M3 Report

Another day of shootings in Mexico

m3report — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:52:39 +0000

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

El Universal (Mexico City) 11/9/09

Narco landing strip discovered

Honduran authorities discovered a clandestine landing strip in the western part of the country apparently for the use of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel. The dirt runway is 900 meters, believed to be long enough to accommodate nearly any aircraft. The strip is new and apparently had not yet been used.

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Partial summary of day’s violence

- The commander of the municipal police of Moroleon, Guanajuato, was killed in an attack and two other police officers were wounded. The three were patrolling in a vehicle when they received fire from an armed group.

- In Celaya, Guanajuato, the body of a woman was found. She showed signs of torture and had a message fastened to her body.

- In Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, violence claimed 10 lives in various bars and other businesses.

- Two youths were killed in street violence in Durango, state of Durango.

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El Financiero (Mexico City) 11/9/09

Mexican legalization program

The Mexican immigration department (INM) in the southern border state of Chiapas has received over 400 applications for “normalization” of immigration status from foreigners in the country. This is a result of a government program called “Normalization of Central Americans” who live in Chiapas. The INM issued a statement that it is necessary for Central Americans who enter Mexico and rely on employment, have Mexican children or marry Mexicans to go to an INM office in the state. The procedure is free and they won’t be detained during the process.

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Drug destruction in Peru

The National Police of Peru (PNP) today incinerated 10 tons of illegal drugs seized in operations in diverse areas of the country. So far this year, the PNP has destroyed 21,000 kilos of drugs. The Vice-minister of Interior pointed out that the combat against narcotraffic is not limited only to seizures and destruction of drugs, but also directed at the dismantling of criminal organizations.

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Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacan) 11/9/09

Job openings

The designation of new police chiefs in some Michoacan cities still remain an unfulfilled duty for the new mayors of cities in which the former mayors were arrested last May for presumed links to organized crime. While no time limits are imposed on such designations by a new mayor, the delay has left nine cities without police leadership, leaving the state and federal authorities to do the job.

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El Debate (Sinaloa) 11/9/09

Youth, 15, murdered

Six people entered a home in Culiacan, Sinaloa, this morning and shot to death a youth of 15 years. He received multiple gunshots.

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La Jornada (Mexico City) 11/9/09

Caught in crossfire

A passenger bus in Torreon, Coahuila, was caught in the middle of a gunfight between two narco gangs. Stray bullets killed a seven-year-old boy, and wounded two female passengers. One of the females, 17, lost a leg. One of the gunmen was also killed.

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-end of report-

Over the weekend: Mexico a poor choice for a police career; border relations better than ever: Napolitano

m3report — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:59:42 +0000

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

Saturday 11/7/09

El Universal (Mexico City) 11/6/09

Arrests made in General’s assassination

State authorities in Garcia, Nuevo Leon, arrested 10 people in connection with the murders of the newly appointed Chief of Police, Brigadier General Juan Esparza, and four of his bodyguards [Friday's M3 Report]. The General and his escorts were ambushed and gunned down by a contingent of some 30 hit men from Los Zetas, the armed branch of the Gulf drug cartel. Among those arrested were municipal and transit police and an active political member of the leftist PRD party. The politician, Norberto Jaime Trevino, had been an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of the city of Garcia where the murders took place. Trevino had been involved in illegal activities for which he was personally admonished by the present mayor of Garcia. Supposedly, the attack orchestrated by Trevino for vengeance, was only meant to frighten the General.

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Controversial issue

[An editorial titled "Do we kill criminals?" Ref: M3 Report 11/3/09]

A great deal of commotion has surrounded the mayor of San Pedro [Nuevo Leon] after announcing, first, that he would “create cleaning crews” against criminals and then revealing that a presumed narco trafficker was executed in DF [Federal District] before the authorities in the capital had confirmed the discovery. Death squadrons in Mexico? Serious, but there had already been indications for some time. The problem that faces us now is that the people don’t seem to react, indignant, when an authority promotes this discretional use of brute force.

There lacks a national survey to confirm this, but the comments of citizens already give us an indication of support. A horrifying coincidence considering the discussion about the death penalty. In 2008, 75% of the people approved of it, even knowing that in this country, the corruption and the inefficiency of the judicial system does not permit knowing if all those detained and convicted are in reality guilty. Already one political party has taken advantage of this issue to win votes and got them. Would the same tactic benefit the “avengers” like the mayor of San Pedro? It would be a dreadful precedent.

The citizens must understand that opposing death squadrons is not hypocrisy. It is knowing history and human behavior. A mercenary contracted by governments or business groups to eliminate criminals will sooner or later become part of a band of kidnappers or murderers. This has already happened with elite Mexican military; from such came Los Zetas. In Colombia the businessmen created paramilitary groups that the country now cannot get rid of. The civil population, that cannot pay “civilian guards.” are the ones who will always end up in the crossfire.

Impunity should never be a pretext to justify the irrational use of force.

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Lapolaka (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 11/6/09

An afternoon in Cd. Juarez

[Translation of short article titled "Cartels in total war."]

Cd. Juarez — The city became a street disaster this Friday evening because of crime. A series of gunfights caused police responses, cars in pursuit and continuous congestion of streets. At [one] intersection, a taxi was blasted by an armed group. In the interior of the vehicle resting on a center divider were the dead driver and two unidentified passengers. In [another neighborhood] a motorcyclist was chased and shot with rifles. The body of the victim remained lifeless under the wheels of a bus. On [another street in another neighborhood] a Stratus automobile occupied by hit-men collided with a bus causing the bus to turn over. While the killers ran through the streets with their assault rifles on their shoulders, paramedics attended the 15 injured passengers who were riding on the bus.

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Huge opium gum seizure

The Mexican military near the town of Guadalupe y Calvo, Chihuahua, [near the southern border of the state] made one of the largest seizures of opium gum in history. The operation netted 203 kilos of gum in nine plastic containers with an estimated value of nearly seven million dollars. The gum can be converted into morphine, heroin and/or codeine

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Sunday 11/8/09

El Universal (Mexico City) 11/7/09

Tough day for Mexican police: a collection of today’s stories

- Agents of the organized crime division of the Mexican federal department of justice (SIEDO) arrested 12 Guerrero state police investigators for apparent connections with narco criminals. The state agents were summoned to an anti-narcotics office to presumably carry out an operation. On arrival, they were disarmed and arrested on federal warrants by SIEDO agents assisted by military units.

- State police in La Union, Guerrero, responding to a report of the discovery of a body, were ambushed by a group of hit men. The attack wounded five of the officers and killed another.

- A federal police commander and an agent were gunned down in Mexicali, Baja California, when they arrived at a residence suspected of narco activity. The attack also wounded another federal agent accompanying them.

- In another incident, a municipal police captain in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, was assassinated while driving his personal car.

- The mutilated body of a presumed policeman was discovered in the town of Soledad de Doblado, Veracruz, an area where federal forces killed the leader of a group of Los Zetas last Tuesday. The body, with clothing that appeared to be a police uniform, had a message on the chest signed by Los Zetas, the armed branch of the Gulf drug cartel.

- While eight people were murdered in Sinaloa state during the past day, another victim of a shooting that occurred August 29 died in the hospital from the injuries she suffered in an attack that targeted and killed her husband, a municipal police agent.

- And in Tijuana, Baja California, authorities have learned that organized crime planned to assassinate the Secretary of Public Security because of the actions he has taken against them. Although he has not received death threats, federal authorities have information that an attack was planned. This has put the authorities on alert. The mayor said, in effect, that the top police official is threatened because he is actually doing his job. Those who are not performing their duties have nothing to fear.

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El Financiero (Mexico City) 11/7/09

Mexico and US working together as never before: Napolitano

In an interview with the Spanish daily El Pais, US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that the US and Mexico have, at this time, the best cooperation in working jointly against narcotraffic. ”We work very closely with President Calderon and his government and there cannot be more agreement in that there is enormous interest by the US in defeating the cartels,” she said. ”For us, it is a matter of national security in that these organizations should introduce drugs in hundreds of communities,” she emphasized. Referring to the topic of migration, she said President Barack Obama wants to move ahead with that in 2010. She anticipates changes will be presented to Congress in the first half of next year. She said that there is a better system for finding those who have crossed the border illegally and for identifying the businesses that give them employment. There is a growing public awareness that there must be change. She also affirmed that there is a majority who see the illegals, in most part, as future US citizens.

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Frontera (Tijuana, Baja California) 11/7/09

Intriguing story fragment

A citizen report led Mexican Army troops to discover a tunnel in Tijuana, which in turn, led to the discovery of a storehouse with 125 kilos of marihuana, 23 vehicles and the arrest of six people. The tunnel was discovered under a house that was under construction in Colonia 70-76 and is 10 meters deep, 1.85 meters high,1.10 meters wide and 1.22 meters long. [sic] The storehouse was located in Colonia 20 de Noviembre. [This is essentially all the information in the story. The problem, aside from the dimensions of the tunnel, is that the two colonias are not near one another and no explanation was given how the tunnel and storehouse are connected. However there was a good photo. Attached.]

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Monday 11/9/09

Frontera (Tijuana, Baja California) 11/8/09

Update on yesterday’s tunnel story

The number of arrests in the tunnel caper reported yesterday increased from six to eight. Those arrested are presumed to be the ones constructing the tunnel. Also, the length of the tunnel was increased from 1.22 to 122 meters. Other than referring to it as a “narcotunnel,” the story left all other questions unanswered.

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El Universal (Mexico City) 11/8/09

Violence against news reporters

Eight journalists were assassinated within the past six months in Mexico and 53 between 2000 and 2009, advised the International Press Society (SIP). The SIP pointed out that attacks against the news media increase in an atmosphere of impunity. ”Mexican journalism faces a constant threat, considering the cases of assassinations and attacks,” according to a report presented to the assembly. There are areas where news reporters suffer difficulties in carrying out their work due to the growth of organized crime and the battle the government has brought against the criminals. The assembly report also complained that the present legislature “doesn’t have the same political will as the former one,” criticizing its elimination of a Special Commission for monitoring attacks on journalists and communications media.

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El Financiero (Mexico City) 11/8/09

Arms traffic controlled by subsidiaries, not drug cartels: PGR

The large criminal drug trafficking organizations do not control the arms traffic but rather, their distribution networks contact buyers in the US and they bring the arms into Mexico, according to a study by the Mexican Department of Justice (PGR). The smuggling operation is carried out in a series of small shipments (“ant trails”) and not big ones all at once, the PGR analysis indicates. ”Up to now, no criminal organization, foreign or national, has been detected exclusively trafficking in arms,” said the report. The report also pointed out that Los Zetas, the armed branch of the Gulf drug cartel, has obtained most of their armament from Mexico’s present federal administration. The official investigation assures that “in the US, there are no clandestine groups that sell arms, but along the length of the border with Mexico there are more than 12,000 sales establishments.”

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-end of report-

Panic in a school. A close call

m3report — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:44:42 +0000

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

Friday, 11/6/09

El Diario , Norte (both: Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 11/5/09

Panic in a school; a close call

[An update in yesterday’s report about homicides in Ciudad Juarez mentioned that there had been eleven such crimes but that there were still hours left in the day] Wednesday ended with a total of fifteen execution style murders in Ciudad Juarez. One other person was wounded but so far had survived. Yesterday’s report had also mentioned that, in Juarez, four individuals were made to leave a car and were placed against a wall, where they were shot. The wall happened to be made of cinder blocks and made up the outside perimeter of a grade school. There were some thirty children doing exercises on the other side of the wall at the time, and four of the rounds went through the wall and narrowly missed hitting the children. At the sound of gunfire panic ensued and teachers immediately made all children hit the ground. Children inside classrooms were also made to be on the floor for ten minutes.

The killers on the other side of the wall used AK47 assault rifles; around one hundred shell casings were later found in the area. The killers escaped. Juarez has now had thirty-three homicides during November.

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Reforma , El Universal (both: Mexico City) 11/5/09

Police chief murdered

Just last Saturday, Juan Esparza, a Mexican Brigadier General and past escort for two presidents, took over as “Secretary of Security” [read: Police Chief] of the city of Garcia, a satellite community of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. Yesterday (Wed.) he and four escorts were responding to an assistance call from the city’s mayor; on the way, they were ambushed by a number of killers in other vehicles. All five were killed in a torrent of assault rifle fire. Some 200 shell casings were later found at the scene. Afterward, the city’s mayor ordered the immediate relief from duty of all 70 city policemen and an investigation into their activities surrounding the killings. Military and state police took over law enforcement duties in Garcia.

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La Prensa Grafica (San Salvador, El Salvador) 11/5/09

Military reinforcing police in El Salvador

El Salvador’s Minister of Defense stated that 2,500 military personnel will be assigned to combat crime in the five departments [states] of the country with the highest incidence of homicides. Yesterday, the country’s president announced the assignment of the military to assist the National Police in law enforcement. El Salvador, (slightly smaller than Massachusetts) has had 3,673 homicides this year. A retired Salvadoran colonel, now a congressman, and the country’s Economic and Social development Foundation, have both criticized the assignment of the military for civilian law enforcement duties. They stated it shows a lack of an integral plan to combat crime and that putting soldiers out to walk among the people will only cause frustration when the violence does not diminish.

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Prensa Libre (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 11/5/09

Cocaine seizure update

Some days ago, Guatemalan officials reported the seizure of a mini-sub smuggling cocaine in the Pacific off the coast of Guatemala. They now state that the DEA has informed them that the seized craft was transporting 4,992 kilos (10,982 lbs.) of cocaine, the largest load seized near Guatemala. [M3 Report of 10/23/09 relates]

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- end of report -

Chihuahua: rampant violence

m3report — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:11:55 +0000

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

Thursday, 11/5/09

Norte, El Diario, Lapolaka, Agora (all from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 11/4/09

Chihuahua dawns with 19 executions. Rampant violence continues.

(A compilation) Today (Wed.) was just a few minutes old when a group of masked and armed men burst into the “Amadeus” Club, described as an exclusive, well guarded, topless night spot and bar in downtown Ciudad Juarez. There, the intruders tried to carry off a couple of individuals seated with others around a table. When those seated resisted, a scuffle began and then the intruders opened fire with handguns and assault rifles. Most reports agreed that six men were killed, though an updated report mentioned that a seventh, an “exotic dancer,” was also shot and died. One of the men killed had U.S. Air Force credentials, as did also one other man who was taken to El Paso after receiving emergency first aid in Juarez.

“Norte” also reported six other homicides in Juarez yesterday, not related to the “Amadeus” killings. But “El Diario de Coahuila” (Saltillo, Coah.) today reported two other triple executions plus other ones last night in the state of Chihuahua, which brought to nineteen the total of those assassinated. To cap the bloody day, “Lapolaka” reported that early this afternoon a group of hired killers caught up with four men who were traveling in a car in Juarez. The four were made to get out and to stand up against a wall on the neighborhood street, there to be shot. One, who tried to run and escape, made it only a short distance before the bullets reached him. The other three died against the wall. That made eleven assassinations just in Juarez this day. The writer of that last column mentioned that Wednesday still had hours left.

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La Hora (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 11/4/09

“Who said we’re a poor country?”

Full transl. of an op/col. by Francisco Caceres Barrios, titled as above

The information I have just received had me reach the conclusion that made me wish we were a poor country such as Finland, whose national anthem says: “…. We are a poor country that has no gold, the resource we have is our people.” That is the reason why they invest in their people. There, it’s mandatory that every person receive training and education that will allow them to go as far as their capability allows. For them, it’s not enough to have “some” educated persons, on the contrary, “the entire society” has the right to count on their ability to develop properly during their lifetime. That’s how they strive in Finland to face and resolve the problems of education and corruption. They know well that an educated people can elect honest and competent leaders, the way an ignorant people wastes its resources and becomes impoverished, becoming fertile ground for the demagogues.

On the other hand, Guatemala is a country rich in beauty, resources, climate, scenery, ancestral culture, ah, well, countless things Finland and so many countries of the globe would like to have. Might that be why we forget about the education and the formation of the character of our people and we occupy ourselves in corrupting society to the nth degree? That’s why, for example, public works projects such as the bus terminal of the Aldea Fronteras, in Livingston, Izabal,(*) have not been completed despite the fact that 2.0 million quetzals (**) were given to that contractor in advance. Likewise, our justice courts prescribe “compensations” for themselves, when, instead, they ought to reimburse the people for their ill gotten gains during the period for which they were elected, without fulfilling their duties to the best of their ability.

Since we’re rich instead of educating and bringing up our people, we let the trusteeships continue, which officials use to carry out the best crooked deals they can think of under guise of being more efficient with their expenditures. We are so rich that we allow smugglers and drug traffickers to do as they wish and that the police itself, the representatives of the law, may contribute to the shameless proliferation of corruption. Since we have more than enough resources, we allow our congressmen or judges to have good banquets with the peoples’ money, which should instead have been invested in its education and character formation.

Even worse, in our country, so envied by those who visit us, we treat them badly, we assault them, we rob them, we rape their women without being charged by the law, or we give them fines for parking their vehicles incorrectly without relying on the street parking signs, instead of protecting them as a present and future treasure. On top of all that, during the last few years, even with more determination, we have irresponsibly dedicated ourselves to destroying our environment. As a sample, Lake Atitlan, “the most beautiful in the world” is proof enough. And still, can they insist in saying we are poor?

(*) – Livingston is a city in the dep’t. (state) of Izabal, on Guatemala’s Caribbean coast.

(**) – Quetzals: the Guatemalan currency

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Prensa Libre (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 11/4/09

A facet of crime in Guatemala

Armed assaults and robberies continue against Guatemala’s public transport system. Two separate incidents in buses yesterday resulted in three deaths and six persons wounded by firearms. The usual M.O. is for the thugs to board the bus, pretending to be innocent passengers; then, at a selected point, they proceed to carry out their armed attacks. Six other persons were murdered in Guatemala yesterday, in events unrelated to the attacks in buses.

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Armada Nacional de Colombia (Bogota, Colombia) 11/4/09

More cocaine on the Pacific

Colombian Coast Guard units and the U.S. Coast Guard vessel “Sherman” intercepted a northbound motorboat 52 nautical miles off the western coast of Colombia. Aboard the boat: 2,219 kilos of cocaine, plus shrimp, lobster and six crewmen.

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Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacan) 11/4/09

State of Michoacan emigration

At the opening ceremony of a Family Unity Forum, the governor of Michoacan acknowledged that the state of Michoacan ranks at the top level nationally in migrations to the United States and Canada, and that more than half of the emigrants are young. He added that half of the prison inmates in Michoacan jails are young people.

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“To exorcise the everyday horrors”

[Portions of an op/col. by Carlos Tapia, titled as above]

There is no hour or day when the soldiery and the police do not interpose themselves in our daily affairs. Sirens, grim faces, weaponry, armament. It all darkens the day, the afternoon, the evening before sleep. One asks oneself, where was the forcible carrying-off of a person, the “express” kidnapping, the shootout. Who did they take away, who was killed by gunfire. The print media show photographs and reports about the latest ones executed, dismembered, kidnapped ones, disappeared ones. For that reason, when I think, observe and gather information about the daily occurrence of horrors, I concentrate on the cruelty, the immorality and amorality of the monster we face daily.

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Frontera (Tijuana, Baja Calif.) 11/4/09

A use for blankets in Tijuana

The bodies of two men and a woman were found early this morning on a street on the east side of Tijuana. They showed signs of having been beaten and were presumed to have been strangled. They were all covered with a blanket.

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- end of report -

According to this, it’s OUR fault…

m3report — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:47:40 +0000

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

Wednesday, 11/4/09

Correo (Guanajuato, Gto.) 11/3/09

(According to this, it’s all OUR fault….)

One migrant a day dies on the border [full transl.]

Statistics from the House of the Migrant indicate that at least one migrant a day dies while attempting to cross to the United States in search of work and a better life for his family, due to the poverty and scarcity of jobs in their native land.

Jose Luis Manzo, coordinator of the “Pious Juan Bautista Scalabrini” Center for Human Rights of the Migrant, pointed out that more than 5 thousand 600 deaths of persons from Central and South America have been recorded in 14 years. He underscored, “Migrants die on the way in their attempt to reach a dignified life for themselves and their families. All of them, children, women, men, have died while crossing the desert or the Rio Bravo [Rio Grande], or in a violent manner.” He emphasized his preoccupation “for the violations which continue to be done to the dignity of migrant persons, who are kidnapped, violated and, worse yet, deprived of life.”

Manzo condemned measures such as physical and virtual fences which divide and criminalize the migrant worker as an enemy, as a delinquent or as a terrorist. He stated that the nearly 5 thousand 600 deaths have occurred since, in 1994, operation Guardian was implemented, which had its origins on the border of Tijuana and San Diego. He pointed out that these measures “more than manifesting a people’s wisdom and civilization, represent the egoism and intolerance which make themselves visible, provoking so much pain and suffering.” He denounced the progressive loss of sensitivity and lack of dignity of the individual, “against which no one ought to dare damage for any reason, neither with the hunt for persons nor with the loss of life.”

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El Universo (Guayaquil, Ecuador) 11/3/09

16% of adults would emigrate

A Gallup poll conducted in 135 nations, and representing 93% of the world’s population, revealed that 16% of adults would like to emigrate. The study was presented at the 3^rd Migration & Development World Forum being held at a suburb of Athens, Greece. The United States is the preferred country of destination for those wishing to emigrate, followed by Canada, the U.K., France, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Australia. Included in the 700 million persons who would like to emigrate are 165 million from Sub-Saharan regions and 250 million from Asiatic countries. Of those 700 million, 165 million would like to move to the U.S., while 35 million aspire to move to Spain and 210 million would like to resettle in any European Union country.

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El Heraldo (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) 11/3/09

Visa issuance resumed

The U.S. Embassy in Honduras has resumed the issuance of non-immigrant visas. The process had been suspended since Aug. 26 as a means of pressuring the government of Roberto Micheletti, following the presidential succession which took place on June 28. Some 50,000 Hondurans apply each year for visas as students, tourists and for business reasons. Some 35 percent of the applications are denied.

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La Prensa Grafica (San Salvador, El Salvador) 11/3/09

Grim Salvadoran statistics

Data from El Salvador’s National Police show that up to Nov. 1^st of this year, 3,673 persons had been assassinated in El Salvador. 86.6% of the victims were males, mostly between the ages of 18 and 30. The month of October ended with a daily average of 13.9 homicides. Insecurity in general also assails residents of the capital city, San Salvador; 70.8% of them state that their main concern is insecurity. In the last three months, 31.6% of families report that they’ve been victims of some crime; the most common ones of these are muggings and hold-ups out on the street and in passenger buses.

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El Tiempo (Bogota, Colombia) 11/3/09

Chinese nabbed in Colombia

Thirteen Chinese illegally in Colombia were found in a truck and detained at a highway control point in Caldas, south of Medellin. The driver and his assistant are being charged with alien smuggling. Colombian federal officials established that the Chinese had entered from Ecuador and that they aimed to reach the United States. The thirteen have been deported back to Ecuador.

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El Espectador (Bogota, Colombia) 11/3/09

Drugs seized in Colombia

A nation-wide anti-drug operation was carried out by 4,500 National Police in various states of Colombia. It netted 1,269 drug sellers plus two tons of various types of drugs.

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El Siglo de Torreon (Torreon, Coahuila) 11/3/09 [and several other papers]

Kidnapped reporter found dead

[Yesterday’s M3 Report cited the forcible kidnapping of Jose Bladimir Antuna, a reporter for “El Tiempo de Durango”] The body of reporter Antuna was found Monday night in an empty lot near a park in the capital city of Durango. [Other papers mentioned a different location.] He had been beaten, strangled and shot.

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El Sol de Mexico (Mexico City) 11/3/09

Mexico and migrant numbers

Mexico’s Public Security Department reported that during the month of October Mexican agents detained “more than” 600 “undocumented migrants” in routine operations around the country. The migrants were seeking to reach the United States. A regional delegate for Mexico’s National Immigration Agency (“INM”) stated that the migration of Central Americans toward the United States has decreased because of the economic situation. The Center for Migratory Studies of the “INM” reported that, from January to August of this year, 441,942 Mexicans were repatriated from the United States to Mexico.

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Norte (Ciudad Juarez) 11/3/09

Update on Juarez

“After a weekend crammed with assassinations out on the streets, yesterday afternoon the first homicide on the Day of the Dead took place, which brings the total to six in November and 2,116 for the current year.” The latest victim was believed to be a policeman, repeatedly shot in cold blood in front of witnesses at a store.

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- end of report -

Various enforcement activities

m3report — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:55:29 +0000

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

El Universal (Mexico City) 11/2/09

News reporter abducted

Vladimir Atuna, a reporter for the periodical Tiempo de Durango, was abducted this morning by armed men in two vehicles in the state capital of Durango City, Durango. Atuna was assigned to cover crime stories. He has survived an attack on his home last April. After another reporter, Eliseo Barron, of La Opinion Milenio was assassinated in May of this year, Atuna received threats because of his writings condemning the crime.

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Urban vigilante?

[A synopsis of Monday's op-ed column]

Mauricio Fernandez, the controversial mayor of San Pedro, Nuevo Leon, [a wealthy suburb of Monterrey] exhibited his profound knowledge of the inner workings of the narco business this weekend and, more, gave a glimpse of what has become the dream of many: to become “anonymous avengers” due to the incapacity of the federal government to control crime. Although he met with top-level capos in his ultra-wealthy area and has expressed his opinion in favor of legalizing drugs before he was narrowly elected mayor for his second term, Fernandez made public that he has prepared “cleaning crews for tough jobs” to eliminate criminals, crime centers and drug sales. Cleaning crews? Does that mean avengers, executioners, paramilitary? Supposedly. On October 9, Fernandez said he received a death threat and now, just this weekend, Mauricio Fernandez, the very wealthy businessman, son of the northern industrial nobility, revealed on taking the office of mayor that the alleged narcotrafficker known as El Negro Saldana — who had threatened him with death — had been executed in DF [Federal District]. The authorities in DF had not even been informed. Only hours later did they find the bodies of the two Saldana brothers and two others linked to crime in San Pedro. Are those deaths the result of the “cleaning crews”? It’s possible. But although many applaud such manliness, one must remember that taking the law into one’s own hands is illegal.

[Several major newspapers had short stories that the federal authorities have launched an investigation in this case.]

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El Financiero (Mexico City) 11/2/09

New data on La Familia Michoacana

Mexican federal authorities now consider Ramon Moreno Madrigal, “el Llavero,” one of the top leaders of the criminal organization La Familia Michoacana, immediately under the top boss, Nazaro Moreno, “el Chayo.” Although Moreno Madrigal has been in narco traffic for 15 years, he has kept a very low profile. A narco lab watchman arrested last week provided new information about the cartel’s structure along with names of the players, which authorities believe will lead to interesting new lines of investigation.

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Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacan) 11/2/09

Weed destroyed

Federal Police destroyed a field of marihuana near Arteaga, Michoacan. The field, 2,400 square meters [0.6 acre] with an estimated 16,800 full grown plants, was burned. No arrests were reported.

—–

Crystal seized

Nearly two and a half tons of the synthetic drug known as “crystal” was seized by Mexican Army troops from an area near Zirahuen, Michoacan, after the seizure of three clandestine labs. Five men were also arrested in the operation.

—–

La Familia hardest hit

Among the 1,005 subjects arrested by the Federal Police throughout Mexico so far this year, 189 belonged to the criminal organization La Familia Michoacana, making it the hardest hit by judicial forces, according to the Secretary of Public Security (SSP). The second place for arrests belongs to the paramilitary gang known as Los Zetas, with 173 arrests.

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El Informador (Guadalajara, Jalisco) 11/2/09

More marihuana burned

A field of marihuana of about 14,400 plants was destroyed by state authorities near the town of Ayutla, Jalisco. The plants were estimated to weigh 4.3 tons. The field was discovered through an anonymous citizen’s report. Such fields are usually planted with a density of four plants per square meter and grow to over six feet.
[photo relates]

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-end of report-

Over the weekend: Another mass homicide; possible improvements in police structure

m3report — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:42:01 +0000

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

Saturday 10/31/09

El Universal (Mexico City) 10/30/09

Mexican municipal police under political fire

Due to earlier findings by expert investigators that the 2,022 municipal departments in Mexico are infiltrated and corrupted by organized crime, the Federal Secretary of Public Security (SSPF), Genaro Garcia Luna renewed his insistence that those offices be eliminated. “To consolidate those departments into the 32 state departments would facilitate operational coordination. . .in combatting organized crime,” he said. Garcia Luna pointed out that the municipal police continue to fall behind the sophistication and power of organized crime. Referring to the municipal police, he said that 70% have less than a 3rd grade education, more that 50% are over 35 years of age and are easy targets for corruption inasmuch as 61% earn a maximum of 4,000 pesos [$306] monthly.

—–

Four police assassinated in Sinaloa

In a new day of violence, four police officers were murdered and two wounded in separate incidents in the towns of Culiacan and Navolato, Sinaloa. All were municipal police.

—–

Narcos a major rural employer

An organization for farm women in Mexico (COCYP) maintains that nearly 200,000 rural women work in some capacity for narcotraffickers. In all, COCYP estimates that a little more than one million people work for narcotraffickers and 20% of those are women. In light of the lack of public policy to address the poverty in rural areas, farm women choose the alternate of planting, production, preparation and distribution of drugs. Although the states where the farm population participates in narcotraffic are mainly Chihuahua, Sonora and Durango, there are some, like Guerrero, where “entire populations are living on the narco economy.”

—–

Honduran accord appears to be reached

Negotiations between deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and de facto President Roberto Micheletti appear to be to be coming to a close with the signing today of the “Tegucigalpa Accord” possibly restoring the presidency to Zelaya. The dialogue began October 7 and was carried out by a team of negotiators from the Organization of American States.

——————–

El Financiero (Mexico City) 10/30/09

Panama arrests

The National Police of Panama advised today of the arrest for extradition to the US of two Colombians and one Lebanese wanted for money laundering. The three were intercepted at Tocumen International Airport when they arrived from Colombia. They will be turned over to the US after processing.

—–

Colombian seizure

Anti-drug police in Colombia seized 289 kilos of cocaine on board a fishing boat anchored off the Caribbean coast near Santa Marta. No arrests were reported.

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El Debate (Sinaloa) 10/30/09

Another mass murder

Near Hornos, Sonora, a village some 20 miles northeast of Ciudad Obregon, the bodies of 15 men were found at a ranch where they had been murdered. Only one man had survived and reported that he and the others were traveling in pickup trucks when they noticed they were being chased by armed men in another vehicle. They attempted to take refuge in the ranch, but were followed and gunned down by their attackers.

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El Diario de Juarez (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 10/30/09

Crosses hung on border fence

Mexican human rights groups in Tijuana, Baja California, hung 5,100 crosses on the border fence between Mexico and the US to commemorate those who have died trying to cross into the US. As part of the Day of the Dead celebrations, activists placed the crosses to make the people aware of the risks that migrants face. The number of deaths symbolized by the crosses were for the past 15 years.

—–

A rare day in Cd. Juarez

Yesterday (Thursday) was the first day this year that not one homicide was reported in Cd. Juarez. The last time that there was a day without murder in the city was December 28, 2008.

——————–

Lapolaka (Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua) 10/30/09

Political gaffe?

The Mexican Secretary of Agriculture announced the resignation of his sub-secretary, Jeffrey Max Jones, after Jones caused a controversy by presenting narco operations as an example of a successful agricultural business. Jones was quoted as saying in a speech at an agricultural forum that, “I firmly believe there are many things to be learned from the narcotrafficker. The business identifies the market as well as the logistics to supply it, They learned to see Mexico’s platform for supplying it.” Jones, a graduate of Brigham Young University in Provo, formerly served as a senator of the PAN party.

——————–

Sunday 11/1/09

El Universal (Mexico City) 10/31/09

More on Sonora multi-homicide

The mass murder of 15 men in Hornos, Sonora, reported yesterday, has focused the attention of the Mexican Department of Justice (PGR) and military on the investigation. More than a hundred federal and state agents, supported by the Army, have been sent to the area of the murders in search of those responsible. Among the victims of the murders was Margarito Montes Parra, a national leader of a major farm worker union (UGOCP). So far in the intense investigation, experts have determined that the assassinations were the result of an ambush by unknown assailants using AK-47 rifles. Some 300 spent shells were found at the scene. The only survivor and witness to the crime is in a hospital under police guard.

——

Wave of crime returns to Ciudad Juarez

After over a day without murder in Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, the crime has resumed. By Friday afternoon through Saturday morning, 10 people had been killed. The article goes on to give details of each of the murders that have raised the total in the city for this year to 2,105.

—–

Federal forces on alert for attacks on police

Police units comprising Joint Operation Guerrero are on alert, principally in the cities along the Costa Grande [up-coast from Acapulco] and in the area known as Tierra Caliente [northern Guerrero bordering Michoacán], where scattered attacks have been made on military outposts and nine narco-bannners signed by “La Familia” have been posted. [The criminal organization La Familia Michoacána is rapidly becoming the strongest in Mexico.]

——————–

Cambio de Michoacán (Morelia, Michoacán) 10/31/09

Protests against federal police

Residents of Nueva Italia, Michoacán, carried out demonstrations in the streets protesting the presence of federal police in their area and demanding their departure not only from the city, but from the state. They announced that the demonstrations will continue as a necessary measure to get the state government to act against alleged abuses against the population by the feds. The organizers claim they are not against law enforcement, only against police abuse.

—–

California migrants to protest racial hatred

On November 1st and 2nd, migrant organizations in California’s Central Valley plan a variety of peaceful demonstrations to expose situations in which human rights of undocumented migrants have been violated and in memory of those who have lost their lives in circumstances motivated by racial hatred that is tending to increase, according to Luis Magana Acevedo, coordinator of the Mexican farm workers organization, OTAC-MEX. The demonstrations will be in conjunction with the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead.

——————–

Monday 11/2/09

El Universal (Mexico City) 11/1/09

Cartel boss eliminated

Mexico City police identified one of four bodies discovered yesterday in the trunk of a car as Hector Saldana, “El Negro Saldana,” a presumed capo of the Beltran-Leyva drug cartel. The bodies were accompanied by signboards with the message “for kidnapping.” Saldana was believed to the boss of operations for the cartel in the state of Nuevo Leon. As such, he would be the principal distributor of drugs in the Monterrey area.

——————–

Cambio de Michoacán 11/1/09

“To die violently, a growing tradition in Michoacán”

In the state of Michoacán, approximately 1.2 people per day die victims of violent death at the hands of organized crime. This death rate is just below those of the states of Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Guerrero. According to the state department of justice (PGEJ), the struggle between drug cartels, the conflicts for territories and the intense blow of the federal forces against the crime organizations has provoked the wave of violence.

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El Debate (Sinaloa) 11/1/09

Red October

The count goes on in Sinaloa with 97 execution style murders registered in October, bringing the total for the year to 913 for the state. This is a decline of 11 for the same time last year.

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El Diario de Juarez (Ciudad Juarez) 11/1/09

Arrests made in Tijuana

Mexican Army troops arrested a group of 12 presumed criminals in Tijuana, Baja California, who were in possession of weapons, military type uniforms and four vehicles painted in military camouflage colors. The group initially resisted arrest with gunfire, but surrendered after one of them was killed by return fire from the real Mexican soldiers.

—–

11 extradited to US

The US Embassy in Mexico reported that the Mexican government extradited 11 suspects to the US who are accused of crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking. So far this year, there have been 100 such extraditions compared to the year’s total of 95 in 2008.

——————–

La Vanguardia (Spain) 11/1/09

US coercion reported

La Vanguardia, using “diplomatic sources” from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, reported that deposed President Manuel Zelaya was coerced into signing the “Tegucigalpa Accord” against his wishes because of US pressure. Thomas Shannon of the US State Department was said to have warned Zelaya to sign the accord under the threat that, if not, Zelaya’s son, Hector, who lives in the US, might be prosecuted for narcotrafficking.

http://www.lavanguardia.es/internacional/noticias/20091101/53816218346/zelaya-amenaza-con-patear-el-tablero-si-no-le-restituyen-de-inmediato.html

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-end of report-

“Joint Operation Chihuahua” deemed a failure

m3report — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:19:05 +0000

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

Friday, 10/30/09

El Diario (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 10/29/09

“Joint Operation Chihuahua” deemed a failure

Nineteen months after the start of Joint Operation Chihuahua [the assignment of more than a thousand military to assist civilian law enforcement agencies in the area], the state of Chihuahua Secretary of Public Security now says that the war against organized crime is being lost. Since the start of the program, 3,670 persons have been assassinated. This includes 127 members of law enforcement, who are considered at a disadvantage because of being outgunned. The 1,200 soldiers currently assisting in patrolling the streets of Juarez will remain there until December 31.

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El Universo (Guayaquil, Ecuador) 10/29/09

Russia & Ecuador: an association

The Presidents of Russia, Dmitri Medvedev, and of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, today signed a “strategic association” declaration. The document points out that this does not aim against any nation or group of nations and that it does not presume the creation of a politico-military alliance. At the same time, Russia and Ecuador declare their disposition to strengthen the “cooperation in the realm of security and defense, in particular by means of active consultation between the corresponding agencies.”

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Prensa Libre (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 10/29/09

Vigilante justice

Ten people were assassinated in various parts of Guatemala yesterday. One was a bus driver, shot in cold blood while at work; other bus drivers said this happened because the owner of the bus had failed to pay extortion demands. Officials believe a second bus driver, also killed, was carrying out extortions against his fellow workers.

Four other men who had assaulted and robbed a currency exchanger were tracked down by an enraged throng of local villagers; the four were beaten and then burned alive.

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Cuarto Poder (Tuxtla, Chiapas) 10/29/09

Mexican state relies on Central American field hands

The Mexican state of Chiapas [on the border with Guatemala] is currently expecting the arrival of 25,000 to 40,000 Central American farm workers, most of whom stay in Chiapas for the coffee harvest. Chiapas is both a recipient and place of origin of these workers. In the last few years, Chiapas has been “seriously affected due to the departure of young Chiapans, who seek new opportunities in the agricultural fields of the United States.” This has caused state officials to grant temporary work permits to field workers from Central America to meet the demand for field hands in coffee plantations.

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Diario de Yucatan (Merida, Yucatan) & El Sur (Acapulco, Guerrero) 10/29/09

Another hung from overpass

On the coastal highway between Zihuatanejo and Lazaro Cardenas, up from Acapulco: the body of a man, hung from an overpass. He’d been shot in the head and the killers left threatening messages on him.

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La Jornada (Mexico City) 10/29/09

News, or not?

An article described a firefight that ensued when military personnel attempted to search a locale near the Guadalajara airport. It mentioned the number of arrested thugs (14), the number and type of weapons and ammunition seized, as well as that of tactical equipment and vehicles. The article was then followed by this commentary from a reader:

“Gentlemen, please, this is not news. A real news item would be:

‘There has not been a single criminal act in 14 days. The citizenry is at peace.’

Until that ceases to be news.”

———————————-

Milenio (Mexico City) 10/29/09

“The importance of obedience” Full transl. of op/col. by Roman Revueltas, whose previous column appeared in the M3 Report of 10/28/09.

People throw out garbage. That means, we have to change the people. Imagine a country of very civilized people: people who don’t park their car in the middle of a cross street; people who take their turn in line; people who respect; people who do as they say; people who obey. Well, that country, of people who know how to behave, would be much more livable than another, for instance, where people do whatever they feel like doing without any consideration toward their fellow man.

Last week I was walking down the street and a fellow who was walking ahead of me stopped, picked up a plastic bottle dumped on the sidewalk and went into a store to put it in a waste bin. I waited for him to come out and congratulated him. I later thought that this is the way that all of us Mexicans ought to be. I ask you, then, to imagine a territory populated by orderly and reliable persons: almost paradise.

People usually follow rules for fear of punishment. This explains the colossal growth of criminality in Mexico due to the scandalous lack of punishment for the criminals: if you murder and nothing happens to you, well then, you kill again and you go on kidnapping. But, it’s not a matter of bringing up the death penalty scarecrow; it’s an issue of applying the laws, and nothing more. The great question is why is it that millions of citizens exist here who want to commit all sorts of infractions: throwing out garbage is a small transgression; ignoring a traffic light is a minor crime; assassinating a kidnapped child is a monstrosity perpetrated by a beast . Nevertheless, the common denominator of disobedience is present in all cases.

The more highly evolved individuals do not abstain from committing a crime for fear of jail but due to a clear conscience of what is right and what is wrong. Their personality has been structured based on moral values. That is precisely where our failure is as a society: Mexico is a jungle dominated by disobedient, quick tempered and irresponsible individuals, Calderon cannot change this. We change it ourselves.

http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8664651

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- end of report -

Mordida, a common event in Mexico

m3report — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:57:31 +0000

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

Thursday, 10/29/09

Por Esto (Merida, Yucatan) 10/28/09

“Mordida”, a favorite extortion and bribe in Mexico

In Cancun, Mexico, police stopped a driver, a visiting tourist, for an alleged “administrative violation.” Then they asked the tourist for up to $300 dollars so she could proceed without having a penalty issued to her. It turned out that the victim of this extortion was Michelle Fischbach, a state senator from Minnesota, who later presented a written complaint to the local authorities regarding the episode. Five Cancun “Tourist Police” officers are now under investigation for their personal attempt at extortion. “Mordida” (a “bite”) is a common Mexican expression meaning an under-the-table payment made to extract a bribe from any official in order to avoid a higher penalty or to expedite a formal bureaucratic process.

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El Informador (Guadalajara, Jalisco) 10/28/09

Thirty-five Chinese detained in Guadalajara

On Tuesday night, thirty-five Chinese arrived in Guadalajara aboard a flight from Cancun, Quintana Roo. None of the Chinese had a visa allowing them to enter or be in Mexico, and all were detained. Unofficially, it was learned that this case is related to the recent scandal involving the “INM” (Mex. Natn’l. Immigration Agency) in the state of Quintana Roo, where a number of officials have been found to be involved in people trafficking.

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El Tiempo (Bogota, Colombia) 10/28/09

U.S. & Colombia to sign agreement

After an official visit to the Pentagon, Colombia’s Minister of Defense, Gabriel Silva, said that a formal agreement is about to be signed by Colombia and the United States allowing U.S. military bases on Colombian soil. He emphasized that the agreement is nothing new but only a continuation of both nations’ combat against drug traffickers, and that part of it is due to the recent forced abandonment by the U.S. of a base at Manta, Ecuador, due to that government’s policy.

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Cuarto Poder (Tuxtla, Chiapas) 10/28/09

A bunch that got away

When a “coyote” driving a pickup truck saw that he was being followed by federal police, he abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. And so did all his passengers, believed to be illegal aliens en route to the United States. The whole bunch managed to avoid detention. The event took place on the highway between Comitan and San Cristobal, in Chiapas.

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El Diario (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) & Excelsior (Mexico City) 10/28/09

Ciudad Juarez stays in the news

Buried in the eleventh place after other local news items for Juarez, this item: “Yesterday, another 7 executions,”

And the “Coordinator General” of the Chihuahua State Police was wounded but survived a car-to-car gunfire attack in Ciudad Juarez today (Wed.); the attack killed one of his accompanying bodyguards and wounded a second one.

Also from “Excelsior”: “at least” eight Reynosa city police officers tested positive in a recent drug detection test. [Reynosa is right across the Rio Grande from McAllen, Texas]

———————————–

El Dictamen (Veracruz, Ver.) 10/28/09

A rite of passage?

Alberto Fabre Platas, a “Universidad Veracruzana” researcher, said that, among adolescents, migration is tied to social legitimization issues because they consider it a passage to adulthood in order to be accepted by their communities. For Fabre, the phenomenon of migration has become an acceptance ritual, because crossing the border gives them a certain “social prestige” that allows them to be treated as adults when they return. He added that there is no correlation between poorer and better-off communities as far as the rate of emigration to the United States.

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El Financiero (Mexico City) 10/28/09

Central Americans detained

Thirty-seven “undocumented” men from Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras were detected and detained by Mex. Federal and state personnel near the railroad station at Irolo, by Tepeapulco, in the Mexican state of Hidalgo.

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El Porvenir (Monterrey, Nuevo Leon) 10/28/09

Military reinforcements for Nuevo Leon

“Hundreds” of additional Mexican military personnel have arrived in the state of Nuevo Leon “to participate in activities to combat organized crime” in the area, “so that Mexican society may have a climate of tranquility and peace.”

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Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacan) & La Cronica de Hoy (Mexico City) 10/28/09

Crimes in Michoacán

Early Wednesday morning someone phoned the police at Uruapan, Michoacán, and reported a pickup truck with four bodies in the cargo bed. Police found the vehicle and the bodies, all showing signs of torture and impact wounds from firearms. Earlier this week, the body of a man was found in four plastic bags in the area; he’d been dismembered into eleven different parts.

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Frontera (Tijuana, Baja Calif.) 10/28/09

Cross border tunnel found

Another cross-border tunnel was located in Otay Mesa, an area immediately to the east of Tijuana. This one had lighting and was “at least” 90 meters (98 yds.) long; interior dimensions were estimated at over 6’ high and over 4’ wide. However, no mention was made of the location of an exit, if any, in the U.S. side of the border. The starting point on the Mexican side was an abandoned warehouse by #8 Salvatierra St., [Just west of the Otay Mesa international border crossing port)

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- end of report -

Mexico: An introspective look

m3report — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:15:52 +0000

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

Wednesday, 10/28/09

Milenio (Mexico City) 10/27/09

“A small catalog of worrisome things” Full transl. of Roman Revueltas’ op/col by that title.

“What can we do: we are what we are. Half the country doesn’t function. The Guadalajara plays badly. So does the America. [Author refers here to two soccer teams] The government is inefficient and obstructive. The unions don’t strive on behalf of their workers but seek on behalf of their leaders. The parties don’t work for the citizens but attend to their own interests. The president of the Republic has his hands tied. The left is a disaster. The right is insufferable. The revolutionary nationalism impedes our growth and modernization. Corporatism continues to be an extended practice quite pernicious for national life. The education children receive in schools is catastrophic. The economy doesn’t grow. The unemployment figures are really fantasies, tendentious, lies and artificial. Congress is a madhouse full of useless parasites. Dogmas and ideologies dazzle us more than concrete achievements and real benefits. Corruption is a virus which has infected a great majority of Mexicans. Insecurity is a problem without a solution because the machinery of justice is rotten down to its very own entrails. The narco-traffic gangs will end up dedicating themselves to extortion and kidnapping. The agents fired from the different police agencies will become dangerously trained criminals. The alarming difficulties of the public finances will cause the pensions of future retirees not to be paid. Petroleum is running out. Water is running out. The lakes are drying. The springs are drying. The rivers are becoming empty. The forests are disappearing. The deserts advance. The air gets dirty. The underground water reserves become contaminated. The subsoil gets filled with toxic heavy metals. Cities become dehumanized. Books are not read. Television makes us duller. The streets get full of garbage. Institutions fail. Values are not transmitted. Old people are something to get rid of. Consumerism poisons the people’s lives…. I’m not going on. Have I said lies?”

http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8663536

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Prensa Libre (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 10/27/09

Mexico-Guatemala border crossing accord

Mexico and Guatemala currently have a border visitor program which allows only those Guatemalans citizens residing in the immediate Mexican border area to cross 100 kilometers (62 mi.) into Mexico without a passport or visa. That program is being revised and in 2010 any Guatemalan citizen may cross into any portion of the four Mexican states bordering Guatemala (Chiapas, Tabasco, Quintana Roo & Campeche) without the need for documentation. [No mention was made about whether any controls would be set up to prevent these visitors from proceeding further into Mexico]

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Armada Nacional de Colombia (Bogota, Colombia) 10/27/09

Drugs on the Caribbean

Colombian naval units intercepted a launch just southwest of San Andres Island, on the Caribbean. But by the time the units got there, the crew of the launch had made their getaway, though they left behind 217 packages of cocaine with a gross weight of 222 kilos.

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Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacan) 10/27/09

Bloody Michoacán

Plastic bags left by a side road in Uruapan, Michoacán, were found to contain the dismembered parts of a human body. Though a message left with the remains read: “This is what happens to those who support the Zetas”, officials believe the remains could be those of one of three policemen who were abducted recently. This latest death is the ninth one caused by organized crime in Michoacán within the last 48 hours.

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Diario Cambio (Puebla, Puebla) 10/27/09

More police killed

Four police officers became victims of an assault rifle attack before dawn today in Puebla, state of Puebla. More than fifty rounds were fired off in the assault.

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El Sol de Mexico (Mexico City) 10/27/09

Youths recruited for retailing drugs

Ten percent of the Mexican adolescents who were repatriated to Mexico in 2008 stated that during their stay in the United States someone had asked them to sell drugs.

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El Diario (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 10/27/09

Violence in Juarez

“Yesterday, the streak of violence that is being lived in the city cost the lives of nine persons in different points of the locality and at different hours of the day. Two were killed in the morning, while in the afternoon and evening there were seven executions.”

———————————–

Diario Rotativo de Queretaro (Queretaro, Qro.) 10/27/09

Mexican population in the United States

Mexico’s National Population Council (“CONAPO”) reports that the number of Mexicans who reside in the United States in 2008 rose to 8.11 million, which places Mexico as one of the nations with greater rate of migrants. “CONAPO” added that Mexicans residing in the United States make up 4% of the U.S.’s population and around 30% of its migrant population. California, at 40.2%, and Texas, at 19.5%, continue to be the two areas with the highest concentration.

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El Universal (Mexico City) 10/27/09

“City police, infiltrated and corrupt”

“In the world of police organizations existing in the country, city police are considered the first and most important contact with the citizen, but also the weakest link facing the power of organized crime. Investigators and public security experts warn that institutional and structural weakness is practically the common denominator of the 2,022 municipal police departments, which causes infiltration and corruption. According to the specialists, the nearly 170,000 policemen are ‘devalued’, they work without incentive or leadership, are highly vulnerable, face shortages of firearms, are ill prepared and even worse paid.”

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- end of report -