http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/mexico/ en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:03:45 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417731/posts MEXICO UNDER SIEGE Faced with drug-cartel violence and signs of vigilantism against the gangs, ordinary people would argue that it doesn't pay to get involved. Reporting from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico -- The mayor had good news: A notorious thug from one of the drug cartels had been found killed. Hector "El Negro" Saldana would no longer menace the people of San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico. Trouble was, Saldana's body hadn't yet been discovered when Mayor Mauricio Fernandez made the announcement with a flourish at his swearing-in ceremony in October. How did Fernandez know about... Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417731/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:03:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417684/posts Most cocaine coming into the United States has been diluted with a veterinary drug that is used to deworm horses and other animals but can cause severe illness and death in humans, public health experts say. So far, eight cases of illness caused by the drug levamisole have been identified in San Francisco, one of a handful of cities in the country where pockets of sickness caused by the drug have been found. All of the cases in San Francisco involved women who used either crack or powder cocaine. At San Francisco General Hospital, where the first cases of the... SF Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417684/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:10:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417565/posts Islam is the new religion in rebellious Mexican state Chiapas Published on : 17 December 2009 - 11:13am | By RNW English section More and more Mayan and Tzotzil people in the Mexican state Chiapas are becoming Muslims. It's fifteen years since the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas and the region has undergone some profound changes. One of them is the emergence of Islam as a new religion in the state. The Muslim community, dominated by converted Mayans and Tzotzils , is slowly gaining ground. By Jan-Albert Hootsen Molino de los Arcos is one of the poorest neighbourhoods of San Cristóbal... Radio Netherlands Worldwide http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417565/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:22:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417147/posts The immigration debate takes a technological turn with a new cell phone device that helps illegal immigrants crossing the desert into the U.S. find water. The Transborder Immigrant Tool was developed by UC San Diego prof and activist Ricardo Dominguez and UCSD lecturer Brett Stalbaum. Both believe it will save the lives of hundreds of people who die each year during their trek across "Devil's Highway." Here's how the tool works. The phone, loaded with free GPS software, displays a digital compass that locates water stations installed by John Hunter, founder of the Water Stations project. Stations that are too... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417147/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:37:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416605/posts SAN JUAN — A 16-year-old Mexican girl was forced into household labor, deprived of food and shelter and raped six times by the man who smuggled her into this country, according to authorities. Benito Vargas, 17, is accused of raping the Jalisco native on several occasions while his mother ignored the girl’s cries for help, San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said. The girl, who was smuggled into the United States on claims she would have a better life here, was also beaten on several occasions, was rarely fed and was forced to sleep on a couch outside while she... The Monitor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416605/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:14:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416065/posts THE TERRY ANDERSON SHOW "Articulating the popular rage!" Sundays - 9 PM Pacific Time KRLA - 870 AM - L.A. --KDWN - 720 - Las Vegas KFNX - 1100 AM - Phoenix -- KCBQ - 1170 AM - San Diego "If You Ain't Mad, You Ain't Payin' Attention!" Call-In Number - (866) 870-5752 Listen Online via KRLA or on the RBN Network at http://www.theterryandersonshow.com/ The Terry Anderson Show http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416065/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:08:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416012/posts CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO -- Senior Mexican officials have begun a sweeping review of the military's two-year occupation of this dangerous border city, concluding that the U.S.-backed deployment of thousands of soldiers against drug traffickers has failed to control the violence and crime, according to officials in both countries. The multi-agency review, which has not been made public, represents a "serious reassessment" of President Felipe Calderón's anti-narcotics strategy and reflects growing alarm that Juarez, across from El Paso, has descended into lawlessness, U.S. officials familiar with the process said. The war on Mexico's powerful drug cartels has been the defining policy... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416012/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:18:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415622/posts PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico — Gunmen sprayed bullets at a restaurant Tuesday where the mayor of a Texas border town was eating with a Mexican state attorney general and other officials, police said. A woman leaving the building was killed. Coahuila state Attorney General Jesus Torres and Chad Foster, mayor of Eagle Pass across the border from Piedras Negras, were unharmed, according to police officers at the scene. The Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415622/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 05:33:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415370/posts Beheadings and amputations. Iraqi-style brutality, bribery, extortion, kidnapping, and murder. More than 7,200 dead—almost double last year’s tally—in shoot-outs between federales and often better-armed drug cartels. This is modern Mexico, whose president, Felipe Calderón, has been struggling since 2006 to wrest his country from the grip of four powerful cartels and their estimated 100,000 foot soldiers. But chillingly, there are signs that one of the worst features of Mexico’s war on drugs—law enforcement officials on the take from drug lords—is becoming an American problem as well. Most press accounts focus on the drug-related violence that has migrated north into the... City Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415370/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:45:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415216/posts Note: The following text is a quote: Ringleader of International Truck Theft Conspiracy Sentenced to Prison HOUSTON—A Houston man who recruited others to steal and transport millions of dollars of truck tractors, trailers and other heavy equipment to Central America has been sentenced to prison, United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today. United States District Judge David Hittner sentenced Yuri David Melendez, 43, to a total of nine years in federal prison for his leadership role in the truck theft scheme and in an unrelated narcotics charge during a hearing today. Melendez, who was convicted of conspiracy to export and... Houston.FBI.gov - DOJ Press Release http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415216/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 07:07:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415163/posts In January 2009, retired Gen. Mauro Tello Quiñones took command of a police unit charged with combating drug-related violence in the popular Mexican tourist destination of Cancún. The assignment lasted just one week. In early February, Tello and two aides were kidnapped and killed. Before murdering Tello, the assailants broke his arms and legs and tortured him for hours. The incident provoked shock across Mexico, with the governor of Quintana Roo state calling it "truly horrible." Even by the standards of the violent drug war that has consumed Mexico of late, this crime stood out for its brazenness and brutality.... World Politics Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415163/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 02:05:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414701/posts DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart and United States Attorney Preet Bharara announced today the arrests of three individuals for drug and terrorism charges. OUMAR ISSA, HAROUNA TOURÉ, and IDRISS ABELRAHMAN arrived in the Southern District of New York early this morning to face charges of conspiracy to commit acts of narco‑terrorism and conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. The charges stem from the defendants' alleged agreement to transport cocaine through West and North Africa with the intent to support three terrorist organizations ‑‑ Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb ("AQIM"), and the Fuerzas Armadas... US DOJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414701/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:22:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414552/posts VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico – Four suspected members of a cartel-aligned hit squad have been arrested in the slaying of the family of a Mexican marine hailed as a hero for dying in a raid that killed a top drug lord.Tabasco state Attorney General Rafael Gonzalez said gunmen from the Zeta gang killed the mother, two siblings and an aunt of marine Melquisedet Angulo. He said four Zeta associates believed to have indirect roles in the attack had been detained, but the killers remained at large.The slayings of Angulo's relatives early Tuesday just hours after his memorial service was widely viewed as... Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414552/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:36:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2413683/posts The family of a Mexican marine who died in the shootout last week which killed Arturo Beltran Leyva was wiped out by more than a dozen hitmen from the drug kingpin's cartel as reported by Sara Miller Llana for The Christian Science Monitor: "This is a new message by organized crime, in which intimidation even reaches the families of those who are fighting them," says Erubiel Tirado, a security expert at the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City. "This is a very worrisome indicator of their behavior, and a new pattern that we might see." Fallen marine Melquisedet Angulo was buried... Friends of Ours http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2413683/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:05:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413657/posts MEXICO CITY — It had been an elaborate farewell to one of Mexico's fallen heroes. Ensign Melquisedet Angulo, a special forces sailor killed last week during the government's most successful raid on a top drug lord in years, received a stirring public tribute in which the secretary of the navy presented his mother with the flag that covered her son's casket. Then, the next day, only hours after the grieving family had finished burying him in his hometown, gunmen burst into the family's house and sprayed the rooms with gunfire, killing his mother and three other relatives, officials said Tuesday. Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413657/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:19:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2287378/posts For those interested in exploring one of the greatest internal and transnational threats to the United States, there is a new book out today by Samuel Logan, This is For the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang. The book traces the history of Brenda Paz, a young Honduran who joins MS-13 and eventually becomes the most effective police witness against the organization, before she was killed. But besides the individual story, the book shows just how powerful and ruthless the MS-13 has become. Given that it now has chapters in thousands of cities across the United States,... COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2287378/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jul 2009 16:57:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413365/posts MEXICO CITY – Assailants on Tuesday gunned down the mother, aunt and siblings of a marine killed in a raid that took out one of Mexico's most powerful cartel leaders — sending a chilling message to troops battling the drug war: You go after us, we wipe out your families. The brazen pre-dawn slayings came just hours after the navy honored Melquisedet Angulo as a national hero at a memorial service. Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413365/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:22:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413096/posts QUINTIN ARAUZ, Mexico - Suspected drug gang hitmen shot dead the grieving mother, brother and sister of an elite Mexican marine who died after a raid that killed a top drug lord, police said on Tuesday. In what appeared to be a revenge attack for last week's navy operation, gunmen burst into the family's house in the town of Quintin Arauz in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco just before midnight on Monday and fired assault rifles. "They broke the door down with a sledgehammer and sprayed them with bullets in the living room and bedrooms," said local deputy police... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413096/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:36:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413046/posts Paisanos run for cover as bullets fly between Mexican soldiers and another group of men. It happened about a mile from Bridge Number Two Sunday night. In the shooting one unidentified man was killed, another two were seriously injured. Mexican media is reporting that those shot were paisanos but the vehicle they were riding in clearly had Mexican plates with tinted windows and bulletproof siding. Many locals in Nuevo Laredo have been upset by the military's presence. They say the soldiers’ pursuit of drug traffickers has hurt business and tourism. KGNS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413046/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:40:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412503/posts Mexico City Lawmakers Approve Gay Marriage City on way to becoming first in Latin America to legalize such unions MEXICO CITY - Mexico City lawmakers have become the first in Latin America to legalize gay marriage. City legislators passed the bill 39-20 on Monday with five lawmakers absent. Leftist Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard is widely expected to sign the decision into law. APReport http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412503/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:52:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412480/posts Mexican cops train for tourist police force Three cities plan to launch effort in the spring By Sandra Dibble, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERSaturday, December 19, 2009 at 1:18 a.m. Earnie Grafton / Union-TribuneSan Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders congratulated a Mexican police officer at a ceremony yesterday for officers from law enforcement agencies in Tijuana, Ensenada and Rosarito Beach who participated in a training session offered by the San Diego Police Department. Earnie Grafton / Union-TribuneMexican police officers lined up for photos after a ceremony yesterday marking their completion of a training course in San Diego. The officers received instruction in a... Sign On San Diego http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412480/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:12:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412403/posts On Wednesday, police in Slidell, LA, arrested an illegal alien for slashing the throat of his 84-year-old neighbor with a razor blade. The attack left an 8-inch gash in the woman’s throat, her assailant stole about $65 in cash. The octogenarian victim survived the attack and later identified the man who did odd jobs for her, Ricardo Tenorio-Palma, 20, as the man who tried to kill her. Slidell Police Capt. Kevin Swann said: "It wasn't like he demanded money; he stabbed her first. He slashed her first, before he robbed her. He intended to kill her,” Police allege that on... The Examiner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412403/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:28:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411694/posts The Zetas, Mexico's notoriously brutal group of paramilitary thugs, are expanding their role as bully businessmen along the Texas-Mexico border, branching out from traditional criminal enterprises such as extortion and drug trafficking and buying legitimate businesses, U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials say. The group, which authorities say operates a weapons and drug distribution hub in North Texas, now calls itself "The Company" and has over the past year evolved from extorting businesses to owning them outright, the officials say. "They own used-car lots on both sides of the border, restaurants, discotheques, liquor stores," said Robert García, a detective with... The Dallas Morning News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411694/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:06:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411427/posts Note: The following text is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEThursday, December 17, 2009 Guyanese National Charged with Smuggling Indian Nationals to the United States A Guyanese national has been indicted on charges of conspiracy and alien smuggling in connection with her role in the smuggling or attempted smuggling of four Indian nationals to the United States. Annita Devi Gerald, aka Annita Rampersad, 52, was charged in a nine-count indictment returned yesterday by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas. Gerald was arrested by ICE special agents in Houston on Nov. 17, 2009, and has been held without... US DOJ.gov - Justice.gov - Press Release http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411427/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:11:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411267/posts The border between El Paso, Texas - population: 600,000 and Juarez, Mexico - population: 1.5 million - is the most dangerous border in America. This border is situated on the southwestern tip /edge of the United States and Mexico. On one side of the border is the second-safest city of its size in the United States - after Honolulu - with only 18 murders in 2008. On the other side of the border is a lawless city ruled by drug lords where the death toll for the last 18 months is more than 2,500 and counting. "I don't think the... Examiner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411267/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:22:23 GMT