Posted on 06/14/2012 3:13:50 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
MEXICO CITY (AP) — There it was on video: Five heavily armed policemen barge into a hotel in western Mexico before dawn and march out with three handcuffed men in underwear.
But police weren't making an arrest. Prosecutors say they apparently were taking orders from criminals. Just hours after the three were seized, they were found asphyxiated and beaten to death.
Mexicans have become inured to lurid tales of police collaboration with narcotics gangs during 5 ½ years of a drug war that has cost more than 47,500 lives. But seldom can they actually see it occur, and the video broadcast on national television was a shocker.
"One assumes that in some cities ... the municipal police work for the drug cartels," said Jorge Chabat an expert on security and drug trafficking at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching. "But what is different here is that there is a video. It's not the same thing to imagine that this going on, and to see it."
The Jan. 20 video released by prosecutors late Wednesday shows a police truck pulling up to the hotel in the city of Lagos de Moreno, quickly followed by a pickup carrying four armed men in civilian clothing. A city policeman carrying an assault rifle runs over to their truck and is given what appears to be a list. Then he and his fellow officers trot into the hotel and present the list at the reception desk, apparently asking what rooms the men are staying in.
In the next segment of the video, the victims are trotted out of the hotel in their underwear with their hands cuffed behind their backs. One is being hustled along by a man in civilian dress, who stuffs him into a patrol car.
(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...
This is why it’s such a good idea to promote diversity in our police forces, border patrol, military, and government offices.
To keep things like this from happening here.
Mexico has many good people who deserve a better government. Unfortunately, it also has many people who don’t want honest government or aren’t willing to work toward that goal, enough that they are stuck with what we are drifting toward. I hope we learn from them before we copy them completely.
They say that many Mexican police,judges,prosecutors and other officials are given the choice of “silver or lead”...meaning “if you refuse our offer of bribes (silver) we’ll shoot you (lead)”.A pretty compelling offer,particularly in such a poor (and lawless) country.
Exactly. Because, who are you going to go to, to report it? When the guy you report it to, or the agency you report it to, may very well be corrupted too.
They usually treat the military as being the uncorrupted institution, when we already know that generals have also been bought. So when they make you the "plata o plomo" offer, you've got no place to turn. Pack up the kids and head for Tucson or San Antonio, I guess, is your only out.
This war on drugs has done far more damage to people than the drugs will ever do.
All it has given us is a police state, a thriving government market, and a risky but always thriving black market.
The war on drugs is a complete joke, except that there’s nothing funny about it.
Take away the incentive to meet a continuos demand for drugs and the cartels don’t exist anymore.
It’s not like they are smuggling beer across the border.
They can’t compete with Coors, etc.
I wonder how long it’s going to take for people to get it.
The war is a 100% failure. That is unless the objective was to militarize domestic law enforcement and create a police state.
I think the proper term is that our police have become ghetto-ized,
Coming soon to an Amexican barrio near you.
“Man On Fire” and “Traffic” both get it close to right, as far as I can tell.
PS, and incidentally, Peru didn’t beat back the Sendero Luminoso until they adopted a “local militia” policy, and began arming the peasants villages with modern shotguns and some old rifles. The local peasants could then engage the terrorist patrols before they could take over a village, as they had done for years. This bought time for the military quick reaction forces to get into the equation, either to help beat back the terrorists, or more often, pursue them, giving them no rest of sanctuary. The arming of local militias turned the equation and led to victory.
Just a thought. Not very applicable to Mexico, but there have been isolated examples of proud Mexicans going down in “Alamo” type sieges against the narcos, killing many of them before going down fighting.
But disarmed peasants (ie, typical Mexicans), can’t do jack squat against either narcos or corrupt policias.
Maybe a different approach could be the Mexicans hire we Americans to come down and take care of business. Maybe there are enough wealthy Mexicans that care enough to tell the federal government to take a hike and make it worth our while.
One of my very best friends is of Mexican heritage. He is now 72, born in the US, served in the Navy and is as Red, White, and Blue as any of us. He refuses to go into Mexico for any reason although most of his family are Mexicans. He says the system is corrupt at all levels and nothing will be done until another nation helps the people of Mexico fight all those around them. He laughingly suggests, “Maybe we should all get together and toss the rats out of this entire continent.”
What makes you think wealthy Mexicans want to shut down the cartels?
With the economy as it is, the last thing they want is to shut off the $20+ billion in revenue per year that Mexico gets from the drug trade. It would plunge them into an outright depression or worse.
“shut off the $20+ billion in revenue per year that Mexico gets from the drug trade”
Peanuts compared to a thriving economy.
And it was Fujimori that did what no one else in Peru was prepared to do, which was to declare total war on Sendero and hunt them down and kill them without pity. They went from controlling most of the country to being a footnote, a handful of bandits hiding in the jungle, because of him.
The politicians who came after him, who were incapable of waging the war that was necessary to beat them, have had their revenge and he sits in a cell for human rights violations. But they sleep safe in their beds because he destroyed Sendero before going down himself.
He’s no saint, but he was the right man for the right moment.
That’s nearly 2% of Mexico’s GDP. Not exactly peanuts.
Even saints have feet of clay, being human. Especially so the warrior saints who must step in to lead during crisis. So in my hegiography, he’s a saint. And always will be. Just for the embassy rescue, what an incredible accomplishment! And the caging of Guzman, another miracle when it was needed. I don’t know or care what financial problems followed Fujimori. The man saved Peru, period. I hope in a century, there are statues of him.
I can’t see any realistic solution to “the Mexican problem.”
But then, 20 years ago Colombia looked totally fubar. And the right leaders and allies brought it back. As we shall bring back Venezuela, and someday, Cuba.
I’d love to bring back Cuba. What a great piece of real estate!
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