Death in Veracruz by Héctor Aguilar Camín (review)

Set during the oil wars of Mexico in the 1970s, Héctor Aguilar Camín’s noir novel Death in Veracruz jumps right into a tale of corruption and intrigue that revolves around politician Francisco Rojano and his enemy, union leader Lázaro Pizarro. The novel’s first person narration, recounted by a man readers only know as Negro, a nickname which appears to have been affectionately granted him by Rojano’s wife, Anabela, offers the direct and unportending story of Rojano and Pizarro’s never clear, never obvious double-dealings, as Negro, journalist and lifelong friend of Rojano, constantly works to obtain the truth pertaining the various atrocities described as occurring behind the scenes. As is repeated various times throughout the novel, Pizzaro’s chilling motto, “Destroy to create. Whoever can add can divide,” suggests that Pizzaro be defined as Camín’s character most culpable for the novel’s concerning events; however, as the novel moves forward, Pizarro’s words become a pithy axiom for several of the main characters, eliciting the idea that within such an intense setting, rarely is anyone, truly, the novel’s only “bad guy.”

Camín uses the character of Rojano to show that Pizarro is not the only one to blame for the corruption and dishonesty that is described as permeating throughout the country. While the supposed wrongdoings of Pizarro, the novel’s named villain, are the reason Rojano calls upon Negro for assistance, Negro, despite his obvious loyalty to his friend, offers up situations and descriptions in his narration that immediately disrepute the character of Rojano as well. Although the famous tagline belongs to Pizarro, destroying to create rather quickly is shown to describe Rojano’s methods as well as Rojano comes to Negro with what appears to be an up-and-coming news story, something that he knows would be of interest to Negro. Following this interaction, however, the anthem of destroy to create reveals its wicked head as it becomes clear that Rojano’s personal motives in the situation far outweigh any benefit that Negro’s career might reap. After telling Negro about the underhanded offers and mysterious deaths that lead back to Pizarro’s want of acreage, Rojano requests that Negro, “[K]eep your eyes open […]. Help me investigate this whole business. Let something drop in the national press when the time is ripe.” Here, Rojano’s true motives in the matter become clear; his aim to sully Pizarro’s name in an effort to become mayor of Chicontepec is the creation that, in order to generate, he is willing to destroy for. As he doesn’t think about the consequences for Negro when he asks him to investigate a man who is a known murderer, Camín’s plot and descriptions place Rojano into the same context as this criminal, Pizarro. While it is clear that Pizarro will do what he has to do to get what he wants, Camín also elucidates that Rojano is a character of the same breadth: both of these men are willing to destroy the lives of others to create the future reality that they refuse to lose; thus, in such a harsh landscape as that of the battlegrounds of Mexico, one cannot be too careful when it comes to trust and confidence. Camín’s use of homogeneous characters works to imply that such a situation as this requires unprincipled and amoral individuals: his depiction of Rojano explains that Pizarro is not alone in this classification.

Through his description of Rojano’s wife, Anabela, Camín again paints the unscrupulous terrain of Mexico in the ‘70s in such a light that elicits the necessary presence of unsavory and ruthless characters, and alongside the growing understanding of Rojano’s persona, Camín also explains that conniving individuals are not restricted to the male sex. Just as Rojano has no qualms when asking Negro for his assistance, his wife, in turn, treats Negro as an object to be used so that she can have...