Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
“La Bestia” is a hit song in Central America.
Turns out, the song, which chronicles the dangers of Mexican freight trains, was reportedly written by Customs and Border Protection as propaganda to discourage immigration to the U.S., the Washington Times reports.
“Migrants from everywhere, entrenched along the rail ties/Far away from where they come, further away from where they go,” the lyrics go. “They call her the Beast from the South, this wretched train of death/With the devil in the boiler, whistles, roars, twists and turns.”
In 2004, Customs and Border Patrol also wrote a propaganda song for Mexican audiences called “No Mas Cruces.”
The federal government said listeners aren’t told who wrote the song.
“It’s more important to us that the message be delivered,” Laurel Smith, director of communications and outreach for CBP told The Daily Beast. “We want to make sure the audience is listening.”
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