AP: The previous elected mayor is in jail, and the new one wants to "turn the page" on the ugliest chapter in the history of this southern Mexican city.
Fifteen months ago, when 43 rural college students disappeared at the hands of local police and cartel thugs, Iguala became the symbol of Mexico's narco-brutality. Now, federal police are in charge of security, the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party controls city hall — and Mayor Esteban Albarran Mendoza wants to move forward. Read more.
The MexicoBlog of the Americas Program, a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), is written by Laura Carlsen. I monitor and analyze international press on Mexico, with a focus on security, immigration, human rights and social movements for peace and justice, from a feminist perspective. And sometimes I simply muse.
Showing posts with label Mexico drug war. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico drug war. Show all posts
Nov 4, 2015
Doctors from Cuba and Costa Rica Examine Comatose Mexican Student
Latin American Herald Tribune: Two foreign neurologists have examined Aldo Gutierrez, an education student who has been in a coma since he and several classmates were shot in Iguala, a city in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, in September 2014, the Executive Commission for Assisting Victims, or CEAV, said Tuesday.
Calixto Machado, of the Cuban Neurology and Neurosurgery Institute, and Costa Rican neurologist Mauricio Chinchilla examined the comatose student last Friday, the CEAV said. Read more.
Calixto Machado, of the Cuban Neurology and Neurosurgery Institute, and Costa Rican neurologist Mauricio Chinchilla examined the comatose student last Friday, the CEAV said. Read more.
Oct 22, 2015
Six people arrested in Mexico over escape of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman
The Guardian: Six people believed responsible for the escape from prison of drug baron Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, including his brother-in-law and the suspected mastermind of the jail break, have been arrested, Mexican authorities have said.
Attorney general Arely Gomez said the alleged mastermind of the operation is a member of Guzman’s legal team who had access to the prison near Mexico City from which Guzman escaped via a tunnel in July. Read more.
Attorney general Arely Gomez said the alleged mastermind of the operation is a member of Guzman’s legal team who had access to the prison near Mexico City from which Guzman escaped via a tunnel in July. Read more.
Oct 19, 2015
U.S. blocks some anti-drug funds for Mexico over human rights concerns
Washington Post: In a setback for its multibillion-dollar effort to help Mexico fight its drug war, the U.S. State Department has decided that Mexico failed to reach some human rights goals, triggering a cutoff of millions of dollars in aid.
The move, which has not been reported previously, affects a small portion of the annual anti-drug funds given to Mexico. But it is a clear sign of U.S. frustration. It comes as Mexico has been roiled by several cases of alleged abuses by security forces, including the disappearance of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero last year.
Through the Merida Initiative, a major U.S. program to support Mexico’s battle against its drug cartels, Congress has appropriated $2.3 billion since 2008 for equipment such as helicopters and border sensors as well as training programs for thousands of Mexican officials. Read more.
The move, which has not been reported previously, affects a small portion of the annual anti-drug funds given to Mexico. But it is a clear sign of U.S. frustration. It comes as Mexico has been roiled by several cases of alleged abuses by security forces, including the disappearance of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero last year.
Through the Merida Initiative, a major U.S. program to support Mexico’s battle against its drug cartels, Congress has appropriated $2.3 billion since 2008 for equipment such as helicopters and border sensors as well as training programs for thousands of Mexican officials. Read more.
Jun 12, 2013
In the hot land, Mexicans just say no to drug cartels
Los Angeles Times
By Tracy Wilkinson
June 11, 2013
COALCOMAN, Mexico — Rafael Garcia slaps the oversize wooden desk where he sits, one of the last mayors still in office in this region of Mexican farm country known as Tierra Caliente — hot land.
Mayors from a couple of the nearest towns fled with their drug-cartel pals, people here say, when locals took up arms against them.
But at Garcia's City Hall, the facade is festooned with hand-lettered signs supporting local gunmen who challenged the cartel, loosely referred to as community "self-defense" guards, comunitarios. Several cities in Tierra Caliente are now patrolled by such groups, whose members, often masked, man checkpoints and pull over passing vehicles for inspection. They have reached a kind of tense coexistence with the army, which moved in a couple of weeks ago in an attempt to bring order. Read more.
By Tracy Wilkinson
June 11, 2013
COALCOMAN, Mexico — Rafael Garcia slaps the oversize wooden desk where he sits, one of the last mayors still in office in this region of Mexican farm country known as Tierra Caliente — hot land.
Mayors from a couple of the nearest towns fled with their drug-cartel pals, people here say, when locals took up arms against them.
But at Garcia's City Hall, the facade is festooned with hand-lettered signs supporting local gunmen who challenged the cartel, loosely referred to as community "self-defense" guards, comunitarios. Several cities in Tierra Caliente are now patrolled by such groups, whose members, often masked, man checkpoints and pull over passing vehicles for inspection. They have reached a kind of tense coexistence with the army, which moved in a couple of weeks ago in an attempt to bring order. Read more.
Feb 27, 2013
Mexico counts 26,121 missing during Calderon era
The LA Times
By Cecilia Sanchez, Daniel Hernandez and Richard Fausset
February 26, 2013
Mexico City - The number of people who went missing in Mexico during the six years of former President Felipe Calderon’s administration stands at 26,121, government officials said Tuesday, a figure that would rank among the worst episodes of "disappearances" in Latin American history.
The official statistic, which includes people reported missing between December 2006 and November 2012, was released at a news conference by Lia Limon, the subsecretary for legal affairs and human rights under new President Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office Dec. 1.
Her announcement came days after Human Rights Watch issued a scathing report that blamed Mexican security forces for many disappearances during the government’s crackdown on domestic drug cartels, which began in earnest in December 2006. The report also blamed the Calderon government for failing to adequately investigate the disappearances. Read more.
By Cecilia Sanchez, Daniel Hernandez and Richard Fausset
February 26, 2013
Mexico City - The number of people who went missing in Mexico during the six years of former President Felipe Calderon’s administration stands at 26,121, government officials said Tuesday, a figure that would rank among the worst episodes of "disappearances" in Latin American history.
The official statistic, which includes people reported missing between December 2006 and November 2012, was released at a news conference by Lia Limon, the subsecretary for legal affairs and human rights under new President Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office Dec. 1.
Her announcement came days after Human Rights Watch issued a scathing report that blamed Mexican security forces for many disappearances during the government’s crackdown on domestic drug cartels, which began in earnest in December 2006. The report also blamed the Calderon government for failing to adequately investigate the disappearances. Read more.
Feb 13, 2013
Mexico unveils new strategy in war on drugs and for preventing crime
The Guardian
February 13, 2013
Mexico's new administration has offered the first details of its new strategy in the country's war on drugs, saying the government will spend $9.2bn (£5.9bn) this year on social programmes to keep young people from joining criminal organisations in the 251 most violent towns and neighbourhoods across the country.
The government will flood those areas with spending on programmes ranging from road building to increasing school hours, President Enrique Peña Nieto and Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, the interior secretary, told an audience in the central state of Aguascalientes.
"It's clear that we must put special emphasis on prevention, because we can't only keep employing more sophisticated weapons, better equipment, more police, a higher presence of the armed forces in the country as the only form of combating organised crime," Peña Nieto said. Read more.
February 13, 2013
Mexico's new administration has offered the first details of its new strategy in the country's war on drugs, saying the government will spend $9.2bn (£5.9bn) this year on social programmes to keep young people from joining criminal organisations in the 251 most violent towns and neighbourhoods across the country.
The government will flood those areas with spending on programmes ranging from road building to increasing school hours, President Enrique Peña Nieto and Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, the interior secretary, told an audience in the central state of Aguascalientes.
"It's clear that we must put special emphasis on prevention, because we can't only keep employing more sophisticated weapons, better equipment, more police, a higher presence of the armed forces in the country as the only form of combating organised crime," Peña Nieto said. Read more.
Feb 2, 2013
A quieter drug war in Mexico, but no less deadly
The Washington Post
By Nick Miroff, Published: February 1
MEXICO CITY — As a tactical matter, the gangsters and government security forces fighting Mexico’s drug war have typically opted for the spectacular over the subtle.
Massacres, beheadings and other unspeakable cruelties became cartels’ preferred form of violence. In response, the government sent masked troops with machine guns to patrol Mexico’s streets and paraded its captured drug suspects on television like hunting trophies.
But in the past few months, that has changed. Mexico’s drug war has gone quiet.
Not less lethal. Just less loud.
The country’s drug-related homicide numbers remain essentially undiminished. More than 12,000 people were murdered last year in gangland violence, according to the latest Mexican media tallies, roughly the same number that were slain in 2010 and 2011. Read more.
By Nick Miroff, Published: February 1
MEXICO CITY — As a tactical matter, the gangsters and government security forces fighting Mexico’s drug war have typically opted for the spectacular over the subtle.
Massacres, beheadings and other unspeakable cruelties became cartels’ preferred form of violence. In response, the government sent masked troops with machine guns to patrol Mexico’s streets and paraded its captured drug suspects on television like hunting trophies.
But in the past few months, that has changed. Mexico’s drug war has gone quiet.
Not less lethal. Just less loud.
The country’s drug-related homicide numbers remain essentially undiminished. More than 12,000 people were murdered last year in gangland violence, according to the latest Mexican media tallies, roughly the same number that were slain in 2010 and 2011. Read more.
Jan 11, 2013
Obama and Guns: 'Yes, You Must' (El Universal, Mexico)
Mexico - El Universal - Original Article (Spanish) By Dr. Arnoldo Kraus
Translated By Halszka Czarnocka for World Meets US
January 9, 2013
Choosing the appropriate slogan isn't easy. It requires imagination, creativity and following the maxim "less is more," as the message must say a lot with the fewest possible words. The slogan of Barack Obama's first presidential campaign, "Yes, we can," synthesized the desire for change and the need to come together. Now with the beginning of his second term, Obama will no longer need to invent apt and resonant phrases. He'll have to look back.
During his first term, civilian-on-civilian killings have left running rivers of blood and ink. Due to the innocence of the victims and heroism of teachers who gave their lives to protect their students, the massacre of children and adults at a school in Newtown hurts in another way. This mass killing should mark a new presidential commitment. This time, the slogan written on the part of the dead, is society's exhortation for Obama: "Yes, yes, you must." Read more.
Translated By Halszka Czarnocka for World Meets US
January 9, 2013
Choosing the appropriate slogan isn't easy. It requires imagination, creativity and following the maxim "less is more," as the message must say a lot with the fewest possible words. The slogan of Barack Obama's first presidential campaign, "Yes, we can," synthesized the desire for change and the need to come together. Now with the beginning of his second term, Obama will no longer need to invent apt and resonant phrases. He'll have to look back.
During his first term, civilian-on-civilian killings have left running rivers of blood and ink. Due to the innocence of the victims and heroism of teachers who gave their lives to protect their students, the massacre of children and adults at a school in Newtown hurts in another way. This mass killing should mark a new presidential commitment. This time, the slogan written on the part of the dead, is society's exhortation for Obama: "Yes, yes, you must." Read more.
Nov 23, 2012
Mapping the Unidentified Victims of Mexico's Drug War
InSight Crime, Written by Geoffrey Ramsey Sunday, 18 November 2012
An investigative report by Milenio suggests that of the 60,000 people killed in the last six years in Mexico's fight against organized crime, nearly half have not been identified by the government. It also finds evidence that state officials may be tampering with the public record of these deaths.
The months-long investigation published in October found that at least 24,102 of the 60,000 Mexicans that have died in circumstances related to the fight against organized crime since 2006, have yet to be identified, and are classified by officials as "NN," ("ningun nombre," or no name). Below is a map compiled by the paper of the states with the highest reported concentrations of these unidentified victims.
Even more alarming, this is a conservative estimate. State officials were extremely uncooperative with the investigation. The state of Tamaulipas, for example, simply refused to release any data on the number of NNs to the newspaper, saying that it was a federal matter and not the state's responsibility.
The government of Veracruz also put up a fight against releasing the data to Milenio, arguing that to do so would put its officials "at risk" and potentially violate the privacy of the victims. While a freedom of information request filed by the paper was approved in Mexican courts, the state has yet to provide a comprehensive list of cases of unidentified murder victims. The local governments 30 of 212 municipalities in Veracruz did provide information to Milenio, however; according to this data, it was the state with the most unidentified victims in the country, with 5,245. Read more.
An investigative report by Milenio suggests that of the 60,000 people killed in the last six years in Mexico's fight against organized crime, nearly half have not been identified by the government. It also finds evidence that state officials may be tampering with the public record of these deaths.
The months-long investigation published in October found that at least 24,102 of the 60,000 Mexicans that have died in circumstances related to the fight against organized crime since 2006, have yet to be identified, and are classified by officials as "NN," ("ningun nombre," or no name). Below is a map compiled by the paper of the states with the highest reported concentrations of these unidentified victims.
Even more alarming, this is a conservative estimate. State officials were extremely uncooperative with the investigation. The state of Tamaulipas, for example, simply refused to release any data on the number of NNs to the newspaper, saying that it was a federal matter and not the state's responsibility.
The government of Veracruz also put up a fight against releasing the data to Milenio, arguing that to do so would put its officials "at risk" and potentially violate the privacy of the victims. While a freedom of information request filed by the paper was approved in Mexican courts, the state has yet to provide a comprehensive list of cases of unidentified murder victims. The local governments 30 of 212 municipalities in Veracruz did provide information to Milenio, however; according to this data, it was the state with the most unidentified victims in the country, with 5,245. Read more.
Nov 4, 2012
Are Obama, Romney ignoring Mexico's drug war?
By Susana Seijas, Special to CNN
Thu November 1, 2012
Mexico City (CNN) -- "Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States," is something I heard a lot growing up in Mexico in the 1980s. How that saying, first coined by President Porfirio Diaz around the turn of the 20th century, resonates today.
With the U.S. election next door, Mexico seems not only far from God, but forgotten. In the past six years, 60,000 people have died in drug-related violence. Some say the death toll could be as high as 100,000. Yet the violence here didn't make it into the last U.S. presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
We may share a 2,000 mile border, but the view from here -- notwithstanding our trade relationship and the hunger for drugs in the U.S. that is fueling the bloodshed and flooding my country with weapons -- is that we're truly off the radar. Read more.
Thu November 1, 2012
Mexico City (CNN) -- "Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States," is something I heard a lot growing up in Mexico in the 1980s. How that saying, first coined by President Porfirio Diaz around the turn of the 20th century, resonates today.
With the U.S. election next door, Mexico seems not only far from God, but forgotten. In the past six years, 60,000 people have died in drug-related violence. Some say the death toll could be as high as 100,000. Yet the violence here didn't make it into the last U.S. presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
We may share a 2,000 mile border, but the view from here -- notwithstanding our trade relationship and the hunger for drugs in the U.S. that is fueling the bloodshed and flooding my country with weapons -- is that we're truly off the radar. Read more.
Day of the Dead takes on new meaning for families of Mexico's disappeared
CSM: Mexicans traditionally visit the graves of dead relatives on the Day of the Dead, but it's a difficult time for the families of the thousands of Mexicans who have disappeared amid Mexico's drug violence.
By Associated Press / November 2, 2012
Maria Elena Salazar refuses to set out plates of her missing son's favorite foods or orange flowers as offerings for the deceased on Mexico's Day of the Dead, even though she hasn't seen him in three-and-a-half years.
The 50-year-old former teacher is convinced that Hugo Gonzalez Salazar, a university graduate in marketing who worked for a telephone company, is still alive and being forced to work for a drug cartel because of his skills.
"The government, the authorities, they know it, that the gangs took them away to use as forced labor," said Salazar of her then 24-year-old son, who disappeared in the northern city of Torreon in July 2009.
The Day of the Dead – when Mexicans traditionally visit the graves of dead relatives and leave offerings of flowers, food and candy skulls – is a difficult time for the families of the thousands of Mexicans who have disappeared amid a wave of drug-fueled violence. Read more.
By Associated Press / November 2, 2012
Maria Elena Salazar refuses to set out plates of her missing son's favorite foods or orange flowers as offerings for the deceased on Mexico's Day of the Dead, even though she hasn't seen him in three-and-a-half years.
The 50-year-old former teacher is convinced that Hugo Gonzalez Salazar, a university graduate in marketing who worked for a telephone company, is still alive and being forced to work for a drug cartel because of his skills.
"The government, the authorities, they know it, that the gangs took them away to use as forced labor," said Salazar of her then 24-year-old son, who disappeared in the northern city of Torreon in July 2009.
The Day of the Dead – when Mexicans traditionally visit the graves of dead relatives and leave offerings of flowers, food and candy skulls – is a difficult time for the families of the thousands of Mexicans who have disappeared amid a wave of drug-fueled violence. Read more.
Oct 18, 2012
Violent Mexico border state is snapshot of nation
Associated Press, R. Olga Rodriguez. October 18, 2012.
ROGRESO, Mexico (AP) — Every Sunday, some 100 people gather for pick-up baseball games in a dusty open field marked only by a dirt mound and rusted bleachers. It's the event of the week for this small northern Mexico town of 800 people where there is just one gas station and no supermarket, bank or high school.
Despite the crowd, nobody is willing to admit they were there the afternoon of Oct. 7 or saw the shootout just outside the ball field in the heart of Coahuila state. Mexican marines gunned down Heriberto Lazcano, a founder and top leader of the Zetas drug cartel and the biggest kingpin netted so far in President Felipe Calderon's six-year assault on organized crime.
Days later, no one would even admit to playing in the game. "We don't like sports," said one teenager waiting for his school bus last week when an Associated Press reporter asked him and his friends if they had played that Sunday. The players in the weekly games are largely in their teens.
Some townspeople do say they heard the explosions from grenades that Lazcano reportedly tossed as he ran for his life, but insist that they were home at the time and that they thought it was fireworks.
The reluctance to speak isn't surprising. Read more.
ROGRESO, Mexico (AP) — Every Sunday, some 100 people gather for pick-up baseball games in a dusty open field marked only by a dirt mound and rusted bleachers. It's the event of the week for this small northern Mexico town of 800 people where there is just one gas station and no supermarket, bank or high school.
Despite the crowd, nobody is willing to admit they were there the afternoon of Oct. 7 or saw the shootout just outside the ball field in the heart of Coahuila state. Mexican marines gunned down Heriberto Lazcano, a founder and top leader of the Zetas drug cartel and the biggest kingpin netted so far in President Felipe Calderon's six-year assault on organized crime.
Days later, no one would even admit to playing in the game. "We don't like sports," said one teenager waiting for his school bus last week when an Associated Press reporter asked him and his friends if they had played that Sunday. The players in the weekly games are largely in their teens.
Some townspeople do say they heard the explosions from grenades that Lazcano reportedly tossed as he ran for his life, but insist that they were home at the time and that they thought it was fireworks.
The reluctance to speak isn't surprising. Read more.
Sep 27, 2012
Mexico's Calderon proposes UN lead debate on drug policy
Reuters Sep 26, 2012
By Brian Winter
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The United Nations should lead a global debate over a less "prohibitionist" approach to drug policy, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Wednesday in the latest attempt by a Latin American leader to float possible changes to international narcotics laws.
Calderon, who leaves office on Dec. 1 after spending much of his presidency locked in a bloody battle with drug-smuggling gangs, told the U.N. General Assembly that organized crime was "one of the most serious threats of our time."
"Today, I am proposing formally that (the United Nations) ... carry out a far-reaching assessment of the progress and the limits of the current prohibitionist approach to drugs," Calderon said.
Calderon did not specifically say what an alternative approach to drug policy might look like. However, he and some other Latin American leaders including Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos have suggested they might be open to legalization of some narcotics if that helped reduce violence. Read more.
By Brian Winter
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The United Nations should lead a global debate over a less "prohibitionist" approach to drug policy, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Wednesday in the latest attempt by a Latin American leader to float possible changes to international narcotics laws.
Calderon, who leaves office on Dec. 1 after spending much of his presidency locked in a bloody battle with drug-smuggling gangs, told the U.N. General Assembly that organized crime was "one of the most serious threats of our time."
"Today, I am proposing formally that (the United Nations) ... carry out a far-reaching assessment of the progress and the limits of the current prohibitionist approach to drugs," Calderon said.
Calderon did not specifically say what an alternative approach to drug policy might look like. However, he and some other Latin American leaders including Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos have suggested they might be open to legalization of some narcotics if that helped reduce violence. Read more.
Mexico captures top Zetas drug lord, in major blow to cartel
L.A. Times, September 27, 2012
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's navy has captured "Zeta-50," a top leader of a faction of the recently divided Zetas drug cartel, in an operation in the city of San Luis Potosi, news reports said late Wednesday.
"A person who is presumed to be, and acknowledges being, Ivan Velazquez Caballero, was captured," the navy said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
The capture of Velazquez, also known by the alias "El Taliban," would deal a major blow to the fractious Zetas group and raise new doubts about the future of the criminal power dynamic in Mexico's violent northeast region.
Authorities indicated that they would provide more information Thursday on Velasquez's arrest, as he was being transferred to Mexico City, reports said. Read more.
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's navy has captured "Zeta-50," a top leader of a faction of the recently divided Zetas drug cartel, in an operation in the city of San Luis Potosi, news reports said late Wednesday.
"A person who is presumed to be, and acknowledges being, Ivan Velazquez Caballero, was captured," the navy said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
The capture of Velazquez, also known by the alias "El Taliban," would deal a major blow to the fractious Zetas group and raise new doubts about the future of the criminal power dynamic in Mexico's violent northeast region.
Authorities indicated that they would provide more information Thursday on Velasquez's arrest, as he was being transferred to Mexico City, reports said. Read more.
Sep 9, 2012
Mothers Bond to Heal as Baltimore's Drug War Meets Mexico's
 | ||
| Kimberly Armstrong of Baltimore shares a hug with a caravan mother |
Along North Avenue and Fulton Avenue, entire blocks of houses were boarded up and abandoned. Some have been gutted by time or rehab speculators. Others stand as they have for more than a hundred years, ready to house families behind their strong brick walls. Except that money, racism and the perversion of the financial system have blocked their doors. Families are on the street while houses remain empty.
We drove up to Irvington Park where a coalition of Baltimore groups hosted a picnic with the theme "Keep Them Home". Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS), a community organization that works with imprisoned and recently released youth, greeted the caravan, along with the NAACP, Casa Maryland and others.
Two women rappers/singers performed works protesting the construction of yet another prison in a community that lacks basic services. Local groups like LBS have managed to block the prison so far and are working to have the multi-million dollar project cancelled altogether.
Kimberly Armstrong, a community organizer, took the stage.
On Sept. 27, 2004, Armstrong's sixteen year old son Eric was shot and killed. Just this February, she said, she heard a knock on the door. "It was the police. They told me they found my son's murderer. he was shot with a 9mm rifle by a 14-year old."
"I thought to myself, 'why do we have 9mm rifles on the ground? how can it be that we live in a neighborhood where it's easier for a 14-year old to get a gun, than it is to get a tomato.'"
Among the crowd, the many mothers and other relatives of the murdered and disappeared nodded. One woman's lost son became the brother of the other's.
"Now they are all my angels," said Araceli Rodriguez, displaying the photo of Armstrong's son alongside that of her own, kidnapped and disappeared in the state of Michoacan.
Laura Carlsen
Sep 7, 2012
Mexican Police Arrest 12 Drug Traffickers
Thursday, September 6 2012 - Borderland Beat
Twelve suspected Cartel Independiente de Acapulco members wanted for the killings of at least 18 people in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero were arrested, state officials said Thursday.
Jose Alberto Quiroz Perez, one of the cartel's suspected bosses, was among those captured, the Guerrero Public Safety Secretariat said.
Quiroz allegedly was in charge of merging the gangs left leaderless by the arrests of the bosses of the La Barredora drug trafficking organization.
La Barredora fought the Cartel Independiente de Acapulco for control of drug sales, kidnappings and extortion rackets in Acapulco, a resort city on Mexico's Pacific coast.
The two gangs were formed after the break-up of the organization led by Edgar Valdez Villarreal, who was arrested by the Federal Police on Aug. 30, 2010.
The arrest of Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie," unleashed a war for control of Acapulco, one of Mexico's top tourist destinations, sending the crime rate soaring in the port city.
Quiroz Perez and his associates kidnapped members of rival gangs, murdered them and dumped their bodies in public areas along with threatening messages, the secretariat said.
The Cartel Independiente de Acapulco is suspected of being behind extortion rackets targeting businesses in Acapulco. Read more.
Twelve suspected Cartel Independiente de Acapulco members wanted for the killings of at least 18 people in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero were arrested, state officials said Thursday.
Jose Alberto Quiroz Perez, one of the cartel's suspected bosses, was among those captured, the Guerrero Public Safety Secretariat said.
Quiroz allegedly was in charge of merging the gangs left leaderless by the arrests of the bosses of the La Barredora drug trafficking organization.
La Barredora fought the Cartel Independiente de Acapulco for control of drug sales, kidnappings and extortion rackets in Acapulco, a resort city on Mexico's Pacific coast.
The two gangs were formed after the break-up of the organization led by Edgar Valdez Villarreal, who was arrested by the Federal Police on Aug. 30, 2010.
The arrest of Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie," unleashed a war for control of Acapulco, one of Mexico's top tourist destinations, sending the crime rate soaring in the port city.
Quiroz Perez and his associates kidnapped members of rival gangs, murdered them and dumped their bodies in public areas along with threatening messages, the secretariat said.
The Cartel Independiente de Acapulco is suspected of being behind extortion rackets targeting businesses in Acapulco. Read more.
Sep 6, 2012
Democrats to increase fight against drug trafficking
Americas Program Original Translation
Wednesday September 5, 2012
J. Jaime Hernandez | The Universal
CHARLOTTE, NC. - The “dramatic expansion” in size and scope
of transnational crime networks today draws its alliances with international
terrorism, government officials and some state security services, "hurting
people worldwide, posing a threat to stability and subverting government institutions
through corruption,” according to the Democratic Party platform, approved here yesterday
at the start of their national convention.
According to the document, this transnational threat is
within the priorities and commitments of President Barack Obama in the fight
against this global scourge. Highlighting the partnership with countries like
Mexico in fighting drug cartels and gangs, the Democratic platform is a
commitment to the continuation of this struggle.
"Transnational criminal organizations have accumulated
wealth and unprecedented power over the drug trade, illegal arms trafficking,
human trafficking and other illicit activities that have entered the financial
system," says the program, which highlights Obama's priorities in
security, international relations and future cooperation.
Highlighting the partnership the United States has with
countries like Mexico in the fight against drug traffickers and gangs, the
document advocates a greater strain on the finances of the cartels - including a
look into the U.S. banking system - for Obama’s second term. According to the
document, security and stability on both sides of the border depends on the
continuity and improvement of the fight with Mexico against the criminal
organizations. Thus, the Obama campaign is committing to the continuity and
strengthening of the capacities of the two countries to hit the criminal organizations
and their finances and to regionalize these efforts so that the cartels
"have no place to hide."
Aug 30, 2012
Laura's Blog: Gag order on shooting of Embassy personnel?
A week after a van with diplomatic plates was ambushed by Mexican Federal Police members, wounding two CIA agents, neither the U.S. or Mexican governments have much to say about the incident.
State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland treated a question on the attack like the political hot potato it is. She seemed to plead for the next question, and the lack of diligence by the reporter made for an easy dodge.
1. The van was taking the two CIA agents to train new Navy recruits at a firing range outside Mexico City. It was clearly identified and well-known to people in the area. The U.S. government has often cited its preference for the Navy and mistrust of the Army in Mexico, so Navy war games having nothing to do with water are common in this drug war.
2. A green Chrysler drove up and blocked the way of the Toyota van. The driver immediately threw the car into reverse to escape. (First question: If this were indeed a case of mistaken identity, how did the driver immediately know this was an attack?)
3. A second car cut off passage from behind. Shots were fired but the Toyota was armored.
4,. The Toyota again tried to escape and manage to proceed to a gas station where it continued to be fired on, with some bullets penetrating the protective shields and injuring the passengers.
5. The assailants fled when police and Navy vehicles arrived on the scene. They were later captured. 6. Twelve Federal Police agents have been arrested.
What does this bizarre incident indicate?
So far both governments seem to be preparing some version of a case of "mistaken identity". The NYT quotes anonymous US government officials as stating that "no evidence had emerged so far that the Americans were targeted because of their affiliation."
However, both Reforma and La Jornada gathered detailed interviews from local residents stating that anybody could see that the vehicle had diplomatic plates and that the agents' comings and goings are common knowledge in the area. The possibility that the Federal Police did not know who they were shooting at is extremely low.
The next obvious question is: why did the Mexican police shoot the CIA agents?
Speculation has emerged that these police were in cahoots with an organized crime group. That's pretty common here. Generally speaking, when organized crime shoots a U.S. agent, it's to send a message, not just to get rid of somebody. They know that the action will have binational ramifications.
In this scenario, it's hard to say what the potential message was. I´m not going to speculate on that until we know more.
The officers' families have offered explanations that it was a simple mistake and/or that their relatives were fired on first. They were quoted as fearing a frame-up to "stay on the United States' good side".
If history is any indication, we may never know what really happened. One certainly gets the impression that this incident is not something either drug-war ally wants to talk about. Compare the response of the U.S. government to the shooting of ICE agent Jaime Zapata on Feb. 15, 2011, when it immediately demanded justice and participated in the investigation.
Incidentally, the Mexican government also called that a case of mistaken identity, and probably will continue to claim all such cases are mistaken identity, since admitting that US agents are targeted could jeopardize the many programs that send U.S. agents to Mexico
The ambush also shows once again that U.S. funding to the Mexican federal police force, which has run in the millions since the Merida Initiative began in 2008, is funding a force that attacks U.S. agents, not to mention the massive evidence of violation of Mexicans' human rights and attacks on their lives.
The NYT article notes the evident irony:
The conservative Wall Street Journal noted the "embarrassment" to the Mexican government of having its Federal Police Force go for the jugular of the hand that feeds it:
U.S. growing involvement in Mexico has raised the eyebrows and the ire of some members of Congress here in Mexico City. Since the ambush, they have called for a hearing and demanded that the Calderon administration give out information on the extent and the activities of U.S. agents.
This is a question that many of us have had for a long time now.
State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland treated a question on the attack like the political hot potato it is. She seemed to plead for the next question, and the lack of diligence by the reporter made for an easy dodge.
QUESTION: Additionally, there’s been an increasing controversy in Mexico over the incident with the U.S. diplomatic convoy, particularly the firing on the U.S. diplomatic van. The Embassy in Mexico initially classified it as an ambush. The Mexican Government says it was an accident. Which is it? And then can you confirm some of the – what were these two individuals (inaudible) link – to what U.S. agency were they linked?It seems both the U.S. and Mexican governments have handed down a gag order on the strange incident. On the U.S. side the DEA came out with a statement denying that any of their agents were involved. On Tuesday, the New York Times reported what the Mexican paper La Jornada had reported earlier:
MS. NULAND: As you know, the Mexican Government is investigating this incident. Our Embassy is cooperating in that investigation and trying to assist it in any way that we can. I’m not going to get ahead of the investigation – I think we’re going to wait and see what that concludes – nor am I going to get into speculating on any of the specifics until we see what the investigation leads to.
Please.
QUESTION: Just a follow-up: Have you taken any extra steps to protect U.S. borders in Mexico after this incident?
MS. NULAND: Well, we --
QUESTION: Are you worried about this?
MS. NULAND: We always are in a strong security posture around the world as necessary, but we don’t speak about any of the details of that.
Anything else? Please.
The two Americans who were wounded when gunmen fired on an American Embassy vehicle last week were Central Intelligence Agency employees sent as part of a multiagency effort to bolster Mexican efforts to fight drug traffickers, officials said on Tuesday.What do we know and not know about the ambush?
1. The van was taking the two CIA agents to train new Navy recruits at a firing range outside Mexico City. It was clearly identified and well-known to people in the area. The U.S. government has often cited its preference for the Navy and mistrust of the Army in Mexico, so Navy war games having nothing to do with water are common in this drug war.
2. A green Chrysler drove up and blocked the way of the Toyota van. The driver immediately threw the car into reverse to escape. (First question: If this were indeed a case of mistaken identity, how did the driver immediately know this was an attack?)
3. A second car cut off passage from behind. Shots were fired but the Toyota was armored.
4,. The Toyota again tried to escape and manage to proceed to a gas station where it continued to be fired on, with some bullets penetrating the protective shields and injuring the passengers.
5. The assailants fled when police and Navy vehicles arrived on the scene. They were later captured. 6. Twelve Federal Police agents have been arrested.
What does this bizarre incident indicate?
So far both governments seem to be preparing some version of a case of "mistaken identity". The NYT quotes anonymous US government officials as stating that "no evidence had emerged so far that the Americans were targeted because of their affiliation."
However, both Reforma and La Jornada gathered detailed interviews from local residents stating that anybody could see that the vehicle had diplomatic plates and that the agents' comings and goings are common knowledge in the area. The possibility that the Federal Police did not know who they were shooting at is extremely low.
The next obvious question is: why did the Mexican police shoot the CIA agents?
Speculation has emerged that these police were in cahoots with an organized crime group. That's pretty common here. Generally speaking, when organized crime shoots a U.S. agent, it's to send a message, not just to get rid of somebody. They know that the action will have binational ramifications.
In this scenario, it's hard to say what the potential message was. I´m not going to speculate on that until we know more.
The officers' families have offered explanations that it was a simple mistake and/or that their relatives were fired on first. They were quoted as fearing a frame-up to "stay on the United States' good side".
If history is any indication, we may never know what really happened. One certainly gets the impression that this incident is not something either drug-war ally wants to talk about. Compare the response of the U.S. government to the shooting of ICE agent Jaime Zapata on Feb. 15, 2011, when it immediately demanded justice and participated in the investigation.
Incidentally, the Mexican government also called that a case of mistaken identity, and probably will continue to claim all such cases are mistaken identity, since admitting that US agents are targeted could jeopardize the many programs that send U.S. agents to Mexico
The ambush also shows once again that U.S. funding to the Mexican federal police force, which has run in the millions since the Merida Initiative began in 2008, is funding a force that attacks U.S. agents, not to mention the massive evidence of violation of Mexicans' human rights and attacks on their lives.
The NYT article notes the evident irony:
Through programs like the $1.6 billion Merida initiative, the United States has spent millions of dollars on training and equipping the federal police.This incident further derails the Washington argument that the police force is an acceptable option for funding the drug war since it is being "reformed".
The conservative Wall Street Journal noted the "embarrassment" to the Mexican government of having its Federal Police Force go for the jugular of the hand that feeds it:
The incident has proved an embarrassment for the Mexican government, which receives millions of dollars annually in U.S. aid for its drug war and which has touted its federal police as the most professional force.In addition to the embarrassment of Federal Police misbehavior, there is the issue of why CIA agents are training young Mexican Navy recruits to shoot their own people.
U.S. growing involvement in Mexico has raised the eyebrows and the ire of some members of Congress here in Mexico City. Since the ambush, they have called for a hearing and demanded that the Calderon administration give out information on the extent and the activities of U.S. agents.
This is a question that many of us have had for a long time now.
Jul 26, 2012
U.S. Drug War Expands to Africa, a Newer Hub for Cartels
NY Times: Charlie Savage and Thom Shanker. Washington - In a significant expansion of the war on drugs, the United States has begun training an elite unit of counternarcotics police in Ghana and planning similar units in Nigeria and Kenya as part of an effort to combat the Latin American cartels that are increasingly using Africa to smuggle cocaine into Europe.
The growing American involvement in Africa follows an earlier escalation of antidrug efforts in Central America, according to documents, Congressional testimony and interviews with a range of officials at the State Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Pentagon. Read more.
The growing American involvement in Africa follows an earlier escalation of antidrug efforts in Central America, according to documents, Congressional testimony and interviews with a range of officials at the State Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Pentagon. Read more.
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