Borderland Beat |  |
- Javier Villarreal Ex Treasurer of Coahuila disappears from prison in San Antonio
- Guerreros Unidos Cell in the U.S. Dismanteled
- Mexican Hitmen Held In Auto Defenses' Jail
- The Office of Coahuila says they were 28 and not 300 missing in Allende; Who do you believe?
- Templarios boss arrested in western Mexico
- "Paquito" of the Gulf Cartel Arrested (Updated 12/10/14)
- Suspect in the Killing of General Niño Arrested
- Missing Nursing Student From Uruapan, Mich. Found Dead with Flayed Face
- Remains of 1 Missing Normalista Identified
- Guardia Guerrerense Excecutes 5, Leaves Bodies on Highway
- Picking Off Family of Tuta One by One But Still No Tuta
- Which Gangs Rule in Mexico City?
- Mexico City police chief resigns after violent protests
- UN Official “holds the Mexican state responsible for 43 missing”; But AG Murillo Refuses Search of Military Base
- The Missing 43: Mexico's Disappeared Students (Full Length) From Vice News – Maybe best video yet of the tragedy
- Government Repression of Opposition Voices In the Cromputer Age; Hash tags disappear from Twitter
- Almost 5,000 disappeared in Tamaulipas from 2011 to 2014
- As Elections Approach, Mexico Is Handing Out Free Digital TVs to Millions of Voters
- U.S. Legalization Hurts Mexican Drug Cartels
- Need More Proof That The Government Is Instigating Violence In Otherwise Peaceful Demonstrations?
- Overview of the Criminal Organizations Operating in Guerrero
- Calls For President to Resign Continue and Violence Ensues: UPDATED 12/2
- Mexico: online news sites targeted in Puebla, Chiapas and Jalisco
- Five more burnt bodies found in Guerrero
| Javier Villarreal Ex Treasurer of Coahuila disappears from prison in San Antonio Posted: 12 Dec 2014 03:34 AM PST Borderland Beat by DD " Javier Villarreal Ex Treasurer of Coahuila disappears from prison in San Antonio" That was the headline in Vanguardia, a regional newspaper in Saltillo, Coahuila. "there is no record of him in the Texas prison, the case is reserved and witnesses saw him free".
That got my attention. He is still a pretty slippery character. Villarreal, a former computer equipment salesman who went into government service in 2008, was arrested in Mexico in October 2011 and was freed after posting bail of 10 million pesos, Villarreal and at least six other men face charges linked to the more than $3 billion in debt racked up by the Coahuila government during the administration of former Gov. Humberto Moreira. Villarreal is accused of falsifying documents involving $325 million in bank loans to the state shortly before Moreira resigned to become national president of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. State police arrested Villarreal and another former Coahuila official Oct. 28, 2011, charging them in connection with suspicious loans. Villarreal was released on bail within hours after being detained. But Villarreal evidently had no intention of hanging around to see what would happen to him in Mexico. He knew there would have to be a lot of explaining to do about Coahuila's debt mushrooming from $27 Million dollars to $3 Billion dollars during the administration of Governor Humberto Moreira during which time he was State Treasurer. That is a increase in the states debt by 9,800 percent. A third of Coahuila's debt is in the form of short-term obligations. Rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Coahuila's debt five levels, noting that the state's obligations were equal to 260 percent of total 2011 revenues. Before he left office he did accomplish having the financial records for the state for the year 2010 sealed until the year 2019. He did the only sensible thing. He jumped bail in Mexico. Even though he was under indictment in Mexico related to fraud charges and was only free on bail, Villarreal obtained a visa from the US and fled across the border. He obtained the visa through a program that allows foreigners who invest between $500,000 and $1 million to enter the U.S. He had invested a hell of lot more than that, though it was ill gotten gains he stole from the state of Coahuila. But evidently no one from the State Department asked about the source of his funds to make the investments. Ironically he was arrested near Tyler, Texas (East Texas) in Feb. 2012 after being stopped on a traffic violation and the state trooper found $67,000 cash and a shotgun in his Mercedes SUV. After being taken to Homeland Security facility, he was released. He has friends in high places. Days after that episode had made the headlines officials in Mexico must have figured out Villarreal was on the run and they issued an Interpol warrant for his arrest. In the Spring of 2012 the US federal government initiated forfeiture procedures to confiscate millions of dollars of cash and property Villareal owned in San Antonio and south Texas. The state of Texas joined in the quest seeking forfeitures. He now had the Interpol warrant facing him, several federal and civil suits in the forfeiture cases and federal criminal charges based on the money laundering allegation followed shortly thereafter. He was on the lam and a fugitive again. Surprising everyone, he voluntarily surrendered himself to federal officials in El Paso Texas in Feb. of this year. Prosecutors allege he laundered in Texas millions of dollars, the proceeds of drug trafficking, bribery, embezzlement and fraud. Villarreal faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, but court documents in the case did not detail the allegations against him. He waived a detention hearing was ordered held without bail. That point will be interesting as will be shown below.
That is where things stood until I saw the story in Vanguardia on Sat. Dec. 6 that Villarreal is no longer imprisoned in jails in the counties of Guadalupe and Bexar, in San Antonio, Texas, according to a search in the records of both prisons. Vanguardia also reported that the judge in the case had sealed the records in the case and placed a "gag order" on all the participant in the proceeding. The periodical reported; "'There is no record of him in jail', responded via phone an official of the jail of Bexar County. . There is no trace of Villarreal Hernández in the prison of Guadalupe County, not by the number of detention, nor by his name and date of birth. "To try to locate his whereabouts , Vanguard contacted Darly Fields, spokesman for the office of the Attorney-General in West Texas.-'No records were found of Javier Villarreal in jail', was he given his freedom?-, 'are you challenged — I cannot comment, or anything – neither can i deny,' we were told.- "We (Vanuardia) told the voice on the other end of line 'witnesses of our paper saw him shopping in San Antonio.' I have nothing to comment' - reiterated the spokesman and terminated the call." The story continued; "Prior to this research, we contacted the staff of Aeronautics of Saltillo, who often provided services to Villarreal when he was Treasurer of Coahuila, and they told Vanguard they had greeted when he was shopping during the 'good weekend' (Thanksgiving) at a Best Buy in San Antonio, Texas. Until this moment, information of the alleged departure of Javier Villarreal from prison has not been confirmed by the Prosecutor in charge of the case, or by the defense lawyer, Michael Wynne, and that they are legally barred from making public statements in the case. The last thing was revealed about the ex was last October, when Héctor Javier Villarreal Hernández pleaded guilty to the offences of money-laundering and fraud against the United States Government, agreeing to deliver to the County of Bexar 6.5 million dollars in accounts, as well as various real estate. However, but the judge has not pronounced sentence, and now it will be impossible to know their legal status, because, as noted earlier, the case was classified as reserved." (end of Vanguardia article) Curious as I am, I did a little more research and found this in the San Antonio Express; Mexican official accused of laundering money in Texas to give up $2M more Ex-Coahuila official quietly released on bail The former treasurer of the Mexican state of Coahuila, recently released on bail while his criminal case continues under seal, has agreed to give up $2.3 million to the U.S. government. In documents filed Friday at the federal court in Corpus Christi, Hector Javier Villarreal agreed to turn over $2.3 million in a Bermuda bank account that prosecutors said contained money stolen from the border state's coffers. Villarreal was quietly released from the Guadalupe County Jail in October, about a month after he pleaded guilty in a San Antonio federal court to one count each of money laundering conspiracy and conspiring to transport stolen money in foreign commerce. Since then, the criminal case against Villarreal has proceeded in secret, without any of the court filings made public. It is unclear when he will be sentenced. (end of SA Express story). At least it sounds like he still has money for Christmas shopping on "Black Friday" at Best Buy. And we don't have to worry about Humberto Moreira (you might have heard him referred to as "Governor Z"). He has not been charged with any crime, nor is he under any known investigation although there is a lot of evidence that he was responsible for much of the looting of Coahuila's treasury. He has threatened a defamation suit against Forbes magazine for placing him on the "Most Corrupt" list. He still owns his homes and commercial properties in San Antonio and ranches in South Texas. It is reported that he has returned from his luxury sabbatical in Spain and is currently relaxing in Cuernavaca. Probably he is getting ready for a big Christmas. He always liked to do things in a big way | ||||
| Guerreros Unidos Cell in the U.S. Dismanteled Posted: 11 Dec 2014 12:18 PM PST  In addition, that same day three other members of the cell, 50 year old Eliseo Betancourt Pereira of Aurora, 39 year old Roberto Sanchez of Chicago, and 29 year old Isaias Mandujano of Rockford, were arrested in the Chicago area. All three individuals appeared in federal court and are being held pending a detention hearing to take place in the following days. Arrest warrants have also been issued for three other members of this cell, 43 year old Wilfredo Flores Santos of North Aurora, 31 year old Jose Rodriguez of Chicago, and 33-34 year old Arturo Martinez, who is currently believed to be in Mexico. Seven of the individuals face the charges of conspiracy to posses and distribute a kilogram or more of heroin, which carries a sentence of a $10 million fine and ten years to life in prison, while Mandujuano faces a charge of possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, which carries a sentence of a $5 million fine and five to forty years in prison. Since August 2013, when the investigation of this cell began, 68 kilograms of heroin, 9 kilograms of cocaine, and $500,000 has been seized by authorities. | ||||
| Mexican Hitmen Held In Auto Defenses' Jail Posted: 10 Dec 2014 02:03 PM PST Borderland Beat posted by DD Republished from Sky News Sky News has gained access to an illegal prison where hitmen for Mexico's drug gangs have been jailed by vigilantes who snatched them off the streets. High in Mexico's Sierra Madre mountains our guides are leading us to this much rumored, but never before seen, prison. In this part of Mexico, vigilante groups are fighting back against the drug cartels and their low-level gunmen who have terrorised small communities for decades. The prison is their prize and a mark, they claim, of the success of their "revolution" against organised crime. The inmates hang out of the barred windows of a converted municipal building, watched by shotgun-toting men dressed in matching green T-shirts and trousers. There is no proper court of law up here. The prisoners have been snatched off the streets by vigilante gangs and locked up. It is a clean-up operation as unique as it is illegal. The Mexican government writ doesn't run here. The law of the gun does. The supervisor agrees to let us inside the "cells". Inside we are introduced to a group of men in their early 20s. Among them is Leonardo. He is 22, although he seems much younger. He has been in the prison for a year, he says. His youthful looks hide a horrendous history of violence for the Knights Templar drug cartel. Leonardo has killed 19 people in the past three years. He says he tried to run away from the cartel but was tracked down and "grassed up" to the community police. "They planted three bags of Mota (marijuana) on me and that was my problem... they used a girl to plant the drugs, and that girl they have since killed," he tells me, his head bobbing and eyes shifting nervously from side to side. "I don't want to talk about it in here. My integrity is in danger, my life is in danger," he adds. Leonardo says he was under the control of the cartel and could do nothing to avoid their demands to carry out murders. He admits to the murders and being part of the gang. "What's the point of lying to you? It is true they arrested me with evidence and all. When they caught me I had drugs, shotguns and other weapons." While cartels would usually pay for hits, it seems Leonardo was exploited with shocking ruthlessness. He was told to kill or be killed himself. He did it for free. Miguel, a sort of self-styled vigilante social worker who is trying to rehabilitate the inmates, says this is not uncommon. "Many start this way," he says. "Then they become contaminated and it becomes natural for them to do it (kill). "We have investigated him. His life is a life of poverty. It's a very miserable life, very, very poor. Their way of paying him was the life of another in exchange for his life." The inmates are not all cartel gang members, but they have been identified as anti-social troublemakers and criminals. Certainly this prison is unsuitable for proper rehabilitation - or proper punishment for that matter. Mixing murderers with drunks could hardly be described as sensible care-for-the-community policing. But the vigilantes are unrepentant. Locking these men up in cells with mats on the floor and almost no recreational or exercise time is a fitting return for the fear they have brought to their communities. They want this message to get out. Across Mexico people are beginning to ask questions of the government and are questioning its future. But the conclusion one has to reach is that with the profits from drugs so high, the money distributed among the most powerful and influential and a financially poor population almost inured to such violence over so many years, that bringing about change is impossible - except perhaps by the vigilantes. They have weapons. The cycle starts all over again. DD. More videos of the prison at Link Thanks to a tip from Chvis for story. | ||||
| The Office of Coahuila says they were 28 and not 300 missing in Allende; Who do you believe? Posted: 10 Dec 2014 09:09 AM PST Borderland Beat by DD with excerpts from SinEmbargo, and stories previously post on Borderland Beat. This week the Attorney General of the state of Coahuila (PGJE) denied that 300 people were missing in the Zeta attack on Allende, Nava, and other surrounding towns in a retaliatory attack that took place over 3 years ago. He said that after a "massive search" for bodies and his investigation the evidence showed that there were 28 people kidnapped and of those 28 people kidnapped 11 were killed. If the numbers didn't represent real people, most of them innocent of any wrong doing, his statement would be laughable. His investigation started in January of this year, over 3 years after the largest kidnapping and massacre in Coahuila history (probably in all of Mexico). Borderland Beat reported on the start of the "massive search" in an article dated Feb. 2, 2014, entitled "Coahuila Corruption;Searching Hundreds of Missing in Allende Massacre".  BB followed up with a story on Feb. 8 with a story about the search for bodies, "Coahuila's Clandestine Grave Body Count Rises to 500". Then on April 29 BB reported "2500 Human Remains found inCoahuila not 500-So says the State". In that article BB reporter Chivis Martinez reported"The Coahuila state attorney reported yesterday an error in calculation of remains discovered in the "massive search" conducted in January, it was reported at that time the human remains were that of up to 500 people, but the actual number, according to Coahuila state Ruben Moreira administration, is 2500."In fairness to the state attorney, he did not start his investigation and search for the missing in Allende until January 2014. Borderland Beat had a jump on him because it began it's investigation and reporting on the massacreon March 26, 2011, just days after the kidnapping and murders.On the night of March 18, 2011, Los Zetas Cartel started a week of terror in Piedras Negras and los Cinco Manantiales (5 Springs Area) which includes: Allende, Morelos, Zaragoza, Villa Union and Nava. The kidnapping and presumed killings were "ajuste de cuentas" - settling of accounts- and was ordered by Zetas. At that time, approximately 40 trucks filled with dozens of hooded and masked gunmen arrived in Allende in search of family, friends, and acquaintances of Cuéllar and Moreno (the 2 who had stolen Z-40.s money). With heavy machinery, they destroyed around 80 houses and took at least 80 families; they took advantage of holding the municipalities for rape, blackmail, murder, and to steal properties from entrepreneurs and farmers. First reports to emerge, mostly by witnesses to afraid to say much say that over a hundred were killed and 10 homes in Allende alone were burned or destroyed. Whole families were kidnapped or killed, including infants and children. Even servants of the families were "disappeared'. Many of those taken had the misfortune to simply have the last name of someone on the Zeta hit list.    The terrified and defenseless population kept silent. The government of Coahuila, according to then Attorney General Jesús Torres Charles, made "very serious preliminary investigations" that it delivered to the PGR [Attorney General's Office] of Marisela Morales, where it seemingly got lost, misplaced, or forgotten because the reports of the missing issued by the Calderon administration never included the missing from Allende and the five springs area. There was little or no press coverage except for Borderland Beat that published it's first story on the massacre on March 26, 2011. Just days after the terror ended. But no one paid attention. The story basically remained hidden (except to BB readers) until this last year. Little by little the outline of the massacre became known. In November of 2012, current Governor Rubén Moreira spoke publicly of the "destruction of more than 40 houses" and that "a great many people have disappeared and are feared dead." A month later, Juan Alberto Cedillo published the first of a series of reports in Proceso, and in 2014 more articles have appeared. We lack details, becaause the populace remains secretive, because it knows that it is still at the mercy of the murderers. Their defenselessness is absolute, because even the bureaucracies paid to serve them pretend not to notice. On the web page of the Commission for Human Rights of the State of Coahuila (presided over by Xavier Díez de Urdanivia), nothing is said about the disappeared. The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) cut and run, as usual. Its head, Raúl Plascencia, was in Coahuila in June of 2013 at a forum on the topic. He came out with a string of splendid phrases ("Mexico no longer tolerates a single disappearance"), but made no reference to the Allende missing. All of this transpired because 2 men who handled transporting cocaine across the border and were involved in money laundering as well were suspected by Z-40, then supreme leader of Los Zetas, of having betrayed him to the DEA. The two men found out about Z-40's suspicions and high-tailed it across the border with 5 million dollars of Zeta money. Z-40 sent them a message that if they didn't return the $5 mil he would kill their families, friends, and associates, and destroy their houses. The 2 thieves rejected Z-40's demand and they turned themselves over to US authorities and became prosecution witnesses in the trial of Z-40's brother for money laundering (which was covered in depth with on the scene reporting by Borderland Beat reporters Havana and Chivis). More information about the Allende Massacre came to light from statements they gave federal prosecutors. They are currently in the US "protected witness" program. Z-40 made good on his threat and the week or terror began. In the words of Moreno (one of the thieves who stole the money and is now in the hands of US prosecutors); "They wanted to kill me," Moreno told a court in the United States, in statements that were published by the San Antonio Express News. "They started killing Allende families, Piedras Negras, Múzquiz and Sabinas. Because of this, killed 200 or 300 people in Allende, "said the witness This week, three years and eight months later, Attorney Homero Ramos Gloria announced partial progress of the investigation by thef state administration on the crimes committed by the criminal group "Los Zetas" against citizens of Allende, Piedras Negras, Nava. Earlier this week the state Attorney General explained that "during the search operation 3450 bone indications were found, the Science Unit of the Federal Police ruled that 2977 of them they cannot determine their origin or obtain DNA because they were burned [ ...] the remaining 473 are analyzed to obtain their DNA and, certainly, the results will contribute to the clarification of these events. " Some good did come from the AG's search for the bodies and his continuing investigation of the Allende Massacre. Reporters and photographers were invited to join the search, and although their presence may have contaminated crime scenes, it gave current Governor Ruben Moreira and the ruling party, PRI, an opportunity to wage a huge public relations program to show how they were fighting crime and improving security for the people. (it was basically a photo op). The good aspect of his investigation is that the slaughter remained hidden from the public for more than three years, and only learned in early 2014, when about 250 soldiers, accompanied by forensic and effective federal and state forces, began searching for the missing. Needless to say the AG report of 28 people kidnapped and of those only 11 killed differs substantially from the facts we have presented over the last 3 years here on Borderland Beat. We'll leave it to the readers as to who to believe. As Chivis says frequently, "and the beat goes on". | ||||
| Templarios boss arrested in western Mexico Posted: 10 Dec 2014 03:13 PM PST Borderland Beat posted by Mars220 Republished from Latino Fox News  The suspected leader of a gang involved in kidnappings, drug trafficking and extortion rackets was arrested by the Federal Police in western Mexico, the Government Secretariat said. Marco Antonio Esparza Hernandez, also known as Miguel Angel Zapata Moreno, was arrested in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state, the secretariat said in a statement. The gang boss was living in the Jardines del Toreo district of Morelia. Officers confirmed the suspect's identity and "established a security perimeter, arresting this person while he was driving a private vehicle without a single shot being fired," the secretariat said. The suspect had worked as a gunman for Arnoldo Rueda Medina, one of the leaders of the Familia Michoacana drug cartel, and ran a network of informers for the drug trafficker, the secretariat said, citing information gathered by investigators. Esparza Hernandez reported to Enrique Plancarte Solis, one of the leaders of the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel, who provided him with orders on running extortion rackets, carrying out hits, distributing drugs and stealing fuel in Guanajuato, a state in central Mexico. The suspect parted ways with Servando Gomez Martinez, the only Caballeros Templarios leader still at large, when the cartel was weakened. The 41-year-old suspect was carrying two loaded rifles and 500 grams of a substance that appeared to be cocaine at the time of his arrest. The suspect and the evidence seized in the case were turned over to federal prosecutors. | ||||
| "Paquito" of the Gulf Cartel Arrested (Updated 12/10/14) Posted: 10 Dec 2014 09:01 AM PST  A notable member of the Gulf Cartel (also known in Spanish as Cartel del Golfo or CDG), 32 year old Juan Francisco Martínez Ramirez , who uses the aliases "Paquito", "Paco", "Metro 77", and "M77", was arrested on Monday, December 8. Sometime around 7:00-8:00 PM, agents of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in conjunction with deputy U.S. Marshals and the Law Enforcement Emergency Regional Response Team raided a house near the intersection of Scott Lane and Del Oro Streets on the west side of Mission, Texas, near the Palmview area and quickly captured him, despite his attempt to escape, and four other individuals. "Paquito" appeared before Judge Peter Ormsby, a United States Magistrate in McAllen, Texas, the following day and is being held for federal money laundering charges. He was denied bond and was not given a court-appointed attorney as Judge Ormsby found his income levels to be too high to qualify. A subsequent hearing has been scheduled for Friday, December 12. Within the Los Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel, "Paquito" was the head of the Reynosa, Tamaulipas plaza during the leadership of Mario Armando Ramírez Treviño, aliases "X-20" and "Mario Pelón", a role which he continued to have following the August 17, 2013 arrest of "X-20". Rumors emerged thereafter about an internal disagreement as to who should become the next leader of Los Metros, with "Paquito", among others, supporting Galindo Mellado Cruz. However, a majority would support Juan Manuel Rodríguez García, aliases "Juan Perros" and "Pantera 11", sowing tension within Los Metros as "Juan Perros" assumed leadership. In late April 2014 the situation in Reynosa exploded with the execution of "El Mono", a cousin of "Paquito", by forces under the command of "Juan Perros". "Paquito" and those under his command were then targeted, and for some time "Paquito" fought back, but it was evident he was fighting an uphill battle. A few weeks later, "Paquito" fled, with the prevailing rumor being that he was hiding out in southern Texas. By September, "Paquito" returned to Reynosa, which was now under the control of a mysterious figure known as "El Gafe". It is not clear what the exact role of "Paquito" was upon his return, although a distinct possibility was that he was named a sector commander. Regardless, it was clear that his power was greatly reduced. Upon the October 9 arrest in Edinburg, Texas of the then leader of Los Metros, Juan Francisco Saenz Tamez, alias "El Panochitas", it was reported that "Paquito" was traveling with him in a second vehicle but managed to escape across the border to Mexico. It has since been reported that "El Panochitas" was arrested based upon information given to the DEA by an informant within the Gulf Cartel and it is likely that the location of "Paquito" in Mission, Texas was provided by this informant as well. Update:  In reporting that "El Panochitas" was located based on information from a DEA informant, I did not mention that the same article that reported this also mentioned additional details about the arrest of "El Panochitas": "Why was it not announced the day he was arrested?" "Because he was not alone, he was with one of his lieutenants, whose name I can't give, he escaped in a vehicle and crossed the border and because immediately after he was handcuffed, El Panochitas offered to give us information even though the DEA agents didn't ask for it. That's why the official announcement of his arrest was delayed: His wish to cooperate had to be notified to Zack Hawthorn of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas. The sentence that Sáenz Tamez receives will be lenient". With that said, it is now being reported that court records indicate that a "cooperating defendant" provided information that "Paquito" gave said defendant $150,000 to purchase a home on the 400 block of South Moorefield Road, in southwest Mission, Texas. Furthermore, "Paquito" set up the title and utilities under the name of a third party to hide the true owner's identity. Based upon this information, the DEA obtained a search warrant on October 10 and found $42,700 within this residence. This home is located just blocks away from where "Paquito" was arrested. Though the name of the defendant is not revealed, the court records mention that the individual was arrested on October 9 in Edinburg, Texas, as well as providing indictment date, all of which point to the identity of the "cooperating defendant" as being "El Panochitas". | ||||
| Suspect in the Killing of General Niño Arrested Posted: 09 Dec 2014 10:35 AM PST Translation assistance provided byspike151  Fernando Adame Monsiváis, 37 years old, was arrested in Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León on Thursday, December 4. He was driving on the Monterrey-Nuevo Laredo highway in a Silverado pickup that had been stolen in Guadalupe and was stopped at the 115 km mark. Police officers that inspected his vehicle found a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launcher (although no actual grenades were with it), two AK-47 assault rifles, 26 ammunition clips, 800 rounds of ammunition of different calibers, tactical equipment, and five bags of drugs that he was transporting to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. Fernado was once a police officer in the state of Durango but was eventually dismissed. Thereafter, he moved to Michoacán, where he worked for a criminal organization, the name of which reports of his arrest does not mention. The Nuevo León state prosecutor's office reported that he had worked for a criminal organization near the border for a month and a half and suspect he was involved in the killing of General Ricardo Niño and his wife Flora Pineda on November 1. While the majority of reports did not specify the organization he currently works for, La Jornada does claim he is a member of Los Zetas which is extremely likely to be correct. | ||||
| Missing Nursing Student From Uruapan, Mich. Found Dead with Flayed Face Posted: 07 Dec 2014 06:16 PM PST Borderland Beat posted and translated by Pepe Republished from Cambio de Michoacan; Updates by DD;  Uruapan, Michoacán.-Erika Kassandra Bravo Caro, 19 years old, a young nursing student missing from Uruapan since Wednesday the 3rd of December, and whose case was reported in social media in efforts to find her, was found dead Saturday morning, with her face flayed and knife wounds to the chest, on the side of the road leading from Uruapan to Los Reyes, near the community Las Cocinas. According to RED Agency, it was the 3rd of this month, when relatives of the student publicly reported that she had disappeared, being last seen in the the colonia La Quinta, in Uruapan, dressed as a nurse, as she headed to care for some babies, said relatives.  However, in a tragic twist of fate, this Saturday was located the body of Erika in the above conditions. The case is already being investigated by state authorities. However, the people of this region are worried greatly, since the previous Friday was also found the lifeless body of another woman, who was stoned to death and partially burned, so citizens are demanding more security and justice for these two cases Warning graphic photo next page Location of Las Cocinas, Michoacán, where the body of Erika was found;    Uruapan, Mich., Dec. 7 of 2014.- Dressed in black for mourning, about a hundred people have gathered this morning to protest Uruapan by the bloody murder of Erika Kassandra Bravo Caro, a 19 year old nurse whose flayed body was found last Saturday on the road Uruapan to Los Reyes at the height of the community of Los Cocinas after being reported missing from there since Dec. 3.. Assembled around the square of avenue Latin America and Lázaro Cárdenas Paseo, carrying cardboard signs with legends that ask for justice at the time that they cry out: " I am Kassandra! Not one more! ", at this time more people are coming to join the protest. DD; The body that was reported found stoned to death is reported in this story from Despertar; Ziracuaretiro, Mich. - December 5 2014.- The corpse of a woman, who was stoned and partially burned, was found Friday night at one side of the plaza de toros in the indigenous community of San Andres Coru, belonging to this municipality, said the social representation. It came out during work on tpday's news that the inert body was found around 20:00 am at the above location to where the prosecutor moved in turn to carry out procedures of law.  It was also explained that the scene of the event were located several rocks stained with blood, same presumed were used to attack the now deceased | ||||
| Remains of 1 Missing Normalista Identified Posted: 06 Dec 2014 10:08 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (AP) -- At least one of 43 college students missing since September has been identified among charred remains found near a garbage dump, two Mexican officials confirmed Saturday. The two could not provide more details on how many of the students might have been identified. They agreed to speak only if granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. A family member of a missing student told The Associated Press that the remains were of Alexander Mora. The families were given that information late Friday by an Argentine team of forensic experts working on behalf of the relatives and with the Attorney General's Office, said the relative, who also would speak only on condition of anonymity. Parents of the students declined comment, planning to address a crowd that gathered Saturday afternoon at an already planned protest at the capital's Monument to the Revolution to demand the return of the students alive. Parents participating in Saturday's protest got off buses with sullen faces and were immediately surrounded by people for protection and support. Omar Garcia, a student at the march who attended the same rural teachers college in Ayotzinapa as the missing young men, relayed the reaction of Mora's father when he learned the fate of his son: "He will never give up. He will never get over his pain, but what he wants to tell all of you, and what we all want to say is this: We want justice!"
The father of Alexander Mora reported that his son's body was burned and that the Argentine experts identified it by a fragment of bone and a molar which was located in the pit near Cocula where the PGR determined that on this site were killed, burned and crushed the 43 students from Ayotzinapa. "The rest of the boys officially there is nothing and I hope that this fact do raise awareness of unconscious people", said the heartbroken father during a meeting with relatives and friends in the Pericón. The students went missing Sept. 26 after confrontations with police in the Guerrero state city of Iguala that killed three students and three bystanders. Attorney General Murillo Karam has said the boys were kidnapped on orders of the Mayor of Iquala and turned over to a drug gang he had ties to and they were killed and their bodies burned by the gang. Members of the gang had given statements that the ashes were collected in plastic trash bags and thrown in a nearby river. A world famous Argentine forensics team was brought in to examine the remains. The Argentine team recommended that the fragments be sent to University of Innsbruck in Austria because they had one of the most experienced laboratories for identifying deteriorated remains. The identification came from Austria, said student David Flores, who was at the protest. The case has ignited citizen indignation across Mexico and abroad for the fact that the students disappeared at the hands of a corrupt local government and that federal authorities took 10 days to intervene. Tens of thousands have taken to the streets, some calling for President Enrique Pena Nieto to resign. The case has come to signify the abuse of authority and corruption that is engrained in the Mexican system and that all Mexicans experience on a regular basis. Marching to the protest site Saturday, thousands of people filled streets in central Mexico City shouting, "Justice," "We want them alive," and "Pena out." "The parents will not rest until we have justice," said Felipe de la Cruz, father of one of the missing students. Noting that the identification is for just one of the 43 disappeared, he said, "If they think one confirmation will leave us simply to mourn, they're wrong." The teacher trainees in Ayotzinapa aired the following message in their official account of Facebook. "Companions to all who have supported us, I am Alexander Mora Venancio. "Through this voice I speak I am one of the 43 who had fallen in on September 26 in the hands of the narco-government". The message continues: "Today 6 December confirmed Argentine experts to my father that one of the fragments of my bones found belong to me. I am proud of you that have raised my voice, courage and my libertarian spirit". And it ends: I am proud of you that have raised my voice, courage and my libertarian spirit'. 'don't leave my father only with regret, for him I mean practically everything, hope, pride, their effort, their work and their dignity.' I invite you to intensify your struggle. That my death not be in vain. Make the best choice but don't forget me. Rectify it if it is possible, but do not forgive. This is my message. Brothers to victory  ' | ||||
| Guardia Guerrerense Excecutes 5, Leaves Bodies on Highway Posted: 06 Dec 2014 10:15 PM PST  Around 9:00 AM of Friday, December 5, the bodies of five men between the ages of 25 and 40 were found besides the Zihuatanejo-Lázaro Cárdenas highway in Guerrero, at a point known as Laguna del Infarto, which connects to the city of La Unión, located 12 miles away. All the bodies showed signs of torture, with their hands tied behind their backs, and it appears that each was killed by a gunshot to the head. Two messages were left along with the bodies: "This happened to us for being kidnappers and being of Los Templarios and messing with the people of Guerrero. They were unable to mount a rescue. Pick up your trash, keep sending your people, this is how Barbas, Richar, Chapulín, wound up, we're coming for you scumbags. Sincerely Guardia Guerrerense" "Guardia Guerrerense, we fight for our towns to free them of kidnappers and scumbags, get out Caballeros Templarios"  Guardia Guerrerense has previously been identified with a former member of Los Caballeros Templarios, Alberto Bravo Barragan, alias "El Gavilán", who has entered in an alliance with other groups in western Guerrero in association with the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación. | ||||
| Picking Off Family of Tuta One by One But Still No Tuta Posted: 06 Dec 2014 07:53 PM PST Borderland Beat posted and translated by Spike 151 Republished from Proceso  Mexico City, (apro)-elements of the Attorney General of Justice (PGJ) of Michoacán seized another Member of the family of Servando Gomez Martinez La Tuta. It's Gerardo Martínez Lagorreta, uncle of the only living leader of the Knights Templar. According to the PGJE, Martínez Legorreta, 53 years old, was captured in the municipality of Arteaga, as he left a property owned by La Tuta, secured by the authorities.
Martínez Legorreta was taken by force from the property, located in the colonia Centro de Arteaga for offenses against the system of public security and violation of seals of assurance of properties. That property was secured on 27 November for being related to various illegal activities, concerned the PGJ in a statement. At the time of his arrest, agents arrested him with a cell phone that according to the PGJ used to report movement of police corporations to members of the criminal organization and La Tuta, who is still at large. The detainee was brought and placed at the disposal of the corresponding penal judge. Since the arrival to the State of the Commissioner for the security and development Integral de Michoacán, Alfredo Castillo, there have been arrested at least four relatives of the capo. Húber Gómez Patiño, son of the leading Templar was arrested June 21 for illegal possession of firearm and drug possession. His sister Sayonara Gómez Patiño, was arrested on October 29 in the State of Mexico and was filed with the Public Ministry of Michoacán, where an order of location to declare on an investigation that the PGJ stated that it maintained in secrecy. Three hours later she was set free. A week before, on 22 October, Ana Patiño López, ex-wife of Gómez Martínez and mother of Huber and Sayonara, was arrested on the motorway of the West, in Morelia, in an operation carried out by elements of the Ministerial police in Michoacan. When she was captured she had120 thousand pesos and 60 thousand dollars on her person , intended to use as bribes to prevent her arrest. Also confiscated were computer equipment and photographic, six teams of communication and five cases of controlled medication called "Ribotril". Two days later, the 46-year-old woman, was put at the disposal of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) accused by his probable responsibility in crimes against health and operation with resources of illicit origin. While La Tuta continues free and according to the most recent audio which spread through social networks your plan is "try to preserve freedom and life time that is possible | ||||
| Which Gangs Rule in Mexico City? Posted: 06 Dec 2014 07:53 PM PST Borderland Beat posted by DD Republished from Insight Crime  Newspaper El Universal spoke to a taxi driverinvolved in the local drug trade, who they referred to as "Señor T." He is one of an estimated 100 "narco-taxi" drivers in the capital. Señor T spends his evenings delivering between $1,500 and $3,000 in cocaine to private clients, including bars and restaurants, in Mexico City's wealthier neighborhoods. The taxi driver told El Universal that he sold a half kilo of cocaine each weekend. According to Señor T, his bosses are members of the Gulf Cartel, who operate in the Condesa neighborhood -- a fashionable area with a hot nightlife scene. He said that in the past several years, the city's drug trade has heated up, as more cartels have moved in to dispute the local market, which used to be controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel. Now -- according to a map drawn up by El Universal based on information from one security expert -- the Gulf Cartel, the Zetas, the Familia Michoacana and the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO) are all present in the Federal District (known in Spanish as DF). Further anecdotal evidence collected by El Universal indicates that criminal groups from the southern state of Guerrero are also looking to tap into Mexico City's local drug market. The newspaper spoke with a Federal District cocaine dealer who said he bought his drugs in Guerrero, and worked for a criminal gang from that state, which he refused to identify.
According to newspaper Reforma, gangs from Morelos and Guerrero are based in the Mexico City neighborhoods grouped around the highway that connects the capital city to these two states. These include gangs like the Rojos, the Guerreros Unidos, the Sierra Cartel and another group known as the New Administration (Nueva Administracion). In recent weeks, a series of murders and kidnappings have occurred in these neighborhoods, with one man's body displaying signs of torture and three other corpses burned and beheaded. With this blend of criminal interests allegedly involved in the Federal District drug market, Mexico City could be a ticking time bomb. The four states surrounding the capital -- Morelos, Mexico state, Guerrero and Michoacan -- have registered nearly a third of Mexico's total murders for the past two years, thanks to the battle between drug cartels or their splinter groups for territorial control. Jose Antonio Ortega, head of an NGO known as Citizen's Council for Security and Criminal Justice (CCPSPJP), told El Universal that violence in this region "is due to its proximity to the Federal District." Along these lines, one Mexican sociologist consulted by Revista Variopinto said the Federal District's frontiers with neighboring states were the most troubled by drug violence. InSight Crime Analysis El Universal's inside look at the Mexico City drug trade raises a question that has sprung up many times over the years, often resulting in a wide range of answers: do the major cartels maintain a permanent presence in Mexico's capital, and if so, what form does this take? While Mexico City authorities flatly deny the cartels are present, other reports indicate otherwise. Based on El Universal's reporting, a criminal realignment of sorts could be occurring in the Federal District, as the local drug market grows and a range of cartels and their offspring attempt to grab a share of the market. Microtrafficking has certainly become a major activity in the area. Mexico's former Public Security Secretary, Joel Ortega, warned of the rise of taxi drivers dedicated to local drug sales back in 2006. Between August 2012 and September 2014, more than 3,000 people were arrested in the Federal District for selling drugs. There's also great potential for profits in Mexico City's drug trade. Mexican groups buy a kilo of cocaine wholesale from Colombian groups in Honduras for between $8,000 and $12,000, while on the streets of the Federal District, a gram goes for about $18 to $25, meaning net earnings could vacillate between $6,000 and as much as $17,000 per kilo. Federal bodies, security experts, and District officials have argued over what cartels are present in the Federal District for years. Ortega of the CCPSPJP told InSight Crime that the DF was the "crown jewel" for Mexico's cartels partly because of its status as the country's economic and political power center, which made it a strategic operating platform for criminal groups looking to gain greater control. He said two places in the city with an obvious cartel presence were the capital's international airport -- long a transit hub used by the Sinaloa Cartel and BLO -- and the nightclubs.
Both the Zona Rosa and Condesa -- the area where the taxi driver consulted by El Universal works -- lie within the district of Cuauhtemoc, one of five zones recently named by the head of the Federal District's microtrafficking prosecutor's office as a microtrafficking "hot spot." It is also home to nearly a quarter of the District's youth gangs, according to authorities. Nevertheless, incidents like the "Tepito 12" haven't done much to clarify the question of what larger drug cartels operate in the Federal District. Further obfuscating the issue is the fact that federal bodies, security experts, and District officials have argued over this for years. In 2011, Mexico's Federal Police said seven Mexican cartels were present in the capital, engaging in drug production, kidnapping, extortion, and human trafficking. That same year, Joel Ortega said there were four cartels operating in the District. These included Mano con Ojos, a smaller, violent offshoot of the BLO. And as of January 2012, The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) identified four cartels in Mexico City: the BLO, the Juarez Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Zetas. In a more recent assessment, Mexico's Attorney General's Office, known as the PGR, identified the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG) as the only "cartel" present in the District. But the PGR has acknowledged there are various mid-level criminal groups present with ties to the major cartels. These include Mano con Ojos, the Moscos, El Indio, El Pelos, and the New Administration. These last three are all allegedly linked to the organization once run by jailed BLO leader Edgar Valdez Villareal, alias "La Barbie."
Such reports contrast with previous claims by Miguel Angel Mancera, Mexico City's current mayor and former attorney general, who insisted that "the city is only affected by microtrafficking" and "microtrafficking is not considered organized crime." In August 2013, Mexico's Attorney General Jesus Murillo claimed,"We do not have the establishment of any [drug cartel] detected [in the Federal District]." According to Ortega of the Mexico City-based citizen security NGO, such contradictions from officials are no accident. He said it was politically useful for capital authorities to deny the presence of cartels. He also indicated that certain authorities maintained agreements with criminal groups. An unidentified high-ranking member of Mexico's security forces hinted at this in an interview with Revista Variopinto as well, stating: "If the Federal District government denies the presence of cartels, it's because they must have some kind of deal [with them]." Some events have supported this: information given by a Mano con Ojos member captured in 2011 led to an investigationinto federal police units allegedly collaborating with the gang. Meawhile, a shootout in the Mexico City airport in 2012 -- during which three federal police officers were killed -- led to the discovery of a cocaine smuggling ring involving police agents. What is certain is that Mexico City is surrounded by violent actors and is home to a lucrative local drug market. As Mexico's larger drug trafficking organizations continue to fracture, they are constantly looking for new sources of revenue, and the capital is a prime location to do business. While the Federal District may have better security and a stronger state presence than other parts of the country, the city could yet find itself in serious trouble when it comes to organized crime. | ||||
| Mexico City police chief resigns after violent protests Posted: 06 Dec 2014 07:54 PM PST Borderland Beat posted by Spike151 Republished from BBC.com  Mexico City's police chief, Jesus Rodriguez Almeida, has resigned after strong criticism of his handling of protests in the city. A largely peaceful march on 20 November over the disappearances of 43 students in Guerrero state ended with riot police dispersing the crowd. Mr Rodriquez gave no reason for his departure and the city mayor said he had stepped down immediately. Earlier this week President Pena Nieto announced new justice and police plans.  After the 20 November protest, Mr Rodriquez Almeida said he had "congratulated his personnel for their work," in particular for "restoring public order, no matter whether others like it or not". Lawyers for 11 people who were arrested on the day called for his resignation. They said the protestors were arrested with no proof of criminal action and arbitrarily taken to a high security prison. They were freed a week later due to a lack of evidence provoking accusations of abusive police practices. Human rights groups also accused the police of indiscriminate violence during the protest against activists, journalists and bystanders. Mr Rodriguez' departure comes after President Enrique Pena Nieto's announcement of a series of proposals to reform Mexico's security system. Police reshuffle Included in the plans is the replacing of local municipal police forces, which are more vulnerable to corruption, with state-level security officers. Correspondents say Mr Rodriquez's resignation may signal a reshuffling of top police chiefs going on behind the scenes as the government attempts to plan out its new justice and policing framework for Mexico. The 20 November protest took place during months of nationwide outrage and demonstrations against the abduction by police in the Guerrero state city of Iguala of 43 students. State prosecutors say the municipal police were ordered by the local mayor to hand the students over to criminal gangs who executed them. | ||||
| Posted: 06 Dec 2014 07:54 PM PST Borderland Beat by DD
The representative of the U.N. Human Rights office in Mexico, has said he holds the government responsible for the disappearance of the 43 students from the Ayotzinapa teachers' school. "There is no other way to explain it, when the authorities commit these kinds of arbitrary acts, which are crimes, what we are looking at is a forced disappearance. There is no other name for it," said Javier Hernandez. The commissioner also criticized the federal attorney general, Jesus Murillo, for failing to recognize that the state was behind the violent incidents and asserting it was an isolated case The young men ... were attacked, captured by public servants, and that distinction is fundamental in order to determine not only the state's responsibility … but also what kind of action and effort needs to be taken in the search," said Hernandez after his visit to Ayotzinapa, Guerrero. At about the same time that the UN official was making his remarks the Attorney General of the Republic flatly rejected the demands of the families of the 43 missing students to extend the search to a military base less than a mile from where the students were kidnapped. The attorney general said that as the National Defense Department is "more concerned than anyone" with finding the students, it would be "absurd" to think the students could be hidden there. "We know they are not there," he added.
His response came as journalist Marcela Turati asked him if the search would include the grounds of the 27th Battalion of the National Defense Department. Turati also claims that it is not only the family members who believe that the 27th Battalion should not be discounted in the search. Several sources have mentioned the Battalion in relation to the missing students, including the Bicameral Congressional Commission on National Security, the second in command of the United Warriors gang accused of disappearing the students, and the human rights center Tlachinollan, have all raised questions about the complicity of Battalion 27. In particular, the commission wants to know what the 27th Infantry battalion, based less than one mile away from the scene of the massacre, did that night. (within hearing range of the gunfire) The 27th was one of several battalions of soldiers and marines deployed to Iguala and other places during the first years of the war on drugs against drug cartels and guerrilla groups, based on the belief that municipal and state police forces were infiltrated by the drug cartels. However, the activities of the battalion have not been made clear and seem inexplicable Those normalistas that managed to escape alive from the ordeal, initially said that they suspected that some of the disappeared students were being held in an Army base in Iguala (that of the 27th Infantry). The role of the battalion has never been fully explained. Omar García, one of the surviving students, had described how, after an initial attack by the Iguala police at 9:30 p.m. on September 26 that resulted in the execution of Aldo Gutirrez, a student, the police then withdrew. Four hours later, at 1:30 a.m. on September 27, a second attack was launched on the students, this time by men dressed as civilians and in unmarked cars; more than 200 rounds were fired. Two other students and three bystanders were killed, several students were left wounded and 43 others were abducted Students went knocking on doors for help for their wounded comrades and met up with a military patrol that arrived within minutes of the second attack. After stealing their cell phones, the soldiers threatened to arrest them for trespassing. "You guys wanted to be big shots, now pull up your pants!" said the soldiers as they were leaving, according to García. When informed of the wounded students, the officer in charge offered to call an ambulance (that never showed up). When on Sunday, October 28, relatives of the missing students accompanied by human rights activists questioned Colonel Rodriguez at the Army base, he denied having any of the students in custody. He did admit that the Army had been aware of the attack on the students, and that troops had been sent out to the scene, but that the Army had not participated in the attack. The role of the Army in Iguala now places a question mark over how much the federal government knewabout the Iguala and Colusa drug connections, when the news of the police assault reached federal authorities, and how involved the Peña Nieto administration was in planning and executing the attacks of that night. Those questions, "what did he know", "when did he know it", and "what involvement did he have" are reminiscent of the questions asked about President Nixon during the infamous Watergate Scandal that resulted in his resignation as President. The crime of burglary that started Watergate pales in significance compared to the kidnapping and apparent murder of the 43 students from the Ayotzinga teahers college, but the closing of ranks by government officials and its failure to give answers after the Watergate scandal broke seems similar to what is happening in Mexico today. Maybe if we get answers about the Army's role in the incidents in Iguala, we might have answers to the "What, When and Why". As an aside, I think EPN did not help himself this week when after more than 2 months since the students disappeared, he finally visited the state of Guerrero where the kidnapping took place (though he did not visit Iguala). I can't believe a politician who has risen to the level he has would be so stupid as to tell the crowd gathered there that maybe "it was time to get over the pain caused by the disappearances". (how many more marches will that prompt) Sources | ||||
| Posted: 06 Dec 2014 07:57 PM PST Posted by DD from YouTube originally by Vice News. I'll let the video speak for itself, but I think it is very good. It is narrated in English and has English subtitles where the speaker is speaking Spanish. It was originally post on Vice News in 3 parts but has been consolidated here in one full length documentary (about 38 minutes). Vice posted another short video (1:39) which it simply calls the "Extra Scene", which was evidently edited out of the original | ||||
| Government Repression of Opposition Voices In the Cromputer Age; Hash tags disappear from Twitter Posted: 05 Dec 2014 04:21 PM PST Borderland Beat by DD Republished from Telesur
Internet users have switched to #YaMeCanse2 after the #YaMeCanse hashtag, used since protests agaist government corruption and forced disappearences errupted, has disappeared. The Mexican government uses automated online softwards to detect criticism. Over the past month top-trending hashtag #YaMeCanse has been used in all anti-government protests, but its sudden disappearence from the web, possibly due to government "bots" has seen the emergence of #YaMeCanse2. The hashtag was trending for 26 days until, it suddenly disappeared, despite the fact it is still being widely used. The fall was so unexpected — it had stayed in first place for weeks, and suddenly it was gone — that it immediately raised some suspicions as to whether it had been purposefully removed. Internet forums and technology sites drew attention to what are known as "peñabots," an army of false Twitter and Facebook accounts, created specifically to confront criticism toward President Enrique Peña Nieto and his government The mechanism, allegedly funded by the ruling Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), is being used to battle social network protests, as well as create a false impression of the president's popularity. Peña Nieto is currently the least popular president in Mexican history, with a 39 percent approval rating, according to a poll in the Reforma newspaper. After 26 days of being unable to counter the widespread use of #YaMeCanse hashtag ("I'm tired of corruption", "I'm tired of impunity", "I'm tired of lies" being some of the most common messages), the bots, short for robots, and those who manage them, were forced to implement a new strategy. Many who attempt to supress hashtags simply create a new one and attempt to make it more popular than the other. But in the case of the hugely popular #YaMecanse, it has been modified to pass as spam, by repeating it nonsensically. Twitter analysis tools detected the behavior of the hashtag and assessed the change was not part of the conversation among users, but some artificially-manipulated spam, an unrequested malignant content. The social media site then erased it from its lists of trending hashtags, to the dismay of the more than four million users making use of the phrase to express their criticism of the government. Publicist Jesus Soto, researcher of what he calls "Techno authoritarianism," described the phenomenon: "There's something very important being contested at social networks: a communication space, important because it can affect and transform politics … The political group in power in Mexico has no ethical conflict on using dishonest and deceitful resources to manipulate public perception." Unsurprisingly, the same disgruntled users that took the first hashtag to the top ten of social network communications on past weeks started using #YaMeCanse2, which quickly got to the first trending spot. The hashtag was taken from the controversial comment, "I've had enough, I'm tired" by General Attorney Jesus Murillo Karam, when trying to avoid further questions from journalists about the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students. Mexican Twitter users took the phrase and used it on social networks it to show their disapproval of government's handling of the crisis, and the rampant corruption and impunity of the political class | ||||
| Almost 5,000 disappeared in Tamaulipas from 2011 to 2014 Posted: 04 Dec 2014 07:27 PM PST Borderland Beat posted and translated by jlopez Republished from eldiario de Coahuila MONTERREY, NL (Apro).- With 4,875 cases of disappeared persons from 2011 to October 2014, the state of Tamaulipas is living "humanitarian tragedy", states Raymundo Ramos, president of the Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee. According to the activist, the figure could reach 8,500 if one includes the reports filed in other states , such as Puebla, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Queretaro, Guanajuato and Veracruz, among others. In an interview during the fifth meeting of organizations that accompany family members of disappeared persons, held in this city, Ramos stated that in just this year alone there have been 750 new cases in Tamaulipas.  "What Tamaulipas is going through is a humanitarian tragedy with the official figures of nearly 5,000 disappeared persons. In my opinion that number is too low, there must be three times as many, because people who were in transit from Sinaloa, San Luis, Durango, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Puebla, among others, have disappeared in Tamaulipas", he points out. MEASURES PROPOSED BY EPN ARE QUESTIONED As for representatives from several organizations that attended the meeting, they stated that the ten measures proposed on November 30 by president Enrique Pena Nieto "do not address the tragic and serious situation in which thousands and thousands of families of the disappeared find themselves". They add: "The immense majority of disappearances have not been cleared up; on the contrary, they continue to increase, as in the case of Guerrero, where they keep finding clandestine graves, or Tamaulipas, where 750 new cases have been reported just this year alone DD note; Tamaulipas was where the largest mass grave site ever found -177 bodies. Most were believed to be from CA and other parts of Mx. and not included in the number of missing from Tamaulipas. Many mass grave sites were found near the site of the San Fernando slaughter of the 72 migrants from CA. | ||||
| As Elections Approach, Mexico Is Handing Out Free Digital TVs to Millions of Voters Posted: 04 Dec 2014 06:41 PM PST Borderland Beat, posted by Pepe Republished from Vice News. Pepe; After reading about this in the local Mexican newspaper here, I started searching the internet for photos of the delivery of t.v.'s. I found some I posted here. Then I searched for any stories in English, and this ViceNews article was right there from today. The article in the link has more photos, too  On a recent Saturday in November, housewife Berenice Serra emerged in the midday sun from an auditorium doubling as a government distribution point in Morelia, capital of the western Mexican state of Michoacan. In one arm she clutched her one-year-old son, in the other a large cardboard box emblazoned with the government's current official slogan, "Mover a Mexico"—Moving Mexico. Stored inside was a brand-new digital television, completely free, direct from the government. A host of other families were cradling identical cardboard boxes, part of a $1.9-billion government campaign aimed at making sure every household in Mexico has a digital television before the government switches from analog to digital open TV signals at the end of 2015. "This is a step forward," Serra told VICE News as she waited for a bus to take her on a one-hour ride back to her working-class Morelia neighborhood. "The old TVs aren't going to work anymore and this gives us the opportunity, even those of us with few resources, to watch the programs we like: news, soap operas, and cartoons for the children," she said. All over the country similar scenes will take place over the next year. Mexico's government is handing out a total of 13 million digital television sets, officials said, gratis, to poor Mexicans already subscribed in federal welfare programs. The TV handout is part of a wider telecommunications reform package passed by Mexico's congress in July. But critics say the program is a blatant electioneering ploy, one that reminds people of the "old days" of clien More than half of the TVs are being distributed before or during the summer 2015 mid-term election season, in which Mexicans will vote on nine governors, 500 legislators, and 718 leaders of municipalities. . Mexican parties of all colors are well known for handing out gifts for political ends. But the PRI has been particularly linked to the practice, despite its efforts to present itself as a "new" party since the 2012 election of Enrique Peña Nieto. That race brought the PRI back to power, just 12 years after it was booted from a 70-year grip on Mexico's government. Now the prospect of millions of grateful voters receiving TVs from a PRI government around election time is ringing alarm bells among opposition voices like Juan Pablo Adame Aléman, a congressman with the center-right National Action Party, or PAN. Adame heads the digital and information technology agenda in Mexico's congress. "If you just hand out televisions, you run a grave risk of repeating the past century when the PRI governed and handed out gifts of beans and rice to get a vote," said Adame in an interview. "Now they could be handing out televisions in exchange for a vote. That is the risk." He said he asked the federal agency in charge of handing out TVs to hold off during the election year, but his request was refused. After the PRI's successful bid to regain the presidency with Peña Nieto, thousands of voters said they were given supermarket vouchers by PRI activists in the weeks before the 2012 vote. Peña won with 38 percent. The social development ministry, known as Sedesol in Spanish, last year had to fire a Veracruz state coordinator along with six other staff members after local PAN leaders claimed that they were using social programs to win electoral support for the PRI. The Sedesol agency is now tasked with handing out the TVs. Serra and other recipients of free digital sets said she they were just happy to get their hands on a new television. They also said that officials attached no conditions to the gift. No political parties were mentioned, people picking up their TV sets said to VICE News.  "I feel like a child with a new toy, I'm so happy," said Jose Luis Muñoz, before hopping on his motorbike with his wife and new TV set. "I've received many benefits from the government, but this one is a beautiful thing for my family." Lorenzo Meyer, a respected Mexican historian and political analyst, said that even measures meant to feign electoral neutrality are all part of a subtle game that parties have been playing in Mexico for generations. "The fact that it's happening at the start of the mid-term elections isn't fooling anyone. Whoever gets the television knows where it comes from, and understands that this is a quid pro quo," Meyer said in an interview. "It's very well thought out because the opposition won't be able to say, 'You're buying votes with this,' because it's part of legislation, a national necessity," he added. "But no one deep down can deny that there is a clear electoral advantage being gained by the PRI VICE News repeatedly requested an interview with the federal agency in control of the broader program, the communications and transportation ministry, or SCT. No spokesman or officials were made available, despite being offered specific questions about the TVs. The ministry's website explains that the switch to a digital signal will mean "better quality image and sound, a new and wider selection of channels, the incorporation of services like subtitles, language choice, interactive services, multi-vision camera, and services for people with hearing or visual problems." Mexico is not alone in making the shift from analog to digital television. Many other developed and developing countries have either finished or are also in the process of switching to digital TV. The televisions are costing the government approximately $143 each, which adds up to the $1.9 billion total cost of the program, the SCT said. But there are probable hidden costs in what has been a less than transparent process, said Gabriel Sosa Plata, a communications professor at Mexico's Metropolitan Autonomous University, and a member of a non-profit telecom watchdog group called Observatel. "It's difficult to know exactly how much it is going to cost because the government hasn't included the logistical costs involved in what is a huge operation. Also we don't know exactly how many people will receive the televisions, when, or who they are," Sosa told VICE News. Even the information over which companies are producing the televisions is difficult to come by for non-experts poring through government documents, he added. "And this lack of transparency leads to a lack of trust in the plan." The transport and communications ministry says that the more energy-efficient digital televisions will essentially repay the money being invested in the program over time, saving the country's citizens and government an estimated $2.2 billion over the next 10 years on electricity bills, the government said. The wider selection of free-to-air channels that will be available on digital television will also be a plus for Mexicans who don't have many choices outside of Televisa and TV Azteca, said Ana Lilia Moreno, an analyst who covers telecommunications for the Mexico City think-tank CIDAC. The two media giants currently have an almost duopolistic control of the open TV market in Mexico. "It's an advance, but for the population, it's a bit of a frivolous outlay," Moreno said. "I think it would be better to focus on connecting more people, schools, and hospitals to the Internet [rather] than to spend such a large amount of money on television." The government has a plan to provide widespread wireless Internet coverage in public spaces throughout the country, and the digital televisions it is handing out also have a port to connect to the Internet. But there is a long way to go. Just three out of ten Mexican families had a home Internet connection in 2013, while more than 94 percent had a TV set, government figures show. Francisco Alcantara, 68, said he was unaware of the controversy over the digital television handouts as he picked up his free TV in Morelia. He didn't have the money for gas, so he walked two hours to the distribution center. Holding his new set, he stopped to share a more pragmatic viewpoint. "We're in a bad situation because the thieves are above and the beggars are below," Alcantar said. "I just take what they give me, because you don't look a gift horse in the mouth." | ||||
| U.S. Legalization Hurts Mexican Drug Cartels Posted: 04 Dec 2014 12:17 PM PST Borderland Beat posted by Nutzz Republished from Marijuana.com
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| Need More Proof That The Government Is Instigating Violence In Otherwise Peaceful Demonstrations? Posted: 03 Dec 2014 08:56 PM PST Borderland Beat by DD thanks to a tip from Chivis "lurking in the background" to help us (not lurking in the crowd below)
Many pundits expressed concern that EPN was laying the groundwork for using police and military force against the protesters to silence and intimidate them and discourage them from participating in future demonstrations. Undoubtedly there are students in the crowds that just want to raise hell and do commit acts of vandalism. But they are just a few out of tens of thousands protesting peaceably. Videos have now surfaced seemingly showing plain clothes government agents mingling with the masked trouble makers at the otherwise peaceful marches. The government in the past is known to have used government agents to actually start the violence as an excuse to suppress demonstrations with force and violence. Borderland Beat reported and posted a video showing a General assigned to the Palace Guard and dressed in plain civilian clothes among those trying to set fire to the Presidential Palace on November 8 at the conclusion of otherwise peaceful march. The following article published at Vice News shows government agents in plainclothes seeming participating in the violence that started at the conclusion of the "student anarchist" march on Dec. 1. Another video shows plain clothed police beating a protester and still another video shows plain clothed police officers snatching a student from UNAM off the street and forcing him into an unmarked car. The full story from Vice; A video captured during a Monday night protest in Mexico City appears to show a plainclothes police officer rescued after being pummeled by riot police, in the strongest evidence that state forces — not in uniform — are present when masked vandals attack government buildings after large peaceful marches. In the clip published by the news site Animal Politico on Wednesday, officers clad in riot gear are seen beating a heavyset man dressed in jeans and a jacket after he throws a heavy object into a cloud of smoke. A nearby officer shouts, "El es mi compañero," or "He is my partner." Two officers then help the man stand up and carry him away. The reporter recording the clip asks the man if he is a police officer. The man says he is a "normal citizen," but when the reporter presses and asks why he was just referred to as a "partner" by the police, the man appears to snap. "Leave me alone, asshole!" he shouts. A second video captured at the same demonstration by an outlet called Regeneración Radioshows a plainclothes man assisting riot police as they beat a young man. The video shows riot police corralling a small group of demonstrators or bystanders before the authorities violently gang up on them, beating them with their shields. One officer can later be heard telling one victim, "Perdon por la putiza," which roughly translates to "Sorry we fucked you up." The videos demonstrate that plainclothes Mexico City police officers have been participating in the protests that have gripped the country since the disappearance of 43 teachers college students in the state of Guerrero. But a spokesman at Mexico City's police department "emphatically" denied on Wednesday that plainclothes police were participating in the protests, according to Animal Politico. Mexico City's police department has repeatedly turned down requests for interviews with VICE News.  Although other voices in the protest movement have argued the violence is a sign of legitimate anger over the government's handling of the missing students case, some human-rights observers claim that the attacks are orchestrated by infiltrados— or plainclothes men brought in and paid by the government. Meanwhile, police are also accused of detaining citizens at random during the protests. Monday night's confrontations along Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City happened during the latest in a string of protests held since the police attack against students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School, carried out on orders from the now-detained former mayor of Iguala, Guerrero, according to federal authorities. At least 79 people have been arrested in connection with the missing students case. Many of them are municipal police officers of Iguala and nearby Cocula. In a separate case, a student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico was filmed being snatched from a street last Friday afternoon near the campus in southern Mexico City, similarly by plainclothes government agents. Sandino Bucio, 25, is seen screaming and struggling against officers who shove him into an unmarked vehicle and drive off. The incident resembled a kidnapping and came after other plainclothes agents opened fire on students after a confrontation on the campus in mid-November. Riot police later entered the campus, a gesture seen as a sensitive breach of the UNAM's autonomy from the government. The video of Bucio's detention quickly went viral. "During the drive, they told me that if I didn't cooperate, they would shoot me like those in Ayotzinapa," Bucio told the Mexico City public prosecutor, in a statement reviewed by VICE News. "[They said] that I was nothing for them, because they had already confronted the Zetas, narcos, and that they put the fear into the Guerreros Unidos." "I think this is a terror mechanism that the federal government is using against the youth," Bucio said before news reporters after he was released later that day. "But there are thousands of us. They can't detain us all". | ||||
| Overview of the Criminal Organizations Operating in Guerrero Posted: 03 Dec 2014 08:17 PM PST  Image from guerrero.gob.mx A couple weeks ago, Chivis wrote an article "Cartel Maps: Cartel Territories of Mexicoand Guerrero Cartel Territories" which included a video with various maps by Víctor Manuel Sánchez Valdés. Around the same time, Animal Politico published the article "Radiografía de las organizaciones criminales queoperan en Guerrero" which made use of these same maps, along with some background information on the criminal organizations in the state of Guerrero. The following is a translation of this article, with some of my own commentary, which I denote in brackets: The criminal map of Guerrero has changed in an important way in very little time. In the year 2005 there were two groups that operated permanently, with a cordial relationship, in said state: the first was the Sinaloa Cartel, which had a presence in the state through the Beltrán Leyva brothers, and the other was the Díaz Parada organization, also called Oaxaca Cartel or Itsmo Cartel. These organizations were predominately dedicated to the growing of marijuana and poppy in the mountainous areas of Guerrero, although the Sinaloa Cartel also used the state to receive shipments of cocaine coming from Colombia and for drug dealing in the area of Acapulco. Towards the end of 2005, the Gulf Cartel started incursions in the state through their then armed wing Los Zetas, which caused an increase in the levels of violence in various regions of the state, especially in Acapulco. Although the positions of those groups never became solid, over several years they had a sporadic presence in the state, however neither the Gulf Cartel or Los Zetas currently have a regular presence in the state of Guerrero. In the year 2007 La Familia Michoacana arrived in the state; it began to have an occasional presence in the areas of La Costa Grande and Tierra Caliente. In very little time said presence became more frequent, to the extent that in the year 2008 La Familia Michoacana dominated all western Guerrero and an important part of the north and center of the state, co-existing thus with the cells of the Sinaloa Cartel, with whom they maintained an alliance. The shared domination between the Sinaloa Cartel and La Familia Michoacana changed towards the end of 2008 when the Beltrán Leyva brothers decided to become independent and, as one of their strongest plazas was Guerrero, they emerged with the greatest part of the structure that the Sinaloa Cartel had in the state, with the exception of some cells that operated in the municipalities of Petatlán, Técpan de Galeana [Although it is not mentioned at this point of the article, these two municipalities were dominated by an operator of the Sinaloa Cartel, Rogaciano Alba Álvarez, alias "El Roga", who was invited to join the Beltrán Leyva Cartel but refused; he was arrested in February 2010] and Acapulco. For months there was a bloody battle in several municipalities of Guerrero between the new Beltrán Leyva organization and La Familia Michoacana, as well as the few cells of the Sinaloa Cartel that remained in the region. However, the capture of several key members of the Beltrán Leyva towards the end of 2009 and early 2010 upset the structure of said criminal group. First it divided in two great blocks following the death of Arturo Beltrán Leyva; one block remained under the control of Édgar Valdez Villarreal "La Barbie" and the other at the command of Héctor Beltrán Leyva and Sergio Villarreal Barragán, but soon thereafter Édgar Valdez and Sergio Villarreal were captured and their respective groups fragmented in 14 organizations, of which, 6 still have a presence in Guerrero: Los Rojos, Los Ardillos, Los Granados, La Barredora, Los Guerreros Unidos and the Cártel Independiente de Acapulco.  (Presence of Los Rojos in the municipalities of Guerrero)  (Presence of Los Granados, Los Ardillos, and the Cártel Independiente de Acapulco in the municipalities of Guerrero)  (Presence of Guerreros Unidos in the municipalities of Guerrero) These splinter groups of the Beltrán Leyva organization began to fight amongst themselves for the territories that the organization from which they sprang forth once controlled. Although the fight for the control of the municipalities of Guerrero continues, none has been able to prevail over the others; in fact, many of them have opted to concentrate their forces in a reduced number of municipalities, for example Los Ardillos operate in the area around the municipality of Tixtla and Los Granados operate in the municipalities surrounding Técpan de Galeana. The process of decomposition of the criminal organization in Guerrero also occurred with La Familia Michoacana, as in the year 2011 said group divided in two organizations, one of them kept the name of La Familia Michoacana and the other named itself Caballeros Templarios. This caused the territory that the original organization occupied to fracture in two irregular portions. The part close to the state of Michoacán that covers all the Costa Grande until the city of Zihuatanejo, in addition to the Tierra Caliente region, remained in the hands of Los Caballeros Templarios, while the area that borders the state of México and Morelos remained under the control of that which still calls itself La Familia Michoacana, although in the following years both criminal groups have incurred in the territories of their former associates, with the goal of taking the territories from the rival.  (Presence of La Familia Michoacana in the municipalities of Guerrero)  (Presence of Los Caballeros Templarios in the municipalities of Guerrero)  (Presence of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación in the municipalities of Guerrero)  (Presence of La Barredora and Sinaloa Cartel in the municipalities of Guerrero) The fact that there are so many organizations coexisting in various municipalities has caused a series of confrontations between criminal gangs, which explains the majority of the violent homicides in Guerrero. The battles for the control of the municipalities can be grouped into four great regional conflicts: 1) Acapulco as well as the Costa Chica of Guerrero are disputed by the Cártel Independiente de Acapulco and the organization known as La Barredora, which represents the interests of the Sinaloa Cartel in the region, although it maintains certain operative independence [as noted previously, I believe this point is outdated information], 2) All the north of the state, the Centro region and some municipalities of Tierra Caliente are a battlefield for three gangs that involve Los Rojos, Guerreros Unidos and the remnants of La Familia Michoacana [Before the emergence of Guerreros Unidos, Los Rojos and La Familia Michoacana were at war but eventually reached a ceasefire which appears to be ongoing. Guerreros Unidos is at war with both groups.], 3) Los Rojos also have an open dispute with Los Ardillos in the region of Montaña and part of the Centro region, 4) Finally, the municipalities that make up the Costa Grande and almost all of the region of Tierra Caliente are a battlefield between Caballeros Templarios and the alliance made up of Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, Los Granados and what remains of the structure of Rogaciano Alba.  (Number of criminal organizations that operate in the municipalities of Guerrero) The fragmentation of the grand criminal organizations does not completely explain the coexistence of an elevated number of criminal groups in the state. It is also important to mention that in the state of Guerrero various conditions converge that make said state very attractive to the criminal organizations. In the first place, it has two large maritime ports, Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, that are in conditions to receive large shipments of drugs coming from South America, to which we should add that Guerrero has a large coastline in which it can attract shipments of smaller size, for which said state is one of the principal points of entrance for the cocaine in our country and, in addition, is a frequent step in the drug route to the United States. The second condition is that jungles and mountainous areas of the state of Guerrero offer a spacious area for the cultivation and production of drugs as there are many places that are difficult for the authorities to access and additionally it has an adequate climate for the planting of drugs and poppy (in the media said plant is frequently called poppy, the term is correct, but not exact, as poppy is used to designate a genus of plants, Papaver, composed of more than 400 species, among which is found Papaver somniferum, a plant from which opium is extracted is extracted which is later used to produce heroine. That is to say that the opium plant is a poppy, but opium can not be extracted from all of the poppies). In fact, Guerrero occupies first place in the production of poppy in the country and is one of the three states with the greatest production of marijuana in Mexico, to which should be added the dozens of synthetic drug production laboratories that have been found in the last two years. To conclude, the control of Guerrero translates in prime access to material necessary for the traffic of drugs. The third condition is that the tourist industry of the state of Guerrero makes the intervention of organized crime in different illegal and even legal markets very lucrative. For example, the sale of drugs to tourists in the city of Acapulco is a business that generates great dividends. Also there is the charging of extortion fees to businesses and establishments; another highly profitable activity is the operation of gambling facilities, prostitution and the control of networks of human trafficking. This means to say that the cities such as Acapulco, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Taxco, Iguala or Chilpancingo represent a constant flow of cash for the criminal organization that controls it, which generates incentives for a fight for said plazas. | ||||
| Calls For President to Resign Continue and Violence Ensues: UPDATED 12/2 Posted: 03 Dec 2014 11:35 AM PST Update following story Borderland Beat by DD  The marches and protests continue. Yesterday, Dec. 1, was the second anniversary of EPN's assumption of power and the streets of Mexico City filled with thousands of people demanding the safe return of the 43 Ayotzinapa normal school students and the resignation of President Enrique Pena Nieto. The march started from the central plaza, the Zocolo, at 3:PM and proceeded to the Angel of Independence where a stage had been set up. The march was led by the parents of the Ayotzinapa students and contingents were still arriving at 9:PM. The march was peaceful and included 5 observers from the UN High Commissioners Office, as well as inspectors of the National and Federal District Human Rights Commissions were also in attendance. During the march yells of "We've had it up to here with this government!" were heard frequently. A man with a loud speaker repeated the mantra "The 43 was the straw that broke the camel's back. The 43 was the spark that ignited the fuse." "Out with Pena Nieto" was the common refrain. Whether the seemingly continuous marches over the last 2 months has had anything to do with it or not, the marchers seem invigorated by the latest poll numbers of the EPN. Results from the latest presidential poll released yesterday showed Pena Nietos "favorable" rating had fallen to 38%. Some 60 other anti-government protests rocked Mexico yesterday and saw solidarity from the rest of the world. In the border cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, activists cooperated to block the international bridge. Solidarity marches and activities were also held in Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Montreal, Cordoba, London and Brussels, among others. Upon arriving at the plaza of the Angel of Independence Clemente Rodríguez, representing parents of the Ayotzinapa students, opened the round of speeches. Mothers, fathers and brothers of the disappeared, eyes overflowing with an infinite sadness, insisted that since the night of September 26 they do not want to eat and cannot sleep, because they wonder if their sons will be fed, if they will be tortured and only faith remains of recovering them alive. Clemente told the crowd that; "We're all looking for them. (Former governor) Ángel Aguirre offered us a lot of money, but we told him to go to hell." He also recalled the times they have met with Peña Nieto and Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, Secretary of Government Relations [SEGOB], without favorable results. When he added, "Peña Nieto has to resign," the people started chanting,"Out Peña!" Two representatives of the IPN [National Polytechnic Institute] read a lengthy statement in which they ask the society to begin to organize and prepare the national strike. The students joined in shouting for Peña's resignation, but they extended it by adding: "Everyone Get Out!" The National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CNTE) announced a massive mobilization on Thursday, December 6th [Centennial Celebration of the entrance into Mexico City of Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, heroes of the Mexican Revolution]. Feminists also showed up carrying a huge collage made up of photos and names of each of the 43 disappeared. Representatives of Amnesty International and Greenpeace also marched. People from Atenco , where a brutal assault on protestors took place when EPN was Governor of the state of Mexico, clambered up the stairs to the stage with their machetes held high. Painted on the blades was the slogan: "Alive they took them, alive we want them back!" Activists also demanded an end to government repression, the release of all political prisoners, and the exoneration of members of social movements whose cases have not yet been decided. There were banners demanding justice for Juan Francisco Kuy Kendall, who died in the hospital eleven months after being shot in the head by the police with a supposedly non-lethal projectile during an anti-Peña Nieto protest two years ago. They also demanded justice for Teodulfo Torres, aka "El Tio," who was by Kuy's side when he was shot, and who has not been seen since the day he was scheduled to testify in court about the attack on his friend. This time there were no police protecting hotels and offices; instead, metal fences had been set up. At about 8:00 p.m., the rally concluded after the protesters solemnly sang the National Anthem. BUT THEN THE VIOLENCE AND REPRESSION STARTED As the marchers dispersed and started their trek home, a tiny group of no more than 40 people, with their faces covered, carrying sticks, stones and firecrackers, began to wreak havoc on Florence Street. The subjects were causing damage along Reforma Boulevard near Chapultepec-Centro. They set fire to some establishments, broke windows at banks and other businesses, and threw Molotov cocktails. This caused mobilization of hundreds of riot police, who made several arrests. People returning to their homes were yelling "Fascists!" and "Paid by Peña" and "Infiltrators" and "Provocateurs" in addition to chanting: "No violence, no violence" referring to the trouble makers. Many protesters panicked when the riot police appeared. The hooded ones ran toward the streets of Juárez neighborhood, while hundreds of people who were demonstrating peacefully, mostly college students, tried to organize to undertake a withdrawal as a contingent. Among themselves, they shouted: "Don't run! Everyone stay together!" But just in front of the Senate building, about 400 youths were surrounded by the police. The university students demanded: "No violence, no violence." Others confronted the riot police by shouting and claiming their right to freedom of expression. On Paris Street dozens of uniformed forces tried to surround other university students, who managed to escape through a hole in the police ranks. Angered, the riot police threw punches trying to detain anyone in front of them. At that moment, they beat a woman who was passing by with her husband and sons. A policeman hit her on the head several times with his baton until she collapsed. Three youths tried to defend the woman named Rosalinda Rojas Nieves, but other uniformed troops attacked and managed to detain them.  While there is no way right now to know who instigated the violence after the march and rally, the people involved in the peaceful demonstrations are justified in suspecting the government is behind these incidents of violence in order to discredit the demonstrators and give the public the impression that the marches are merely the actions of anarchists trying to destabilize the government. That was the allegation made by EPN after the November 20 demonstration where attempts were made to burn the door to burn the door to the Presidential Palace. However, videos of that incident surfaced and has caused an investigation of the role of a General of the Army who was shown on the videos in plain clothes among the masked trouble makers. There is a growing suspicion that the government covertly instigated the violence to justify using force against the protesters. The people also have not forgotten the massacre in 1968 at La Plaza de las Tres Culturas at Tlatelolco, where over 300 people, mostly students, were slaughtered by government forces. The government claimed that the unarmed students initiated the violence by firing into the mass of troops surrounding the plaza. History has brought out the truth that government snipers on top of buildings nearby fired into the troops to get them to attack the students. The government claimed it was only responding to the violence of the students and 20 "anarchists" were killed. Witness accounts and videos have shown that hundreds were killed. Some just disappeared that day. The governments motive for attacking the demonstrators? The 1968 Olympic games were scheduled to start in 10 days and the government wanted no more protest to mar Mexico's image. They pretty well succeeded in squelching the student movement at the time. No more demonstrations were held for a long time thereafter. My hope is that with the eyes of the world on Mexico right now that PRI will not resort to tactics of repression if EPN's approval ratings in the polls falls another 10 points. UPDATE; From Mexico Voices Aristegui Noticias: The National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH) has initiated an official complaint to review the actions of the security forces during the violence following the peaceful march on Monday in Mexico City. Once the evidence is collected, a decision will be issued, the Commission said in a statement. It regretted that the legitimate exercise of the right to demonstrate is overshadowed by some groups that incite violence and create unrest, as in the march on Monday. The exercise of the rights to free expression, protest and expression should be carried out without any limitation other than respect for the law, it said. Therefore, it reiterated its call on the authorities of the Mexican State, particularly the security forces, to adjust their actions to the provisions of the Constitution. Regarding yesterday's events as part of the December 1 mobilization in Mexico City, the Commission said that a group of 80 assistant observers joined with their counterparts from the Mexico City Commission to monitor the performance of public security authorities. This staff positioned themselves in various places where contingents of marchers were arriving in order to provide support and verify that the demonstration developed peacefully. The agency also issued precautionary measures to safeguard the security of participants. It commented that during the development of the march, some hooded persons joined the contingent, mainly in the rear, and apparently they were the ones who vandalized several establishments, by which they put at risk the security and integrity of the participants. The agency strongly disapproved of these events and urged the authorities to investigate and punish such offenses, and that there be no impunity. It said that in the face of the police action to contain some protesters, the CNDH formed a fence to prevent damage, especially to women, elderly, children and civilian defenders, and they accompanied the people during their departure, until they had all left. In parallel, another group of observers went to the prosecutor's offices to which the policemen took detainees, in order to verify their health and legal situation It stressed that the intervention and support provided by the observers was to prevent abuse of detainees, and it voiced that whoever committed crimes must be investigated and punished. Proceso followed up with a story about the Federal Police coordinator for the central zone of Mexico City, Marco Tulio Lopez Escamilla, condemned the actions of observers from the national and city Commissions for Human Rights (CNDH and CDHDF) during the march. In his personal Twitter account @Ciceron9, the Federal Police coordinator who wasthe former Secretary of Public Security for Oaxaca accused the observers: "And these alleged 'defenders of human rights' protected the anarchists after the destruction." A minute later, he wrote a second tweet: "According to them, [they did it] so that 'they weren't attacked by the police !' (Sic) And why didn't they prevent them from attacking the property of the people?" (DD note; because Mr Lopez Escamilia protecting the property is the job of the police, not the Human Rights Commission) After the rally at the Angel of Independence had ended, a group of masked men walked along the side of Reforma Avenue and broke windows in four Oxxo and Extra [convenience] stores , as well as bank branches, including a Santander bank located in the Reforma 222 Mall. The hooded men left by surrounding streets when hundreds of riot police of the Federal District, following them at a distance, blocked Reforma Avenue on both sides of the Senate building, thereby violently "encapsulating" the people who were there. They let some of them go. Three youths were arrested while protecting Rosalinda Rose Nieves, a woman whom the police left with a bloody head Miguel Herrera, director Marabunta Brigade, said that all the hooded men responsible for the damage left when the riot police charged the people walking on Reforma Avenue. Marabunta Brigade is a civil society organization composed of observers and human rights defenders who document police abuses and provide immediate care for the wounded, according to the CDHDF. They are recognized by their dress and red helmet and the flag sticking out of their backpacks. About the detainees, Herrera said: "We know they were not the ones who caused the damage." He added: "The lesson the riot police leave us is, 'We let them do damage in order to criminalize social protest. We let the people who carry out these destructive acts go and eventually we go after the people that demonstrate in peace.' I can't prove it, but seeing the events, that is what happened," Herrera.  They stayed on Reforma Avenue, by the Senate, for a long time. Three people who were injured received care from doctors from the CNDH and the Marabunta Brigade, while members of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico observed the events and took notes. Finally, the persons protected by the CNDH observers and surrounded by riot police moved toward the Hidalgo Metro station. The observers formed a "human corridor" to allow people to enter the station in small groups. | ||||
| Mexico: online news sites targeted in Puebla, Chiapas and Jalisco Posted: 02 Dec 2014 11:03 AM PST Borderland Beat by DD republished from Article 19 01 Dec 2014  Over the course of 2014, ARTICLE 19 has documented a total of 12 cyber-attacks on news portals in Mexico, all at moments when they were reporting acts of corruption or irregularities detected in the civil service. The online news portals e-consulta.com in Puebla, Chiapas Paralelo in Chiapas and Mientras Tanto en México in Jalisco have all suffered cyber-attacks aimed at bringing their websites down. In the case of e-consulta.com, the attacks began on the morning of Tuesday 18 November. The site's managers and staff noticed that a malicious code known as an exploit had been introduced into their system, deleting files and databases. The portal was down for several hours. Further attacks were noted up to and including Monday 24 November but Rodolfo Ruíz, CEO of e-consulta, stated in an interview for ARTICLE 19 that these attacks had not been of any major consequence. The attacks on e-consulta.com came at a time when the site was covering the protests occurring in Chalchihuapan, those taking place due to the construction of the Intermunicipal Park on the Cholula archaeological site, known as the Park of the 7 Cultures, and which resulted in cancellation of the project, and the alleged acts of corruption in the purchase of electric cultivators by the state government. In the case of the Chiapas Paralelo site, the online news site began receiving denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on Friday 21 November. A DoS consists of saturating a site with millions of user access requests, causing it to suspend its service.  Chiapas Paralelo was out of operation for three days, coming back online on Monday 24 November. According to staff journalist, Isaín Mandujano, the attacks began after he and a colleague, Gabriela Cutiño, were assaulted by security guards at an event organised by federal deputy Manlio Fabio Beltrones in Tuxtla Gutiérrez on Wednesday 19 November. The Jalisco online news site, Mientras Tanto en México, suffered two DoS attacks in less than a week. According to Karla Rivera, the site's director, one of the IP addresses in question was a government body in the state of Morelos. The second attack took place on Monday night, shortly after a video had been uploaded criticising the police action during demonstrations on 20 November, and broadcasting President Peña's response in this regard. In an interview with ARTICLE19, Rivera stated that this attack was the fourth one suffered this year. Cyber-attacks against online news sites undermine their journalists' and contributors' freedom of speech and are a violation of society's right to be informed. ARTICLE 19 is calling on the federal and Veracruz authorities to investigate these events, guarantee the integrity of the sites' contributors and protect their right to gather and disseminate information without suffering any form of pressure | ||||
| Five more burnt bodies found in Guerrero Posted: 01 Dec 2014 12:03 PM PST Borderland Beat by DD material from Business Standard and Global Research. A brief early story on this was posted on the Forum yesterday by .Mars220  Chilpancingo (Mexico), Dec 1 (IANS/EFE) Five burnt bodies were found over the weekend in Chilapa de Alvarez, a town in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, police chief Job Encarnacion Cuenca said. Police received a call around 8.40 p.m. Saturday that an SUV was on fire about three km from Chilapa de Alvarez, Cuenca told Efe news agency. Officers found five bodies that had been set on fire with straw in the vehicle, the police chief said. The corpes found Saturday night were not far from where 43 missing Ayotzinapa students are feared to have been killed by drug gangs. The bodies may be those of five businessmen who disappeared last week, security officials said. According to forensics there are five charred and beheaded bodies," local authorities said, also concluding that the bodies were most likely unrelated to the case of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa. The corpes found Saturday night were not far from where 43 missing Ayotzinapa students are feared to have been killed by drug gangs. Officials added that they are waiting for the forensic service to identify the bodies he town of Chilapa, which is situated 323 km south of the capital, Mexico City, witnessed a violent confrontation between gangs in July, leading authorities to enforce a curfew for several days. The area is well known for its high production of marijuana and opium poppy At least 500 Army troops and 30 police agents were sent to tighten security in Chilapa, according to Mayor Francisco Janier Garcia, who admitted to feeling overwhelmed by the situation. Last Thursday, police found the headless bodies of 11 young men on the road between Chilapa de Alvarez and Ayahualulco, the Guerrero Attorney General's Office said. The bodies were dumped in the road after a shootout Wednesday night between rival gangs, Guerrero AG's office spokesmen told Efe. The Los Rojos and Los Ardillos gangs have been fighting for control of the illegal drug trade and other criminal activities in a section of Guerrero. Two clandestine graves containing 13 bodies were found nearly a month ago in Chilapa de Alvarez. Since President Enrique Peña Nieto was elected, 30,789 people have been killed |
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