Borderland Beat |  |
- President Peña Nieto moves to abolish municipal police....really Enrique?
- Two Men's Efforts To Help Migrants In Mexico End In Their Murders
- More Disappearances in Mexico: Dozens Missing in Michoacan
- Governor Confirms Cocula Kidnappings
| President Peña Nieto moves to abolish municipal police....really Enrique? Posted: 28 Nov 2014 11:31 PM PST By Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat
The critical eye of the world has focused on Mexico and its president since global media began reporting, that 43 normalistas, students were missing from the Guerrero City of Iguala. It took over a week for the global press to latch on to the story, but the story became viral, and a trendy cause for groups to support and demonstrate in support of. At the direction of a mayor and the first lady, 43 young students studying to become teachers, were kidnapped by municipal police, and handed over to executioners of organized crime, "Guerreros Unidos". How can this happen? This reporter has been angry, frustrated and sadden that the media has latched on to this heart-wrenching story and have not penetrated deep into the surface story to find the depth of the horror. Any BB reader knows what the world is yet to discover, that here at BB were have reported over 50 stories in the last year of the Iguala region where hundreds of people have been taken, in groups of 10, 20, 30, entire families, school children, just regular citizens not remotely connected to criminality. Kidnapped, and never seen again. We have reported dozens of bodies discovered by citizens, and authorities, 32 in August, over 100 in the 6 months before the 43. People near the landfill, who cut across the landfill, as a short cut, reported finding 300 bodies in 2 years. In that landfill alone. They report that treading on the landfill area after dark is the kiss of death. That is when the executions occur. Gunshots heard….6-8-10 or more, pierce through the silence of the night. And people know, in the morning corpses will be seen. People say it is not every night, but regularly. People, including the parents of the 43, say they reported the acts genocide to both the Calderon administration and Peña administration. They called on the PGR federal agency to conduct investigations, they pleaded with them. They were told it was a state issue, a local issue. But... pleaded the people, the state and local government are criminals, they are in collusion with the bad guys, they ARE the bad guys. Yet, they were turned away. And the killing continued. I ask how is it that a town of only 120k population have hundreds of bodies discovered? A resident wrote to me and said I was wrong, the numbers are over 1000. At first I thought that was emotion doing the calculation, I then did the math, and concede over 1000 is very feasible. The government has not addressed the bodies discovered in the search for the 43. Nor have they set up a DNA bank of specimens from families of the missing. They are eyeballing the 43, nothing more. Because the world is watching. Why hasn't the feds gone to Guerrero and unearthed the areas of known fosas? Why is it the a group of 70 families and autodefensas had to venture on their own over the weekend, with picks and axes dig the earth and they themselves discovered 11 fosas?  Peña has now announced the abolishment of municipal police with a federal takeover. He plans to put local police units under federal control then state oversight Via television he said; "Mexico cannot continue like this, after Iguala, Mexico must change. Our country has been shaken by cruelty and barbarism." He proposes a cachet of changes and constitutional reforms, whereby Mexico's 1,800 municipal forces to be abolished and taken over by state agencies, with initial oversight by feds. The reform would also permit Congress to disband local governments infiltrated by drug cartels. When Felipe Calderon's presidency was winding down, he made a couple of admissions. One was that in the border states of Mexico there were an estimated 25,000 bodies in clandestine fosas (graves). The other admission is that every, that is 100% folks, of all municipalities in the border states are controlled by organized crime. This is not news to the Peña administration or anyone living along the border. No doubt Peña wants the controversy to go away, and he is hoping the "trend of the #43" will disappear, just as the students did. Surely, he never dreamed that anyone outside the indigenous community would be emotionally moved about dark skinned "peasants" being subjected to atrocities. But react he must, at least to give the impression that his administration is reacting, listening to the cries of the people. Do I believe he is sincere? Hell-to-the-NO.  He never dreamed that in a few weeks the world would know…..and would be watching, and studying what actions he would take. He says, for now, his plan will be initiated in four of the most violent states of Mexico; Guerrero, Michoacán , Jalisco and Tamaulipas. The new municipal police will be under the control of the state. Problem right off the top: State police agencies are also corrupted. Many of the leaders of organized crime groups are recruited from state and federal police agencies. The overhaul would begin in Mexico's four most violent states, he said - Tamaulipas, Jalisco, Michoacán and Guerrero.Under President Pena Nieto's plans, the thousands of local police forces would come under the control of the 31 state governments, and the capital. Some have speculated about Martial law, for all intent and purpose that is a virtual impossibility. It would require Peña evoking Article 29 of the Mexican constitution, and the potential revoking of freedoms specified in the Mexican Constitution, such as press, assembly, due process, etc But citizens need not be occupied by the potential of marital law, article 29 would require the approval by Mexico's irritable congress.  I asked my friend, who happens to be an attorney, and whose opinion I value immensely, if Peña can impose his municipal plan. He answered; that Peña can't force a group of jurisdictions to adopt a single police force. To do so would require extensive constitutional amendment. Further stating, "EPN has to change not just the self-government provisions, but also the federal funds distribution provisions, since he needs to use federal funds as the carrot and stick." "EPN could avoid all these largely symbolic measures by simply using the laws currently in place to prosecute corrupt government officials. But that would mean that the elite would have to go after its own members." Anyone think that will happen? I am still waiting for the grand thief of my state of Coahuila, to get his due. After mass protests and demonstrations, and caught in a net of global disapproval and scrutiny, Peña is forced to speak of change. But how seriously can one consider any action or talk of action by this president who in his speech of "change", then adds the comment: "In terms of respect for and protection of human rights, Mexico has one of the strongest regulatory systems in the world." Concerning is that the world press covering this story of Peña's proposed plans, have not been critical or pointing towards the fallacy of such a plan. Hopefully academics and legal minds will not allow Peña's plan to be scoffed at without public dismantling of both the feasibility and legality of each point. The world press and scholars can be proactive and insert a justice into Pena's ludicrousness, by not allowing this sham to go without reproach.
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| Two Men's Efforts To Help Migrants In Mexico End In Their Murders Posted: 28 Nov 2014 04:53 PM PST Borderland Beat posted by DD Republished from NPR Blog Written by Carrie Kahn
This is the story of the murder of two aid workers in Mexico. The men fed Central American migrants traveling north through Mexico on a freight train that stopped near their home. They were critical of both corrupt police, who abused and extorted the migrants, as well as the organized crime gangs that kidnapped and robbed them. It wasn't hard to find the two men — they were never far from the train tracks — but there were no witnesses to their deaths, and police won't comment about the case. The double homicide didn't even get a mention in the local press. I met the men on several occasions this summer while reporting on the surge of Central Americans, especially unaccompanied minors, who were making the long journey to the United States. 'We Are All Human Beings' Last June, I walked the rock-filled tracks with Adrian Rodriguez Garcia. It was quite a hike from his house to where migrants would gather and wait for his meals. Everyone called him "La Polla." He was the "mother hen" to thousands of migrants, mostly from Central America, who knew that when they got off the train near the central Mexican town of Huehuetoca, La Polla would be there with hot coffee and sweet bread in the morning, or a hot meal in the afternoon — rain or shine. "I like helping people," he said. Garcia said he started feeding the migrants near the town, about 35 miles north of Mexico City, about 10 years ago. "I see how they suffer, how destroyed their feet are from walking such long distances, how they are always targeted by corrupt cops of crime gangs," he said. He just wanted to make this small leg of their journey a little lighter. After all, Garcia said, "We are all human beings, the only thing different about us is that we come from different countries." Garcia dyed his long hair a light red color and pulled it back with a bright head band. He liked to paint his nails and wear sparkling rings. He told me he was a transvestite, and maybe that's why he related so much to the cast-aside migrants; he, too, felt he was an outsider. Two years ago, a Honduran named Wilson Castro jumped off the train at Huehuetoca and decided to stay. "I'm also a migrant," said Castro. "I know how much they suffer along the trip north — some die falling off the train or lose limbs, I've seen it all." Castro was the quieter side to Garcia's flamboyance, but equally committed. Handouts And Hard Work The two didn't have a lot to hand out. One day when I was out at the tracks with them, Garcia lined up a group of about 20 migrants and passed out hot tortillas, beans, a slice of cheese and a few jokes. He had an easy, loud laugh, but clearly there was a serious side to the work. For one story I was working on about abuse in Mexico's migrant detention facilities, Castro told me about being held for two months in an overcrowded cell, where gang members robbed and extorted the migrants. Earlier this year, both men thwarted an attempt to kidnap migrants at the train tracks. Castro held one of the suspected kidnappers while Garcia called the police. Both gave statements to the authorities, and both received death threats, but according to human rights workers Garcia and Castro had been promised police protection. None was provided, says Jorge Andrade, a human rights worker. Last Sunday, after they handed out the evening meal, Andrade says the pair drove back to their house. They still were sitting in the car outside, talking, when members of Garcia's family who were in the house heard the shots. Garcia died instantly from a shot to the head and heart. Castro, shot in the heart and lungs, died a day later. Police are not commenting. At a press conference Wednesday, aid worker Andrea Gonzalez said authorities long had been aware of the criminal gangs operating in the region and the threats to the men, yet did nothing. "We can no longer permit this type of violence and impunity to permeate our society," she said. Castro's body is being sent home to his family in Honduras. Garcia was buried Tuesday in the small cemetery in town not far from his house — not far from the train tracks | ||||
| More Disappearances in Mexico: Dozens Missing in Michoacan Posted: 28 Nov 2014 02:12 PM PST Borderland Beat posted by DD Republished from Telesur
Protesters blocked major access points to Uruapan, Michoacan on Thursday to demand the return of family members they believe to have been forcibly disappeared. Close to a dozen men were apparently disappeared last Sunday in the village of Agua Verde, near the indigenous community of Zirahuen, Michoacan, and their relatives want to know where they are. The disappeared men are said to have been members of auto-defense groups and some press reports indicate that they had joined the Rural Police Force, although their status is not clear. The protests in Michoacan's second largest city began at noon and lasted all afternoon. Four out of five major highways were blocked, including those leading to Patzcuaro, Apatzingan, Paracho and the Siglo XXI toll road that runs from Morelia to Lazaro Cardenas. Family members fear that their missing relatives will turn up dead or decapitated as was the case with Gerardo Serafin El G1 and his nephew Nicolás Serafín, two former members of self-defense groups who were participating in the Rural Police Force at the time they were killed. The State Attorney General said on his Twitter account that he has spoken to the family members and that the case of the disappeared people is being investigated. He denies that any of the people involved were members of the Rural Police Force. Approximately 350 members of the self-defense groups are now held prisoners in the state of Michoacan, including Jose Manuel Mireles, who may soon be released under highly restrictive probation conditions, according to his former lawyers.  | ||||
| Governor Confirms Cocula Kidnappings Posted: 28 Nov 2014 11:20 AM PST Borderland Beat by DD Related story byChivis "31 Students kidnapped in Cocula Guerrero in July"
Denial and Retraction. The federal government has a predictable response to potential scandals. First ignore it. Then if it doesn't go away, deny the facts. Then as more reports surface, retract the denial and excuse it because it had no information or knowledge of the events. PRI has followed this established pattern in the case of 31 missing students in Cocula. When a French television company aired a expose of what happened in June or July 2013 in Cocula the Minister of the Interior, Osario Chong responded to reporters questioning that he nor the federal government knew anything about it until the French TV program aired the report. He said that he had ordered the PGR to contact the French reporters to determine their sources and investigate whether the charges of kidnapping were true or not. He further stated that he had called the principal of the junior high school and asked him about any "missing students". The Director of the high school "Justo Sierra" located in Cocula, Ricardo Lagunas Alejo, said that in the four years he has served in that position within the educational institution has no knowledge that any student has disappeared. In an interview with the newspaper 24 Hours, the delegate of the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) in Guerrero, Arturo Contreras Gomez, said the family did not report the disappearance of their children for fear and said the federal delegation never had a report about an absence mass of students, and in this case would have been considered dropouts. So it seems that the government would have us believe that their lack of information was due to asking the wrong question. There were no missing "students" since when the children were kidnapped they had just finished their last day of the school year and were not longer enrolled in any school and therefore not "missing students" but were "missing children". Given the current turmoil in Mexico over the "Missing 43" students kidnapped in Iguala, the government certainly didn't want any more headlines about "missing students". "Missing children" happens every day in Mexico stories about children missing might be less inflammatory right now and receive less attention than stories of "missing students". It is also hard to believe that the federal government had no previous knowledge of this atrocity when it had been reported in Borderland Beat by Chivis as early as August 2013 that 31-32 bodies were found in a mass grave near Iguala (only 20 minutes from Cocula) and that ; Cocula is as violent as Iguala, with large groups of people taken and never seen again. In 2013 between the months of May-July at least three groups were taken; 12 in May, 10 in June and 23 in July. There were probably other publications that reported on missing groups from Cocula in 2013, but we know from sources that Borderland Beat is read by high officials in the government. Osario could could have saved a lot of time and expense of the taxpayers money if he had telephoned the Governor of Guerrero or the Mayor of Colcula rather than looking to France for answers. As reported today in 24 Hours; The governor of Guerrero Rogelio Ortega, said yesterday that the abduction of 31 young denounced by the FRANCE 24 television happened a year and four months ago in 2013; his statements coincided with Cocula Mayor Cesar Miguel Penaloza, who said there were two kidnappings, one of 17 people and another 14. Ortega Martinez acknowledged that he was not aware of this incident and that his administration has no further information on the subject; however, said on Wednesday the state administration anyway and sent a team of investigators to Cocula to find out what happened. "The news we investigated and it seems that happened a little over a year. What spoke to me, friends and personalities of Cocula, is that a year and four months ago early one morning, at night, they took about 17 boys Cocula. There were no reports, this was an event that was silent about the situation of fear, "he told Radio Formula. Interviewed by this newspaper, the delegate of the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) in Guerrero, Arturo Contreras Gomez, said the family did not report the disappearance of their children for fear. 24 HOURS also asked a resident of Cocula (who asked that her name not be published); this person agreed that the claim of the French television corresponds to what happened in 2013, precisely in July. According to the same source, last year a group of young people were missing in the municipality of Cocula, although not all students at the secondary Justo Sierra. This person said that once knew what it was that had been missing 50 boys, 17 and 31. (This number 48 corresponds to the number Chivis reported as being 45) What was said in the village was that some boys were released but others do not already know or will say anything. The uprisings were not reported. "As far as I knew, had been boys, but some had already appeared. The truth was very difficult, many difficult situations. First came as a rumor and then knew for ransom, about brothers yes it could give, they were back then, "he said. "They took these kids, about a technical school and a girl. They were like 50 and it was a rachita who took them all. Here were several cases. Everyone is afraid, nobody knows the fear that one lives here. The truth itself is a little difficult. From home to work and from work to home. I stand at the entrance of the community and not even go to the center, we avoid as much as possible, "he told 24 HOURS  |
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