Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas, a 30-year-old, married father of two young children, was murdered shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday while responding alone to a suspected border incursion near Campo, a town in rugged, arid terrain in southeastern San Diego County.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
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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.
Saturday 7/25/09
El Financiero (Mexico City) 7/24/09
Mexico expresses regrets
The government of Mexico expressed regrets today for the murder of a US Border Patrol agent yesterday evening and offered its cooperation in the investigation to “clarify the facts.” Mexican Ambassador to the US, Arturo Sarukhan, also extended condolences to the family of the officer, Robert Rosas, who was murdered while on duty near Campo, California. “This is a tragic example of the violence that we continue to face on our common border as President Felipe Calderon continues pushing back at international organized crime,” he stated.
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Frontera (Tijuana, Baja California) 7/24/09
Ten suspects taken into custody in the murder of Border Patrol Agent
At least 10 people have been detained during a police operation carried out in the environs of Tecate, Baja California, after the murder of an agent of the US Border Patrol identified as Robert Rosas, 30. The joint operation on the Mexican side of the border was conducted by the federal, state and municipal police agencies which combed the border area from Jacume to Canoitas, succeeding in the capture of nine people, including one female who tried unsuccessfully to escape across the line into the US. Later, the authorities arrested Ernesto Parra Valenzuela, 36, who lived in the area and was in possession of a loaded 9mm Beretta pistol, leading to the suspicion that he could have participated in the murder.
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El Universal (Mexico City) 7/24/09
Zelaya retreats
Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya returned to Nicaraguan territory after a two-hour venture into the neutral border zone in Honduras. His retreat from the area was “for security,” according to a source close to the deposed president. After he had entered “a few meters” into the neutral zone, Honduran police and military engaged in a skirmish with some of Zelaya’s supporters, dispersing them with tear gas bombs, to which Zelaya remarked to reporters, “the people should return the bombs to those who threw them.”
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El Financiero (Mexico City) 7/24/09
Arias disapproves Zelaya’s entry into Honduras
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said today that the brief entry into Honduras by the deposed president, Manuel Zelaya, “is not the way” to solve the crisis in that country. “Thank God it was a short visit and had no consequences to regret, but this is not the way to reconciliation of the Honduran people,” declared Arias in a press conference.
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Clinton agrees with Arias
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also disapproved of Zelaya’s attempted return, calling it “imprudent” and stating that it does not contribute to restoring democratic and constitutional order in that country.
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Micheletti condemns Zelaya’s use of force
Robert Micheletti, presently presiding over the government of Honduras, today expressed regrets that the deposed president, Manuel Zelaya, has resorted to force after abandoning discussions seeking a peaceful solution to the country’s crisis. He said Zelaya is putting the Honduran people at risk with his intransigence. Micheletti also repeated his condemnation of the “meddling” of Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua in the internal affairs of Honduras.
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A “dangerous game”
(Notimex/TPC) Peter Hakim, an analyst and president of the Inter-American Dialogue, said that Micheletti and Zelaya are competing in a “dangerous game” that puts the stability of Honduras at risk. “It’s all a circus, this is no way to solve the crisis,” he said.
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Honduran cocaine arrests
Also in Honduras, their Navy captured five Mexicans and five Hondurans on board a boat carrying 800 kilograms (1,764 lbs) of cocaine. The Honduran registered boat was intercepted near the Atlantic coast of that country. The cocaine was contained in 30 individual bundles.
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Suspected members of “La Familia” arrested
Seven people who admitted being members of the criminal organization “La Familia Michoacana” were arrested this morning in the state of Mexico. The seven, including two women, were in a vehicle in which seven AK-47 and Ar-15 attack rifles were found.
[Photos of the opponents in Honduras]
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Sunday 7/26/09
El Universal (Mexico City) 7/25/09
“La Familia” takes another hit
Mexican federal police in the state of Michoacan arrested 11 suspected members of the crime organization “La Familia Michoacana” and seized a synthetic-drug laboratory. The arrests were made at a ranch located near the town of Acuitzio. The leader of the group, Jaime Cervantes Alvarez, allegedly produced the synthetic drugs and received 20,000 pesos ($1,500) for each week’s product of 100 kilograms of “ice” or “crystal.” Authorities say that so far this year, the federal police have taken down 40 such clandestine labs belonging to La Familia, which has had a major impact on its financial structure.
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Frontera (Tijuana, Baja California) 7/25/09
Two arrests linked to Arellano Felix cartel
Two subjects presumed to work for the Arellano Felix crime organization in Tijuana were arrested in separate events by Mexican Army personnel and state police. One of the men, Oscar Guillermo Romo Alcaraz, “El Memo,” is on the Mexican Department of Justice (PGR) most wanted list. There was an outstanding warrant for his arrest for homicide as well as for human smuggling.
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El Diario de Juarez (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 7/25/09
Federal agents wounded in Saltillo
(Notimex) Six agents of the Mexican federal police were slightly injured when ambushed by an armed group in Saltillo, Coahuila. The attack on the uniformed officers came from several vehicles by armed men who then fled into a building. No one was arrested, but inside the building, authorities seized vehicles, arms and equipment. The investigation continues.
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El Sol de Zacatecas (Zacatecas) 7/25/09
US immigration reform considered remote
Zacatecas Governor Amalia Garcia said, “There is no indication that the US will soon have immigration reform.” In preparation for a meeting next Tuesday on immigration to be directed by Jeffrey Davidow, ex-US ambassador to Mexico, the governor observed that, despite interest and analysis for years, she sees no reason to believe reform is near.
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El Financiero (Mexico City) 7/25/09
Chavez proposes “proletarian state” in Venezuela
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez today proposed that next December, when the present constitution completes 10 years, new laws be put into effect creating a “proletarian state” in the country. In a speech, Chavez called for the National Assembly [Congress] to replace all the “counterrevolutionary” laws “in order to establish the structure for a new proletarian state” in Venezuela. Chavez said that if the legislators encounter problems approving such a law, they should grant themselves new special powers to legislate by decree in order to accelerate the process.
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Late news from the Honduran front
Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya continues poised to re-enter Honduras, but is waiting for more of his supporters to assemble in the border area. By close of business, he had stated that he would decide his next move “in a few hours.” Earlier today, one of Zelaya’s supporters in the area was reported found dead with signs of torture after his arrest by Honduran police.
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Monday 7/27/09
La Voz de la Frontera (Mexicali, Baja California) 7/26/09
Follow-up on the Rosas case
While the investigation continues on both sides of the border into the murder of US Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas, Mexican authorities report that five prime suspects are in federal police custody in the border area. Four of them were arrested in the border town of Tecate, Baja California, and are believed to be members of a band of alien smugglers, inasmuch as a group of 21 hopeful border crossers were with them when captured. Police confiscated four firearms during the arrest. One of the suspects said that the man arrested with the 9mm pistol last Friday [Saturday’s report, above] is the one who shot Agent Rosas.
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El Universal (Mexico City) 7/26/09
The continuing Honduran crisis
The new chancellor of Honduras, Carlos Lopez, said today that deposed President Manuel Zelaya has two options: remain on the Nicaraguan border or return to discussions in Costa Rica. Lopez told reporters that Zelaya “either enters (Honduras) and is captured – because these are the instructions – or he leaves (the Nicaraguan border where he is staying) and returns to the negotiating table in San Jose, Costa Rica, which is what the international community has requested.” The Honduran diplomat expressed his country’s firmness not to be pushed by foreign interests or meddling by foreign countries and he asked that his country’s sovereignty be respected.
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El Financiero (Mexico City) 7/26/09
A different view from Zelaya
Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya today called for the US to “forcefully” confront the new government of his country so that the new government will know exactly what Washington’s position is.
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Marihuana seized
The Mexican Army in the state of Sonora seized over two tons of marihuana found in a truck trailer in the Nogales Industrial Park. Soldiers had spotted two suspicious individuals near the trailer who then fled when the soldiers approached. Suspicious, the Army personnel opened the trailer and discovered the marihuana in 406 separate packages.
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El Porvenir (Monterrey, Nuevo Leon) 7/26/09
Colombian air strike against FARC
Bogota (Notimex). At least 45 rebel guerillas have been killed in an aerial bombing by Columbian military planes of rebel (FARC) camps near the southern town of Puerto Rico. The attack was directed against the unit of FARC led by Jorge Briceno, “Mono Jojoy,” who has been a principal target of the Colombian government for the past year.
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-end of report-
M3 Report 