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Rural Mexican villages dig moats to repel gangsters
Houston Chronicle ^ | March 21, 2009 | DUDLEY ALTHAUS

Posted on 03/22/2009 10:32:25 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch

Ditches don’t always deter raids, but federal troops can’t be spared

CUAUHTEMOC, Mexico — Little town, big hell.

That proverb about turmoil in small communities has never seemed truer than in this gangster-besieged village and a neighboring one in the bean fields and desert scrub a long day’s drive south of the Rio Grande.

That proverb about turmoil in small communities has never seemed truer than in this gangster-besieged village and a neighboring one in the bean fields and desert scrub a long day’s drive south of the Rio Grande.

Since right before Christmas, armed raiders repeatedly have swept into both villages to carry away local men. Government help arrived too late, or not at all.

Terrified villagers — at the urging of army officers who couldn’t be there around the clock — have clawed moats across every access road but one into their communities, hoping to repel the raids.

“This was a means of preservation,” said Ruben Solis, 47, a farmers’ leader in Cuauhtemoc, a collection of adobe and concrete houses called home by 3,700 people. “It’s better to struggle this way than to face the consequences.”

But shortly after midnight last Sunday, villagers said, as many as 15 SUVs loaded with pistoleros attacked nearby San Angel, population 250, and kidnapped five people. Four victims were returned unharmed a few days later. The fifth hostage, a teenage boy, was held to exchange for the intended target the raiders missed, villagers said.

“We have support of the federal forces,” said an official of the dirt-street village. “Security is what we’re lacking.”

After the earthworks were dug in both villages, volunteers manned checkpoints at the remaining open entrances. Those sentinels, however, were removed when it was decided they couldn’t stop a serious attack, anyhow .

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS: Mexico; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: aliens; banglist; corruption; drugtrafficking; mexico; pistoleros; warnextdoor; wod; zetas
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“We have a few shotguns, some .22 rifles, a few pistols — nothing compared to what they have.”
1 posted on 03/22/2009 10:32:25 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
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To: AH_LiveRight; BGHater; nbhunt; La Lydia; jafojeffsurf; B.O. Plenty; HiJinx; skeptoid; ...

Pistoleros ping!

If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.


2 posted on 03/22/2009 10:35:15 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch (Mexico - beyond your expectations)
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To: SwinneySwitch

Coming here soon!


3 posted on 03/22/2009 10:35:21 AM PDT by AEMILIUS PAULUS (It is a shame that when these people give a riot)
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To: SwinneySwitch

Back to the middle ages. Castles and moats.


4 posted on 03/22/2009 10:35:44 AM PDT by Bon mots
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To: SwinneySwitch

They need the Magnificent Seven.


5 posted on 03/22/2009 10:38:24 AM PDT by Blind Eye Jones
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To: Bon mots

“Back to the middle ages. Castles and moats.”

More like the premise for the movie “Magnificent Seven”

Life imitates art


6 posted on 03/22/2009 10:40:44 AM PDT by Polynikes
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To: SwinneySwitch

How truly sad these criminals have gained so much power over decent people. They sound like they are willing to fight if they have some kind of chance, but there doesn’t appear to be any kind of real chance against a better armed army of thugs. We should learn from this people...we make excuses in our minds why we should not protest or take some risks now. Later, it will be much more difficult.


7 posted on 03/22/2009 10:40:46 AM PDT by Wpin (I do not regret my admiration for W)
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To: SwinneySwitch

I saw this one.

The next thing they’ll do is hire seven samurai.


8 posted on 03/22/2009 10:42:43 AM PDT by George Smiley (They're not drinking the Kool-Aid any more. They're eating it straight out of the packet.)
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To: Bon mots

Senador John Cornyn said, “the border fence is a 19th Century solution to a 21st Century problem.”


9 posted on 03/22/2009 10:42:46 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch (Mexico - beyond your expectations)
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To: Blind Eye Jones; Bon mots

Great minds.


10 posted on 03/22/2009 10:43:14 AM PDT by George Smiley (They're not drinking the Kool-Aid any more. They're eating it straight out of the packet.)
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To: SwinneySwitch

11 posted on 03/22/2009 10:43:22 AM PDT by gaijin
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To: SwinneySwitch

Damn......


12 posted on 03/22/2009 10:43:31 AM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet)
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To: SwinneySwitch

Frickin medieval.


13 posted on 03/22/2009 10:44:13 AM PDT by Danae (Amerikan Unity My Ass)
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To: Wpin

The much villified semi-auto variant of the AK-47 would be the salvation of these people. People unarmed are at the mercy of gangs like this, and of abusive governments.

The surest way to identify an elitist would-be ruler, is their attitude towards my guns. An honest leader or citizen would never fear them.


14 posted on 03/22/2009 10:45:32 AM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs earn the title of "man's best friend", Muslims hate dogs,,add that up.)
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To: Blind Eye Jones

USMC would do just fine, just tell them what you want done and step back, the will return the the bad guys in neatly wraped pieces.


15 posted on 03/22/2009 10:45:37 AM PDT by Rumplemeyer
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To: SwinneySwitch

If these guys can get over a 20 foot border fence or the Rio Grande, I don’t think a moat will help much.


16 posted on 03/22/2009 10:45:39 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault
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To: Right Wing Assault

The hapless peons are probably hoping the bad guys, being basically lazy, will pick on some other less protected village


17 posted on 03/22/2009 11:04:27 AM PDT by doc11355
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To: SwinneySwitch
This story sounds so amazing I question if it is true.

18 posted on 03/22/2009 11:13:39 AM PDT by Steve Van Doorn (*in my best Eric cartman voice* 'I love you guys')
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To: SwinneySwitch

The villagers may have to go north of the border for help if they want to ward off Calvera.

19 posted on 03/22/2009 11:14:20 AM PDT by Alter Kaker (Gravitation is a theory, not a fact. It should be approached with an open mind...)
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To: gaijin

They could use some AKs.


20 posted on 03/22/2009 11:17:36 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch (Mexico - beyond your expectations)
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