Drugs, Murder and Mexico

that New Yorker article is wild...it's as if the false dichotomoy that Bush & friends presented to us (torture & suspended habeas corpus for public safety) became a frightening reality

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/11/03/mexico.us.students.killed/index.html

(CNN) -- Two students from the University of Texas at El Paso were shot and killed Tuesday night in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Chihuahua state investigators said late Wednesday.

The students, identified as Manuel Acosta Villalobos, 25, and Eder Diaz Sotero, 23, were gunned down in a hail of more than 30 bullets while driving a Nissan Sentra with Texas plates, Chihuahua State police spokesman Arturo Sandoval said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/11/05/photographers.journey.below.border/index.html?hpt=C1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11703663

how long can this war burn this hot?

I don't know why I keep on clicking this thread

my students were talking about santa muerte in class the other day. as for your question about how long?
as long as it's permitted to last imo. it's a billion dollar business.

RIP Don Alejo Garza Temez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGsQJt94qVc

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/11/mexican-marines-reconstruct-death-of.html#comment-form

How do you translate 'Santa Muerte' as Saint of Death? Shouldn't it be 'Saint Death' or 'Holy Death'?

iirc it would be like saying 'death saint' and thus 'saint of death' would be a more english-appropriate translation...pero my spanish is pretty weak

i'm in the middle of reading The Daughters of Juarez, which focuses on the "femicides" of Juarez over the past couple of decades. the book seems to suggest that the murders could be partially the work of both the police and drug cartels, but overall it's all part of a general culture of juarez that has crept up in which people are unafraid of law enforcement b/c of the heavy crime rate and the corruption of the justice system. i was also surprised to see how much of what has actually transpired there was taken rather directly by roberto bolano for 2666, which isn't a criticism but just an observation. there's one particularly chilling bit where a girl has disappeared and they discover her body in an open field along with 7 other bodies in various stages of decomposition.

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20101203/capt.8b15c906419c4e7bb3fefc5851df5c4f-8b15c906419c4e7bb3fefc5851df5c4f-0.jpg

CUERNAVACA, Mexico – The Mexican army has detained a 14-year-old U.S. citizen suspected of acting as a killer for a drug cartel. The boy said he had been working for the cartel since he was 11.

The much-rumored alleged young assassin nicknamed "El Ponchis" was captured late Thursday at the airport near Cuernavaca with his 16-year-old sister as they tried to catch a flight to Tijuana and flee the country, said an army official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

The sister told reporters that they planned to cross the border to San Diego, California, to go to their stepmother's house. She said their mother had sent money for the tickets, but she did not specify where the mother lives.

Morelos state Gov. Marco Adame Castillo said at a news conference that the boy was born in San Diego and that Mexican officials are researching whether he is a citizen of Mexico as well. Although state courts usually handle crimes by juveniles in Mexico, state authorities have asked the federal government to take over the case because of the gravity of the crimes.

The teen told reporters early Friday he has worked for a drug cartel since he was 11 and that he participated in at least four decapitations. The source said his sister was accused of getting rid of the bodies by dumping them on streets and freeways.

"I participated in four executions, but I did it drugged and under threat that if I didn't, they would kill me," said the boy, who appeared calm and showed no remorse.

Another teenage sister accompanied the two, but officials said she was not suspected of being involved in the cartels.

"El Ponchis" wore blue jeans and a T-shirt and the detained sister jeans and a sweater when they were apprehended. Their airline tickets were already purchased.

The army did not specify where they were detained in the airport or whether they had already passed through security checks.

The attorney general for Morelos state said the two would turned over to state authorities, who handle crimes committed by minors in Mexico.

The two were suspected of helping the South Pacific Cartel headed by Hector Beltran Leyva, brother of Arturo Beltran Leyva, a top drug lord who was killed by Mexican marines in Cuernavaca a year ago.

The boy said Friday he had been employed by the cartel since he was ll years old.

Rumors that have circulated for weeks of a killer named "El Ponchis" as young as 12 years old.

Hector Beltran Leyva's fight for control of the cartel has caused a major spike in violence in the state just south of Mexico City, and in neighboring Guerrero state, where the resort of Acapulco is located.

The siblings were living in a poor neighborhood of Jiutepec, a working-class suburb of Cuernavaca, known as a weekend getaway for Mexico City residents. The area has an industrial area with Nissan, Unilever and other factories, rustic single-level concrete homes and some farms.

Neighbors said the mother has worked in the San Diego area for some time, but none had information about the teenagers' father.

last remaining police officer in border town guadalupe kidnapped
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12085405

friend of mine is in mexico city taking photographs on the crime beat

http://milkyblacks.blogspot.com/2011/01/notes-from-crime-beat.html

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/02/chicas-kalashnikov.html

I couldn't even read all the way through that. It was just too much.

“Not really. I am saving money for my kids. I want them to study, to be something in life. They are still little and they don’t know what I do. At least if one day they find out, if I don’t spend the money, they might forgive me.

jesus

la guera's bravado seems really really ott to me -- not ott in that she is not doing and saying those things -- she clearly is -- but in that she doesn't believe it

living in that sort of environment seems just like having permanent incurable ptsd

: (

a few days ago the brother, sister, and sister-in-law of a murdered activist were also all murdered. presumably one of those "we'll kill you and then kill your family later on if they dare discuss it" sort of things.

How much longer can this shit go on with no one stopping it? Its just so insane.

this particular phase has been going on hardcore for at least 3 years
i do wonder when it will become a priority

i was in mexico last week

Did you get murdered?

He's posting from más allá.

the thing is that when countries declare war on druglords shit generally tends to get worse & stay worse for a long time

He's posting from más allá.
the solitary lol on this thread :(

Well, it's a mexican thing to mock the dead, y'know?

I live in Mexico(Monterrey) by the way.

http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/commentary/war2004/posada8.gif

true
are you mexican are just living there?

oops add OR

Mexican.

I couldn't finish that article either but i might go back and read it piecemeal later on.

Holy hell...

My wife is from Mexico and has lived there for 24 years so she is very familiar with the situation and watches the Mexican news every day for updates; I agree with everyone in here on how ridiculous this all is. The sad thing is that cities that were once "safe" are now starting to get these waves of crime. Her family is (or was) being followed and threatened; thankfully nothing has happened, but the reality is that this stuff is becoming commonplace and it sucks. Last time I went there, there were armored tanks on the streets with enough ammo to waste an entire city block (really!!), and her graduation party was cut short when it was announced that the gangs were coming to kidnap and kill 100 people there. Basically, the nightlife is kind of dead at the moment.

She generally tends to think that the situation will get better (as Cuba was pretty much the same way 10 years ago but seems okay now) after their president leaves office (or gets murdered, not sure which is more likely), as apparently the guy is fighting the drug lords which is leading to all this violence. Alternatively, she is acutally kind of hoping for a U.S. takeover of Mexico. According to her, Mexico could be a first-world country, as they have great work ethic and many natural resources, but everything is so corrupt and the previaling attitude so defeatist that it's hard to imagine it ever happening.

Read some of the stories coming out of Juarez lately; you literally cannot give away real estate there. If that place ever turns around someone's gonna be rich.

Wishing I hadn't clicked on the other story about the 4 decapitated men now. :(

Remember when Chiapas were the big threat?

i really hope this police chief manages to survive her term

― rothko's chapel and waffles (omar little), Wednesday, October 20, 2010 7:07 PM Bookmark

She did, kinda.

Chiapas is a state -- I think you mean Zapatistas?

I don't doubt that eventually things will get better, but I wonder when the US is going to (officially, formally) own up to its responsibility here. Drug war fatigue can't last forever, and there's going to be a tipping point. I just wonder when that's going to be.

im living in toluca (a hour and a half south of mexico city) until july. its relatively safe down here although the mood is kinda paranoid. lots of gated communities and so on. talking to mexicans about the whole deal, they seem to be hopeful that the next govt. can come in and clean it all up.

i really hope this police chief manages to survive her term

― rothko's chapel and waffles (omar little), Wednesday, October 20, 2010 7:07 PM Bookmark

She did, kinda.

― Pleasant Plains

that's a "relief" i suppose.

I feel a little better now for perving over her in the ws threads, then. best wishes to all folks on this thread who are in mexico.

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110316/capt.cb26f3752e6c43c382e7249d1d95b7f6-8ba85f82d3864320af3735bc59ba1e60-0.jpg?x=400&y=263&q=85&sig=_Qc2hVtGbdG4gycY.GEHaw--

Bodies lie on the floor in a home where gunmen killed an elderly woman and two of her grandchildren in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, Mexico, Tuesday March 15, 2011. A convoy of gunmen chased a man into the home and sprayed the residence with bullets killing the 60-year-old woman, along with two boys, ages 2 and 6, police said in a statement. A 23-year-old woman was also wounded.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110317/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico

interesting

http://www.gamingunion.net/news/call-of-juarez-the-cartel-eyes-on-preview--4343.html

http://www.gamebandits.com/blog/2011/03/18/call-of-juarez-from-tex-mex-western-to-narcoterrorism/

However, when they announced that it would be called Call of Juarez: The Cartel, and would take place in a modern day setting, many people were left rather stunned.

as you can imagine!

It sounded rather cool, but many people wondered if the entire premise of the game, what made it stand out in the first place, would be lost as a result.

oh, for those reasons, then...

I can't stop following that Borderland Beat blog. So depressing and terrifying, but oddly compelling to read about. It really is like a modern day, lawless wild west or something - just ten times more deadly.

I mean, jesus:

hrough this communique, we are announcing that beginning this Friday on March 25, the true cleansing will begin. Beginning in San Nicolas, we will exterminate the scum filled rats: Civil servants, police, and transit authorities. Say goodbye to your families, avoid being with them or using your children as human shields, do not risk it. Ultimately, the scum will meet their end regardless of where they are or who they are with. This will also happen to the neighborhood lookouts, "Neighborhood Watch." We have something very special for you, similar to what the transit authorties will experience.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/26/us-usa-guns-mexico-idUSTRE76P33T20110726

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/in-mexico-the-glamor-of-narco-culture/

#12 is just fucking unbelievable

Narco-culture, he said, is narcocorridos — rap songs about drugs that glorify the life experiences of violent drug dealers. It is giant mausoleums celebrating assassinated kingpins. It is films about the drug world. Blogs about the drug world.

maybe the author is using a very flexible definition of 'rap', but the term generally isn't used w/r/t rap songs

interesting article from foreign policy: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/07/14/can_mexico_fix_its_image_problem

partly interesting only because i feel like i have seen a # of 'positive' articles abt mexico in e.g. 'the economist' about how things arent as bad in mexico as they seem &c &c