Tempestad

All the women were asleep.

It was the early hours, since the prison was already silent.

Suddenly, I heard my name being shouted out.

I was afraid because.

It wasn't usual to be summoned at that time,

I thought they were coming to take me to the punishment well.

The "prison crier" who was shouting for me

came to my cell and told me to get up,

that I had to go to the visitors' grille.

It was a really long corridor...

When I got to the visitors' grille,

I was standing there

when a man came along

and said to me,

Are you Miriam Carbajal Yescas?

Yes.

I'm going to read this to you:

As per article this and that,

on this day 31 August 2010,

for lack of evidence,

Miriam Carbajal

is unconditionally released.

I couldn't quite believe it at first.

No...

No words can express the emotion you feel

when they tell you you're free.

I grabbed some trainers, trousers, a T-shirt,

and the photo of my son, the first thing I saw when I woke up...

We knew there was a curfew in Matamoros at nights,

it was almost as if the city was at war

and every day there'd be clashes between the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel

and the police and all.

The lawyer who came to collect me

was afraid that we might be kidnapped on the way.

Just five days before, they'd found 72 migrants

in a mass grave in San Fernando.

I didn't have any money, I was a very long way from home,

in the north of Mexico.

I had to travel across the whole country to reach my house in Tulum.

More than 2,000 kilometres.

I remember that I got to the bus station

and went into the toilet.

It was the first time I'd seen myself in the mirror for ages

and I didn't recognise myself,

I didn't recognise the woman standing in front of me.

I couldn't look people in the eye because I felt

as if everybody knew I'd been in prison,

as if I was carrying a placard saying.

"This woman was a convict" or "She's a convict!"

I started

trying...

to get my head to understand that I was out.

That the prison was left behind now

and that I had to carry on.

I began to...

to imagine that last morning I saw my child

and tried to remember where his bed was

or some things about his clothes,

what Leo's room was like, what my house was like,

the colour of the walls.

I was terrified of opening the door of my house

and finding that pot of chicken stock

I'd made just before

they took me away.

And I said, well, I'm going to start from there,

pick up where I left off as if this had been a break or a dream.

There was another part of my head,

and above all of my heart, that was excited.

I was making plans, like...

I'm going to paint my house and we're going to go

to the beach every day.

Where are you going, Sir?

Just to Victoria.

The terminal.

- The bus terminal? - Yes.

- Is this suitcase yours? - Yes.

- Where are you from? - From here, from Matamoros.

- What do you do? - I'm a driver.

- Where do you work? - At the Royal company.

- Do you have any ID? - Yes.

And where are you headed?

To the port in Tampico to pick up a truck.

- A company truck? - Yes.

What's your address?

It's an address in the central district, here in Matamoros.

Why's the address on the ID in Guanajuato?

The thing is, they haven't given me a new ID for here.

So here is where you lived before?

- Here? - This address?

Ah! Yes.

You'll need to change your ID as soon as possible.

Of course.

Next.

- Is this yours? - Yes.

Has it already been checked?

Yes, it has.

- What do you do, Miss? - I'm studying.

- Where are you studying? - At the... I'm at high school.

- Where are you going? - To Tampico, Madero.

- Reason for the trip? - To visit my dad.

- Is that where your dad lives? - Yes.

- What's your dad's address? - It's on calle Rhin...

Where the hospital is. Behind the...

By the Pemex wall. Around there.

Has your case already been checked?

Your colleague's already checked it.

- Reason for your trip? - Business.

- What's your job? - Electrician.

- Are you travelling for a company? - Yes, for a company.

- How long are you staying in Tampico? - A week.

Take your hands out of your pockets, please.

- Is this your current address? - Yes, sir.

They arrested me on March 2nd, 2010.

That day, I got up at 6 in the morning.

I showered,

made my lunch

and woke up Leo to give him a bottle.

I was working at Cancun airport, in the immigration area.

I had already got started on my work

which consisted of processing incoming tourists

when a man

dressed in plain clothes

approached my passport control desk

and said to me, "I need you to go to the office,

right now."

When I got to the office,

most of my colleagues were already there.

They told us we were going to have to go to Mexico City,

there and then.

And I said,

"Oh well, that's just the way it is, it comes with the job."

I asked them if it'd take long

because I'd need to find somebody to look after my son

if I wasn't going to be back in time for bed that night.

When the plane landed in Mexico City.

I noticed that there were 20 police cars surrounding the plane.

They took us directly to the offices

of the Federal Investigation Agency.

There were like 30 photographers who began to take photos

and a man, a public prosecutor,

who said we were there

accused of organised crime

and people trafficking.

They took us to a place called El Arraigo, the holding cells.

It made the national news, it was on the telly,

in the newspapers,

"We've caught a gang of people traffickers,"

something like that.

Once we were in the holding cells, that's when they first took me down

to my court-appointed lawyer...

They provide the lawyer for you.

I wanted to know who was accusing me, what proof they had

why this thing had blown up.

And he said:

"The National Institute of Immigration has brought charges against you."

And he said,

"Look, I know that your case has come from the top

this is a political situation where they have

to show they're getting results

in their handling of people trafficking, which does exist."

"Here, we call you payers,

people who pay for other people's crimes.

We know you didn't do anything but,

well, somebody's got to pay."

What on earth can you say to that?!

I remember that I said to my sister

"I don't know, do whatever it takes but get me out of here.

When I'd served the maximum 80 days in the holding cells

they read us out a paper that said:

"Miss So-and-So

will be transferred to Matamoros prison."

They handcuffed me immediately

and put a black cloth bag over my head.

When we got to the prison

we went along a really narrow corridor,

where they asked me my name,

my age.

The guard who signed me in told me

to be on my best behaviour and do everything that they told me.

I didn't know who she was talking about.

There was a big courtyard

and in this courtyard there were

something like...

25 men.

Their appearance was

very intimidating.

They had machetes and were carrying assault rifles.

The first thing they told us to do was to kneel down

with our faces to the wall

and they introduced themselves.

"This is the territory of the Cartel,

you're in a self-governing prison

and we're in charge here...

They told us we wouldn't be staying there for free

and that the fee for respecting our lives was five thousand dollars.

They tortured each of us in turn

they beat us with boards, on our bodies.

They went from one person to the next

with a note book and a pencil or a pen.

"Let's see, your mother,