Posted on 02/08/2011 8:09:33 AM PST by AuntB
* Victims join growing list of American citizens shot dead in Mexico
* Killings will intensify debate over how to combat violence across U.S. border
Two American schoolboys were among three teenagers gunned down as they looked at cars in a dealership in Ciudad Juarez on the Mexican border.
The trio were killed in a hail of bullets in the city which lies just across the border from El Paso, Texas.
The brutal killings are the latest in a growing toll of innocent American citizens killed in Mexico and are likely to heighten fears over the spiralling violence across the U.S. border.
At least 60 bullet casings were found at the scene following Saturday's killings, reportedly from an AK-47, an automatic weapon commonly used by drug traffickers in the city.
One of the boys, Carlos Mario Gonzalez Bermudez, 16, was a second year student at Cathedral High School in El Paso, said Nick Gonzalez, the principal.
Another victim, Juan Carlos Echeverri, 15, had been a first year at the private all-boys Catholic school last year but left to study in Ciudad Juarez, Gonzalez said.
Both were U.S. citizens, he said.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said it could provide no immediate information on the case.
The third teenager was identified as Cesar Yalin Miramontes Jimenez, 17.
The El Paso Times said it had received a voice message from Echeverri's father, Juan Carlos Echeverri Sr, asking for justice for his son's death.
The school principal said Gonzalez Bermudez mainly lived in Ciudad Juarez and commuted each day across the border.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Residents Organize Rallies and Demand End to Violence
El Universal (Mexico) 2/7/2011
Residents of Zacatecas Rally and Demand Peace
(Zacatecas) Increased shootings and discovery of bodies, which formally only occurred in rural areas, has now moved into metropolitan areas. This has prompted residents to organize rallies and demand peace in Zacatecas. A university researcher says the citizen movement was created due to a collective fear and feeling of orphan hood caused by a lack of information. It goes on to discuss the distrust of the municipal police, and that the people are organizing and warning each other using the internet, specifically Facebook and Twitter. They have organized a sort of neighborhood watch with 2300 members, who act as sentinels and organize protests
La Prensa (Honduras) 2/7/2011
Honduras: Unemployment Rate rose to 44%
(San Pedro Sula, Honduras) The unemployment rate for the month of January 2011 rose to 44 percent of the economically active population, said officials of the Ministry of Labor. Statistics show that in 2010 there were 1,500,000 people unemployed. it is estimated that each year 50,000 young people are added annually to the economically active population.
http://tinyurl.com/4cdu4w9 _____________________
El Comercio (Peru) 2/7/2011
Environmental Crime: Using Rivers as Garbage Dumps
The group of volunteers, Cleaning Lima, shared a photo gallery that shows the pollution of rivers and streams in different cities of northern Peru. The accumulation of garbage, causes the death of several species of flora and fauna, and also makes it impossible to use for drinking water, as shown in the pictures. Cleaning Lima, aims to raise awareness among people to stop throwing their garbage in the streets. The piece then continues with “If something is bothering you in your town and you want the authorities to fix it, send us your photos and video. It then gives an e mail and Twitter address.
Blog del Narco (Mexico) 2/7/2011
La Familia Michoacána Leader Arrested
Friday, Federal Police in Michoacán arrested Alberto Morales Aguilar, alias ‘Hunter’, in the municipality of Tumbiscatío. Morales is the sixth boss of La Familia Michocána to be arrested by Federal Police since April 2009. At the time of arrest, he had two firearms and 2 two-way radios with him. He was turned over to the Office of Special Investigations on Organized Crime (SIEDO)
http://tinyurl.com/4q7s7ze _____________________ El Universal (Mexico) 2/7/2011
Police Seized 4 tons of Marijuana in Sonora
(Mexico City) Federal Police seized 3900 kilos of marijuana hidden in a truck carrying oil, and also 18 kilos of crystal. The driver, who had given conflicting statements, was arrested.
La Voz de la Frontera (Mexico) 2/7/2011
PRI Leader Assassinated in Ensenada
(Tijuana) Arturo Castellanos Ruiz, 49 years old, was shot and killed by two men that approached him on the sidewalk. He was the PRI (political party) leader for Ensenada. The killers escaped in a waiting pickup truck.
http://www.oem.com.mx/lavozdelafrontera/notas/n1956486.htm
Mexican military seizes 1 kilo of crystal at airport, to be sent by delivery company and destined for Minneapolis.
http://www.oem.com.mx/lavozdelafrontera/notas/n1956968.htm _____________________
Violence reports (various sources):
Cd. Juarez: Four men massacred; 100 shots fired. Chihuahua: Dumped body; handcuffed, tortured, then shot. Queretaro: Two bodies executed, burned in car. Acapulco: Two bodies found in pit; women; maybe more. Chihuahua: One body found; shot 60 times with AK 47. Guaymas, Sonora: Resident executed in broad daylight while driving Hermosillo: Two men arrested with grenades, handgun.
Blog del Narco (http://www.blogdelnarco.com/):
Nuevo León: Cartel attack on prison; shooting, grenade; no injuries. Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán: Young man found executed Sunday. Veracruz: Mexican Marines kill 2 cartel gunmen, 4 Marines wounded. Nuevo León: Two men executed, tortured first.
Domestic News – United States
Three teens killed in Mexico, two were US high schoolers-Texas http://tinyurl.com/464rxkb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ICE seizes more than $11M worth of pot-Texas http://www.themonitor.com/articles/seizes-46909-worth-11m.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Document Forgery Factory in Virginia http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.8642/pub_ detail.asp ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sierra Blanca Border Patrol Agents Seize Over 1,000 Pounds of Marijuana-Texas http://tinyurl.com/6l7xsax ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More Voters Still Think Federal Government Encourages Illegal Immigration http://tinyurl.com/4z2t2tk
Just send BigSis to tell the locals that all is well.
Where are the parents? Why would they allow for their children to go to a warzone like this?
“Where are the parents? Why would they allow for their children to go to a warzone like this?”
The ‘war zone’ is their home. Their families took refuge in El Paso (not legally, likely...most Ciudad Juarez families hang out in El Paso...who’s going to stop them??) It’s not unusual for Mexican kids to travel back and forth for school and recreation.
They said one of the kids, an American, lived in Ciudad Juarez. So, if he is an American why does he live in Mexico.
Also, the principal of the high school says that 20% of the high school [in the US] live in Mexico.
Besides, this kind of thing has always happened. Lets not be alarmist.
We need a new DMZ(De-Mexicanized Zone) on our Southern border.
Why? Perhaps because American leaders continuously proclaim that Mexicans are just like us, having the same morals and beliefs we do. Several days ago, former President Bush said while pushing his new book: "I'm afraid it's nativism that drives the anti-immigration sentiment. But these "immigrants", (to wit, MEXICANS), are no different than you or I. Take it from me, a Texan who knows them well, we can easily interface with them". Then of course there's McCain, Obama and the rest, constantly telling us it is we who are being biggotted, not the lazy, turd-world low lifes from Mexico.
Those child murderers will in all liklihood leave Mexico now that they're wanted, and guess where they'll come to? And guess who will be giving them food stamps, housing, and free medical benefits?
Because the mexican moms come across the border to have an American baby and then get all the benefits, including schools, SS, food stamps, free healthcare, on and on and on, etc..
Maybe Texas and Rick Perry, Kay Bailey and Cornyn are busy teaching Texas children how to speak Arabic. Idiot RINOs.
Wow! Talk about hard sales practices...
There are so many jokes that could be made up about shopping for used cars in Mexico. But I am sad that these boys are dead, and I mourn with their families.
Since El Paso and Juarez are like Kansas City Mo and Kan, there could be family split reasons for living in Mexico, cheaper living, or any number of other reasons. (All kinds of American Citizens live in Mexico, BTW, though that may be changing!).
In other words, without any disupting info being turned up, the story may be just what it seems to be.
And yet, even with a violent, near civil war raging just over our Southern border, way too many Americans place more importance on catching the latest episode of American Idol or taking Timmy to soccer practice than on demanding that Congress and the President take serious, concrete measures to seal the border.
All true, but let’s be honest, the most likely scenario is that they are grown up “anchor babies” who “commute” to the US for their free education. Given the current situation in Ciudad Juarez, I doubt that they would be living there given a choice. Their parents (most likely their mothers only) are not US citizens so they have to live in Mexico. I know for a fact that the failing San Diego schools offer bus service from the Tijuana border every day for their “anchor baby” students. Interestingly, there is another thread on FR today recounting how the San Diego schools are a complete failure. You figure out the cause!
AK-47’s, more of those guns purchased at US gun shows and smuggled into Mexico, not!
Confusing info on this story at this time:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2670377/posts? That’s where 15-year-olds Carlos Mario Gonzalez Bermudez and Juan Echeveeri Luna, both students in El Paso, were killed by gunmen there Saturday.
Gonzalez Bermudez’s mother told our news partners - channel 44 in Juarez - the teens were buying a set of car rims.
At some point, gunmen looking for the owner, opened fire on him and the teens. Gonzalez Bermudez and his family had just moved to El Paso to get away from the violence. He was a sophomore at Cathedral. Echeveeri used to go there, but transferred to Radford.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_17318086
The victims were identified as Carlos Mario González Bermudez, 16; Juan Carlos Echeverri Jr., 15; and César Yalin Miramontes Jiménez, 17.
Authorities said González Bermudez and Echeverri Jr. attended private schools in El Paso.
There has been an open border problem for decades. Every President and Congress during that time has failed us.
Lots of press on this event last night and this morning...Mexico is more Wild West than our Wild West ever was, I’m thinking.
b) Your suppositions could be correct, but I would note:
-- Juan Carlos is a "Jr." -- not usual for an abandoning father.
-- I followed the links from the El Paso paper to the condolence book and saw one comforting "Juan Sr. and Alma." Sounds like an intact family.
-- Several were from people who said their children had known one of the boys "since OLV" which I think is "Our Lady of the Valley" -- a local Catholic parish.
Also, one account says Echevarri had gone to "The Radford School" another private shool in El Paso (apparently voted top local private school by one local mag):
"Echeverri was a student at the Radford School in El Paso, enrolling last fall as a sophomore, principal John Doran said. Doran said Echeverri was the first boy at the private school of 165 students to be killed in Juarez. "This is a small school, so everybody knows everybody," Doran said. "This is just very hard." "
Yet another account says Bermudez was born in Juarez and Echevarri in El Paso -- his family sounds as if of some means.
So, your hypothesis still might be true, but I think the eveidence so far is pointing toward your having to do an Emily Litella.
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