WTF is going on in Mexico?

[Taco John]

If Violence Escalates in Mexico, Texas Officials Plan to Be Ready
Thursday, February 12, 2009
By Joshua Rhett Miller

As drug cartels continue to terrorize Mexico, Texas officials are planning for the worst-case scenario: how to respond if the violence spills over the border, and what to do if thousands of Mexicans seek refuge in the United States.

Katherine Cesinger, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, said a multi-agency contingency plan is being developed, and it will focus primarily on law enforcement issues, including how to handle an influx of Mexicans fleeing violence.

"At this point, what we're focusing on is spillover violence," Cesinger told FOXNews.com Thursday. "The immediate concern, if any, would be that."

More than 5,300 people were killed in Mexico last year in connection to criminal activity, and some experts predict things will get worse. Along with Pakistan, Mexico was identified in a Department of Defense report last year as a country that could destabilize rapidly.

If that were to happen, officials are concerned that the drug violence could cross the Rio Grande into southern Texas.

Cesinger said the plan currently does not address a potential flood of refugees, though "It may be something that comes into consideration."

"Worst-case scenario, Mexico becomes the Western hemisphere's equivalent of Somalia, with mass violence, mass chaos," said Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president for defense and foreign policy at the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank. "That would clearly require a military response from the United States."

Carpenter, who recently authored a study entitled "Troubled Neighbor: Mexico's Drug Violence Poses a Threat to the United States," said Mexican government could collapse, although it's unlikely.

"That's still a relative longshot, but it's not out of the question," Carpenter said. "It's obviously prudent for all of the states along the U.S.-Mexican border and the military to consider that possibility and not get blindsided should it happen."

Some lawmakers in Texas have begun questioning how to deal with a potentially massive influx of Mexican citizens.

"Do you strengthen the borders so people cannot get in by the thousands every day, or do you create detention centers where people are held until their status is determined?" asked state Sen. Dan Patrick. "This is a potential refugee problem..."

"Let's pray that this does not develop in Mexico," Patrick told FOXNews.com. "However, when you hear the president of the United States cast dire warnings on our country, that even our financial system could collapse, it makes you think. If the United States can face catastrophe, obviously Mexico could as well.

"We have to seriously consider that as a remote possibility, so therefore, we need to have a plan."

Patrick called upon Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McGraw to present a comprehensive plan to the state's Legislature.

McGraw, who reportedly told lawmakers at a recent border security meeting that fears of Mexico's collapse were "well-grounded," was unavailable to comment Thursday, Cesinger said.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff indicated last month that the continuing violence has prompted plans for civilian and military law enforcement should it spread into the United States.

Chertoff said the plan calls for armored vehicles, aircraft and teams of personnel along border hotspots. Military forces, however, would be summoned only if civilian agencies like the Border Patrol were unable to control the violence, the New York Times reported.

DHS spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the department began developing the plan last summer to address a "broad spectrum of contingencies that could occur" if the violence escalates.

"This violence is happening because the [Felipe] Calderon administration is doing the right thing by cracking down on powerful drug cartels," Kudwa said in a statement. "The cartels are, predictably, fighting back to protect their lucrative criminal livelihood. This plan doesn’t change or otherwise supersede existing authorities; it plans for how a number of government organizations would respond and coordinate if local resources were to be overwhelmed."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is "continuing to develop that plan," Kudwa said Thursday.

Meanwhile, Tim Irwin, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said he was unaware of any plans in Texas to prepare for an influx of Mexicans seeking refuge. Theoretically, Irwin said, a Mexican citizen could go to a border crossing and seek asylum based on fears of returning home amid the ongoing drug wars.

"It's a valid claim to make, but you'd need to back that up," Irwin said. "That would start the process."

Irwin said the individual would be initially detained and given a "credible fear interview" to determine if his or her concerns are valid. If so, they could be eventually be released into the United States.

But Carpenter said the worst-case scenario — a "sudden surge" of up to 1 million refugees in addition to the hundreds of thousands who enter illegally each year — would be daunting.

"That would be very difficult to handle," Carpenter told FOXNews.com. "I suspect what'd you see fairly soon is an attempt to seal the border as much as possible. That would probably be the initial response, along with the building of additional facilities [to detain the Mexican refugees]. But nobody wants to see that happen."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,491964,00.html

[Taco John]

Mexico: The Third War

February 18, 2009 | 1923 GMT

By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart

Mexico has pretty much always been a rough-and-tumble place. In recent years, however, the security environment has deteriorated rapidly, and parts of the country have become incredibly violent. It is now common to see military weaponry such as fragmentation grenades and assault rifles used almost daily in attacks.

In fact, just last week we noted two separate strings of grenade attacks directed against police in Durango and Michoacan states. In the Michoacan incident, police in Uruapan and Lazaro Cardenas were targeted by three grenade attacks during a 12-hour period. Then on Feb. 17, a major firefight occurred just across the border from the United States in Reynosa, when Mexican authorities attempted to apprehend several armed men seen riding in a vehicle. The men fled to a nearby residence and engaged the pursuing police with gunfire, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). After the incident, in which five cartel gunmen were killed and several gunmen, cops, soldiers and civilians were wounded, authorities recovered a 60 mm mortar, five RPG rounds and two fragmentation grenades.

Make no mistake, considering the military weapons now being used in Mexico and the number of deaths involved, the country is in the middle of a war. In fact, there are actually three concurrent wars being waged in Mexico involving the Mexican drug cartels. The first is the battle being waged among the various Mexican drug cartels seeking control over lucrative smuggling corridors, called plazas. One such battleground is Ciudad Juarez, which provides access to the Interstate 10, Interstate 20 and Interstate 25 corridors inside the United States. The second battle is being fought between the various cartels and the Mexican government forces who are seeking to interrupt smuggling operations, curb violence and bring the cartel members to justice.

Then there is a third war being waged in Mexico, though because of its nature it is a bit more subdued. It does not get the same degree of international media attention generated by the running gun battles and grenade and RPG attacks. However, it is no less real, and in many ways it is more dangerous to innocent civilians (as well as foreign tourists and business travelers) than the pitched battles between the cartels and the Mexican government. This third war is the war being waged on the Mexican population by criminals who may or may not be involved with the cartels. Unlike the other battles, where cartel members or government forces are the primary targets and civilians are only killed as collateral damage, on this battlefront, civilians are squarely in the crosshairs.

The Criminal Front
There are many different shapes and sizes of criminal gangs in Mexico. While many of them are in some way related to the drug cartels, others have various types of connections to law enforcement — indeed, some criminal groups are composed of active and retired cops. These various types of criminal gangs target civilians in a number of ways, including, robbery, burglary, carjacking, extortion, fraud and counterfeiting. But of all the crimes committed by these gangs, perhaps the one that creates the most widespread psychological and emotional damage is kidnapping, which also is one of the most underreported crimes. There is no accurate figure for the number of kidnappings that occur in Mexico each year. All of the data regarding kidnapping is based on partial crime statistics and anecdotal accounts and, in the end, can produce only best-guess estimates. Despite this lack of hard data, however, there is little doubt — based even on the low end of these estimates — that Mexico has become the kidnapping capital of the world.

One of the difficult things about studying kidnapping in Mexico is that the crime not only is widespread, affecting almost every corner of the country, but also is executed by a wide range of actors who possess varying levels of professionalism — and very different motives. At one end of the spectrum are the high-end kidnapping gangs that abduct high-net-worth individuals and demand ransoms in the millions of dollars. Such groups employ teams of operatives who carry out specialized tasks such as collecting intelligence, conducting surveillance, snatching the target, negotiating with the victim’s family and establishing and guarding the safe houses.

At the other end of the spectrum are gangs that roam the streets and randomly kidnap targets of opportunity. These gangs are generally less professional than the high-end gangs and often will hold a victim for only a short time. In many instances, these groups hold the victim just long enough to use the victim’s ATM card to drain his or her checking account, or to receive a small ransom of perhaps several hundred or a few thousand dollars from the family. This type of opportunistic kidnapping is often referred to as an “express kidnapping”. Sometimes express kidnapping victims are held in the trunk of a car for the duration of their ordeal, which can sometimes last for days if the victim has a large amount in a checking account and a small daily ATM withdrawal limit. Other times, if an express kidnapping gang discovers it has grabbed a high-value target by accident, the gang will hold the victim longer and demand a much higher ransom. Occasionally, these express kidnapping groups will even “sell” a high-value victim to a more professional kidnapping gang.

Between these extremes there is a wide range of groups that fall somewhere in the middle. These are the groups that might target a bank vice president or branch manager rather than the bank’s CEO, or that might kidnap the owner of a restaurant or other small business rather than a wealthy industrialist. The presence of such a broad spectrum of kidnapping groups ensures that almost no segment of the population is immune from the kidnapping threat. In recent years, the sheer magnitude of the threat in Mexico and the fear it generates has led to a crime called virtual kidnapping. In a virtual kidnapping, the victim is not really kidnapped. Instead, the criminals seek to convince a target’s family that a kidnapping has occurred, and then use threats and psychological pressure to force the family to pay a quick ransom. Although virtual kidnapping has been around for several years, unwitting families continue to fall for the scam, which is a source of easy money. Some virtual kidnappings have even been conducted by criminals using telephones inside prisons.

As noted above, the motives for kidnapping vary. Many of the kidnappings that occur in Mexico are not conducted for ransom. Often the drug cartels will kidnap members of rival gangs or government officials in order to torture and execute them. This torture is conducted to extract information, intimidate rivals and, apparently in some cases, just to have a little fun. The bodies of such victims are frequently found beheaded or otherwise mutilated. Other times, cartel gunmen will kidnap drug dealers who are tardy in payments or who refuse to pay the “tax” required to operate in the cartel’s area of control.

Of course, cartel gunmen do not kidnap only their rivals or cops. As the cartel wars have heated up, and as drug revenues have dropped due to interference from rival cartels or the government, many cartels have resorted to kidnapping for ransom to supplement their cash flow. Perhaps the most widely known group that is engaging in this is the Arellano Felix Organization (AFO), also known as the Tijuana Cartel. The AFO has been reduced to a shadow of its former self, its smuggling operations dramatically impacted by the efforts of the U.S. and Mexican governments, as well as by attacks from other cartels and from an internal power struggle. Because of a steep decrease in smuggling revenues, the group has turned to kidnapping and extortion in order to raise the funds necessary to keep itself alive and to return to prominence as a smuggling organization.

In the Line of Fire

There is very little chance the Mexican government will be able to establish integrity in its law enforcement agencies, or bring law and order to large portions of the country, any time soon. Official corruption and ineptitude are endemic in Mexico, which means that Mexican citizens and visiting foreigners will have to face the threat of kidnapping for the foreseeable future. We believe that for civilians and visiting foreigners, the threat of kidnapping exceeds the threat of being hit by a stray bullet from a cartel firefight. Indeed, things are deteriorating so badly that even professional kidnapping negotiators, once seen as the key to a guaranteed payout, are now being kidnapped themselves. In an even more incredible twist of irony, anti-kidnapping authorities are being abducted and executed.

This environment — and the concerns it has sparked — has provided huge financial opportunities for the private security industry in Mexico. Armored car sales have gone through the roof, as have the number of uniformed guards and executive protection personnel. In fact, the demand for personnel is so acute that security companies are scrambling to find candidates. Such a scramble presents a host of obvious problems, ranging from lack of qualifications to insufficient vetting. In addition to old-fashioned security services, new security-technology companies are also cashing in on the environment of fear, but even high-tech tracking devices can have significant drawbacks and shortcomings.

For many people, armored cars and armed bodyguards can provide a false sense of security, and technology can become a deadly crutch that promotes complacency and actually increases vulnerability. Physical security measures are not enough. The presence of armed bodyguards — or armed guards combined with armored vehicles — does not provide absolute security. This is especially true in Mexico, where large teams of gunmen regularly conduct crimes using military ordnance. Frankly, there are very few executive protection details in the world that have the training and armament to withstand an assault by dozens of attackers armed with assault rifles and RPGs. Private security guards are frequently overwhelmed by Mexican criminals and either killed or forced to flee for their own safety. As we noted in May 2008 after the assassination of Edgar Millan Gomez, acting head of the Mexican Federal Police and the highest-ranking federal cop in Mexico, physical security measures must be supplemented by situational awareness, countersurveillance and protective intelligence.

Criminals look for and exploit vulnerabilities. Their chances for success increase greatly if they are allowed to conduct surveillance at will and are given the opportunity to thoroughly assess the protective security program. We have seen several cases in Mexico in which the criminals even chose to attack despite security measures. In such cases, criminals attack with adequate resources to overcome existing security. For example, if there are protective agents, the attackers will plan to neutralize them first. If there is an armored vehicle, they will find ways to defeat the armor or grab the target when he or she is outside the vehicle. Because of this, criminals must not be allowed to conduct surveillance at will.

Like many crimes, kidnapping is a process. There are certain steps that must be taken to conduct a kidnapping and certain times during the process when those executing it are vulnerable to detection. While these steps may be condensed and accomplished quite quickly in an ad hoc express kidnapping, they are nonetheless followed. In fact, because of the particular steps involved in conducting a kidnapping, the process is not unlike that followed to execute a terrorist attack. The common steps are target selection, planning, deployment, attack, escape and exploitation.

Like the perpetrators of a terrorist attack, those conducting a kidnapping are most vulnerable to detection when they are conducting surveillance — before they are ready to deploy and conduct their attack. As we’ve noted several times in past analyses, one of the secrets of countersurveillance is that most criminals are not very good at conducting surveillance. The primary reason they succeed is that no one is looking for them.

Of course, kidnappers are also very obvious once they launch their attack, pull their weapons and perhaps even begin to shoot. By this time, however, it might very well be too late to escape their attack. They will have selected their attack site and employed the forces they believe they need to complete the operation. While the kidnappers could botch their operation and the target could escape unscathed, it is simply not practical to pin one’s hopes on that possibility. It is clearly better to spot the kidnappers early and avoid their trap before it is sprung and the guns come out.

We have seen many instances of people in Mexico with armed security being kidnapped, and we believe we will likely see more cases of this in the coming months. This trend is due not only to the presence of highly armed and aggressive criminals and the low quality of some security personnel, but also to people placing their trust solely in reactive physical security. Ignoring the very real value of critical, proactive measures such as situational awareness, countersurveillance and protective intelligence can be a fatal mistake.

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20090218_mexico_third_war

[Taco John]

Monday, February 23, 2009

Is Mexico Moving towards a State of Failure?

By Sergio Aguayo Quezada

· The inability of official Mexico to counter the inexorable spread of the country's violent drug cartels poses a fundamental question, says Sergio Aguayo Quezada

Mexico is increasingly being characterized as a "failed state" on account of its inability to counter the country's burgeoning problems of drug-trafficking violence and gangsterism. Felipe Calderón's government denies this charge with indignation.

Who is right?

The notion of a "failed state" is one of those concepts that arise now and again to try to capture new realities. In this case the term – popularized by Foreign Policy's annual index – defines states that have lost control over parts of their territory, seen their monopoly over the use of force diminished, and are incapable of providing adequate public services.

Mexico has been placed in this category in successive months: by a strategic-analysis report from the United States Joint Forces Command (see Joint Operating Environment 2008, 4 December 2008) [also see MexiData.info], by a leading US business magazine (see Jesse Bogan et al, "The Next Disaster," Forbes, 22 December 2008), and by a succession of journalists (see Joel Kurtzman, "Mexico's Instability is a Real Problem," Wall Street Journal, 16 January 2009).

The Mexican government has reacted swiftly on each occasion to rebut the accusation. The foreign minister, Patricia Espinosa, for example, spent over an hour trying to demonstrate with "hard data in hand" that, in spite of its bloody daily toll of victims and incidents, Mexico is not a failed state (see Adam Thomson, "Mexico rebuffs ‘failed state' claims", Financial Times, 18 January 2009). The attorney-general, Eduardo Medina Mora, likewise responded by reiterating the official version: that the surge of narco (drug) traffickers is owed to the failures of Mexico's previous rulers.

A desperate bargain

This construction of an alternative future is the beginning of hope for its architects: its foundation the claim that Felipe Calderón's government is different, and that – despite all appearances – it is winning a bitter struggle. In order to make good its claim, however, the government requires two things: the support of the international community (especially that of the United States), and internal, national unity in its campaign (something it demands and even implores from the Mexican people).

The first requirement was evident at a somewhat discreet meeting between Felipe Calderón and Barack Obama on 12 January 2009 in Washington. On leaving, Calderón let slip that he had suggested to the then president-elect that the two governments should "establish a strategic alliance" in order to face mutual security problems. In other circumstances, Calderón might here be suspected of seeking Washington's recognition of Mexico as the equivalent of a major non-NATO ally (such as Japan, Israel and the Philippines). But this kind of partnership has not been discussed in Mexico, nor is it on offer. Rather, what is being proposed is a shared acknowledgment of the urgency of Washington's backing and collaboration in the war against drugs.

The second part of the bargain is equally hard to deliver. Those of us who live in Mexico suffer the everyday insecurity of this agonizing condition; and, in my case, start each day hoping the government can give good news on the battlefront. But it is hard, and not only because of the drug-gangs whose violence took 5,400 lives in 2008: the governors and big businessmen who bend and break rules, and even the street-vendors who steal electricity, also diminish the capacity to govern. This government indeed is living with the consequences of a difficult inheritance, but its own incoherence, misjudgment and inability to tell a convincing story to the people worsens the situation. When Mexican citizens observe the state rocking like a boat in choppy waters, even the most hopeful begin to lose heart.

A realistic answer

There are differences within any government, but it is the leader who must control them. Since the domestic "war on drugs" began, two of the main departmental heads (Genaro García Luna, minister of public security, and Eduardo Medina Mora, attorney-general) have been locked in a dialogue of the deaf; while Mexico's head of national security is pursuing his own course, contradicting the aforementioned official version in the process.

An important moment in this respect was the breakfast meeting convened on 27 November 2008 by the defense secretary, Guillermo Galván Galván, with a group of communications specialists. The analyst Leonardo Curzio, who was present, summarized for me the essence of Galván's comments: that Mexico's internal security is at grave risk because the army is being worn down by the omnipresent drug-cartels, because the much-sought cooperation with regional governors and municipal presidents (especially some affiliated with the Partido Revolucionario Institucional [PRI]) is not being achieved, and because Felipe Calderón does not pursue those politicians alleged to protect or tolerate drug-lords.

The message is credible; there is more than enough evidence to support the case that the executive is submissive before the authorities that wield de facto power in Mexico (see Sam Quinones, "State of War," Foreign Policy, March-April 2009).

An especially surreal example is that of Elba Esther Gordillo, who is at the helm of three powerful ships at the same time: the teachers' union (with one million members); a political party (Nueva Alianza), which has shown sustained growth; and a growing number of public offices to which she appoints and removes people at will. La Maestra (as Gordillo is known colloquially) was a key figure in the contested electoral victory of Calderón in July 2006, and it seems that the favor she delivered then is still being rewarded: for example, the president changed the head of the national lottery – a government agency with a multi-million peso budget – simply because La Maestra wished it so.

Is Mexico, then, a "failed" state?

In general terms, the answer must be no – if only because the state still controls most of its territory. However, the situation becomes less clear if the actual, close working of cities and institutions are examined: here, the state's presence is often notional, as those who control the power-strings are the narcos. The government of Felipe Calderón is disoriented and passive in face of the corruption, inequality and impunity that bleed and debilitate society and the state. The feeling that we are marching towards a precipice is accentuated.


http://www.mexidata.info/id2168.html

[CHIEF4EVER]

I've been following this situation for some time now. It is about to get really ugly.

[HMc]

hmm maybe its them that has the WMDs?

[BigRedChief]

I've been following this situation for some time now. It is about to get really ugly.
Yep, and it won't get better until the coruption of the politicans in Mexico goes away or at least becomes less widespread enough to rein in the gangs.

[Iowanian]

Sounds like any corporation that was ingelligent, would run those jobs right back over here before we start dropping napalm on that shithole.

[InChiefsHell]

How come this this isn't on the nightly news...nightly? Or is it...I must admit, I haven't really watched the news much in the last year...

[alanm]

How come this this isn't on the nightly news...nightly? Or is it...I must admit, I haven't really watched the news much in the last year...The MSM apparently doesn't want to impose this on Barry's Camelot. :spock:

[BigRedChief]

The MSM apparently doesn't want to impose this on Barry's Camelot. :spock:
WTF dude, how is this a Republican or democrat thing? This is a new thing thats happening in another country thats spilling over into ours.

[InChiefsHell]

The MSM apparently doesn't want to impose this on Barry's Camelot. :spock:

Possible I suppose, although one would think they would have been all over it while W was in office. It's not like this shit started last month down there. It's a little scary to think that this stuff has been going on literally right next door and we don't really hear about it at all...

[Brock]

What do you think the government is going to do about it? Hint: Nothing.

[LOCOChief]

Well you know you're going to have a problem when during the campaign Obama would refer to the insurgents from Mexico as "undocumented imigrants".

I've got a client who was with the NYPD for 35 years and was assigned to a gang related crimes unit. This guy says that the last couple of years they have been preparing for roving gangs which they feel will overrun our country by 2010, he said most are from Mexico, very well organized, well funded and heavily armed. He said these gangs have safe houses throughout the US and are untouchable. He said when the shit does go down in the mannor in which many in law infrorcement predict that the cops will bail to take care of their own just like they did in Katrina.

[Delano]

.

[petegz28]

What do you think the government is going to do about it? Hint: Nothing.

LIAR! They will invite the refugees in, give them free health insurance and a driver's license and a job. WTF are you telling lies?:cuss:

[jAZ]

Yep, and it won't get better until the coruption of the politicans in Mexico goes away or at least becomes less widespread enough to rein in the gangs.
This is what happens when you try to do that...

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/281171

Threats to keep killing cops force Juarez chief to resign
By Julie Watson
The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.21.2009

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Ciudad Juarez's police chief stepped down Friday after criminal gangs made a chilling demand: Resign or we will kill more local officers.

Public Safety Secretary Roberto Orduna announced he was leaving his post only hours after gunmen killed a police officer and a jail guard and left signs on their bodies saying they had fulfilled a promise made Wednesday to kill at least one officer every 48 hours until Orduna quits.

The slayings were a sign that gangs are determined to control the police force of the biggest Mexican border city, with a population of 1.3 million people across from El Paso, Texas. Juarez is a major entry point for drugs heading into the United States and a hot spot in a brutal, multi-front war involving ruthless drug cartels and Mexican security forces.

Mayor Jose Reyes insisted earlier Friday that the city would not back down.
"We will not allow the control of the police force to fall in the hands of criminal gangs," he said.

But Orduna said he didn't want to endanger more officers.

"We can't allow men who work defending our citizens to continue to lose their lives," he said. "That is why I am presenting my permanent resignation."
The resignation was effective immediately. Authorities said an interim chief would be named later Friday, and a permanent replacement would be found in the coming weeks.

A retired army major, Orduna took over as chief in May after former Public Safety Secretary Guillermo Prieto resigned and fled to El Paso after the slaying of his operations director.

For Orduna's protection, the city built his bedroom at the police station so he didn't have to go home. He also travels in different vehicles when he does go out.

Ciudad Juarez police have long come under attack, and many officers have quit out of fear for their lives, some after their names appeared on hit lists left in public throughout the city.

Officer Cesar Ivan Portillo was the fifth officer killed this week in Mexico's deadliest city.

Police were placed on "red alert" — meaning they could not patrol alone — after cardboard signs with handwritten messages appeared taped to the doors and windows of businesses Wednesday, warning Orduna that one officer would be killed every two days if he did not quit.

That alert continued Friday after Orduna stepped down.

Police have also been asked to patrol with their guns in their hands.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in drug violence across Mexico over the past year as gangs battle one another for territory and fight off a nationwide crackdown by the army. Nearly a third of the slayings have taken place in Juarez, and more than 50 of those dead are city police officers.
Violence also has spilled across the border into the United States, where authorities report a spike in killings, kidnappings and home invasions connected to Mexico's murderous cartels.

Homeland Security officials have said they will bring in the military if the violence continues to grow and threatens the U.S. border region.
"The violence is spreading like wildfire across the Rio Grande," said George Grayson, a Mexico expert at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. "It's a major national security problem for us that is much more important than Iraq and Afghanistan."

Robert Almonte, executive director of the Texas Narcotics Officers Association, said that, while El Paso has been spared most of the violence, the escalating killings across the border in Juarez are worrisome.

"I think it's jarring. ... We can't even fathom those kinds of things happening here in the United States," Almonte said.

Also Friday, the U.S. State Department renewed a travel advisory warning Americans about the increased violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Some Mexicans have questioned whether President Felipe Calderón's two-year, nationwide crackdown on drug gangs was worth all the killings.
But Calderón and his administration have defended the fight, with Economy Secretary Gerardo Ruiz Mateos saying on Wednesday that if Mexico gave up its fight against the cartels, "the next president of the republic would be a drug dealer."

Portillo and city jail guard Juan Pablo Ruiz were killed as they left their homes before dawn to head to work, city spokesman Jaime Torres said.
Three days earlier, assailants fatally shot police operations director Sacramento Perez, the chief's right-hand man, and three other officers who were sitting with him in a patrol car near the U.S. consulate.

[BigRedChief]

This is what happens when you try to do that...

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/281171


Threats to keep killing cops force Juarez chief to resign

By Julie Watson
The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.21.2009

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Ciudad Juarez's police chief stepped down Friday after criminal gangs made a chilling demand: Resign or we will kill more local officers.

Public Safety Secretary Roberto Orduna announced he was leaving his post only hours after gunmen killed a police officer and a jail guard and left signs on their bodies saying they had fulfilled a promise made Wednesday to kill at least one officer every 48 hours until Orduna quits.

The slayings were a sign that gangs are determined to control the police force of the biggest Mexican border city, with a population of 1.3 million people across from El Paso, Texas. Juarez is a major entry point for drugs heading into the United States and a hot spot in a brutal, multi-front war involving ruthless drug cartels and Mexican security forces.

Mayor Jose Reyes insisted earlier Friday that the city would not back down.
"We will not allow the control of the police force to fall in the hands of criminal gangs," he said.

But Orduna said he didn't want to endanger more officers.

"We can't allow men who work defending our citizens to continue to lose their lives," he said. "That is why I am presenting my permanent resignation."
The resignation was effective immediately. Authorities said an interim chief would be named later Friday, and a permanent replacement would be found in the coming weeks.

A retired army major, Orduna took over as chief in May after former Public Safety Secretary Guillermo Prieto resigned and fled to El Paso after the slaying of his operations director.

For Orduna's protection, the city built his bedroom at the police station so he didn't have to go home. He also travels in different vehicles when he does go out.

Ciudad Juarez police have long come under attack, and many officers have quit out of fear for their lives, some after their names appeared on hit lists left in public throughout the city.

Officer Cesar Ivan Portillo was the fifth officer killed this week in Mexico's deadliest city.

Police were placed on "red alert" — meaning they could not patrol alone — after cardboard signs with handwritten messages appeared taped to the doors and windows of businesses Wednesday, warning Orduna that one officer would be killed every two days if he did not quit.

That alert continued Friday after Orduna stepped down.

Police have also been asked to patrol with their guns in their hands.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in drug violence across Mexico over the past year as gangs battle one another for territory and fight off a nationwide crackdown by the army. Nearly a third of the slayings have taken place in Juarez, and more than 50 of those dead are city police officers.
Violence also has spilled across the border into the United States, where authorities report a spike in killings, kidnappings and home invasions connected to Mexico's murderous cartels.

Homeland Security officials have said they will bring in the military if the violence continues to grow and threatens the U.S. border region.
"The violence is spreading like wildfire across the Rio Grande," said George Grayson, a Mexico expert at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. "It's a major national security problem for us that is much more important than Iraq and Afghanistan."

Robert Almonte, executive director of the Texas Narcotics Officers Association, said that, while El Paso has been spared most of the violence, the escalating killings across the border in Juarez are worrisome.

"I think it's jarring. ... We can't even fathom those kinds of things happening here in the United States," Almonte said.

Also Friday, the U.S. State Department renewed a travel advisory warning Americans about the increased violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Some Mexicans have questioned whether President Felipe Calderón's two-year, nationwide crackdown on drug gangs was worth all the killings.
But Calderón and his administration have defended the fight, with Economy Secretary Gerardo Ruiz Mateos saying on Wednesday that if Mexico gave up its fight against the cartels, "the next president of the republic would be a drug dealer."

Portillo and city jail guard Juan Pablo Ruiz were killed as they left their homes before dawn to head to work, city spokesman Jaime Torres said.
Three days earlier, assailants fatally shot police operations director Sacramento Perez, the chief's right-hand man, and three other officers who were sitting with him in a patrol car near the U.S. consulate.

Yep, no different from throwing acid in womens faces to keep them from going to school. Shooting Iraquis that coroperate with the U.S. Its a time tested guerilla war strategy that will work until the people feel that authority can be trusted and then turn on their torturers.

[Saggysack]

Take advantage. The peso is down. Take a vacation.

[jiveturkey]

Well you know you're going to have a problem when during the campaign Obama would refer to the insurgents from Mexico as "undocumented imigrants".

I've got a client who was with the NYPD for 35 years and was assigned to a gang related crimes unit. This guy says that the last couple of years they have been preparing for roving gangs which they feel will overrun our country by 2010, he said most are from Mexico, very well organized, well funded and heavily armed. He said these gangs have safe houses throughout the US and are untouchable. He said when the shit does go down in the mannor in which many in law infrorcement predict that the cops will bail to take care of their own just like they did in Katrina.Is your friend Glenn Beck?

[D2112]

http://www.gifhub.com/animated_gif/22/sx0040_756359.gif

[D2112]

I have an idea. I have a good friend from Guatemala that went back to that country for the first time in about 15 years. and he said it's crazy now, EVERYBODY is carrying a pistol or a gun EVERYWHERE. he went to the race track (horses), and he said everybody was carrying a gun. Mexico is the same I'm quite sure. they all have a lot more money now to afford weapons and I think central America is turning into a kill or be killed society.

I have guys I know from Mexico/Guatemala/Honduras/Costa Rica turning up dead every year now. it wasn't like that 10 years ago.

[Garcia Bronco]

There is no pacifist solution to this problem. It requires aggressive aggression. The only thing really we can do is kill them and any of those that would aid them. And that certainly would include politicans.

[banyon]

How come this this isn't on the nightly news...nightly? Or is it...I must admit, I haven't really watched the news much in the last year...

No one wants to report it:

Official: Toll understated for slain Americans
Deaths in Juarez contribute to high rate of killings in Mexico
By LISE OLSEN Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 18, 2009, 9:35PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/6270082.html

MEXICO CITY — Americans in Mexico continued to be slain at a rate of nearly one each week through the end of 2008 and there is little reason to think the violence will stop anytime soon, U.S. Embassy officials have confirmed.

In fact, the number of homicides is likely higher, because many victims die after being taken to hospitals across the border and — along with other killings — often go unreported to the U.S. Department of State, Ed McKeon, Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs in Mexico told the Houston Chronicle.

“I’m convinced the total number of deaths is very much under-reported,” he said.

In Juarez alone, the U.S. consul has estimated at least 30 Americans were slain last year in a wave of killings that took more than 1,600 lives. A 9-year-old American citizen was killed there in the first violent weeks of 2009.

A Chronicle investigation earlier this month showed at least 230 U.S. citizens have been reported killed in Mexico in recent years. Few killers get caught or convicted.

McKeon said he could think of no recent homicide case in Mexico involving an American victim where he was satisfied with the outcome of the investigation — only an estimated 20 percent of the homicide cases result in an arrest in Mexico.

After a University of Colorado-Boulder student, 21-year-old David Parrish, was robbed and killed at an ATM while spending spring break in Puerto Vallarta in 2008, police almost immediately arrested a suspect, according to U.S. and Mexican media reports.

But the suspect in that case allegedly paid to get out of jail and remains at large, U.S. officials confirmed.

Overall, the State Department’s official reports of deaths of citizens for 2008 in Mexico included 49 cases classified as homicides — about the same number as reported in 2007. McKeon said he will offer additional training this year for consular staff, who increasingly have to help U.S. families deal with killings and kidnappings in hard-hit cities such as Juarez and Tijuana.

He also proposes creating a list of resources and phone numbers for victims’ families and encouraging more State Department contact.

“It’s a little bit of a fine line” at how often you should call grieving families, he said. “Especially if there’s no news to report.”

[Taco John]

How come this this isn't on the nightly news...nightly? Or is it...I must admit, I haven't really watched the news much in the last year...

Apparently it's because there's no hot little blonde numbers who are being killed for Greta and Nancy Grace to exploit for nightly ratings...

[InChiefsHell]

Apparently it's because there's no hot little blonde numbers who are being killed for Greta and Nancy Grace to exploit for nightly ratings...

Well, there is that. But:

A 9-year-old American citizen was killed there in the first violent weeks of 2009.

Usually dead children are widely covered.

[jiveturkey]

Well, there is that. But:



Usually dead children are widely covered.Were they a white suburban girl? Cause one of them is missing in Florida...

[HonestChieffan]

well wait till Barrybaby cuts security budgets and tanks the military...open borders for all!!

[ClevelandBronco]

"I suspect what'd you see fairly soon is an attempt to seal the border as much as possible.

There's a new idea.

[ClevelandBronco]

Yep, and it won't get better until the coruption of the politicans in Mexico goes away or at least becomes less widespread enough to rein in the gangs.

Read something about the history down there.

This is about as good as Mexico's government has ever been.

I mean EVER.

[Chief Faithful]

Legalize Marijuana, restrict its use to homes and special "coffee houses", tax the crap out of it, watch the power of the drug-cartels reduce and California solves its deficit problem.

Problem solved. :)

[Simplex3]

Legalize Marijuana, restrict its use to homes and special "coffee houses", tax the crap out of it, watch the power of the drug-cartels reduce and California solves its deficit problem.

Problem solved. :)

Sold.

[J Diddy]

Legalize Marijuana, restrict its use to homes and special "coffee houses", tax the crap out of it, watch the power of the drug-cartels reduce and California solves its deficit problem.

Problem solved. :)

I agree with legalizing pot. I disagree that it will weaken the cartels. They'll just step up heroine, coke, etc. to offset the difference.

[Taco John]

I don't think pot is the problem here. Unless things have changed from when I was in college, Mexian weed was the worst you could find, and was only good as a last resort.

If things are the same as they were some years ago, good weed comes from Canada and Alaska.

Meth (and probably coke) is more of the problem here, so far as I know.

[banyon]

I don't think pot is the problem here. Unless things have changed from when I was in college, Mexian weed was the worst you could find, and was only good as a last resort.

If things are the same as they were some years ago, good weed comes from Canada and Alaska.

Meth (and probably coke) is more of the problem here, so far as I know.

Yes, absolutely correct. People aren't getting shot in my town over weed.

[InChiefsHell]

With all the crackdowns in the midwest on meth houses, apparently a ton of the meth out on the market is made in Mexico...so it's not pot. I hope people are not advocating legalizing Meth... :Lin:

[ClevelandBronco]

...good weed comes from Canada and Alaska.

Yes, absolutely correct.

Oh.

Really.

[stevieray]

....a potential EF5

[beavis]

Has anyone else noticed all the adds on the radio recruiting for the border patrol? It actually doesn't sound like a bad gig, until I read stuff like this.

[ClevelandBronco]

...until I read stuff like this.

Get a grip.

chiefsplanet isn't reality.

[BigRedChief]

Read something about the history down there.

This is about as good as Mexico's government has ever been.

I mean EVER.
uhhhh so? It's still not good enough. Whats your point?

[sportsman1]

Yeah border patrol wouldn't be a bad gig. I'd do it as a summer job but they want someone committed.

[Simplex3]

Has anyone else noticed all the adds on the radio recruiting for the border patrol? It actually doesn't sound like a bad gig, until I read stuff like this.

Screw that. The last two who defended themselves needed a Presidential pardon.

[BucEyedPea]

I've said before, this is one country I think we should have been spending time on military prepardness for. If it spills over here, I say we may have to get involved.

[BucEyedPea]

Read something about the history down there.

This is about as good as Mexico's government has ever been.

I mean EVER.

Yeah, they've never had a a decent government. Instead of waiting for the immigrants to carry out the goals of Azlatan, we should invade now and annex them as the 51st state or a few. I prefer a more rounded number like 55 or something. :D

[InChiefsHell]

If I were a young single guy, I'd look into working the Border Patrol. I've heard the commercials, it doesn't sound like a horrible gig...

[banyon]

Oh.

Really.

nice edit.

[Iowanian]

We should build a series of gun turrets to cover the entire boarder....Put All of the Video gaming war champions on duty via remote control.

Maybe we could loan the Mexican Govt some 500lb bombs to drop on these gang strongholds.

[Rain Man]

I just read a big article about this yesterday. Mexico has more troops in this region than the U.S. has in Afghanistant, trying to get back control. The article profiled one town that's completely run by the drug cartels. After they killed the police chief and two officers, the rest of the police force quit. The cartels literally run the town now.

The Mexican government needs to start shooting on sight.

[mlyonsd]

I just read a big article about this yesterday. Mexico has more troops in this region than the U.S. has in Afghanistant, trying to get back control. The article profiled one town that's completely run by the drug cartels. After they killed the police chief and two officers, the rest of the police force quit. The cartels literally run the town now.

The Mexican government needs to start shooting on sight.

Sounds like a Clint Eastwood movie where the voices don't match the sound track.

[Chief Faithful]

I don't think pot is the problem here. Unless things have changed from when I was in college, Mexian weed was the worst you could find, and was only good as a last resort.

If things are the same as they were some years ago, good weed comes from Canada and Alaska.

Meth (and probably coke) is more of the problem here, so far as I know.

How are we going to get Pot legalized if you keep changing the subject?

[CHIEF4EVER]

Gunmen kill mayor of western Mexican town

Tue Feb 24, 10:22 pm ET

MORELIA, Mexico – Mexican authorities say gunmen shot and killed the mayor of a town in the western state of Michoacan, the latest in a string of attacks against elected local officials.

Michoacan state prosecutor Adrian Lopez says Vista Hermosa Mayor Octavio Carrillo was arriving at his home when four gunmen waiting for him opened fire.

Carrillo is the sixth elected local official killed in Michoacan since June.

Violence has soared in Michoacan, President Felipe Calderon's home state, as drug gangs battle each other for territory and intensify attacks on police.

Calderon says drug violence claimed at least 6,000 lives last year.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090225/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_violence

[rrl308]

Gotta love the guy who is more interested in playing with his hi-tech screen, than what the Senator has to say.

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