Lest We Forget; It is 2nd Anniv. of Missing 43. Photo Essay

Posted by DD from material from NBC, Telesur, and partially republished from Huffington Post

 

A banner with the faces of the 43 missing students hangs in Tixtla, Guerrero, on Feb. 6, 2014. It reads, “Tixtla and El Fortín support the families of the 43 disappeared Ayotzinapa students. They took them alive, we want them alive!”

Yesterday there were marches of human rights activist and protestors around the globe commemorating the 2nd anniversary of kidnapping and murder of students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School in Guerrero state in Mexico.  

Some people say this is old news (the disappearances and subsequent investigation by the government)  and why do we continue to dwell on it.  They say we should just move on because we may never know that really happened and the students are only a tiny fraction of the total number of disappearances in Mexico over the last decade.

In answer to them, there are many reasons why we cannot allow the case of the 43 (as it has become known as) to just become a statistic and forgotten with the passage of time.   Can you imagine the uproar that would shake the world if 43 students from an American university were kidnapped and disappeared. 

The emergence of a social movement with international reach is one of the few positive developments in the Ayotzinapa case over the last two years. "We are all part of a system," said the Mexican Catholic priest and human rights activist Alejandro Solalinde during a lecture at Barnard College in Manhattan on May 5, 2015. "If we analyze reality as scattered elements we won't find answers… But if we interpret everything as part of a larger system, then we will understand what is going on."   Solalinde described Ayotzinapa as  X-rays of Mexican politics. 

Amado Tlatempa, cousin of two of the 43 missing students—Jesús Jovany Rodríguez Tlatempa and José Eduardo Bartolo Tlatempa—believes that Ayotzinapa has elevated the moral conscience of Mexico, and will give people the courage to fight for their rights.

There are many human rights cases we still don't know about. But Ayotzinapa has opened a road to justice," Tlatempa told NBC Latino. 

"The mass kidnapping was really about silencing protestors, silencing an entire group of people, who are exposing what the government is doing bad," said Silvia García, a native from Mexico City marching in New York yesterday.

While the case of the missing "43" was at the heart of a march on Mexican Independence Day that the protestors were calling for the resignation of President Pena Nieto was not successful in getting him to resign, the lead investigator for the case in the Federal Attorney Generals office did resign this week.  Most commentators believe his resignation was the result of the embarrassment to the EPN administration over the now totally debunked government investigation.  (But as is typical in Mexican politics, within hours of his departure from the A/G's office he was appointed by EPN as an advisor to the National Security Council reporting directly to the President).

Keeping a light shined on the case of the 43 has not only resulted in the creation of a social movement, it has allowed other facts to emerge that further debunks the government version of events.

Sinaloa: Six bodies dumped in Mazatlán as violence heats up

Borderland Beat Guest Reporter "Javier B"

Six bodies were found in Mazatlán, Sinaloa.

According to information published by the newspaper El Debate, the victims were discovered about 5:50am on General Cabanillas Street. A vehicle pulled to the street, stopped and dumped the bodies of 5 men and 1 woman, piled atop each other.

The deceased were blindfolded with duct tape with feet and hands bound. 5 have been identified, one of the men and the female are siblings. Only first names were publicized by authorities:

Alfredo "N" Raul "N" Miguel "N" and Caesar "N" are the names of the males, while the identity of the female is Sotera "N".

Reports reveal they had been kidnapped on Saturday.

The bodies all had multiple bullet impact wounds.

Sinaloa has experienced and uptick in violence, in the past months due to a power clash between El Chapo loyalists, versus Beltran Leyva.

Sinaloa Cartel: Treasury Targets Tijuana-Based Cell, Cheyo Antrax, 3 others

Translated by Yaqui for BorderlandBeat
El SudCaliforniano Sept 24, 2016

The United States Freezes Assets of Four Mexican With Ties to the Sinaloa Drug Cartel

On Friday September 23, 2016 the United States in Washington, D.C. sanctioned four Mexicans citizens accused of drug trafficking and/or money laundering for the Sinaloa Cartel.  The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) attached to the Treasury Department identified the Mexicans as:

Eliseo Imperial Castro, alias ''Cheyo Antrax'';

Lirio Alfonso Sotelo, alias "El Atlante''; 

Javier Lira Sotelo, alias ''El Hannibal'' or ''El Carnicero"; 

Alma Delia Lira Sotelo.

Cheyo, Mayito Gordo, and Chino Antrax 

TJ: Armed encounter in la Zona Norte

Original article available at El Mexicano
Translated by El Wachito

An agent affiliated with the tourist police died and two others were wounded after engaging two armed men in la Zona Norte. 

The confrontation started when the officers order a compact vehicle to stop in Coahuila street adjacent to Avenida Ninos heroes however, the gunman ignored the orders and opened fire on the officers.

Clandestine Graves in at Least 16 States of Mexico

Translated by Yaqui for BorderlandBeat  El SudCaliforniano Sept 17, 2018 Orginazacion Mexicano
BB Note: At his term end Claderon estimated over 25k dead in clandestine graves in the border states.  Mexico does not count economic migrants missing from other countries, and the missing are never moved to the dead count unless evidence is located to prove their death......Amnesty International estimates 12k per year migrants 'go missing'.

                           The Federal Government Recognizes 27, 638 Missing Persons

NGO's Say There Are More

Unsolvable links are shared by clandestine graves with missing persons; with nefarious links that expose a widespread reality that has existed for decades and intensified in the 21st Century for Mexico. How many are there? Where are they? Why are they here? Who killed them? The figures are uncertain, but the terror and the pain are perpetual.

Throughout Mexico in tropical forests, under bushes and thickets, on the prairies, savannas, and deserts of the terrain there are clandestine graves.
But also they are in the empty lots in cities and towns. There are virtually thousands of corpses that do not appear in any statistics, never the less they are homicides.

Anything new? No. Value what is said by Francisco Rivas, Director General of the National Citizen Observatory:

"Enough already with making excuses such as "before it was worse,  we did not to know what to do, we didn't know what to combat or who created this situation, we did not effectively address the security problem. Enough of the looking for justifications that allow for the reproduction of so much violence and delinquency. If the current trend of social statistics remain we will actually end 2016 with 19,560 direct victims of homicide and many more victims who will pay the consequences of a country where it's institutions have failed to guarantee social peace nor has respect for human rights."

Sinaloa: Cessna stopped while carrying weapons to Los Chapitos

Borderland Beat Guest reporter Siskiyoukid From Riodoce

BB Note:  The war between the Chapitos and Beltran Leyva presented itself in June, when the home of El Chapo’s mother came under attack.  It was largely assumed that the perpetrators were Beltran Leyva.  Since that date the conflict has heated up to a full struggle for power and control of the region. The theory is Beltran Leyva initiated the attack to force a “show down” with El Chapo’s people and gain greater control of  territory in the region. Each group is from the region and has controlled areas.  This week Chapitos took control of  Huixiopa in Badiraguato, which was controlled by Beltrn Leyva.

Because of the money seized, (the amount of money they concede was in the plane) and the few quantity of weapons, it is more likely that the shipment was already dropped and was stopped after the delivery.....Article begins below

An armed commando belonging to el Chapo took control over a Beltran Leyva stronghold

Translated by El Wachito for Borderland Beat Original article available at Riodoce, 9.22.16

By Miguel Angel Vega, reporting for Riodoce

A dozen of armed man, under the command of Aureliano Guzman Loera "El Guano", took control of a small town known as Huixiopa in Badiraguato which was a controlled area under the people of the Beltran Leyva brothers.

From that town were deployed the armed commandos that took control of La Tuna last month and invaded the house of Consuelo Loera, mother of el Chapo Guzman. The armed commando killed at least two locals.

According to a patrol conducted by Riodoce(news chain from Sinaloa), the town was abandoned because the local residents ran to other nearby ranches or to Culiacan due to the daily armed clashes.

Demand for Inquiry Into Police Abuse of Women May Embroil Mexico’s President

Posted by DD Republished from New York Times

By AZAM AHMED  SEPT. 22, 2016

EPN enjoying his girls on Independence Day

MEXICO CITY — International human rights officials are demanding an investigation into the brutal sexual assaults of 11 Mexican women during protests a decade ago — an inquiry that would take aim at President Enrique Peña Nieto, who was the governor in charge at the time of the attacks.

The demand is part of a multiyear examination by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights into abuses during a 2006 crackdown ordered by Mr. Peña Nieto on San Salvador Atenco, a town in Mexico State where demonstrators had taken over the central square. During the operations, which left two dead, more than 40 women were violently detained by the police, packed onto buses and sent to jail several hours away.

Julián Leyzaola a hero or a villain? or both?

Excerpt taken from Gente de la Tia Juana
Posted and translated by El Wachito

The controversial Julian Leyzaola came to Tijuana when the city needed him the most. Kidnappings and extortion's occurred on a daily basis, even the taco stands, ice cream shops, and the guy with the crutches selling lottery tickets in la Zona Rio paid his tributes to the cartels.

There was a huge lack of morals and values from the drug traffickers, which in reality weren't drug traffickers, but only a group of abusers and unjust traffickers of drugs from those times.

"Tjuana was enduring its darkest days when Julián Leyzaola Pérez rose to prominence in 2008 and 2009 as a tough-minded police chief who taunted drug traffickers, chased down criminals, even arrested his own officers—winning both ardent followers and vehement critics."-Sandra Dibbler reporting for San Diego Union Tribune

Like its said in the drug trafficking world, drug traffickers are not supposed to mess with the people. Drug traffickers are supposed to allow the citizens to live in peace and tranquility, with no kidnappings and abuses. It was supposed to be the other way around, citizens should be empowered and supported, however in Tijuana, during that time period the practice was different.

Dozens of Catholic Priests murdered under Calderon-EPN administration

by Lucio for Borderland Beat- this is a republished post from March 2015-see post of today of two priest murdered this week by using this link

Mexico is the most dangerous nation for priests in the world

Catholic Priests, are among the bravest drug war heroes of Mexico, and they are being killed at an escalating and appalling rate. Few are reporting the full story, or are reporting the numbers inaccurately, including the Catholic Church.

The fact that Mexico is one of the most dangerous places on earth for reporters is well known, what is far less written about is the violence perpetrated against  Catholic Priests.

Mexico is officially now the most dangerous place on earth for Catholic Priests.  While long in the top group of most dangerous places for priests, Mexico is now its leader. For the sixth consecutive year, Mexico tops the list in murders and disappearances of Catholic priests in Latin America.

What must be established, murders and kidnappings of priests receive little attention outside regional reporting hubs.  It is a perplexing, how a story of dozens of  priests being murdered by cartels during  2 administrations goes unrecognized, or for example, a story  about 5 priests being killed in November–December of 2013 in Tamaulipas and Veracruz,  is but a tiny blip on the media radar. 

Inaccuracy of numbers

It must be pointed out, that priests are kidnapped, often from churches or rectories, but  the "disappearance" never budges  from  being labeled as such,  to being counted as “killed” or "dead", unless there is a body. Those  kidnapped and not found, are  not recorded on a drug war casualty list. 

In fairness, neither is any other group of people, which renders summations weak and without merit. 

 Nonetheless, the point being, as the title of this post says;  ' "dozens" of priests killed during the Calderon-Peña Administrations', astonishing in of itself, still is an accurate tally. 

Then there is misreporting, much like municipalities are known to ascribe to, in attempting to lower the rate of violence.

Two Catholic Priests Kidnapped from Church and Killed

Translated by Chuck B Alamada for Borderland Beat from a 24 HORAS article

Tuesday 20, September, 2016

VERACRUZ-This morning (Tuesday September 20), armed men forced their way into a Catholic church located in Poza Rica, Veracruz with the intention of kidnapping two priests. Hours later, the lifeless bodies of the two priests were located near a placed called “La Curva del Diablo” (the devil’s curve). According to reports, a group of armed men arrived at the Nuestra Senora de Fatima church in the Petromex neighborhood where they kidnapped priests, Alejo Nabor Jimenez Juarez and Jose Alfredo Juarez de la Cruz and their assistant.

Photo Courtesy of 24 Horas

Neighbors of the church notified police of the kidnapping and an operation to find them was launched.

Minutes later, the assistant was located alive near the Poza Rica-Papantla roads with obvious wounds. It was determined that the assistant was able to escape his captors. Hours later, the bodies of the two priests were found also near the Poza Rica-Papantla road, in the Reforma Escolin community located within the Papantla municipality.

Both priests were tied and showed obvious signs of multiple gunshot wounds in different parts of the body to include the face.

Photo courtesy of El MUNDO

According to the Centro Catolico Multimedial, there have been 14 priests and one seminary student murdered as well as two priests that remain missing in Mexico since President Enrique Pena Nieto took power in 2012.  

Veracruz is currently the bloody stage that has witnessed a war between Los Zetas and Jalisco Nueva Generacion which both seek to take over the narcotics trafficking routes to the US, the theft of fuel from PEMEX, as well as kidnappings, extortions against residents and migrants from Central America.

Human Head & Narco Message Left Outside Tecate's Police Station

Translated by Chuck B Alamada for Borderland Beat from a ZETA article

Written by Isaí Lara Bermudez (ZETA) Friday, 16 September, 2016

TECATE, BAJA CALIFORNIA NORTE-Last Friday evening, someone left a human head on the privately owned vehicle of a security member of Tecate’s Police Chief, Bartolome Lam Canto. Along the human head, the perpetrators also left behind a cardboard with a narco message directed at the Chief of Police. Several Investigative agencies secured the crime scene while detectives collected evidence.

The human head was left on a brown sedan vehicle which belongs to one of Chief Bartolome Lam Canto’s security staff members along with the cardboard which contained threats directed towards all those working with members of the Sinaloa Cartel. The vehicle was parked in front of the police station at the time of the incident.

Photo Courtesy

The green cardboard contained the following message:

“THIS WILL HAPPEN TO ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE THAT ARE WITH THE AKILES SISTERS OR RANA HERE THE SKY IS PEARL. THE DICK IS HERE, SIT ON IT. CJNG AND CTNG

From what is visible, the message left for Chief Bartolome Lam Canto and his agency is signed by Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and the Cartel Arrelano Felix, under the acronym of CTNG which stands for Cartel de Tijuana Nueva Generacion.  

Municipal agents have admitted to ZETA that Chief Lam Canto only has three or four patrol vehicle patrolling the entire city and assigns only a handful of officers to fixed location.

Just a few weeks ago and a few blocks away from the Chiefs home, the home of one of his commanders was shot up.With this latest human head found, there have been 38 murders so far this year in the Magical Town (Pueblo Magico) and countless people injured as a result of gunfire.

UPDATE: Saturday, 17 September, 2016

A day after the discovery of a human head left on a vehicle belonging to one of the security members of Tecate’s Police Chief, Bartolme Lam Canto, the body to that head was located. The remains were found in a dirt road southeast of the city. The victim was wearing a blue shirt, jeans, and black boots. Additionally, the victim had obvious burn marks about his back, buttocks, and legs which according to investigators, were caused by the perpetrators.

Photo Courtesy of ZETA

An investigator told ZETA: “They tried burning the body but it didn’t catch on fire.”

Unlike the human head where the perpetrators left a cardboard with a message, authorities did not
find a message with the rest of the body. Authorities have identified the victim only as Alejandro and are currently investigating any possible ties with organized crime or links with the municipal police including any connection with the Chief of Police since the head was left outside the police station.

The body was found in an isolated location close to the tunnel in the Valle Verde neighborhood of Tecate.

Quick Fact: Tecate has around 40 square miles and a population of about 65,000

Community Police Remains Found In Tixtla; Armed Group Kidnapped Him the Day Before

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Celso Nava, a member of the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities (CRAC) in Tixtla, Guerrero, was found dead a few hours after having been kidnapped.  Police reports indicate that on Saturday, an armed group took him.

The body was found on the bypass that connects Tixtla with the state capital, Chilpancingo; however, some members of CRAC “Mi Patria es Primero” (My Fatherland Comes First), which is one of three divisions of the Community Police, that is based in the neighborhood of El Fortín, denied that Nava was part of that organization.

This isn’t the first fall suffered by CRAC, as it is worth noting that last November 27, a few days before the extraordinary elections that would dictate who was mayor of Tixtla, Los Ardillos, a criminal group that operates in the area, assassinated four community police members.

The attack occurred a few blocks from the headquarters of the organization.

Mochomo: Psychiatric Eval ordered for Alfredo Beltran Leyva

Lucio Borderland Beat with C.E.M.

By Narcomics fo Borderland Beat

The two day hearing scheduled for Alfredo Beltran Leyva last week, was postponed and and a continuance filed by the defense granted.  In its place a status conference was held.

The reason for the continuance was a request for a psychiatric evaluation.  The evidence to support the request is under seal.  And most likely will remain under seal.

The move is an unusual one, especially at this late stage of the case, Alfredo pleaded guilty and the hearing was pre-sentencing.  The hearing ordered by the judge was considered favorable to the defendant.

This most certainly not a ploy to stall, as part of the filing the defense attorney submitted evidence proving his preparedness for the hearing.

Because of the surprising guilty plea, the judge ordered the 2 day hearing in which prosecutors would have to prove some of their claims.  For example, the outrageously high forfeiture amount.