State Department renews travel warning to Mexico

[Bullfighter]

(CNN) -- The U.S. State Department has renewed a travel warning for Mexico due to drug-related violence, particularly in the northern border areas.

In addition, the authorized departure of family members of U.S. government personnel from consulates in the cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros remains in place.

"Recent violent attacks and persistent security concerns have prompted the U.S. Embassy to urge U.S. citizens to defer unnecessary travel to Michoacan and Tamaulipas, to parts of Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, and Coahuila, and to advise U.S. citizens residing or traveling in those areas to exercise extreme caution," the July 16 State Department warning says.

The United States previously issued a travel warning on May 6.

U.S. warns of Mexico travel - chicagotribune.com


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Hmmm? Why doesn't Homeland Security offer warnings to Americans before traveling through Mexican neighborhoods in the US?

 

[waltky]

120 dead so far this year...

17 People Killed In Fresh Violence In Mexico
Feb. 18,`11 -- Eight gunmen were killed in a clash with soldiers in northern Mexico Friday and another nine died in violence between rival gangs in southern Mexico on the same day, the military said.

The eight alleged hit men died early Friday morning in a 40-minute shootout with soldiers in Guadalupe and Juarez municipalities in the metropolitan area of Monterrey city, capital of Nuevo Leon state. Sources from the 7th Military zone of the National Defense Ministry said that soldiers patrolling Guadalupe found a convoy of vehicles with armed men aboard.

The soldiers ordered them to stop, but the hit men did not stop and began shooting at the soldiers. They even hurled a cluster grenade at the soldiers. At the end of the clash the soldiers seized eight weapons including AK-47 and G-3 assault riffles and guns of .50 millimeters caliber, one grenade launcher and some vehicles.

Also early Friday morning, nine people died in clashes between rival gangs in Acapulco port of Guerrero state, southern Mexico, local public security officials said. On Friday noon, a human head was found by federal police on one avenue in the center of Acapulco.

More than 120 people have died in 2011 across the country in violence related to organized crime, according to local media reports.

Eastday-17 people killed in fresh violence in Mexico

See also:

The battle of the US-Mexico frontier
Sunday 20 February 2011 - The United States has built a huge fence to keep Mexican immigrants out. It has cost billions, split communities – but does it work?

Charlie Bruce was a Texas police chief of the old school. In more than four decades on the force he gave homegrown criminals good reason to steer clear of Del Rio, his small town on the United States's southern border, but held no grudge against the steady flow of Mexicans across the frontier in search of opportunity. He admired them for their hard work and the chances they took to better themselves. Besides, some of them built his house. What happened on the other side of the border, in Mexico, was another matter. There, Bruce unashamedly admits that for years he used his authority as a Texan police officer to run a lucrative smuggling racket. Mostly he dealt in duty-free whisky and cigarettes shipped in to Mexico, bribing officials with tens of thousands of dollars a time to avoid taxes, and then promptly selling the contraband on to Americans who brought it back across the border.

Occasionally Bruce branched out. He laughs when he recalls the handsome profit made from exploiting a sugar shortage in the 70s by paying off an official to illegally sell him a stock of subsidised sugar sitting in a Mexican government warehouse, which he shipped to a pie-maker in Philadelphia. Now 75 and retired to a new house a stone's throw from the border, he recounts his years as a smuggler with undisguised pride and admits that it was all made possible by being a police officer. "That's exactly why I got by with it, because I was well known over there. My shield was law enforcement. I got by with murder more than other people," he says. "Other people may think it's wrong but the border's its own world."

Bruce laughs derisively at Washington's grand scheme to change that world. In the coming weeks, the US department of homeland security expects to complete the final parts of a nearly 700 mile (1,100km) fence and wall along the Mexican border intended to curb the perpetual flow of Latin Americans in search of work, and to block the ceaseless caravan of drugs feeding a very demanding American habit. The spur, though, was 9/11 and the ever-present fear of terrorist infiltrators. The barrier covers one-third of the US's entire southern frontier with Mexico. In parts it is a fence about 5 metres (17ft) high built of a strong steel mesh and painted the same rust colour as the surrounding earth. In some places it is topped by coils of barbed wire; in others it is a solid steel wall. The fence cuts through towns and divides the desert. Its length is patrolled by thousands of armed border, drug enforcement and FBI agents. In Arizona they are complemented by an armed vigilante militia, the Minutemen.

The remaining 1,300 miles of border will be protected by a "virtual fence" – a network of electronic sensors, cameras, towers and high-flying drones that can see for more than 300 miles – that's already in place along parts of the frontier, setting off border patrols in pursuit of figures seen scurrying across screens or picked up by the motion detectors. The whole project is costing more than $4bn (£2.6bn), with the border fence alone working out at about $5m a mile. The barrier's supporters say it is good value for money in the face of what they portray as an onslaught of illegal immigrants – increasingly scapegoats for economic blight and unemployment as they are accused of "stealing our jobs" – drug traffickers and the threat of terrorism. Others back the fence as a means to discourage what they describe as a flood of Mexican women pouring in to the US to have "anchor babies" – children who automatically gain American citizenship by being born inside the country.

Arizona's governor, Jan Brewer, has backed the fence because, she says, her state has become "the gateway to America for drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and crime". Fear in the state was stoked by the death in March last year of an Arizona rancher who authorities believe was shot on his farm by a drug-smuggling scout. In December, a border patrol agent was murdered by smugglers.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Don't be a dead tourista...

Texas Officials Warn Students Not to Travel to Mexico for Spring Break
March 02, 2011 | The Texas Department of Public Safety has issued a travel warning to college students on spring break, urging them not to travel to Mexico, MyFoxAustin.com reports.

Authorities are pointing to several recent incidents of drug-related violence in the country, including the murders of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and two El Paso boys last month. DPS Assistant Chief Tom Vinger said many American students feel invincible while vacationing in popular spring break destinations, like Cancun or Acapulco.

"This age group does not think about this,” Vinger said. “They think they're bulletproof, but just cause you're an American tourist doesn't mean you're immune from violence." Despite the warning, some students say they won't let the violence deter them from going.

"The scary part is what’s cool about it," Jen Fomby, a University of Texas senior, said in an interview with MyFoxAustin.com. The DPS also is warning spring break students to stay away from the U.S. side of Falcon Lake, where American David Hartley was shot and killed by suspected drug cartel members in October. His body has not been recovered.

"The problem with Mexico is there are parts that are probably safer than others and people do come and go safely, but trying to navigate those areas is very dangerous, especially for people who aren't aware,” Vinger said. The DPS says 65 Americans were killed in Mexico last year. About 30,000 Mexicans have been killed since 2006 due to drug-related violence that includes kidnappings, sexual assaults, robberies and carjackings, according to the station.

Read more: FoxNews.com - Texas Officials Warn Students Not to Travel to Mexico for Spring Break

 

[B. Kidd]

Even though I was in Algadones earlier this week, I wouldn't venture into the majority of border towns.

 

[waltky]

Don't go to the beauty shop in Acapulco...

5 Females Found Murdered in Acapulco
April 24, 2011 - Mexican police say the brutally murdered bodies of four women and a teenage girl have been found in the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco.

Authorities say all the victims apparently had a connection to a local beauty parlor. Officials say the semi-nude and bound bodies of two of the women and a 14-year-old girl were found with their throats slashed early Saturday in the salon.

Police say the other victims, who also had their throats cut, were found later in the day in other parts of the resort town. Acapulco, a popular tourist destination, has increasingly been the scene of violent battles between rival drug cartels.

On Friday, the U.S. issued a new travel warning for U.S. citizens in Mexico, urging them to exercise caution amid rising drug-related violence. Nearly 35,000 people have been killed in Mexico's drug-related violence since the end of 2006, when President Felipe Calderon ordered a military-led crackdown on the country's drug cartels.

Source

 

[editec]

Reap what you sow, Americans.

WE enabled the worst elements of society to have the monopoly on certain drugs and THIS is the outcome.

 

[waltky]

Woman dismembered in Mexico City...

Body Parts Found in Upscale Mexico City District
Apr 24, 2011 – The dismembered body of a woman was found scattered in a leafy, upscale Mexico City district, while authorities investigated possible drug gang links in the deaths of five females whose throats were slashed in Acapulco.

The mass slaying of women is unusual in Mexico's drug war, and there was no indication the cases in the two cities were related. Residents of the capital's tree-lined San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood discovered the woman's upper body on one block and her left leg and right leg on two other blocks, the city prosecutor's office said Saturday. The fingers of her left hand had been cut off.

The prosecutors' office provided no details on the woman's identity or a possible motive for the killing. Officials did not return requests for comment Sunday. Mexico City has been somewhat of an oasis from the cartel violence engulfing border states, but a spate of recent killings and decapitations has residents fearing the drug war is encroaching.

In Acapulco, police said they were not ruling out drug or organized crime links possibly related to prostitution in the killings of four women and a 14-year-old girl whose bodies were found Saturday. All five worked at a beauty parlor in a neighborhood known for prostitution and drug dealing, the chief of detectives for the Guerrero state police told The Associated Press on Sunday.

"It's an area with many social problems," Fernando Monreal Leyva said. "On the second floor where the events occurred - in this case, the beauty parlor - a massage parlor was found where sexual acts may have been performed, although this is still under investigation," Monreal Leyva said. The teenage girl had begun working at the salon five days prior to her death, he added.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Many Americans ignore U.S. travel alerts...

Many Americans ignore 'overly cautious' U.S. travel alerts
5/3/2011 - Following bin Laden's death, State Department issued 'worldwide' warning

Many Americans who venture abroad rarely listen to travel alerts issued by the U.S. State Department because, they contend, the advisories are "overly cautious" and too vague to offer practical value. Instead, some American international fliers say they routinely rely on the "more realistic," less politically tinged travel warnings released by other western nations, including England, Australia and Canada. "American travelers are tired, worn out. We're 10 years from 9/11. I travel all the time and, you know what, people are on autopilot," said New York City-based security expert Bob Strang, who co-chaired New York's Anti-Terrorism Task Force. "They pay no attention."

This week's "worldwide" travel alert from the State Department — drafted hours after the U.S. military killing of Osama bin Laden — urged Americans headed or living overseas to "limit travel outside of their homes and hotels" for the next three months, naming no specific cities or nations where trouble may be lurking. The global alert's arbitrary expiration date and ambiguous suggestion of danger only reinforced, for some frequent fliers, the superficial nature and inadequacy of such federal alarms. "The advisories are an extension of American squeamishness when it comes to traveling abroad," said Patrick Smith, an airline pilot and travel columnist for Salon.com "I wonder: Was the advisory issued because of political reasons or is the government just covering its ass?" added John DiScala, who flies to more than 20 countries each year. "Most of my friends who are big travelers don't" heed State Department alerts.

26 alerts and advisories this year

At the State Department — which has written and disseminated 26 separate travel advisories and alerts in 2011 — spokesman John Echard said he believes Americans who visit other lands "are realizing the information is useful." Echard acknowledged that the State Department doesn’t have the technology to track or gauge how many people are reading their travel warnings. But when this week’s worldwide alert was placed on the State Department’s Twitter account, he said he was able to see that "well over" 600 people clicked on it. "We aim to have them worded as carefully as possible so citizens can really understand what’s going on," Echard said. "We want to ensure that these are pretty forward leaning so they can comprehend them pretty easily."

State Department "alerts" (released in recent months for the entire planet as well as for Egypt, Japan and Tunisia), are meant to inform Americans about "short-term conditions ... that pose risks to the security of U.S. citizens," says the department’s website. "Alerts" are meant to expire in 90 to 120 days, Echard said. Meanwhile, State Department "warnings" are dispatched "when long-term, protracted conditions ... make a country dangerous or unstable;" Americans are urged to avoid going to those places. "Warnings" have no expiration date, Echard said. On the State Department’s website, 34 nations are on the warning list, including Mexico, Haiti, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.

More Many Americans ignore U.S. travel alerts - Travel - News - msnbc.com

 

[waltky]

Mexico Deploys 3,000 Troops To US Border...

Mexico Replaces Police With Soldiers In Border Area
June 24, 2011 - In Mexico, one controversial part of President Felipe Calderon's war against the drug cartels has been the use of the military to fight organized crime. Now in the border state of Tamaulipas, the Mexican army is taking over full control of the police departments in some of the state's most troubled cities.

In May, municipal police across Tamaulipas were ordered to turn in their weapons. This week 3,000 armed reinforcements from the military finally arrived to help patrol the state. The Mexican government sent soldiers to replace police in 22 municipalities, including the border cities of Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros.

Outside the main police station in Matamoros — across the border from Brownsville, Texas — scores of police officers lounge around in the parking lot. Others sit idly in the lobby. They're in uniform but their weapons are conspicuously absent from their holsters.

All of the city's police, except for the traffic cops, have been ordered to stay in their barracks. Police Chief Gabriel Lopez Ordaz says the directive came from Mexico City. "They think that many police could be involved in criminal activities," he says.

Ever since the Zetas drug cartel broke from the Gulf cartel two years ago and the gangs began battling for control of Tamaulipas, the state has appeared to be beyond the control of authorities. Criminals have been operating with impunity, and authorities say this could only happen with police involvement.

A State Convulsed By Violence

 

[waltky]

Tourism down in Mexico...

U.S. visitors shy away from Juarez, Mexico
July 14, 2011 -- The number of U.S. tourists traveling into Mexico's most violent city dropped significantly, officials said, blaming the falloff on news of the deadly drug war.

"It is a hard situation," Tourism Director Demetrio Sotomayor of Mexico's Chihuahua state said of the 19 percent drop in U.S. visitors passing through the border city of Juarez so far this month, compared with a year earlier. About 12,000 people traveled through Juarez from July 1-12, down 2,300 from the same period last year, state figures indicate. The number of U.S. citizens applying to temporarily take their vehicles into Juarez dropped 26 percent.

"All of that probably has to do with the travel alerts issued by foreign countries to advise their citizens not to travel to Mexico," Sotomayor told the El Paso (Texas) Times. Twenty-one people were killed in Juarez Tuesday, the year's deadliest day, the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office said. Juarez, a city of 1.5 million on the Rio Grande, south of El Paso, is ground zero in Mexico's war on drugs, with more than 1,220 homicides so far this year after more than 3,100 homicides last year, the newspaper said.

The U.S. State Department has warned U.S. citizens about Juarez's safety. "More than a third of all U.S. citizens killed in Mexico in 2010 whose deaths were reported to the U.S. government were killed in the border cities of Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana," south of San Diego, the department said in April. Sotomayor said police were on alert to protect tourists from criminals and Chihuahua state authorities "just set up medical and road-assistance booths on highways to assist stranded travelers."

Read more: U.S. visitors shy away from Juarez, Mexico - UPI.com

See also:

At least 27 dead in latest Mexico violence
July 9, 2011 -- At least 27 people died in violence in Mexico in two incidents in Monterrey and on the outskirts of Mexico City, officials said.

Police said gunmen opened fire on people in a bar late Friday in Monterrey, killing at least 17 and wounding several others, the BBC reported Friday. United Nations High Commissioner Navi Pillay said she is dismayed at the continuing violence in Mexico, where more than 34,000 people have been killed in the past four years in Mexico's crackdown on drug gangs. Pillay said she is "deeply concerned by the very high and still escalating levels of violent crime in some parts the country."

"Organized crime, with its brutal actions and methods, threatens the very core of the state and attacks the basic human rights we are struggling so hard to protect," Pillay said. The bodies of 10 men and a woman were discovered Friday afternoon on Mexico City's eastern outskirts, an official told CNN.

The public security official, Javier Garcia, said the victims were handcuffed and bound with tape, then shot. Army troops were called in to secure the site. Mexico's state-run Notimex news agency said officials found a woman clinging to life in the carnage. She was taken to a hospital, where she is under guard to protect her.

Read more: At least 27 dead in latest Mexico violence - UPI.com

 

[waltky]

Aye Chihuahua!...

U.S. warns of Mexico violence in Chihuahua
July 15, 2011-- The U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez Friday issued an emergency message warning of violence against U.S. government interests in Chihuahua.

"Mexican authorities have captured key members of the cartels active in Juarez. These successes also bring with them the potential for an increase in violence," the consulate said in a message to staff. "The cartels may seek to retaliate and increase their attacks against rival cartel members, Mexican law enforcement and/or the public in general.

"Information has come to light that suggests a cartel may be targeting the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez or U.S. Ports of Entry. In the past, cartels have been willing to utilize car bombs in attacks. We ask American citizens to remain vigilant.

"If the Consulate should receive any credible threat information that provides a specific time and place, that information will be disseminated immediately." U.S. tourism in Mexico has dropped in recent months due to fears of violence. About 12,000 people traveled through Juarez from July 1-12, down 2,300 from the same period last year, state figures indicate.

Juarez, a city of 1.5 million on the Rio Grande south of El Paso, Texas, is ground zero in Mexico's war on drugs, with more than 1,220 homicides so far this year, after more than 3,100 homicides last year, the El Paso Times reported.

Read more: U.S. warns of Mexico violence in Chihuahua - UPI.com

 

[waltky]

Mexican mass murderer caught...

Mexico arrests trafficker accused of 600 murders
August 11, 2011 - Mexican police arrested the suspected leader of a brutal drug gang called "The Hand with Eyes" and he has confessed to helping carry out or ordering more than 600 murders, authorities said Thursday.

Oscar Osvaldo Garcia Montoya, 36, was arrested in an overnight raid on a presumed safe house on the outskirts of Mexico City, State of Mexico Attorney General Alfredo Castillo said at a news conference. "The Hand with Eyes" is one of the groups blamed for bringing the drug violence typical of northern Mexico to Mexico City and its surrounding areas. The organization is known for extreme violence, including decapitations. Many of its victims have been drug dealers and rivals killed as the group fought for control of drug sales in Mexico state, an area that includes many of the poor suburbs ringing the capital.

Castillo said Garcia is a deserter from the Mexican marines who worked as a bodyguard for major cartel figures including Edgar Valdez, aka "La Barbie," a top assassin for the Beltran Leyva cartel until he was arrested in 2010. With the capture or death of Valdez and most of the leaders of the Beltran Leyva cartel, Garcia split off and formed his own group. Garcia is known as "El Compayito" after a popular Mexican talking hand-puppet character created by an entertainer who dresses up his hand and puts eyes on it. The crime gang apparently took its name from Garcia's puppet nickname.

"In the first declarations that have been gathered, El Compayito and-or 'The Hand with Eyes,' has acknowledged having participated personally in 300 murders and ordering another 300," Castillo said. The bushy-haired Garcia gazed coolly when he was paraded before journalists Thursday, held firmly by two masked police officers. Castillo said Garcia had received some training from members of the Guatemalan special forces called the "Kaibiles," who are known for massacres during the Guatemalan civil war that ended in the 1990s. Some of them are believed to have been hired by Mexican drug cartels.

Mexico arrests trafficker accused of 600 murders - CBS News

 

[blastoff]

Some Montezuma's revenge directed their way. I like that.