- Mexico is so unsafe in some areas the leaders don't live there; they only work there during the day...they sleep on the American side of the border. This is clearly noted by Mexico's Secretary General.
- Some city leaders hide...don't even show up for work...
- Calderon does not run Mexico; the cartels do...Mexico is the North American version of Afghanistan...because like Afghanistan only a few areas are under government control.
- What does this say to the people?
- What example does this set for the people of Mexico?
- Who has the best control and influence over the People?
- Can you see why this is an insurgency?
- Can you see the cartels are subverting local governments and institutions?
Mexican Mayors Seek Refuge in U.S. After Another Assassination
by davidguide / September 28th, 2010
Tom Ramstack - AHN News Correspondent
Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico (AHN) - Another murder of a Mexican mayor on Monday is contributing to the security concerns of officials from towns near the U.S. border, who are now seeking refuge in the United States amid the ongoing drug war.
The body of Gustavo Sanchez Cervantes, mayor of the small town of Tancitaro in western Mexico, was found with his secretary in the back of his Ford pickup truck.
Both men were bound, gagged and suffered severe head wounds, apparently from having heavy rocks weighing as much as 44 pounds slammed into their skulls, an initial police investigation showed. The rocks were found nearby with blood stains on them.
Cervantes was the 11th Mexican mayor murdered so far this year, apparently at the hands of drug cartel assassins.
The same day the bodies were found, Mexico's General Secretary, Hugo Andres Araujo de la Torre, said during a press conference that the mayors of some border cities were staying in the United States and returning to their towns only to conduct business.
They "sleep" on the American side of the border but "they are fulfilling their duties in their towns," de la Torre said.
"Each one has his own security concerns and they make their own decisions on where to sleep but they work in their municipalities," de la Torre told the Mexican news media.
He said he did not have figures on how many Mexican mayors are seeking temporary refuge in the United States.
However, on other occasions, government officials have said the mayors of Matamoros, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo cross the border almost daily to escape their own cities.
The mayors of small towns like Abasolo, Mendez, Jimenez and San Carlos have either disappeared from public or leave for weeks at a time, Mexican government officials have said.
"Conditions are not easy and in all cases of those authorities, who at times are absent because of conditions of insecurity, there is a town council that attends to the normal and regular business of each municipality," de la Torre said.
Other mayors from central Mexican states where drug violence is common have been seeking refuge in Victoria City, where the Mexican government has a large federal police and military presence.
He denied the drug cartel violence had made some parts of Mexico ungovernable.
Mexico's Interior Ministry issued a statement condemning the murders of Tancitaro's mayor and his secretary and offering sympathy to their families.
The statement also said government officials would monitor the investigation.
Police are investigating whether assassins from the Michoacan Family drug cartel, which is active in western Mexico, might have killed Cervantes and his secretary. Their bodies were discovered on a dirt road in a rural area outside of town.
Cervantes, originally a teacher, took over as the interim mayor of Tancitaro last December after the elected mayor and the city council resigned, saying intimidation by organized crime syndicates made it impossible to do their jobs.
One of Cervantes' first actions as mayor was to fire 60 municipal police officers suspected of corruption.
Another interim mayor was appointed to replace him after his death.
The persistent violence has torn the Mexican government between political leaders who want more U.S. assistance and others who say it would interfere with their sovereignty.
Diplomats from the Mexican and American governments said this week they are working on an agreement to replace the Merida Initiative, a joint security agreement that expired earlier this year. Under the initiative, the U.S. government gave Mexico $1.5 billion and technical assistance to help in their fight against drug cartels.
Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry official Benito Andion and U.S. Embassy representative John Feeley made their statements during a seminar at the Mexican university Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores of Monterrey.
Source: Mexican Mayors Seek Refuge in U.S. After Another Assassination
No comments:
Post a Comment