[Mexico:]Nuevo Laredo consulate closed following attack

Authorities have launched a massive investigation after an explosive device was thrown over the fence of the American Consulate in Nuevo Laredo.

Nobody was injured but the consulate and its office in Piedras Negras will be closed until further notice.

"The Consulate General and Consular Agency will reopen when we are confident that we have adequate security to keep our visitors safe," consulate officials reported on their website.

Both Mexican and American authorities are cooperating in a ongoing investigation.

According to the Tamaulipas Ministry of Public Safety (SSP), the acts may have been recorded by surveillance cameras.

The SSP reported that invsetigations are reviewing footage as well as interviewing possible witnesses.

First Lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to visit Mexico City on April 13th through 15th.

Mexicans Bomb US Consulate, Threaten Lawmakers

Relations between the United States and its southern neighbor Mexico have taken a tenser stance after the American consulate in Nuevo Laredo was bombed Friday night and several US lawmakers have had their lives threatened by Mexican drug gang lords.

The bombing happened at 11pm Friday night local time and shattered windows. No-one was hurt, officials report. The consulate said in a statement it “will reopen when we are confident that we have adequate security to keep our visitors safe.”

The incident comes after the shooting deaths last month of three people, including two Americans, linked to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, another town beset by violence and drug trafficking.

Meanwhile, five South Texas lawmakers report having received death threats from the Zeta Mexican drug cartel. It is believed the threats are a response to increased patrols on the US-Mexican border, making drug smuggling more difficult for the cartel.

The incidents have renewed fears that violent Mexican drug traffickers may be targeting the US government, which has supported Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s anti-drug crusade.

http://www.therightperspective.org/2010/04/11/mexicans-bomb-us-consulate-threaten-lawmakers/

Another article pointed out something I guess we’d all forgotten. I suppose we’ll forget this incident too.

[snip]In 2008, two men fired shots and threw a grenade — which didn’t explode — at the U.S. consulate in Monterrey. Nobody was hurt in that assault, but the gate was left pockmarked. Five days later gunmen again fired at that consulate.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700023648/Bomb-damages-US-consulate-in-Mexico-no-injuries.html

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