The American Backyard.NET: MS-13 - So What?

Gangs serve as a vector to cache, sell and distribute drugs derived from Mexican drug cartels in the US...something worth monitoring.

The American Backyard.NET: MS-13 - So What?: "MS-13 poses one of the greatest threats to stability to US neighborhoods; below are videos referring to MS-13 activities in LA, DC, Dallas a..."

Calderon Says US Desire For Corn Is the Reason for the Cartel Problem in Mexico

Comment:  Yes, the subject line was meant to be sarcastic.  The Mexican government continues to fail its people.  Some people are failing their fellow Mexicans. Calderon and Mexico are facing an insurgency and the country does not want to believe it.  The US was in denial about the insurgencies in Iraq years ago...until everyone in DC finally realized citizen Iraqis were killing US soldiers.  Corn, oil and agricultural products have NOTHING to do with the drug trade.  Mexico evidently cannot meet the needs of its people and the people are now working their own extrajudicial means to fill their needs themselves.  This is only another indicator that Mexico continues a downward path.  Further turmoil is on the horizon.  End comment.

MEXICO: AMID INCREASED CONTROL OVER REMOTE COMMUNITIES, CARTELS MOVE IN ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

 By: ESISC TEAM
 Date:26-05-2011
 After oil and mining, the Mexican drug cartels are once more diversifying their business as they scope to take advantage of increased prices for corn and other agricultural products.
 Attacks on warehouses and trucks have increased and are reported on a weekly basis, especially in the north-western state of Sinaloa which produces one fifth of Mexico’s corn and is home to the country’s largest cartel. Last March, an armed commando raided a warehouse in the Sinaloan town of Los Monchis and made off with 250 tons of grain. Up until then, five similar cases have been reported in the state and police sources currently have no leads on the suspects, although they indicate that the actual number of these thefts is a lot higher. Similar incidents were also reported in the states of Michoacan, where an estimated 2,500 people have been displaced following the disintegration of the La Familia Michoacana cartel and the subsequent turf war between smaller factions.

 As the local corn plantations saw their crops devastated by the worst cold snaps in decades, the prices are soaring, making it a very valuable agricultural commodity and thus a new target for the cartels. Against this background – and that of rising international prices - corn prices increased with 75 percent in the first three months of this year.

 Given the fact that Mexico is the world’s fourth largest corn producer, this is very bad news for the country, as the perception of low stocks has already raised prices. Moreover, the cash-strapped farmers are having troubles to replant their crops after the bad weather.

 Besides the ongoing drug war, this unusual crime wave in the large agricultural exporting states is a new headache for the Mexican government, which is trying to maintain the country’s image as a top emerging market.

 Although Mexico’s national warehousing association AAGEDE has been witnessing increased thefts of agricultural products since two years, its members only just recently came forward as they are still too scared to provide more details on both the number and scale of the incidents. During a robbery in a small village in the Zacatecas state at the end of last year, an armed commando stole 900 tonnes of beans – worth an estimated $750,000 - at a local warehouse. Despite increased security measures – costs have increased with five percent – the crime wave continues to expand. Due to the fact that little questions about the origins of the products are asked, the thieves can easily sell seeds and corn shipments to intermediaries and markets in the large cities and thus in turn acquire additional revenue.

 It has to be mentioned that this is a logic consequence of the cartel’s strategy to isolate remote towns – mainly in the northern part of the country. After eliminating, bribing or kidnapping local security officials, some 900 municipalities are said to be fully controlled by the different cartels. Some of these communities are remotely located areas located nearby farmland or other areas of economic interest – mining, oil – which in turn became additional sources of revenue for the cartels. ESISC reported in previous briefings that the “Los Zetas” cartel is active in the field of oil bunkering, the Familia Michoacana in the field of (illegal) mining and given the fact that the epicentre of this new crime wave lies in the Sinaloa state, it is not unlikely that the eponymous local cartel is scoping to increase its revenues by targeting local farmers.

 However, it is not unlikely that the cartels are moving to more legal products in order to escape government prosecution, which could mean that the government’s strategy to tackle the cartels is working on a long term.

 © ESISC 2011

Texas Rancher's Pictures Are Worth 1,000 Words About Death and Danger at the Border - Interviews - FoxNews.com

Texas Rancher's Pictures Are Worth 1,000 Words About Death and Danger at the Border

By On the Record
Published May 26, 2011 | FoxNews.com
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This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," May 25, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: People who live on or near the United States border with Mexico are frightened. They all have stories to tell that explain their fear. You're about to meet a rancher, Dr. Michael Vickers. He lives 69 miles from the border, and he's seen a lot of crime on his ranch. We must warn you, though, some of the pictures he shows us are disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: Where is your ranch in relationship to the border?
DR. MICHAEL VICKERS, TEXAS RANCH OWNER: My ranch is actually 69 miles north of Reynoso, Mexico, of the border.
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, the reason I ask is I have a rather gruesome picture. This is a skull. Where was that found, sir?
VICKERS: This is actually the skull of a woman that was murdered on my ranch. My wife came home from the grocery store one afternoon, and my dogs had drug this head up into my yard.
VAN SUSTEREN: Any idea when that was buried in your yard?
VICKERS: No idea. But we found her body the next day. She had a compound fracture of her tibia, and there's no question that she didn't walk out there with that. Somebody beat her up, probably sexually assaulted her and left her there to die.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, now, do you have any reason to believe that this woman was from Mexico, or come across the border?
VICKERS: We have no idea. She left no identity there. Whoever did it to her probably took her identity with them.
VAN SUSTEREN: This picture right here, where -- do know where that was taken or what that's a picture of?
VICKERS: Yes, this was a picture of a dead person tied to a tree that was found just a few -- a couple of miles south of where I live. At that particular time, we had no investigator for our sheriff's department. We don't know what the motive was or what happened to him.
VAN SUSTEREN: Do you know where he's from, I mean, what country...
VICKERS: No idea.
VAN SUSTEREN: ... what nationality, anything like that?
VICKERS: No idea.
VAN SUSTEREN: Just found him in the area.
VICKERS: Yes just found him.
VAN SUSTEREN: What is that a picture of?
VICKERS: This is a picture of a ranch on fire actually caused by a vehicle that was that was smuggling 21 illegal aliens, most of them from India. They were traveling at a high rate of speed. The DPS checked them at 117 miles an hour. Border patrol were in pursuit.
The vehicle left the roadway, tore out the rancher's fence, and it was so hot, it caused -- started a ranch on fire. The vehicle actually caught on fire. And border patrol were lucky to get the seven people inside the vehicle out before it blew up. This is something that we have to deal with on a frequent and regular basis.
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, you say they're from India. But the people that you see coming across the border illegally here on your ranch and other ranches -- what countries are they from? What have you seen?
VICKERS: We see people from all over the world, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Give me an example. Give me some examples.
VICKERS: I had...
VAN SUSTEREN: Tell me.
VICKERS: OK. We have Chinese, over past two years, one of the leading OTM groups...
VAN SUSTEREN: "OTM" meaning what?
VICKERS: "Other than Mexican." This is the connotation that the border patrol label people that are not from Mexico. A large percentage of them have been Chinese. Also here recently within the past year, India. India has become a big, big country for -- that's represented by a lot of these people that are coming in here illegally, a large number of Indians. And during our last border operation, Texas border operation back a month ago, a group was caught. We identified the group, saw them coming through a trail, got the border patrol in, in a timely fashion. They apprehended most of the group, and a large number of them were from India and China.
So those are just a couple, but they're coming from the Dominican Republic, every country in South America, Central America, Pakistan and other countries that the border patrol labels special interest countries.
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, the next picture I'm going to warn the viewers they may not want to look at because this one's particularly gruesome. But tell me, now that the viewers have had a chance to look away, what is this a picture of?
VICKERS: This is a dead illegal alien that was found on private property in the area that we conduct our operations.
VAN SUSTEREN: How far from the border, about?
VICKERS: This was about 70 miles from the border.
VAN SUSTEREN: About how long ago?
VICKERS: Probably about a year ago.
VAN SUSTEREN: And how do you know this an illegal -- that this person was illegally in this country?
VICKERS: Well, this is a common pathway. This is a pathway that is frequently used by illegal aliens. I don't think there was any identification on this child. This kid I think was 12 years old. And quite frankly, a lot of children are coming down in these groups, and some of them are being left behind to fend for themselves if they can't keep up with the group. And this is probably what happened with this young man right here.
VAN SUSTEREN: Tell me what these two photographs are?
VICKERS: Well...
VAN SUSTEREN: First of all, this man here -- what -- what ...
VICKERS: This guy is a drug smuggler. His picture has been taken by a special camera.
VAN SUSTEREN: How do you know he's a drug smuggler?
VICKERS: We suspect it.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK.
VICKERS: The type of backpack that he has, the fact that it' filled the way it is, and the fact that we've seen him eight different times on four different cameras since June of last year, we're pretty sure that he's a drug smuggler.
VAN SUSTEREN: Why does this photo look sort of peculiar? Almost looks like he's in snow.
VICKERS: I'm sorry?
VAN SUSTEREN: It almost looks like he's in snow, that picture. Is it a special camera or something?
VICKERS: Yes, these are some special cameras that are actually owned by the Texas Rangers. And we have them positioned on certain trails that are frequented by human smugglers and drug smugglers. And we have another picture here of the same trail with a large group of illegal aliens that are being -- trafficking in here.
VAN SUSTEREN: And I take it that now is a trail that's monitored so that people using that get arrested?
VICKERS: This trail is monitored by the governor's command center in Austin for border security. It's monitored by the border patrol. It's monitored by our Texas border volunteers. And in most cases, we try to get the people or the drug smugglers apprehended.
(END VIDEOTAPE)

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/print/transcript/texas-rancher039s-pictures-are-worth-1000-words-about-death-and-danger-border#ixzz1NSBGeOZW

Societal Warfare South of the Border?

 

Societal Warfare South of the Border?

via SWJ Blog on 5/22/11

Extreme Barbarism, a Death Cult, and Holy Warriors in Mexico:
Societal Warfare South of the Border?


by Dr. Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan

Download the Full Article: Societal Warfare South of the Border?

This short essay is about impression—gut feelings combined with a certain amount of analytical skill—about recent trends taking place in Mexico concerning the ongoing criminal insurgencies being waged by the various warring cartels, gangs, and mercenary organizations that have metastasized though out that nation (and in many other regions as well). The authors spent over eight hours sequestered together about a month ago on a five-hundred mile 'there and back again road trip' to attend a training conference as instructors for the Kern County Chiefs of Police. Our talks centered on Mexican Drug Cartels, 3rd Generation Gangs, 3rd Phase Cartels, Criminal Insurgency Theory, and a host of related topics most folks just don't normally discuss in polite company. In the car, and at the conference, we were bombarded by Sullivan's never ending twitter and social networking news feeds—in Spanish and English—linked to the criminal violence in Mexico. If Dante had been our contemporary, we fear, he could just have easily taken a stroll through some of the cities and towns of Mexico using those news feeds and substituting the imagery for the circles of hell he described in his early 14th century work the Divine Comedy.

The hours of conversation about the conflicts in Mexico, bolstered by the news feeds and even the Q&A from the training time provided to the Kern Chiefs, provided us both with much to reflect upon. Additionally, both authors are currently co-writing three essays for a follow-on project to the earlier Narcos Over the Border (Routledge) book, the work that zenpundit.com found as "…one of the more disturbing academic works recently published in the national security field, not excluding even those monographs dealing with Islamist terrorism and Pakistan," concerning Mexico's immense problems. If this were not enough, as part of our ongoing collaboration, the authors have been trying to determine what to make of Hazen's June 2010 International Review of the Red Cross paper "Understanding gangs as armed groups." Her conclusions just don't correlate with the empirical evidence stemming from the cartel and gang related incidents regularly occurring in Mexico. That work suggests to us that American street gang researchers, whose work Hazen utilized as the basis of her analysis, are totally insulated from the reality of the conflicts in Mexico—just as are many members of the American public and their elected officials. For good or for bad, we are not so well insulated, having tracked what has been taking place in that country for some years now. The ongoing review (for the purposes of identifying cartel tattoos, cult icons, and instances of ritual killing) of the images of the tortured and broken bodies—some no longer recognizable as once ever being human beings— continually haunts us both.

Our impression is that what is now taking place in Mexico has for some time gone way beyond secular and criminal (economic) activities as defined by traditional organized crime studies. In fact, the intensity of change may indeed be increasing. Not only have de facto political elements come to the fore—i.e., when a cartel takes over an entire city or town, they have no choice but to take over political functions formerly administered by the local government— but social (narcocultura) and religious/spiritual (narcocultos) characteristics are now making themselves more pronounced. What we are likely witnessing is Mexican society starting to not only unravel but to go to war with itself. The bonds and relationships that hold that society together are fraying, unraveling, and, in some instances, the polarity is reversing itself with trust being replaced by mistrust and suspicion. Traditional Mexican values and competing criminal value systems are engaged in a brutal contest over the 'hearts, minds, and souls' of its citizens in a street-by-street, block-by-block, and city-by-city war over the future social and political organization of Mexico. Environmental modification is taking place in some urban centers and rural outposts as deviant norms replace traditional ones and the younger generation fully accepts a criminal value system as their baseline of behavior because they have known no other. The continuing incidents of ever increasing barbarism—some would call this a manifestation of evil even if secularly motivated—and the growing popularity of a death cult are but two examples of this clash of values. Additionally, the early rise of what appears to be cartel holy warriors may now also be taking place. While extreme barbarism, death cults, and possibly now holy warriors found in the Mexican cartel wars are still somewhat the exception rather than the rule, each of these trends is extremely alarming, and will be touched upon in turn.

Download the Full Article: Societal Warfare South of the Border?

Dr. Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan are frequent contributors to Small Wars Journal.

Infiltration Techniques US/MX Border - Mexican Dru...

The American Backyard.NET: Infiltration Techniques US/MX Border - Mexican Dru...: "Comment: The excerpts from the below piece highlight the issue of infiltration techniques used by the cartels; the use of surveillance to ..."

Cartel Infighting - How To Do It

IITrends - Incidents, Issues and Trends: Witnessing an Israeli undercover operation: "Comment: 'Pseudo Gangs' were used back in the 1950s by the Brits in Kenya while operating against the Mau Mau...attached is what appears to..."

Mexico town barricades itself against cartel-backed loggers in rare challenge to drug gangs

Comment: Right now there appears to be a mini trend occurring...hopefully this is the case. The Iraq conflict changed against the terrorists, not because of the surge, but because the population realized they would stay subservient to the devil; the same occurred in some parts of Afghanistan (not sustained unfortunately). Regardless, the people are going to win this war, NOT the government. End Comment.

Cheers, SWOT HUNTER

Feed: Borderland Beat
Posted on: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 2:47 AM
Author: Gari
Subject: Mexico town barricades itself against cartel-backed loggers in rare challenge to drug gangs

By Alexandra Olson,Gustavo Ruiz, The Associated Press CHERAN, Mexico — Masked and wielding rifles, the men of this mountain town stand guard at blockades of tires and sandbags to stop illegal loggers backed by drug traffickers. Their defiance isn't just about defending their way of life; it's one of the first major challenges to the reign of terror unleashed by Mexico's drug cartels. The indigenous Purepecha people of this town surrounded by mountains of pine forests and neat farmland took security into their own hands last month after loggers, who residents say are backed by cartel henchmen and local police, killed two residents and wounded several others. "There is no fear here," said one young man, defiantly peering out between a red handkerchief pulled up to his dark eyes and a camouflage baseball cap riding low over his brow. "Here we are fighting a David-and-Goliath battle because we are standing up to organized crime, which is no small adversary." Nearly all residents in the town of 16,000 in the southwestern state of Michoacan spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because of safety concerns. Such revolts have occurred frequently in indigenous communities in Mexico where locals have demanded more autonomy, accusing the government of neglect and corruption. Since the Zapatista rebellion of the 1990s, many towns in Chiapas remain near-autonomous entities with their own security rules. The Cheran rebellion is one of the few examples of a town standing up to drug cartels since President Felipe Calderon launched his crackdown on organized crime in late 2006, sparking a national wave of violence that has killed at least 35,000 people. Most Mexicans are too frightened to openly fight back against gangs that have terrorized the country with beheadings and massacres. Some towns in northern Mexico have emptied as cartels move in. The rebellion in Cheran caught the attention of the federal government, which deployed troops and federal police last week to patrol the outskirts of the town. Illegal loggers have for years cut down thousands of acres (hectares) of trees that the Purepecha depend on for log cabins, traditional medicine and resin collection. Less than two years ago, the loggers started showing up with caravans of armed men that the townspeople believe belong to La Familia, a drug cartel based in Michoacan. "La Familia has the heaviest presence in the zone. Everything indicates that it's them because they have the biggest presence, but we can't say for sure," said David Pena, a lawyer who has been representing the community in negotiations for protection with the federal government. Disputes over communal woods — between those who want to log indiscriminately and those who subsist on forest products — has long been a source of conflict in southwestern Mexico. The federal government has stepped up efforts against deforestation, conducting raids and shutting down illegal sawmills. But rogue loggers have become more violent as they align themselves with drug cartels, said Rupert Knox, a Mexico researcher at London-based Amnesty International, which has investigated the crisis in Cheran. Illegal logging has gone hand-in-glove with criminal gangs. They have moved into that sphere and controlled it with extreme brutality and corruption of local officials," Knox said. The animosity came to a head in Cheran when residents captured five illegal loggers on April 15 as their truck attempted to smuggle out illegally harvested wood. Two hours later, a convoy of armed men rumbled into the town to free the detained loggers, accompanied by local police, according to Pena and Amnesty International. One Cheran man was shot in the head and remains in a coma. But the townspeople, through force of numbers, managed to drive out the gunmen. In apparent reprisal, loggers shot and killed two Cheran men and wounded four others who were patrolling the woods on April 27. Angry Cheran residents stormed the local police headquarters, seizing 18 guns. They swiftly barricaded the town, piling sandbags and tires beneath plastic tents at several checkpoints along the main road. Young men with rifles keep track of residents venturing out and question anyone trying to get in. "We want peace and security," reads a banner hanging over a pile of logs at one blockade. Classes have been suspended at the town's more than 20 schools, which draws students from neighboring communities because both Spanish and the Purepecha language are taught. Instead, young boys hang out at the barricades, covering their faces with handkerchiefs and pretending to patrol with plastic toy guns. "Everything is paralyzed out of fear that this gang might attack the children," said a soft-spoken man wearing a white bandanna and a black wool cap at a checkpoint. The municipal police dissolved itself. Mayor Roberto Bautista Chapina reported the guns stolen but has otherwise stayed out of the dispute, trying not to inflame tensions. He said the Cheran men attacked the police chief and grabbed his gun. Community leaders and Interior Department representatives met Tuesday in the state capital of Morelia and agreed on a long-term security plan, Pena said. The government promised to set up two bases outside the town for army troops and federal and state police, who will patrol the hills and forests and meet weekly with Cheran leaders. Residents will be allowed to keep protecting the town on their own. The illegal logging has affected 80 percent of Cheran's 44,500 acres (18,000 hectares) of forest, Pena said. In some places, that means patches of trees have been cut down; in others, whole woods have disappeared. Already, Cheran had struggled to maintain its way of life. More than 40 percent of its residents have immigrated to the United States over the years, according to the government. Remittances have replaced farming and resin sales as Cheran's main source of income. Still, customs are fiercely guarded. Many people live in log cabins topped by red-tiled roofs. The women maintain the traditional dress of a wrapped cotton skirt and brightly colored satin blouse. Cheran's men say the barricades won't come down until they overcome this latest threat to their traditions. "This fight is not for a month or a year. It's for life," said the soft-spoken man in the white bandanna. "We don't believe there will be a quick solution." He hopes other communities will be inspired to fight back against organized crime. "We think it's difficult but not impossible," he said. "If they can start with Cheran, cutting down the forests, they will continue with other communities. And if the communities don't organize, in the end, they will destroy everything that for us is life."

View article...

Mexican communities fighting back

Comment: Right now there appears to be a mini trend occurring...hopefully this is the case. The Iraq conflict changed against the terrorists, not because of the surge, but because the population realized they would stay subservient to the devil; the same occurred in some parts of Afghanistan (not sustained unfortunately). Regardless, the people are going to win this war, NOT the government. End Comment.

Borderland Beat: Mexican communities fighting back: Witnesses indicate that armed men were traveling in several luxury vehicles, which began to open fire with AK-47s, and as previous occasions they had succeeded to bring terror into the community. However on this occasion, the residents were already waiting to confront them, an act that surprised the gunmen.

MX Government Denies Mexican Right to Defend Themselves

Newsmax

Hard for Citizens in Mexico to Arm Themselves

Wednesday, May 18, 2011 04:14 PM

By: John Lott

So what do you do if the government can't protect your from crime? Well, in Mexico, it is pretty hard for you to do much of anything, legally.

Here's another point. Apparently I don't live next to the cool U.S. gun stores touted in this article. If the Mexican drug gangs get their weapons from the U.S., could someone please tell which gun stores sell anti-aircraft guns, a grenade launcher, and dozens of grenades?

This is a useful article on many points.

“People are desperate,” said Rogelio “Chief” Bravo, a private investigator in El Paso who has worked for clients just across the border in Ciudad Juarez too. “They’re telling the government, if you can’t protect us, let us protect ourselves.”

Juarez is ground zero in the drug war with 8,000 killings since the city exploded in violence in 2008. Mexican authorities regularly display the weapons they confiscate from powerful drug traffickers.

Earlier this month, federal police raided a home in an upscale neighborhood in Ciudad Juarez looking for kidnapping victims. Instead they found a well-stocked arsenal that included three anti-aircraft guns, a grenade launcher, dozens of grenades, AK47s and several machine guns.

Many ordinary residents in Mexico believe guns are banned.

“The Mexican constitution allows people to possess firearms,” explained John Hubert, a certified-concealed hand gun instructor in El Paso. “But over the years the government has passed so many requirements and laws and restrictions that it’s basically almost impossible.” . . . .

source:  http://www.newsmax.com/JohnLott/mexico-drugs/2011/05/18/id/396883

READ this article too, it tells you why the population needs to be able to fight back:  http://www.mexdrugcartels.com/2011/01/narco-insurgent-center-of-gravity.html

http://www.swothunters.com

Vigilantism on Rise in Mexico as Drug War Rages

Comment:  Whether the government likes it or not, this needs to happen for the very simple fact the government is not effective enough.  The people must have buy-in.  This falls totally in line with what needs to take place to subvert the drug cartel's influence and effectiveness. 

 

 

Wednesday, 18 May 2011 13:55 Vigilantism on Rise in Mexico as Drug War Rages Written by  Geoffrey Ramsey

 

As drug-related violence increases in Mexico, and the justice system seems unable to cope, an increasing number of citizens are turning to vigilantism to protect themselves and administer justice in their communities.

 

One small town in Michoacan has come to the world's attention. The mostly indigenous residents of Cheran rose up and barricaded their town to protest against the government's failure to protect them from criminal groups. As InSight reported, the unrest began after illegal woodcutters, allegedly under the protection of the Familia Michoacana, cut and burned forests on community land. Now the town is on lockdown, and an armed militia patrols the streets daily.

 

Revolts like this have occurred fairly frequently in indigenous villages across Mexico since the 1994 Zapatista uprising in Chiapas. Accusing the government of ignoring the country’s poor and indigenous, these communities have demanded more autonomy, and have in some cases established parallel state structures like governing councils and police forces. Although most of these communities are located in the southern state of Chiapas, the phenomenon has spread to other regions as well, as a response to perceived corruption in local governments.

 

Another example is the community police force of San Luis Acatlan in Guerrero. As the online progressive magazine Upside Down World reported in January, local residents are elected to serve temporary terms as police officers, and justice is administered by a council of community members, not by the official state system. The article suggested that the community police force may offer a more humane approach to criminal justice. One man, accused of selling marijuana to a minor, was sentenced by the council to two months of “re-education,” or community service, an experience that he described to the author as transformative.

 

“We were sent to clean up kindergartens, clean up high schools, to remove rocks from the roads,” the man explained. “While we were in the re-education, the guards would talk to us, and the coordinators of La Policía would come and talk to us as well, about why we’re there, why we had been sentenced, and what it was all about. That’s better than the regular jail, where you don’t even know why you’re there, and where no one ever comes to talk to you. ”

 

Vigilantism in Mexico also has a darker side. The phenomenon appears to be increasingly associated with shadowy armed groups, who, unlike “citizen police forces,” are not accountable to their communities. Perhaps the most widely publicized vigilante campaign in Mexico began in Ciudad Juarez in January 2009, when an organization by the name of the Juarez Citizens' Command sent an e-mail to local media outlets saying it would execute one criminal each day until order was restored.

 

A 2009 U.S. State Department cable released by WikiLeaks indicated that the U.S. Consulate in Juarez suspected that the group was made up of former Zetas gang members. It said that Citizens' Command might have carried out extrajudicial activities for the military.

 

In 2008, another such clandestine organization appeared in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, calling itself the Popular Anti-Drug Army. According to Mexico’s El Proceso, the group has tied the struggle against drug violence to social justice rhetoric, and has been linked to the murder of an alleged gang member in the area. Although it has so far only been active in Guerrero, the group also claims to have active cells in other states.

 

More recently, in late 2010, a vigilante group known as the Omega Squads sprang up in Morelia, Michoacan. In leaflets distributed around the city, the group presented itself as an opponent of the Familia Michoacana. It said that instead of "throwing the heads of enemies into brothels,” like the Familia, the Omega Squads would fight the "dregs of society" responsible for kidnapping, extortion and murders in the state. As El Diario reported in December, the group claims to be made up of businessmen and landowners, who are “tired of the inability of the authorities of all levels to give us the security and peace we need.”

 

While these vigilante organizations try to craft a public image based on justice, some of them may in fact be front groups with ties to the criminal underworld. In Colombia, what began as a loose network of vigilante organizations morphed into the now-defunct paramilitary coalition known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia - AUC). Although the group’s stated enemies were Colombia’s left-wing guerrillas, the organization was linked to the deaths of thousands of unarmed civilians in the countryside, and became heavily involved in the cocaine trade.

 

Brazil’s largest drug trafficking group, known as the·Red Command (Comando·Vermelho), also developed as a self-protection group in 1970s. It later morphed into a paramilitary-style drug trafficking organization controlling territory in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. Over the last decade control of the city has increasingly been taken over by vigilante groups set up to combat drug gangs like the Red Command. These often are made up of serving police officers, and in some cases have been accused of trafficking drugs themselves.

 

This process has already taken place for some vigilante groups in Mexico. As InSight has noted, the Familia Michoacana was initially formed as a community self-defense group. Indeed, one of the reasons for the cartel’s success is its strong loyalty base in Michoacan, where it sometimes provides social services to rural, isolated areas. Because of this, some analysts have referred to the group as a “de facto state.”

 

Ultimately, the history of these groups illustrates the perils of vigilante justice. Although secretive self-defense groups like the “Juarez Citizens’ Command” may have the potential to restore the rule of law in crime-ridden communities, their unchecked, anonymous nature increases the chance that they will instead perpetuate lawlessness and violence. Until security can be maintained across the country, these vigilante groups will continue to find support for their actions, fueling the violent cycle that has killed more than 35,000 in the past four years.

 

source:  http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/943-vigilantism-on-rise-in-mexico-as-drug-war-rages

Napolitano Wrong - Texas Border NOT "Safer Than Ever"

Comment:  Texas law enforcement officials visit Washington DC to say the borders ARE NOT safer.  End Comment.

US businesses reluctant to open in Mexico - The Associated Press

Comment:  The bottom line is that the cartels are having a negative impact on the economies of two countries.  The situation appears to be getting worse.  Whether or not it is true is irrelevant, the perception that the country is not safe for business is all that is important.  End comment. 

US businesses reluctant to open in Mexico - The Associated Press

via mexico cartel - Google News on 5/15/11

Boston Globe

US businesses reluctant to open in Mexico The Associated Press More than 18000 US companies have operations in Mexico, including most of the Fortune 500. But those figures could be higher, says Gabriel Casillas, JP Morgan's chief economist for Mexico, who estimates that drug cartel-related crime lost Mexico $4 ... US Businesses Reluctant to Open in MexicoABC News Is it Safe or Unsafe for Americans to Visit Mexico?Family Security Matters Cartel violence impacts US businesses in MexicoWashington Post

 

Video: 10May11 - Drug Violence on the Mexican Border

Comment:  Ideals and give peace a chance are pretty in thought, but ineffective in application.  At the end of the day the cartels have to be dealt with by force when needed...for now needed means most of the time.

For the idealistic police chief to deliberately avoid taking on the cartels meant she was not up to the job.  However, she does deserve some credit for trying.  The cartels still have psychological dominance over the battlespace.  End comment.

Federal Officials Will Not Designate Mexican Drug Cartels as "Terrorists" | AHN

Comment/thought: There seems to be a disconnect here. The federal
government will not label the cartels, people who maim, behead and torture
more than al Qaida, terrorists. Their argument is that there are enough
laws to combat drug trafficking. Okay, then why do we have ~230 drug cartel
nodes here in the US? Where is the evidence that current laws are effective
and drug cartel presence in the US is waning? Where is this comprehensive
policy, and does this policy also cover illegal immigration for which the
cartels exploit to their advantage by blackmailing/extorting illegals to
work on their behalf or lose family members...or even their own lives?
According to the article below, labeling the cartels terrorists gives us the
following... "gives U.S. police broad authority to crack down on suspected
terrorists, such as by seizing their bank accounts or imposing harsher
prison sentences for gun possession" Also, what other known terrorist
group(s) have been attributed with killing over 35,000 people- NOT Even Al
Qaeda, Hezbollah or Muslim Brotherhood, alone or combined, can say this. End
comment.

Federal Officials Will Not Designate Mexican Drug Cartels as "Terrorists"
Source: (AHN) Reporter: Tom Ramstack
Location: Washington, D.C., United States Published: May 13, 2011 06:18 pm
EDT
Topics: Politics, Diplomacy, International Relations, Crime, Law And
Justice, Organized Crime, Crime, Law And Justice, Police, Investigation

Federal officials this week said they would not put Mexican drug cartels on
their list of terrorist organizations despite pressure from conservative
members of Congress.

The "terrorist organization" designation gives U.S. police broad authority
to crack down on suspected terrorists, such as by seizing their bank
accounts or imposing harsher prison sentences for gun possession.

The issue arose during a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on
border security.

Grayling Williams, director of Homeland Security's counternarcotics
enforcement, said there already are enough laws to combat drug trafficking
in the United States. He also cautioned against using laws and tactics that
might be too severe.

"Do we call gangs on the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant terrorists because
they engage in rival gun battles?" Williams said during the hearing of the
subcommittee on oversight, investigations and management.

The Mexican news media is closely following the debate about whether the
U.S. military and police use tactics reserved for terrorists against the
cartels.

The Mexican government has warned the United States against any actions that
could infringe on its sovereignty.

A war between the cartels and the Mexican government that started in
December 2006 has claimed about 35,000 lives.

A "terrorist" designation for drug cartels also would make it easier for the
Justice Department to extradite gang members to the United States.

Williams said the Mexican government does not seem to be making much
progress in its drug war.

However, Amy Pope, the Justice Department's deputy chief of staff for the
criminal division, said using a federal law that authorizes severe action
against terrorists would not help in prosecuting drug gangs.

"We have very, very powerful penalties here in the United States," she said
during the hearing. "Having another crime won't make a difference."

She suggested that Congress give law enforcement agencies more resources to
track down gang members rather than making the laws stiffer.

Leading the effort in Congress to classify Mexican drug cartels as
terrorists is Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the subcommittee on
oversight, investigations and management.

He introduced a bill March 30 asking the State Department to classify Los
Zetas, Sinaloa, La Familia Michoacana and three other cartels as foreign
terrorist organizations.

"In my view, we got to call them what they are," McCaul said. "Their tactics
are certainly like a terrorist."

He was joined in calling for a tougher stance against the cartels by Arizona
State Attorney General Tom Horne, who said the violence in Mexico is
increasingly spreading across the border.

Examples he mentioned included a beheading in Phoenix in October, a
firefight in a rural Arizona town between drug cartel rivals earlier this
year and the shooting last month of an agent from the attorney general's
office.

This week, Mexican President Felipe Calderon repeated his position that the
U.S. market for drugs is feeding the violence in his country.

Calderon spoke while attending the Americas Conference in Washington, D.C.

He said an attitude among some Americans that marijuana is "cool" or
"fashionable" is making it harder to stop drug trafficking.

He also criticized states that have legalized the purchase of small amounts
of marijuana, normally for medicinal use. Fifteen states have legalized the
personal use of marijuana for medical reasons.

Calderon said marijuana is addictive and often leads to a worsening drug
problem for users.

"I think there needs to be a little consistency in political policies,"
Calderon said during a meeting that included U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton.

Read more:
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90048355?Federal%20Officials%20Will%
20Not%20Designate%20Mexican%20Drug%20Cartels%20as%20%26%23147%3BTerrorists%2
6%23148%3B#ixzz1MHP7nYcL

IITrends - Incidents, Issues and Trends: Excerpts - Bin Laden's preoccupation with U.S. sai...

IITrends - Incidents, Issues and Trends: Excerpts - Bin Laden's preoccupation with U.S. sai...: "Comment: The most interesting references address the issue of command and control and recruitment of the disenchanted/social seams (this i..."

'Plata o Plomo?' Losing the war on our southern border | Barbara Hollingsworth | Beltway Confidential | Washington Examiner

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL
Politics from the Nation's Capital
'Plata o Plomo?' Losing the war on our southern border
Comments (0) Share Print By: Barbara Hollingsworth 05/11/11 5:16 PM
Local Opinion Editor
Violent Mexican drug cartels offer their victims a Faustian choice: "Plata
or plomo? Silver or lead? The bribe or the bullet?" said Rep. Michael
McCaul, R-Tex., in his opening remarks during a congressional hearing on the
status of our southern border held on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

In response to criticism that the Obama administration is not protecting the
nation from an unprecedented invasion, Department of Homeland Secretary
Janet Napolitano insisted last year that "the [southern] border is better
now than it has ever been."

But that's only true if you happen to be an illegal immigrant or a member of
one of Mexico's violent drug cartels. For Americans living in border states
- or in one of the 276 U.S. cities that Napolitano's own department
acknowledges has been infiltrated by drug-funded narco cartels - this is
hardly the best of times.

"Mexico is losing this war, and so are we," said a somber Rep. McCaul,
R-Tex., chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on
Oversight, Investigations and Management, as he introduced witnesses.

Arizona Attorney General Thomas Horne testified that the crime wave that has
convulsed Mexico has spilled into the U.S. In October, he said, the Phoenix
area experienced its first beheading. But there are only 500 National Guard
troops in the Tuscon sector, compared to 6,000 in 2006.

And as many as 400,000 -plus foreigners still stream across the U.S. border
annually, Horne added. "That is equivalent to an invasion, from various
countries, of 20 divisions."

Warning about the potential for complete economic collapse in Mexico, Horne
compared these criminal enterprises to "a pack of wolves which may decimate
a deer population without a thought about what that may mean to future
wolves years hence. They act like wolves because that is their nature."

Which is why McCaul and Homeland Security Committee chairman Peter King are
co-sponsoring HR 1270, which would designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign
terrorist organizations.

The designation would give law enforcement more tools to combat them,
including seizure of assets.

"We are outmanned, overpowered, and in danger of losing control of our own
communities to narco-terrorists," McCaul warned, adding that spillover
violence on the U.S. side of the border is seriously underreported. Since
January 2010, 22 murders, 24 assaults and 15 kidnappings were directly
related to drug cartel activity, including the murder of a Colorado man
while he was jet-skiing with his wife on Falcon Lake, which straddles the
U.S.-Mexico border.

However, these crimes are not counted in the FBI's Uniform Crime Statistics,
which McCaul pointed out excludes "home invasions, kidnappings, extortion,
and trafficker on trafficker violence - all the things the cartels do best."

Assistant Attorney General Amy Pope admitted during the hearing that the
"executive branch has no definition of spillover violence," undercutting
Napolitano's assurances that the border is more secure than it's ever been.

Spillover crimes are still happening - even if Napolitano refuses to count
them.

Read more at the Washington Examiner:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/05/plata-o-plo
mo-losing-war-our-southern-border#ixzz1M8bWvs00

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/05/plata-o-plo
mo-losing-war-our-southern-border

Mexico: Rewriting The Rule Book

Rewriting The Rule Book
May 12, 2011: President Felipe Calderon continues to wage war against the
bad habits that led to the current bloody struggle with drug gangs. Calderon
argues that Mexico's deep structural and institutional problems permitted
the unchecked expansion of drug cartel power. Breaking the cartels means
modernizing Mexico. The military side of the Cartel War gets the headlines,
but Calderon insists that winning means continuing a long term struggle.
Mexico must reform its police forces (from local to federal). Mexicans don't
trust the judicial system, and with good reason. They have seen so many
politically-connected criminals escape justice - what Mexicans call the
culture of impunity. This is why the government is devoting a lot of
attention to judicial reform.

May 10, 2011: The government claims the drug cartels are now deeply involved
in prostitution and sex slaving. This happened in Balkans. Guerrilla groups,
in league with criminal gangs, made a lot of money from human trafficking.
They moved illegal migrants and some of the illegal migrants were basically
sold as prostitutes. According to the government, that's happening in
Mexico. Police have evidence Mexican drug gangs primarily focus on Central
American migrants moving through Mexico and heading for the U.S.

May 9, 2011: Police in the city of Durango (Durango state) found six
headless bodies dumped outside of a school. The police said a group of
cartel gunmen were responsible for the murders.

May 8, 2011: Mexican marines killed 12 members of Los Zetas drug cartel in a
spectacular operation. The marines attacked a base camp on an island in
Falcon Lake (on the border between Texas and Tamaulipas state). A sailor was
also killed in the gun battle. The government reported that the Zetas were
storing marijuana for shipment to the U.S. The Marines also seized at some
two-dozen weapons. Falcon Lake is where a U.S. citizen was ambushed and
murdered while jet-skiing in September 2010. From time to time, Mexican Navy
helicopters patrol Falcon Lake.

May 5, 2011: U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency announced that it is
opening seven more inspection booths at the World Trade International Bridge
(Laredo, Texas). The bridge currently has eight booths. The bridge feeds
truck traffic into warehouse and staging areas near Interstate 35. Customs
says there are two reasons for the new booths. First, over 3,000 Mexican
trucks cross the bridge every day and current capacity is overwhelmed.
Second, is the counter-smuggling angle. Inspectors have not had the manpower
or capacity to do thorough inspections of the big rig cargo trucks.
Inspectors could only do thorough checks of a handful of trucks. The drug
cartels know the odds are in their favor, so they hide drugs inside
containers of legal goods. Customs wants to change those odds.

April 29, 2011: Mexican officials have let the U.S. extradite the leader of
the Arellano Felix cartel, Benjamin Arellano Felix. He will now face trial
in the US (likely in San Diego). The Arellano Felix cartel is based in
Tijuana and is sometimes referred to as the Tijuana cartel. Mexico arrested
Arellano Felix in 2002. The U.S. wants him on several charges, including
money laundering.

April 27, 2011: The U.S. State Department issued new travel warnings to U.S.
citizens visiting Mexico. The warning mentions ten Mexican states where
travel is considered dangerous: Sonora, Jalisco, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas,
Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Durango, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, and Coahuila. The State
Department believes 111 Americans were murdered in Mexico in 2010.

http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/mexico/articles/20110512.aspx

AFP: Border region lives in fear amid Mexico cartel war

Border region lives in fear amid Mexico cartel war
By Michael Deibert (AFP) - 8 hours ago

MATAMOROS, Mexico - ...

This part of Mexico was once a booming hub for cross-border trade between
the country and the United States -- which operates hundreds of low-wage
factories on the Mexican side.

Today, it finds itself in the midst of a terrifying war of attrition between
the city's indigenous Gulf Cartel, their former partners known as Los Zetas
and the elements of government power that have not been bought or bullied
into the drug traffickers' service.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gJSeWhHYrkS9tlD3etxVUsSV3
KcQ?docId=CNG.38021bb0e4d3c022df44be1a7c4e619a.391

Texans reject Obama's claim of border security - San Antonio Express-News

WASHINGTON - Texas officials rebutted President Barack Obama's statement
that the U.S.-Mexico border is secure and told a congressional panel
Wednesday that cartel-related crimes in this country are underreported.

Steve McCraw, Texas Department of Public Safety director, said there were 22
murders, 24 assaults, 15 shootings and five kidnappings in Texas linked to
Mexican cartels since 2010.

Read more:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/article/Texans-rejectObama-s-claim
-of-border-security-1376192.php#ixzz1M8ZZEOFS

Mexican Government Says It Backs Public Safety Secretary

 

 

Feed: Borderland Beat
Posted on: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 12:04 AM
Author: Buggs
Subject: Mexican Government Says It Backs Public Safety Secretary

 

Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna has the full backing of the government despite calls for his resignation by poet Javier Sicilia, who has become a symbol of the struggle for justice in Mexico, the Calderon administration's security spokesman said. The federal government respects differing opinions in society, but it disagrees with the points made by Sicilia at the end of a peace march on Sunday, federal security spokesman Alejandro Poire said. "If anyone has worked for the creation of a civilian police force that is professional, follows the law, is well equipped and has intelligence capabilities that guarantee the safety of the people, that person is Garcia Luna," Poire said in a press conference Monday at the Los Pinos presidential residence. The Federal Police, which is under the control of Garcia Luna, "has achieved the capture of many criminals, some of them responsible for some of the crimes that hurt us the most," Poire said. The Federal Police is responsible, along with other federal forces, for the weakening of the country's drug cartels, "the ones that generate violence, kidnappings, extortion," Poire said. Garcia Luna has expanded the size of the Federal Police from 6,500 officers at the start of President Felipe Calderon's term in December 2006 to more than 36,000 officers, of whom 7,000 are "graduates of the country's best universities and all are subject to strict background checks," Poire said. The federal government accepts the public's criticism, but "a strong citizens' culture includes support for the institutions that have yielded fruit in the fight against organized crime and criminality," the security spokesman said. Lack of agreement, however, should "not be an obstacle to dialogue," Poire said. Sicilia concluded his national march for peace on Sunday with an address to thousands of people in Mexico City's main Zocalo plaza at the end of the peace march. The poet organized the four-day march from Cuernavaca, located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Mexico City, to protest the unraveling of the country at the hands of drug traffickers, violence and corruption. Sicilia's 24-year-old son, Juan Francisco, was killed along with six other young men on March 27, with investigators saying that drug traffickers were behind the slayings. The poet called on Calderon to demand Garcia Luna's resignation. The war on drugs has left 40,000 people dead, Sicilia said, adding that Calderon continues to pursue his strategy despite mounting criticism. Some in the crowd called for the ouster and even killing of Garcia Luna, a conservative who is widely hated and has been accused of corruption by grassroots organizations and some in the media. The 55-year-old Sicilia, however, urged the crowd to avoid more violence. "No, don't let him die, fire him, no more deaths, no more hatred, violence will lead us to more violence," Sicilia told the crowd. The dignity and fortitude with which the writer has coped with his son's death and his demands that the government do more to halt the violence have resonated with people in different sectors of Mexican society, who have come together under the slogan "Estamos hasta la madre!" (We've had it up to here!), a typically Mexican expression of exasperation. The goal of Sicilia's movement is to forge a national pact aimed at sharply reducing the violence resulting from turf wars among rival drug cartels and a government offensive against the gangs. Calderon, whose term began in December 2006 and runs through November 2012, is stubbornly sticking to his strategy of combating the powerful drug gangs with tens of thousands of soldiers and Federal Police officers despite an ever-escalating death toll, the poet said. Calderon's critics contend that his strategy has only triggered an increasingly violent response from drug traffickers, who are known for brutal tactics, such as hanging their decapitated rivals from bridges in urban areas. Federal forces also have been accused of rights violations, but the government says it is essential that they play the lead role in combating the cartels due to widespread corruption among law enforcement at the local and state level. A total of 15,270 people died in drug-related violence in Mexico in 2010, the deadliest in current government's four-and-a-half-year war on the cartels. Source: EFE

View article...

Borderland Beat: Marisol Valles, 21 year old ex Police Chief, speak...

Borderland Beat: Marisol Valles, 21 year old ex Police Chief, speak...: "ABC News Marisol Valles Garcia now gazes toward Mexico from the safety of the United States. 'My country is so close, but so far away,'..."

Texas border security focus of US House hearing | AP Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Texas border security focus of US House hearing
C 2011 The Associated Press
May 11, 2011, 2:31AM


WASHINGTON - Drug cartel violence along the Texas-Mexico border is the focus
of a U.S. House subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill.

Three Texas law enforcement officials Wednesday were invited to the homeland
security hearing. U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul of Austin, who will chair the
hearing, says data on spillover crime and violence is "deceiving and
underreported."

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McGraw is scheduled to
testify. So is McAllen police Chief Victor Rodriguez and Zapata County
Sheriff Sigfedo Gonzales.

Zapata County is where an American tourist raced to shore last year after
she said Mexican pirates ambushed she and her husband on Falcon Lake. Her
husband's body wasn't found.

Officials from the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland
Security and Arizona's attorney general office are also set to testify.

source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7559652.html

Mailbag: How to fight drug cartels

Today's Arizona Daily Star online has an article titled: "Mexican drug gangs
assuming government roles." If you want to read it, click this link:
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/article_6f4c5a30-e69b-5626-8471-9b20c
aa59c25.html.

The solution: legalize drugs and tax them, just like cigarettes and alcohol.

When the prohibition of alcohol was repealed, organized crime lost a major
source of income and the number of violent crimes plummeted. It is obvious
that present U.S. drug prohibition is not working. Continuing ineffective
action is costly and does not solve the problem. It actually creates
problems of overcrowded jails and courts. The drug cartels' domination
spills over into the U.S.'s southwestern communities and includes law
enforcement corruption.

source:
http://www.democratherald.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_bf10c24a-7b20-11e
0-9f40-001cc4c002e0.html

Mexican Drug Cartel Builds Its Own Tank

From jungle-built submarines to ultralights hauling marijuana, drug cartels have found ingenious ways to transport their goods. But the tanks of the northern Mexico cartels represent something different; a paramilitary response to a government crackdown that has made little progress in staunching the violence.

The Blog Del Narco reports that the tank was captured two weeks ago after a firefight outside Ciudad Mier in northern Mexico. The vehicle had a top speed of 110km/h, and could carry 12 people – but had no side shielding for its tyres, which ultimately led to its end.

 

 

Sent to you by SWOT Hunter via Google Reader:

 

 

Mexican *Drug Cartel* Builds Its Own Tank

via Google Alerts - drug cartel by Gizmodo Australia on 5/10/11

By Justin Hyde on May 11, 2011 at 5:30 AM The war in northern Mexico between drug cartels and the Mexican government has raged for 4.5 years, with little end in sight – especially with the cartels starting to build tanks like this one, nicknamed "El ...
See all stories on this topic »

 

 

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President Ignores Border Violence to Advance Political Agenda, says Cong. Mc...

"Between 70 - 90% of Texas' 1,200-mile border with Mexico is still not under operational control. The firsthand accounts of our state and local law enforcement tell the real story of how we are outmanned, overpowered and in danger of losing our own communities to narco-terrorists," McCaul said.

Congressman McCaul will chair a hearing Wednesday, May 11, before the Homeland Security Oversight, Investigations & Management Subcommittee to give Americans a more realistic security assessment of the US-Mexico border and accurately measure the level of spillover crime.
"The cartels have significantly increased their presence inside the United States. The data on spillover crime and violence is deceiving and underreported. While we have more resources, the border is more dangerous."

 

 

Sent to you by SWOT Hunter via Google Reader:

 

 

President Ignores Border Violence to Advance Political Agenda, says Cong. McCaul - Texas Insider

via mexico violence - Google News on 5/10/11

The Cypress Times

President Ignores Border Violence to Advance Political Agenda, says Cong. McCaul Texas Insider ... assessment of the US-Mexico border and accurately measure the level of spillover crime. "The cartels have significantly increased their presence inside the United States. The data on spillover crime and violence is deceiving and underreported. ... Obama touts border security, urges action on immigration overhaulBellingham Herald all 3 news articles »

 

 

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to mexico violence - Google News using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

 

 

Ten COIN Blogs to Read

Ten COIN Blogs to Read

 

Abu Muqawama

 

Afghan Quest

 

Bouhammer

 

Danger Room

 

Free Range International

 

Ink Spots

 

Kings of War

 

Registan

 

Small Wars Journal Blog

 

Wings Over Iraq

 

source:  http://www.cjr.org/the_news_frontier/coin_stars.php?page=all

Mexico's Problems Began in the 80s, not 2006 - Can Mexico’s Anti-Drug War Movement Truly Succeed?

Comment:  I disagree with some of the arguments in this piece, but it is still worth reading.  Yes, I agree one of the top causes for the drug war is the American user.  However, if Mexico had a functioning government, economy and legal system, people would not likely behead each other.  And yes, while it is good that Mexicans are protesting against the drug war, they have the wrong target…what's to be done with the murderers?  Is the Mexican population simply grabbing the quickest way out instead of holding people accountable for their actions?  Calderon, for all of this governments faults, did not kill 35,000 people…the Mexican population did.  That said, what is the definition of success?  I don't see one.  If the drug war ends; murders remain unaccounted for, murders between Mexican vs. Mexican will continue; the government remains inept, corrupt and slowly failing.  My personal opinion is the people of Mexico need to seriously consider rebuilding the government, or overthrow it and restart anew.  I personally believe the second of the two choices is what the Mexican people will eventually opt for.  And it is likely for this reason why the Mexican government will not let people arm themselves against the cartels...I cannot see this lasting forever though.  This problem did not begin with Calderon, it began in the 80s.  Run the query "baseline" on this blogs search engine to find in-depth studies that support this hypothesis.  End comment.

Subject: Can Mexico's Anti-Drug War Movement Truly Succeed?

By: Sylvia Longmire Mexico's Drug War The Mexican people want their country back. That's the message they plan to send on May 8th to Mexico's government, as well as to the narco thugs who have held their country hostage for years, through widespread planned marches and rallies. The national sentiment of Hasta la madre! ["We won't take it anymore!"] has been slowly and steadily building, but was catalyzed by the death of a well-known Mexican poet's son. Javier Sicilia, a journalist-turned-activist, lost his son to the drug war in late March 2011, and as a result has galvanized a movement of Mexicans, both domestically and in the United States, to protest the conduct of the drug war. Sicilia says one of the goals of this mobilization is to return dignity to the names of the dead who "in the eyes of the State have been counted as collateral damage or statistics." He also calls for a rebuilding of Mexico's social fabric, and a re-founding of the country through a social pact formed between the Mexican people. But can such a movement, with decidedly lofty goals and ideals, truly succeed in Mexico's current environment? There are several factors working in the protestors' favor. Historically, this is the first time that so many Mexicans have come together to publicly call for an end to President Felipe Calderón's drug war and associated violence. There are currently 38 marches and rallies taking place on May 8th across Mexico, and some are also planned in the United States. The El Paso Times reported that Mexican journalist and asylum seeker Emilio Gutierrez, along with a group of supporters, is encouraging people in the El Paso area to join a rally in Mesilla, Texas in support of the national marches in Mexico. The Mexican people have already warmed up for this day, too. Media reports said that on April 7th, up to 35,000 people in 21 Mexican states and 26 cities took to the streets to protest corruption, push for changes in the government's fight organized crime, and lament the deaths of thousands of innocents across Mexico. These people were inspired by an open letter penned by Sicilia shortly after the death of his son. I've had the chance to speak with people who are passionately answering Sicilia's call. Some are looking at May 8th as just a beginning, a precursor to a process that will likely take years to bear fruit. Others have used the terms "revolution" and "civil resistance," invoking recent events in Egypt and historical figures like Gandhi and Martin Luther King to draw parallels with this phenomenon. Unfortunately, as well-intentioned as these protestors may be, it sounds like they're forgetting about the number one cause of the drug war that is ruining millions of Mexican lives—American drug users. Sicilia outlined several goals for this movement in a long open letter, but they're all domestically oriented. Many of them are vague and idealistic, like the forming of a "social pact" and "rebuilding Mexico's social fabric." Others are practical, like eliminating corruption from the ranks of politicians, soldiers, and police. Some are outright unrealistic, like completely legalizing all drug trafficking in Mexico. The anti-drug war movement seems to be using Sicilia's letter as a manifesto of sorts, but it still comes across as unfocused. Are they protesting against the Mexican government, the cartels themselves, or US drug policies? Perhaps it's all of the above, but they don't appear to have a solid road map for how to achieve their ultimate goal—the end of the drug war. Most importantly, they're leaving out the biggest problem—the insatiable American demand for drugs. Millions of drug users in the United States couldn't care less that their habit results in the loss of thousands of Mexican lives every year. The U.S. media is providing better-than-expected coverage of these marches. But even if millions of Americans learned about the rallies and their goals, most probably wouldn't flinch, let alone change their daily routines. The comparisons to Egypt and Gandhi and Martin Luther King also aren't quite accurate. The protests and civil resistance in those cases were for political reasons dealing with purely domestic issues. If the anti-drug war movement only had to deal with the Mexican government, then they'd really be on to something. But no matter how many people take to the streets in Mexico—or even in the United States—to demand an end to the bloodshed and corruption, no change in Mexican strategy or policy or social outlook is going to affect the American desire for illegal drugs. There is no question that the Mexican people are displaying an incredible amount of courage, fortitude, and determination by taking steps to get their country back. There are many changes that the anti-drug war movement is demanding that are necessary to have a positive impact on the drug war. Regardless of the U.S. role in the drug war, the Mexican people would no doubt benefit from less corruption, elected officials who weren't working hand-in-hand with narco thugs, and diminishing national fear as a result of communities working together. Those changes will take time, patience, and hard work. But the anti-drug war movement can't succeed by confining its goals to Mexico alone. Without a component to galvanize the American people or the U.S. government to dramatically reduce drug demand or revamp U.S. drug policies, it's unlikely the drug war and bloodshed will end through Mexican protest alone. Website:http://borderviolenceanalysis.typepad.com/

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