed by lobbyists in the workplace today, nor that America's that have a direct interest in legislation that Jim Hightower, a former Observer editor majority—the working class—is losing. the lawmaker deals with. So you find lob- and Texas agriculture commissioner, does Good jobs with family wages are being byists for the finance industries, for exam- daily radio commentary and a weekend eliminated or exported, and new jobs are ple, hanging around the Senate Banking call-in talk show on the ABC Radio Net- poorly paid, with no benefits and no future. Committee, feeding Democrats and Repub- work If your local station doesn't carry Washington and Wall Street blame you, licans, liberals as well as conservatives. him, ask them why not. saying you need "more skills and educa- In 1992, moderate Republican Arlen

THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 15

Specter swallowed $844,000 from the fi- nance lobbies doing business before this committee; liberal Democrat Chris Dodd was fed $967,000 by them; and conserva- MOLLY IVINS tive Republican Alfonse D'Amato scurried off with $1,143,000. Indeed, Sen. D'Amato was especially Congress Due a Bashing In some cases, all it takes is one sena- tor—for example Fritz Hollings deter- adept at a form of feeding frenzy called Congress seems intent on providing an un- mined to protect textile manufacturers in "bundling." You see, a corporation's politi- civics lesson just before its members ad- South Carolina—to kill GATT, which has cal action committee can give $5,000 to a journ to go home and ask for re-election. lawmaker. But by getting the firm's top ex- Perusal of the papers in recent days pro- overwhelming support. Even something ecutives to bundle up "individual" dona- vides a wealth of fodder for those who as self-evident as a ban on gifts and trips tions of, say, $1,000 each, a much larger want to know why the system doesn't from lobbyists barely survived a vote in wad can be fed to a grateful senator. work. While the radio talk shows are busy the House and will probably die in the Imagine Sen. D' Amato' s gratitude, then, bashing President Clinton for everything Senate. Of far greater importance is the campaign-finance bill, against which Re- when Wall Street firms fed him such gener- from talking about his boxer shorts to bad publicans have already started a preemp- ous bundles in '92 as: $23,000 from Smith weather, the real reason for the paralysis Barney; $24,000 from Merrill Lynch; of government is evident at the other end tive filibuster. Changing the way campaigns are fi- $28,000 from Morgan Stanley; $32,000 of Pennsylvania Avenue. nanced is the single most critical reform from Goldman Sachs; and $62,000 from And for those who think our problem is needed in government; nothing surpasses Bear Stearns, for a grand tally of $169,000. that the government does too much and it in importance because nothing else can This is why Congress serves the special needs to quit interfering with the wonders get done without it. House and Senate interests instead of your interests, and it's of unfettered capitalism, try this news re- Democrats now have a deal that would why we've got to eliminate big-money giv- port: "Congress today abandoned efforts offer candidates for the House vouchers to ing in politics. to rewrite a mining law that dates back to buy media and mail. This weakens the To get a two-page summary of who's the 19th century, giving up in the face of hold of special-interest money on candi- feeding your lawmakersand to learn what resistance by the mining industry to pay- dates and gives challengers a much better you can do to stop it—call the Center for ing taxes on metals it takes from public chance to compete against incumbents. Responsive Politics: 202-857-0044. ❑ lands... the failure to change this law this Senate candidates who agree to spending .year was a major defeat for the Clinton ad- limits get a 50-percent discount on televi- ministration.... It is a pattern that is be- sion time, again making them less depen- coming familiar in this Congress, in which dent on special interests and making the Send a Friend a combination of partisan maneuvering races fairer. In presidential campaigns, the the Texas Observer and parochial interests have stalled such notorious growth of "soft money" fun- action." nelled to "unaffiliated" groups supporting Contact Stefan Wanstrom Let's try this again. Miners working on one candidate or another would be closed at 477-0746, or write- public lands—this land belongs to you and off, curing the problem of huge contribu- me—are paying nothing in mineral rights. 307 West 7th St., Austin, TX 78701. tions to the political parties. If these mines were on private property, of Now, all this is well and good, except course, the companies would have to pay that George Mitchell, the Senate majority royalties. But we, the people, get nothing leader, needs 60 votes to stop the Republi- for our minerals—the mining companies can filibuster. If you'd like to run a check take out millions in silver and other met- 44 00111.W.A% 11 on the hypocrisy quotient of your very Sea als—while we have to pay more in taxes own Republican senator, check to see how 1•V; for public purposes so that these few can gior Horse he or she voted on campaign finance re- • get rich at our expense. Senators from the form when George Bush was there to Western states join the Republicans, who • Inn safely veto it. are determined to ruin Clinton, in protect- Standin' around cussin' Congress has rt Kitchenettes -- Cable TV ing the mining interests, which in turn Heated Pool got to be such a national pastime that my give large campaign contributions to those contrarian impulses are almost called into bc.side the Gulf Qfillexico at, senators. action. But not quite. Congress is a mess; 0/1 Mustang i5hm(1 Then the Republicans turn around and there's just no way around it. Republicans I go home and ask for your vote on account IL A\ ailai)le lor Private Part ik2 ' declare that its because the place is run by of the government can't do anything right. °r Democrats since the year Aught, but their aw Unique Vuropean Churn, Rep. Michael Oxley, an Ohio Republican, S, :11111(1.S1)11Cle d pattern is to cockroach every measure that ) % provided a litany of issues that Congress I , f might help fix the mess, just kill it any Nconoinical Sp illi.. ;Hid Sumnicr 0.;itc ,.. t has failed to act on this session: "Health Pets Welcome way they can—and both House and Senate ofte ar care, Superfund, GATT, A-to-Z spending rules offer an infinite number of ways to 1423 11th Street", cuts, clean water, immigration reform, kill bills—and then come home and whine welfare reform, telecommunications, that nothing works because it's done by lik Port Aransas, TX 78373 1 campaign finance reform, etc., etc." Democrats. It's a revoltin' development, S ca" (512) 749-5221 all right. And here's Clinton, who sure i didn't deal this deck of cards, trying to fin- Ri-scrui t ions ,,,,,, Molly Ivins, a former Observer editor, is play through it and getting blamed for the oreF a columnist with the Fort Worth Star- whole set-up. It's the autumn of our dis- smilms■ik A ON, 1014a,4' 36 Wo 1r 1...... Telegram. content... ❑

16 OCTOBER 14, 1994 Books & THE CULTURE Playing the Hammer and Nails

BY MICHAEL KING THE MAGIC OF BLOOD stories in the collection, yet none reads resonance among the other men, who be- By Dagoberto Gilb. like an apprentice piece—one wonders if come an impromptu congregation: 288 pp. New York: there is an invisible iceberg of drafts be- Grove Press. $12 (paper). neath them. Gilb' s characteristic wryness Smooth, sent by God as a lesson for is reflected in his playful titles: "The O.K. about the danger of messing with a THE LAST KNOWN RESIDENCE Magic of Blood" sounds like it might refer man's working life, was a messenger for OF MICKEY ACURA either to a somber ritual or else some us too. We were all to understand the By Dagoberto Gilb. racial grandiosity, yet when the phrase fi- parable. With a grinning reverence for 219 pp. New York: nally turns up in a title story, that "magic" such a happy ending, we would remem- Grove Press. $20. is having a relative with a Hollywood ad- ber O.K., pale and scared, friendless dress. But that coy, understated connec- among his these men, his men, and WAS AMUSED TO discover that tion comes to stand for a grandson's at- Smooth somewhere out there crazy, and Dagoberto Gilb's The Magic of Blood tachment to the cultural and emotional connect them forever in our memory. I is the only work of fiction to be listed family of its characters. Gilb's is a sly, in- Hallelujah. Amen. under the subject heading "working class" delible affection, constructed of intimate in the online catalog of the University of knowledge. There is not much of this salvation by Houston library. Apparently Grove Press The ineradicable "working class" of epiphany in The Magic of Blood, but when decided a gutsy frankness was in order, these stories is not a socialist realist it comes, often from the most unexpected among. the other subject headings of pageant of heroic rebels, but a truly human sources—like the music of Vic Damone- "Mexican Americans—El Paso—Texas- comedy of ordinary Californians, Texans, the blessings are welcome. Gilb's stories California—Los Angeles" and so on. Mexicans, Americans trying to get by. In have the mournful exultation of the best Those are indeed a useful list of summary "Look on the Bright Side" a laid-off la- Tex-Mex songs: the emotions are high, cues for Gilb's work, which is primarily borer fights his landlady, travels across the low and sideways in a tangle, and only the devoted to the extraordinary lives of ordi- border, looks for work with a combination music keeps them resolved, as long as the nary, working-class Mexican Americans of desperation and diffidence. His voice in voice resounds. living in the greater Southwest, L.A. to the opening sentence crisply defines him: Phoenix to El Paso and onward, with even "The way I see it, a man can have all the HE LAST KNOWN Residence of a few brief stops in Austin and Houston. money in the world but if he can't keep his Mickey Acufia is a caballo of a Gilb himself apparently knows the terri- self-respect, he don't have shit." The nar- T slightly different color. As its title tory well. The promotional bio describes rator of "I Danced With the Prettiest Girl" hints, this book is an uncertain connection him as "a Chicano of Mexican and Ger- (a musical carpenter who "plays the ham- to the world of suspects and police reports, man-American descent," born in Los An- mer and nails") takes a trip to Austin, wan- although Mickey Acuila's world is not ex- geles and now living in El Paso, adding ders into a roadside bar, and enjoys an actly outlaw territory, rather a downmar- that he is a "journeyman carpenter" as well evening suitable for a honkey-tonk ballad. ket version of the universe of Kafka' s as a writer. Even without this confirma- "Al, in Phoenix," is an auto mechanic so Joseph K. The novel is set in El Paso, tion, it is evident in the on-the-job stories meticulous that he nearly drives his har- where Mickey has moved from the west that Gilb is writing from direct experience. ried customer to distraction. "Love in coast, waiting for an uncertain payment The sense of physical detail remembered L.A." recounts an ephemeral romance in from what seems to have been a vaguely with pride and affection resonates the middle of the daily non-stop traffic criminal enterprise in L.A. He is hardly a throughout, and particularly in those sto- jam. There's a songlike quality to many of high roller; after a short time, the only ries about men working at various con- these shorter tales, in that they explore the place he can afford to live is the El Paso struction trades. lyrical possibilities, negative and positive, YMCA, and that mostly to have a mailbox. Another sort of carpentry, Gilb's writ- of highly charged emotional situations: Soon he has taken a part-time job at the ten work has been accumulating in jour- family crises, awkward love affairs, battles front desk—mostly, he thinks, to keep an nals over the last several years, and The on the job. eye on the incoming mail—and his eyes Magic of Blood was first published in Yet on the whole the mood of the tales and responses are ours, as he slowly be- 1993 by the University of New Mexico and of the book is far from somber; there is comes one of the half-formed denizens of Press. Now Grove has reissued that col- the overall relish of Gilb's prose, and an en- the YMCA, sinking into a vague inanition lection in paperback, to coincide with its gaging ability to find what might be called a and uncertainty. publication of Gilb' s first novel, The Last proletarian transcendence in the bleakest Anyone who has ever spent any time in Known Residence of Mickey Acufia. It's situations. In "Churchgoers," an overbear- or around a big city Y will recognize the in- already a sizable body of work, with 26 ing construction foreman named "O.K." habitants of Mickey's world: primarily men lays workers off the job with impunity until of middle to late age down on their luck, the intimidating reputation of one called ranging in manner from the heroically dig- Michael King is a freelance writer in Houston. "Smooth" stops him short—with a sacred nified to the borderline demented. At first

THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 17 Mickey holds off that world by solitude, ex- insouciance of Gilb's stories in The Magic think that Gilb-ian novel is somewhere ercise, even manic success at ping-pong and of Blood. For his first novel, Gilb has sad- down the line. handball. But his acute sensibility is alert to dled himself with a neo-modernist fable In a way, he's done it already. Read to- the absurdity of this micro-neighborhood about alienation among the broken-down gether, these two books announce a major and his shadowy role in it, and he's uneasy and broken-hearted, and while in the new voice in American writing, and a at the way the place and the people stick to strictest sense he brings it off well, The sense that the literature is shifting along him despite his efforts to stay loose, to Last Known Residence of Mickey Acuna with the language in directions unimagin- imagine himself distinct and independent, leaves a taste bitter enough to make one able in those regionalist fictions coming to believe in the certainty of the money in wonder if the game was worth the candle. out of the east coast of high rises and high- the mail. He works odd jobs, flirts with file It's an intentionally anti-heroic, anti-ro- fashion denim. Gilb knows the stories of clerks and waitresses, makes a few tentative mantic tale—Gilb has a good bit of ironic those who built the high rises, who sewed friends, but he has no money and no place fun at the expense of the lurid Westerns the denim, and he tells them as clearly and in the world, and that vacuum slowly begins Mickey is fond of reading in bed—but in- precisely as any craftsman who knows and

to suck him dry. One character describes side this constricted, airless universe, it's is proud of his trade. ❑

the situation baldly: hard to empathize with characters all so "Oh, well, the people who live there, clearly at the end of their collective rope. they sometimes receive checks or cash. But perhaps Gilb has a notion, hard to dispute, that in the late 20th century Tex- ANDERSON SI COMPANY Or they're lonely and the open mail COFFEE from their children or relatives. People America, we all of us could use a little bit of slack. I'd like to see him take up one of TEA SPICES need these things. Sometimes I think get- TWO JEFFERSON SOIJARE ting mail is the only hope some of them the families that float quickly through the AUSTIN, TEXAS 78731 stories of have. It may be their last contact with a The Magic of Blood, and locate 512 453-1533 world that had to have been better for that drifting American male epitomized by Send me your list. Mickey into generations of grandparents them than the one they're living at the Name and grandchildren, brothers and sisters, YMCA, all alone in those rooms." cousins and neighbors, wives and lovers. Street It's an often harrowing tale, in the ordi- Perhaps Mickey would turn out much the City Zip nary sense virtually plotless, and though same, but we might get a better feel for the it's well-crafted, the novel has little of the larger world he has mysteriously fled. I

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18 • OCTOBER 14, 1994 Dutch Treat

BY STEPHEN G. KELLMAN

SEX, DRUGS AND DEMOCRACY 114 of the Dutch Constitution proclaims: To the resident of a nation living through Directed by Jonathan Blank "Capital punishment may not be imposed." the second decade of a war on drugs, where Redefining crime is an inexpensive way an errant puff is counted treason, or at least LOATING OVER the organiza- to reduce misdeeds. If we eliminated codes disqualification from high office, it is a tion's financial woes, a recent edi- against homicide, FBI statistics would im- shock to hear officials speak calmly and Gtorial in the San Antonio Express- prove dramatically, yet murder would re- candidly in defense of personal freedom. News railed against the "radical main a problem. But would nudity, pornog- "Both the Ministries of Justice and of environmentalism" of the Sierra Club. raphy, prostitution, pot, homosexuality and Health acknowledge that the drug issue has "One Earth One Chance" is its unexcep- euthanasia endanger the commonweal if to do with health and welfare," says what tionable motto, but because the Sierra Club they ceased to be concerns of the constabu- we might call the Dutch drug czar. "It's not dares defend the Edwards Aquifer and the lary? The Netherlands is a test tube for the a problem for police and justice." Surgeon golden-cheeked warbler, the group has be- limits of privacy. Sex, Drugs and Democ- General Joycelyn Elders risked retirement come the ACLU of the 1994 campaign, the racy reports that the experiment is a suc- by saying much less. demon of demagogues, Democratic and cess, not because the Dutch are especially A prostitute with as many as 15 customers Republican, who confuse progress with de- fond of harlotry or hash but because they a day describes her work as "just another velopment. In Texas, site to more toxic recognize that toleration is more effective job," one that provides sufficient income to waste than any other state, even moderate than repression in managing disorder. satisfy her bourgeois dreams. "It seems nec- environmentalists are tilting at windmills. Though free to indulge in erotic and essary to have prostitutes," concedes Sena- Windmills, tulips and wooden shoes are pharmacological practices that are banned tor Hanneke Gelderblom. But she adds: indigenous to the Netherlands, but, so, ac- elsewhere, the Dutch tend not to. Universal "Let's have them in a system where there is cording to director Jonathan Blank, is civic sex education is as unlikely as the stork to control, where they can go if they are sick or wisdom. Article 21 of the Dutch Constitu- produce pregnancy, and the policy of pro- if they want to get out of this job." You can tion guarantees: "It shall be the concern of viding clean syringes and methadone does get anything you want in the Netherlands, the authorities to keep the country habitable not encourage addiction, any more than almost, except guns. One assumes that in and to protect and improve the environ- open sale of marijuana stimulates heroin that enlightened land, fertile soil for bulbs ment." In the homeland of Erasmus and consumption. The Netherlands, where drug and hemp but not the Mafia or the NRA, Vermeer, the genuinely radical Greenpeace abuse and AIDS transmission are declining, guns do not kill, nor do armed outlaws. counts more than a million members, one- enjoys the lowest rates of abortion and Because a 1961 international treaty pre- fifth its strength worldwide. Amnesty Inter- teenage pregnancy anywhere. vents the Netherlands from rescinding national is widely admired in Amsterdam, Sex, Drugs and Democracy opens with some restrictions, the Dutch simply choose where respect for human rights leaves it lit- an epigraph from Dutch sage Baruch not to enforce them. Though grass is illegal, tle local work. You could fit more than Spinoza: "If true freedom were readily no one is arrested for smoking it. Sex, 1,200 Hollands within the borders of the available and could be found without great Drugs and Democracy does not probe State of Texas. If you did, it would surely effort, how is it possible that it should be ne- whether respect for all laws is undermined improve the quality of public life. glected by almost everyone? But all things when government itself encourages con- Sex, Drugs and Democracy portrays the excellent are as difficult as they are rare." tempt for some. Nor does it examine Netherlands as an Arcadia of progressivism, The film that follows does not neglect the whether European Union membership is a paradise of enlightened toleration where, theme of freedom; it offers a glimpse at a forcing the Dutch to accept the constraints according to Eddy Engelsman, Director of rare society whose official epistemology is under which fellow nations live. Alcohol, Tobacco and Drug Policy: "The not a function of penology. Blank and pro- Blank celebrates the country's ethnic and laws are for us; we are not for the laws." ducer Barclay Powers, who collaborated on religious diversity, a legacy in part of often Laws in the Netherlands, whose population the 1992 Collecting America, a study of the cruel colonialism, which his film does not of 15 million is merely a million less than baseball memorabilia business, provide a acknowledge. It does insist that bigotry in Texas, seem based on the extraordinary montage of images and interviews from a Holland is virtually unknown. premise that citizens are rational agents and country that is home to the planet's only How is hate speech handled? Few in the that private behavior is best kept out of court. Hashish Information Museum. Netherlands are very poor or very rich or Texas, with one of the highest rates of incar- Sex, Drugs and Democracy is a lively want for health care, education, employ- ceration of any place on earth, would do well travelogue, but it passes on the usual tourist _ ment or housing. But does the price of so- to examine the Netherlands, which boasts fare in favor of visits to store-front brothels, cial democracy, a tax rate as high as 60 per- the lowest. Prisoners there are an endangered the set of The Gay Dating Show and "coffee cent, oppress any? species. In the Lone Star State, where death shops" where substances more potent than It took the Dutch 80 years to attain inde- row is more crowded than some entire coun- caffeine are purveyed. Prostitutes, clergy, pendence from Spain and centuries to man- ties, they are endangered by cellblock sav- judges, scholars, politicians, artists, femi- age, but not defeat, the seas poised to over- agery and authorized assassination. Article nists and drug dealers are interviewed. Sel- whelm them. They have learned to cherish dom is heard a discouraging word, except freedom and forbearance. If, as Forrest from the curator of a tattoo museum who Gump insists, life is a box of chocolates, Steven G. Kellman teaches comparative litera- laments his loss of subsidy after elections viewers of Sex, Drugs and Democracy ture at the University of Texas at San Antonio. produced a sterner administration. might prefer that they be Dutch. ❑

THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 19 Corridos on the Border

BY LOUIS DUBOSE li I N THE CANCIONERO, I wrote Austin. As Reyes told Austin American- Rounder Records this winter, an eight-city about how the smuggler was Statesman arts columnist Belinda Acosta, tour of the border with Santiago Jimenez, looked upon as not a very bad per- "I got a call, out of the blue" from a man Jr. that begins October 20, and Hinojosa's son. On the Border, everybody innocently who said, "I understand that Miss Hinojosa discovery that the title of the song her was a small-time smuggler. People who is looking for a song by the name of 'Collar mother had smuggled out of Mexico some lived on the American side would go over de perlas.' I believe I know that song. I 50 years earlier was not "Collar de perlas." and visit relatives on the Mexican side and don't have it recorded but I know it. If she "I recognized the song she was looking they would take a few things with them, would be willing to come by my house, I for as 'Defame llorar,"' Don Americo said. and they would come back with He didn't have the .lyrics or the aguacate, pescado, or whatever. sheet music, so he sang the song Not to sell; this wasn't business." and taped it, as he would later do The "Cancionero" is A Texas- with 46 additional songs, playing Mexican Cancionero; Folksongs the guitar and singing—because of the Lower Border, by Americo of his delicate physical condition Paredes, the state's preeminent —very softly. "I haven't played Chicano scholar and a. novelist, the guitar since," he said of the folklorist, musicologist and poet. living-room recording sessions His book, With His Pistol in His he had finished a year earlier. Hand, was a warning shot for Some of those songs found their those scholars who had accepted way onto the Rounder record— that history was only what J. including "Las golondrinas," a Frank Dobie and Walter Prescott haunting poetic lament for lost Webb wrote. In his Austin living youth that seems like it was writ- room, Paredes discussed border ten for Hinojosa's exquisite history, chord progressions, his voice and the expressive; eclectic M. Pilar—a legendary shot who guitar of Marvin Dykhuis was only known to miss her target The ifCanciones y .Corridos de one time in her life—and smug- la Frontera" tour, conceived by gling. Pat Jasper, Rose Reyes, and Don Americo' s aside about Michael Stone, of Texas Folklife smuggling seemed appropriate, Resources, is a natural extension because the incident that con- of the work Hinojosa has begun nects Austin singer-songwriter in her apprenticeship with Don Tish Hinojosa and Americo Pare- Americo. It will include a num- des begins with an attempt to find ber of the traditional songs he in- a song that had been smuggled troduced her to, like "Malhaya la out of Mexico 50 years earlier. cocina," a rocking, humorous\ The song, brought to Hinojosa's feminist attack on men and their attention by old family friends in discontents, a song Don Americo Puebla, Mexico, two years ago is describes in his Cancionero as "Collar de perlas." Or so they not really Mexican but South thought. American; the lachrymose and In Mexico, "Collar de perlas" beautiful "Defame llorar;" and had been part of the repertoire of "Golondrinas." Hinojosa's own Hinojosa's mother, who in her compositions, inspired and in- youth had designs on singing in formed by her work with Pare- Saltillo's Casino de bellas artes, des, will also be performed. They until a series of events related in TINO MAURICIO, COURTESY TEXAS FOLKLIFE RESOURCES include her tribute to Don Tish Hinojosa's "West Side of Amitrico Paredes Americo, "Con su pluma en su Town," led her to San Antonio. mano," (With His Pen in His There, "Collar de perlas" was probably part would sing it to her." Hand) — and "Otro vasito," the only femi- of her front-porch repertoire, and if it wasn't When Reyes asked how she could con- nist cantina song this writer has ever heard. the Casino de bellas artes it was still a beau- tact him later, the caller said, "My name is The tour takes Hinojosa back to the bor- tiful song. Americo Paredes...." Thus, began a rela- der and also moves her in a somewhat dif- But it was a song that no one could tionship that would result in an apprentice- ferent artistic direction than she followed find—until Rose Reyes, who had traveled ship for Hinojosa, Don Americo's private on her most recent album, Destiny's Gate, to Puebla with Tish, answered a phone call recording of 47 songs for her, a collection released earlier this year by Warner Broth- at her office at Texas Folklife Resources in of "border songs" to be released by ers.

20 OCTOBER 14, 1994 ji I 'VE BEEN PLAYING music in the old style, like I promised my father when he died," Santiago POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE Jimenez Jr, the son and grandson of San An- tonio accordion players, said in a telephone interview. Jimenez, a conjunto accordionist LEADER OF THE PAC. Sen. Kay and three-time Grammy nominee, and bajo ✓ RUNNING SCARED. After the re- ✓ cent Democratic primary defeat of liberal Bailey Hutchison received $727,000 from sexto player Toby Torres will provide the health-care interests in the past two years, most traditional element of the "Canciones U.S. Rep. Mike Synar in Muskogee, Okla., and House Speaker Tom Foley got only tops in the Senate, Citizen Action reported. y Corridos" tour. "I'm going to play corri- The consumer advocacy group traced $46 Jacinto Trevino (a song also dis- one-third of the vote and was forced into a dos, like runoff in an open primary, the rising anti- million in contributions in 1993 and 1994 to cussed in Don Americo's Cancionero), "El opponents of comprehensive health reform. contrabandista de El Paso," and some of incumbent feeling across the country has Republicans hoping to regain control of A Hutchison spokesman complained that Cit- my father's songs, like "Viva Seguin." izen Action mistakenly included people who Jimenez, who learned the accordion from Congress for the first time in 40 years. At least half-a-dozen Texas Democratic Con- had no apparent health industry interests. Ed his father, a legendary conjunto accordionist, Rothschild, director of the Citizen Action has never performed on the Texas-Mexican gressmen are on the endangered list this fall, including Jack Brooks, the Judiciary project, said some contributors may have border. "Corpus Christi was as close as I've been included in error, but he doubted they been to the border to perform," he said. (Like Chairman seeking his 22nd term from Beaumont, Ron Coleman of El Paso, Mar- involved more than a few thousand dollars. American Bluesmen who often find their Rothschild noted that 48 percent of Hutchi- most enthusiastic audiences far from home, tin Frost of Dallas, John Bryant of Dallas, Bill Sarpalius of Amarillo and Charles Wil- son's contributors, worth $2.89 million, had he has performed in London and Germany.) no identification, in apparent violation of fed- The Border, Jimenez said, is more attuned son of Lufkin. Democrats hope Ken Bentsen can overcome right-wing Republi- eral election law, and many of them had to be to Tejano than conjunto music: "And the cross-checked with other sources. conjunto bands down there have their terri- can Eugene Fontenot' s wealth in the marginally Democratic central Houston The report, Unhealthy Money Part XII: tories. I've played in Lubbock and Abilene, The Special Interests Kill Health Care Re- Mexico City, on the other side of the border, district that incumbent Mike Andrews is va- cating, while in another closely watched form, also found that large donors em- but never on the borderline." ployed in the health industry increased their For Hinojosa, who has performed on the race, Democrat Rolando Rios, a San Anto- nio civil rights lawyer, is said to face an up- contributions by 96 percent and large Border only a few times, the tour is also donors working in the insurance industry something of a homecoming. "My family is hill fight to unseat freshman Republican Henry Bonilla in a district that, while upped their contributions by 67 percent. from Meir," she said, right across the river The top 10 Texas recipients in the House from Roma, Texas, where on October 21 Democratic, sprawls from suburban San Antonio to Laredo to El Paso and Midland. and their committee assignthents were Jack she will perform in the plaza. The music is Fields, R-Humble, Energy & Commerce; also something of a homecoming for Hino- In the Texas Senate, where Democrats hope to pick up three seats to regain a two- $214,165; Mike Andrews, D-Houston, josa, who has recorded with A&M, Ways & Means, $175,425; Joe Barton, R- Rounder, Austin's Watermelon Records, thirds majority, the key races are said to be Galveston Democrat Mike Martin's chal- Ennis, E&C, $120,082; Martin Frost, D- and Warner Brothers and is under contract Dallas, Rules, $98,650; Henry Bonilla, R- to Warner Brothers . lenge to freshman Sen. Jerry Patterson, R- Pasadena in a Galveston Bay district, and San Antonio, Appropriations, $77,342; "Some of them are songs I grew up with," Ralph Hall, D-Rockwall, E&C, $76,500; she said. "And my understanding and feel- the race between former Rep. Curtis Soileau, D-Lumberton, against Republican Gene Green, D-Houston, Education & ings for some of the songs Dr. Paredes Labor, $64,900; John Bryant, D-Dallas, recorded is already evolving; it changes Drew Nixon of Carthage in the Deep East Texas district that Bill Haley vacated. Dal- E&C, $64,525; Craig Washington, D- every time I go back to them. I'll be going Houston, E&C, $52,400; Charles Wilson, back to them for years." las Democratic Rep. David Cain is favored ❑ to win in northeast Texas District 2 but Appropriations, $50,500. Democrats may have lost a chance to regain Canciones Y Corridos Stephen District 22 in north-central Texas, where Lt. ✓ RESUME PROBLEMS. de La Frontera Tour Gov. Bob Bullock' s support for incumbent Mansfield, the Republican nominee for the • October 20 Pharr, PSJA High School Republican David Sibley of Waco has Texas Court of Criminal Appeals challeng- North, Student Performance headed off support for Margaret Ross ing Democratic incumbent Judge Charles Messina of Granbury in what should be a Campbell, has misrepresented his birth- • October 21 Roma I.S.D. Student place, his legal experience and his political Concert and Free Public Performance Democratic district. Republicans also hope history, Texas Lawyer magazine reported in at Roma City Park to pick off Democrats Steve Carriker of Wi- chita Falls and liberal veteran Carl Parker of its Oct. 3 issue. The magazine started inves- • October 22 Harlingen Municipal Port Arthur, whose new district includes tigating Mansfield after his name recently Auditorium more Houston suburbs. (The Democrats turned up among the Texas lawyers who had • October 23 Edinburg Hidalgo County will pick up at least one seat since Mario failed to pay a statewide attorney tax. Al- H4torical Museum Gallegos is unopposed in a new Houston though Mansfield claimed he had handled district.) 100 criminal cases, the magazine was un- • October 24 Edinburg, UT Pan American able to confirm any appearances in Texas Student Performance While the U.S. Senate and Congressional races look like damage control and the gov- criminal courts. Although a campaign hand- • October 27 Laredo Civic Center ernor' s race remains a tossup, Democrats out claimed he had written extensively on • October 28 Del Rio/San Felipe Creek are confident that Bullock, Comptroller criminal and civil justice issues, the maga- Amphitheater John Sharp and Attorney Gen. Dan Morales zine found he had written only three articles, one in a Bellaire newspaper and two in a • October 29 Uvalde Grand Opera Hall will fend off a straight-lever Republican pull and prevent a down-ballot rout. journal for charter life underwriters. Last

THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 21 spring he told the Lawyer he was a solo cratic National Committee, with and local agencies to provide at nominal practitioner from 1980 to 1984, but state $1,035,766 to the Democrats; Carroll W. charges public documents available under records show he was not licensed to practice Conn Jr. of Beaumont, James F. McIngvale the Open Records Act. law in Texas until 1992. The Boston Uni- of Houston, and Wayne Reaud of Beau- versity law school graduate was licensed to mont, each with $100,000 to the ✓ LIMITS ON CHOICE. With the in- practice in Massachusetts in 1978. Despite Democrats; and Republicans in Majority of creasing trend toward merger of Catholic his claim that he was born in Houston, he in Austin with $93,000 to the state Republi- and other non-profit hospitals, the restric- fact was born in Brookline, Mass., and al- cans. For more information call the. Center tions Catholic bishops have placed on repro- though he said he had never run for public for Responsive Politics at 202-857-0044. ductive health services may have an increas- office, he ran in Republican primaries for a ing impact on the general population, Congressional seat in New Hampshire in ✓ THEY'RE GAME. Gambling advo- according to Catholics for a Free Choice. 1978 and 1980. He told the Austin Ameri- cates have placed their bets on state elected While public attention has focused on the can-Statesman he forgot about those races. officials and apparently feel comfortable bishops' opposition to abortion coverage, enough about their chances of winning leg- CFFC President Frances Kissling noted that the church hierarchy opposes a wide range ✓ STILL SMOKING. Carbon II, the islative approval of casino gambling next 1,400-megawatt coal-fired power plant year to start announcing plans. A Fort Worth of health services, including contraception, being built across the Rio Grande from group has announced plans to make a casino in vitro fertilization, the morning-after pill Eagle Pass, could produce seven times as part of the Stockyards district and Gold Star for rape victims, and condoms, even to pre- much acid-rain-causing sulfur dioxide as International recently announced plans to vent the spread of AIDS. When Catholic and would a similar plant in the United States, build a $40 million dockside casino-and- non-profit institutions merge, the question of according to John Hall, chairman of the hotel complex in Kemah if the Legislature le- whether these services will continue to be Texas Natural Resource Conservation Com- galizes casino gambling next year, the Galve- denied has often become a sticking point. mission, in a letter to Gov. Ann Richards. ston Daily News reported. Gold Star lost $4.5 The bishops' agenda also has an enormous Mexican standards for particulate emissions million during the first 10 months operating impact in 46 areas across the nation—in- are 10 times less stringent than U.S. stan- the Star of Texas gambling ship that cruises cluding Kingsville, Texas—where Catholic dards and the nitrogen dioxide standard is offshore from Galveston, the newspaper re- hospitals are the "sole provider" of medical one-and-a-half times less stringent, Hall ported. Tigua Indians near El Paso hope to service. For information, call Catholics for a noted in the June letter. Sulfur dioxide emis- use their status as a sovereign tribe to convert Free Choice at 202-986-6093. sions not only threaten wildlife and vegeta- their bingo operation into a full-fledged tion in the Big Bend National Park, he casino, whether the state approves it or not. ✓ HITS & MRS. Jo Baylor, a Republican wrote, but could cause "significant visibility They were encouraged Oct. 3 when the U.S. running against Democrat Lloyd Doggett for impacts on the area surround[ing] the Mc- Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a the Austin Congressional seat Jake Pickle is Donald Observatory," in addition to the similar case. Already 21 states allow some vacating, owed $16,000 in delinquent prop- threat acidic deposits pose to the observa- form of casino gambling and 10 others, in- erty taxes dating back to 1987 and the Austin tory's research telescopes. cluding Texas, are considering it, according American-Statesman reported that she and Citing Hall's letter, Richards wrote Her- to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. her partners have paid other taxes late, de- minio Blanco, an official with Mexico's faulted on loans, clashed with the city over Secretary of Commerce and Industrial De- ✓ WHISTLESTOPPER. A district court the condition of her eastside properties and velopment, that emissions from Carbon I/II jury awarded whistleblower George Green fought internal battles over Baylor's man- will "create serious and unacceptable prob- $13.6 million in damages from the state after agement of their investments. But she com- lems in Texas." She added, "Unless this finding that the Department of Human Ser- pared her business career with that of her ex- matter is resolved, and emissions from the vices fired the staff architect in 1989 and husband, former major league baseball plant are reduced to acceptable levels, you then harassed him to the point of pursuing player Don Baylor. "If he could make a mil- and I will have failed to demonstrate that the criminal charges against Green after he re- lion dollars a year and only get a hit three out NAFTA or other U.S.-Mexico agreements ported alleged kickbacks and other viola- of 10 times, then I'm hitting better than he provide effective mechanisms for address- tions on state building projects. The Texas did," she said. ing binational environmental problems." Supreme Court upheld the verdict but on Richards noted in longhand, "Henninio- Sept. 29 it refused to order state officials to ✓ CONCERNS UNHEARD. A group of This matter is very important. It must be re- pay up. Attorney General Dan Morales said El Paso and Juarez environmentalists are solved. Carbon I/II pose a real problem to the Legislature must approve the expendi- turning to federal and international authori- Big Bend and McDonald. A." ture before Green gets the money and some ties for help after the Texas -Railroad Com- lawmakers have suggested the state try to mission voted Sept. 12 to proceed with an ap- plication to build a pipeline from the ✓ SOFT MACHINE. Donations of reach a settlement with Green. "soft money" to political parties rather than Chevron refinery in El Paso to the Pemex individual candidates have increased in ✓ FEEDOM OF INFORMATION. storage terminal south of Juarez without a Texas over the years, from $3.2 million in The Austin American-Statesman is on the hearing in the affected community. Mary 1988 to $3.6 million in 1990 and $3.9 mil- cutting edge of merchandising news. Along Scott Nabers, a Democrat up for election this lion in 1992, the Center for Responsive with its Sept. 27 report on a federal lawsuit year, wanted to hold a hearing in El Paso but Politics reported after a study of nine states. by a real estate developer challenging a city she was outvoted by Democrat Jim Nugent, Of all Texas soft money received in 1991- ordinance that restricts construction in the who also is up for election, and Republican 92, the state Democratic Party received environmentally sensitive Barton Springs Barry Williamson. The next step for the In- $2.9 million—three-fourths of the total. watershed, the Statesman advertised its "In- ternational Environmental Alliance of the More than half of the money was poured side Line Fax Service" by which readers Bravo, which is opposing the pipeline be- into party coffers during the last five weeks could purchase a faxed copy of the 16-page cause of Chevron's record of accidents at its before the elections, with 60 percent of the lawsuit for $7.95. That's nearly 50 cents a El Paso refinery, is to seek an environmental late contributions going to the Democrats. page. Ironically, journalistic and other pub- impact statement from the U.S. Department The top five contributors were the Demo- lic-interest groups have been urging state of the Interior. ❑

22 OCTOBER 14, 1994 Two Texas Poets • Communicating with Song for the College Miss Katie the Enemy Administrators She had these hands, gnarled hands, The film is set in Vietnam. Or The Dorkailelphiad, Book 1 the knuckles themselves like fists: A prisoner makes contacts Invocation. I kneel to thee, knots set in a row, Gropes his way to freedom Bureaucratease, 0 God bruised coffee-colored knots, Finally Of bloated words and vacant brains, and we whispered about her, But is arrested the Rod whispered lots, M.P.s waiting in white helmets To chasten all our slipshod days, 0 Heap but all the hush in our voices did As he leaves the cargo plane Of Paper guarding us from thought, was smoke our eyes and purse our lips, Because he'd learned another tongue, from sleep A set of alien sounds And drunken revels, dirty books, thin bitter lips, Tones and pitches and drugs, and twist the tendons in our necks, Meaningless Forever vigilant of tenured thugs but most of us kept muttering, In English. Seducing helpless coeds, shunning work muttered lots, Scenes might change, And squandering their substance, where terror growing in us like mold: Footage altered irreversibly there lurk we were frightened, If we could drink Thy many watchful eyes to monitor scared we were growing our own Each other's words, Our every class, each word, slowly to bore twists of bruise-colored bone, Through all our vices like an auger ground Swallow sounds across the ocean ours, though, hiding inside us, Into packed dirt. So now, all tightly bound Let them roll back lodged away from sight, In shame and hope, I beg of thee, 0 Muse Toward the throat invisible without an x-ray Of Dorkadelphia, the House of Ruse Like chardonnay, or exploratory knife And just a few provisionary bats, Linger on the palate James Hoggard Like a plate of bourguingnon I thee implore, for all those irksome gnats Heat up night like salsa, That staff your dorkdom; What is in The Chinese Bridge Sounds voluptuous as avocados me low, across the Tigris in Mosul, Iraq Pungent as a bowl Make lower; what is in me quick, Of Szechuan chicken make slow; The Chinese built the bridge, Or Mongolian beef And what is clear, befog, that I may make and one of them, legend says, is buried Staccato foods My strawless student bricks without . beneath it Like moo goo gai pan complaint He was down in a hole adjusting a form Crisp syllables topped with lemon And, like that other Prodigal, come to to set a pillar in when someone tripped In a cobalt bowl, Myself, receive the Fatted Calf, a Blue a switch and a load of quick-drying cement Legaki words like bisque Ribboned Trojan Horse, perhaps a boot poured down like God's wrath on him To hold my merit pay and other loot. Or ice-cold vichyssoise. Some say, however, such never happened Its wooden sole too small and stiff to fit No one reports hearing moans near there The soldier's doing time now A scholar's foot, it holds the fleas that flit at night when lost ghosts cry, and no one Hoping to complete his sentence, In those earnest packs from Board to going through the eucalyptus forest nearby Probably with beans Board and know reports seeing will-o-the-wisp flares, . Potatoes Those rooms where District seraphs come the hearts of sad souls catching fire Squash. and go, Carol Coffee Reposa Talking of budget overflow, while slugs Maybe so, that may be, the agreeable say: Like me, forever wriggling on the rug, Perhaps the body's not there, never was Now mutely mouth the great words on But it is, others insist, it is there, each wall: and the absence of sign is proof, James Hoggard teaches at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. Carol "Which way I crawl is small, myself am for the absence of an outcry after death Coffee Reposa is a writer, poet and teacher small." is the surest sign of the fact of death in San Antonio. Carol Coffee Reposa James Hoggard

THE TEXAS OBSERVER • 23 Postmaster: If undeliverable, send Form 3579 to The Texas Observer, 307 W. 7th St., Austin, Texas 78701

The Texas Observer Benefit Banquet 40th Anniversary Celebration Celebrating 40 years of Ronnie bugger's Texas Observer and presenting The Frankie Randolph Social Justice Award to Bernard Rapoport and featuring a roomful of rowdy & cantankerous, past & current Observer editors, writers & pundits at the Austin Music Hall in downtown Austin, 208 Nueces Saturday - October 15, 1994 - 7:30 p.m. 6:00 cash bar social hour with Beto Skiles & Tish Hinojosa at Austin Music Hall, $35 donation 6:00 cocktail party and reception with Ronnie, Barney, Willie, Molly and the gang at Scholz Garten, $100 donation

For reservations, call 512-477-0746 Do not by shy about contacting the Observer IN ADVANCE for information about reduced rates or gratis tickets. A number of Observer supporters have contributed to the ticket fund for those who want to attend but can not afford it.

24 • OCTOBER 14, 1994