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on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Now its San Luis Potosi.





Bloodbath erupts on highway 57 in San Luis Potosi

Confrontations between gunmen and federal police officers and Mexican army troops on Friday, January 21 resulted in at least 8 deaths including six criminals, one kidnapping victim and one federal police officer.

At least four criminals were captured by the army and several vehicles seized.

There were at least two shootouts on national highway 57 between San Luis Potosi and the city of Matehuala as well as seizures of weapons and vehicles at various checkpoints between both cities.

Highway 57 is one of the main north-south arteries in Mexico, running between San Luis Potosi, a city of one million inhabitants and the capitol id the sate with the same name, and Nuevo Laredo. (the state of SLP has one of the highest rates of migration to the U.S. and is one of the main bases of recruitment for “Los Zetas”)

The incidents and checkpoints on the highway resulted in massive traffic jams several miles long and injuries due to at least one multiple accident.

Neither the PGR (Attorney General) or Sedena (National Defense Ministry) acknowledged any casualties among their forces but most unofficial reports stated at least one federal police officer was killed and five others wounded.

Some media sources initially reported as many as three federal police officers and two soldiers had lost their lives on highway 57.

The confrontations began Friday at 10:30 AM in the town of San Lorenzo, where federal police officers attempting to stop a vehicle were fired on by its occupants.

A federal police officer was killed and another injured in this first encounter. A second police unit arriving for backup was also hit by gunfire.

Soon after units of the Mexican army arrived and fought several skirmishes with groups of gunmen, according to witnesses.

Outside of Villa de Arista, Sedena reported an army patrol was attacked by a group of gunmen. According to Sedena it was here that the six attackers were killed and four others captured. At least five vehicles and multiple weapons were abandoned by the gunmen, an unknown number of which escaped into the surrounding desert.




The body of the kidnapping victim was found in one of the vehicles abandoned at Villa de Arista.

Outside of Matehuala, army units manning checkpoints reportedly seized three vehicles, eight weapons, 37 magazines, two grenades and 16 thousand dollars in two envelopes, addressed to two people with the alias "El Peje" and "Tiroloco."



There were also reports that a federal police substation at “el Huizache” was attacked by at least 16 gunmen traveling in several vehicles. One grenade blast also damaged the station and two police vehicles were described as total losses.

El Huizache is the site where several scenes from the movie “El Infierno” were filmed.

Unconfirmed accounts state that two federal police were killed and two were wounded in el Huizache.

Black Hole

At least 30 deaths of members of organized criminal gangs, civilians and law enforcements personnel have been reported since Friday, January 14 in Ciudad Valles, the city of San Luis Potosi and along highway 57 to Matehuala and Cedral.

Last night, Saturday January 22, a gunfight with two fatalities was reported between authorities and gunmen in the Peñasco section of San Luis Potosi. The encounter was reported in citizen’s online forums but did not appear on any of today’s daily newspapers.

This is the black hole that much of the news of gunfights disappears into since late in 2010 in the city of SLP.

Usually the first topic of daily conversation at work places is the location of “last night’s gunfire”. SLP is now a large city that empties its streets after sundown.

Telephone extortions are endemic. Caller ID is your best friend, unknown numbers are no longer answered.

Middle class citizens are pulling their savings out of banks, fearful that corrupt employees will sell the information to members of organized crime.

Strangers are not to be trusted. Old customs of friendship are crumbling.


This Sunday morning the discovery of an executed state police officer was reported in SLP. It was unknown if this death was related to the confrontation in Peñasco.

Abandoned bodies, some tortured and beheaded, others dead by gunshot, some with messages and all apparently the result of organized crime or extra-judicial executions are appearing almost daily inside and in the outskirts of the city.





The only incidents mentioned in the local press are the executed hung from bridges or deposited in front of law enforcement offices or in public areas.

Humberto Moreira’s visit hoarded the space on the local newspapers, with his anti PAN rants, demonizing PRI critics and his declaration of hero status to his fellow San Luis Potosi PRI Governor, Fernando Toranzo.

Chaos in San Luis Potosi

Saturday, January 15: A white ford pickup runs an army checkpoint outside of Matehuala. A high speed pursuit ensues with shots fired into the municipality of Cedral, a quaint town that is the gateway to the magical mountain location of Real de Catorce.


The pickup with the gunmen on board hit a barrier and came to a stop in the outskirts of Cedral, resulting in a 10 minute shootout. Four alleged gunmen were killed and, according to witnesses, an undetermined number of people were injured.

Sunday, January 16: At approximately 9:30 PM a convoy of 3 pickups acting suspiciously is pursued by an army patrol while traveling on the San Luis Potosi-Rio Verde highway.

Two of the pickups crash with other vehicles during the pursuit, allowing the occupants to flee. The third pickup enters the Colonia San Rafael where a gunfight between the occupants and army troops ensues.
Four gunmen are killed during the confrontation. Army troops report that grenades are used against them but they do not report any casualties.

A handcuffed and blindfolded body is found in one of the other abandoned vehicles. Eighteen side arms and nine assault weapons are seized by the military.

Monday, January 17: On Monday morning Candido Ochoa Rojas, the state Attorney General, holds a news conference that strengthens the grip fear holds on the city.

On what appears to be a clear message sent to San Luis’s security establishment, Ochoa announces that in the pre-dawn hours of Monday, two decapitated bodies are left in front of a state ministerial police installation on Xochitl street.



A message is left with the bodies “Esto les pasara a todos los que siguen a Felix Escobar” (This will happen to all who follow Felix Escobar).

Ochoa also announces that a battered body was left at the doorstep of the building housing the state Attorney General’s office, his headquarters.

The Attorney General states, unconvincingly, that he is unaware if this morning’s news is related to the deaths of the four gunmen the previous night.

At 8:40 AM the decapitated bodies of two other victims are found at the intersection of Villa Vista and Leavi in the municipality of Soledad de Graciano Sanchez, a San Luis Potosi suburb. One of these bodies is identified as Victor Manuel Maza Resendiz, a state ministerial police agent.

Another message was left by their killers, “San Luis se Respeta, no esta Solo” (Respect San Luis, he/it is not alone)

On Tuesday the heads of Maza Resendiz and his fellow victim were found in an ice chest just across the state line in the city of Ojuelos, Jalisco. According to news reports in Jalisco a message signed by “Los Zetas” was attached.

Tuesday, January 18: A political three ring circus entertains the state.

The Secretary General of the state government, Marco Antonio Aranda, blames the week’s violence on organized crime’s response to the naming of a military general to the post of state Public Security minister.

After a meeting with representatives from the chamber of commerce and the military, the Secretary General assures the public that disarming them will decrease the violence.

General Javier Aguayo y Camargo, the newly appointed military head of the state Public Security Secretariat, announced that his police force will stop all investigations into the week’s violence, stating that this falls under the jurisdiction of the state Attorney General’s office.

However, he promised to improve cooperation with the Attorney General’s office and other law enforcement officials to decrease the violence.

It was also learned that the Attorney General’s family has been living for some time in the U.S.

Wednesday, January 19: Around 5:00 AM the bodies of two men are found hanging from an overpass on highway 57 to Queretaro, on the south side of San Luis Potosi.


One of the bodies falls to the ground shortly after the authorities arrive, possibly the result of executioners new to the practice that did not fasten the rope correctly.

A narco message is found at the site that reads, "Estos son los mentados enguilados, los que mataron a un indigente. Según los de la limpia pensando que era halcón. Primero enseñense a limpiarse el culo. Aquí entran la pura verga Chapos y C.D.G. Atte. Zetas" (These are the celebrated roped ones that killed a homeless person. The cleaning crew thought he was a lookout. First learn how to clean your ass. Only real dicks enter here, chapos and CDG. Sincerely, Los Zetas)

The Attorney General resigns.

The state Attorney General (PGJE), Candido Ochoa Rojas, held a news bizarre news conference Wednesday afternoon where he read a four minute statement and refused to take questions afterwords.

In his statement Ochoa Rojas said that the acts of violence seen during the week would continue into the future, and that it is necessary that the population of San Luis show the highest possible level of serenity.


The Attorney General stated that it was of the up most importance that the citizens remain calm and avoid being intimidated by organized crime.

In his position as Attorney General, Ochoa Rojas promised to use all means necessary to restore security and tranquility, and stated that the public does not doubt his competence or tolerate arguments that lengthen the task at hand.

He explained that the violence of the past week fell under federal jurisdiction but that he had taken charge of the investigations.

Ochoa Rojas said that the violence of the past week is due to two factors that also affect the rest of the country. First, that the violent backlash of criminal gangs is due to the coordinated action of the three levels of government against them; and second, that criminal gangs are fighting among themselves for disputed territory.

The next day, Thursday, the Attorney General, Candido Ochoa Rojas, resigned from office and immediately joined his family already living in the U.S.


Sources:
http://revistaelmundodesanluispotosi.blogspot.com/

Telephone interviews with residents of San Luis Potosi

37 comments:

  1. everytime i talked to my parents about these killings in the past they would always mention how it happened on other states but not SLP(they are from here). i just dont understand why its happening there. Its not a borderstate at all, not sure why its seeping into SLP.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Matando la basura. Que terminen con todos esos perros muertos de ambre. Arriba Mexico!!

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  3. Dam i was just in Real De Catorce 2 weeks ago.

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  4. Only real dicks enter here, chapos and CDG. Sincerely, Los Zetas,

    that is a mistranslation, Slang does not always have literal meanings.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "That is a mistranlation, Slang does not always have literal meanings"

    I guess I wasn't clear enough, what the statement says is that CDS and CDG are not tough enough to enter the Plaza

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anon Jan 24 ...2:01AM

    Never say never holds true in Mx...all of Mx. I don't think big violence will permeate my state, I KNOW it will, it has already begun. anf Mty? I like most folks did not see that coming to the extent it has.,

    SLP, makes sense to me. remember traffiking has to transport TO the border states thru inland from the south.

    Look at this interactive map I left all routes presently known higlighted, you can see where SLP sits nicely. epsecially for meth and mj routes. you can clik the cartel tab to see territories as well..

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/01/drugs_mexico

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anon @ 2:01 AM...

    PS...
    look at the map of cartel territory, see SLP? gray? that is disputed territory...
    now does it make sense?

    ReplyDelete
  8. ''lito'brito @ http://www.litobrito.blog.com/January 24, 2011 at 9:53 AM

    and thanks to help like his from Mexico's fueding narcoculeros, the little tourist business in Real de Catorce is booming..

    tourists from all over the globe are traveling there in droves,hoping to be trapped between an easily blockaded tunnel and the desert outback.

    Brad Pitt, is building a house there as we speak...and there is a new hair salon opening named "pretty woman"..
    NOT!!!....FAIL!!!

    REALITY
    once again we will see the tourist industry negatively affected by the criminal activity in the region,

    this works in the behalf of the narcos..
    by destroying any other source of income it drives the people closer to the arms of the cartels

    what a shame ..to bad the gob de MEXICO has FAILED to for see and protect the people...

    i am still wondering ..corruption or incompetence ...neither option is very reassuring..

    ReplyDelete
  9. this excerpt speaks volumes:


    "It was also learned that the Attorney General’s family has been living for some time in the U.S."

    this admission of failure demonstrates how , by acting as an occupying power instead of a beneficial government, the wealthy, educated , priviliged class in Mexico has failed to provide the social infrastructure necessary to permit Mexico to rise from what is, socially, a fuedal stage ...

    the wealthy were never true shepherds of the people , but they have certainly been wolves within the flock

    the concept of effective , decent governance is yet to be learned by the ruling class in Mexico

    ReplyDelete
  10. Matehuala and Ciudad Valles are not on Highway 57. Valles is due east of SLP, not between SLP and NL

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous said...
    everytime i talked to my parents about these killings in the past they would always mention how it happened on other states but not SLP(they are from here). i just dont understand why its happening there. Its not a borderstate at all, not sure why its seeping into SLP.

    ...but this is happening all over Mexico. Two weeks ago, in Chapala, an attack on the police station happened. And road blocks/shootouts near the airport in Gaudalajara. Lots of gringos/euros in Chapala area.

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  12. And let's not forget the recent shooting at a Golden Zone hotel in Mazatlan...

    There is an upsurge, but it is not clear why at this point. It may be that the government finally has some plan and success. Maybe not...

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  13. It's CDG trying to attack Zeta resources (corrupt cops) so they can take back the plaza. It may be too little too late though, the Zeta's seemed entrenched in Monterrey, CDG had to see this coming, should have taken care of the problem before it became one.

    ReplyDelete
  14. @ anon January 24, 2011 12:22 PM

    hey you got any more info as the overall situation in and around Chapala...thanks

    ReplyDelete
  15. You can get to Matehuala from highway 57 by going through Galeana Nuevo Leon.

    It is for that very reason the military will be putting new installations out there in Galeana..

    To have better closer to 3 states (Tamps, SLP, and of course NL)

    ReplyDelete
  16. RE: LB'S QUOTE: the wealthy were never true shepherds of the people, but they have certainly been wolves within the flock

    the concept of effective, decent governance is yet to be learned by the ruling class in Mexico..."

    AND NOW YOU KNOW WHY THE AVERAGE CITIZENS IN MEXICO DO NOT OWN GUNS...PROTECTION BEING A FOREIGN CONCEPT...IMPUNITY RULES...

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  17. These are pure Chicken shit coward Common criminals.
    San Luis would be a very good place for the Mexican goverment to make a stand and declare, NO MORE!!
    Destroy them and hang them from telephone poles for all to see.
    Set a crufew and enforce it with an iron fist.
    Begin an American style surge and cotinue using thier "ENHANCED INTERRAGATION Techniques".
    This is a real fight for Mexicos Sovereignty , for the safty and future of a nation for the security of its childrens future.
    A real stand must be made and now is the time to do it.
    If nothing hard core is done and Mexico continues to lose these cities to these Rotton sorry sons of street whores than all will be lost for this generation and the next.
    All out war is becoming the real reality in this cluster fuck of madness.
    JUAN PABLO SMITH

    ReplyDelete
  18. @January 24, 2011 9:53 AM
    You idiot if you knew anything it would be even with all the violence in some parts of the country. Mexico is still one of the top ten most visited countries in the world. Check your facts you before you speak lito'brito . Here is a fact, tourism even grew in 2010 haha DUH!!!

    There has always been some type of presence of Zetas and LFM in SLP, if you go back before 2006 you will find news of shootouts like the one shown here.


    Z-1

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  19. @ L

    i don't think there is much sentiment towards owning guns in Mexico...

    the govt frowns on it

    and it seems like people have more of a school of fish type of survival strategy ..than a stand and fight strategy

    i don't see any mass uprising by the people , it has been so long that they have been disarmed and nullified as wielders of power in Mexico, that i think they have lost the taste

    ReplyDelete
  20. ok Z

    you know more than i do...send me a postcard from Real D Catorce ..ok?...

    and what the hell while your at it.. mebbe a couple from Miguel Aleman and cuidad Mier

    i hear the tourist industry is really booming there

    ReplyDelete
  21. I think we should have a group meet in Acapulco...maybe we could get a bargin rate...

    Seriously though, I'd love to meet some of you guys...we'd have lots to talk about!

    ReplyDelete
  22. JUAN PABLO IS RIGHT. FIGHT OR DIE!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. "The Secretary General of the state government, Marco Antonio Aranda, blames the week’s violence on organized crime’s response to the naming of a military general to the post of state Public Security minister.

    After a meeting with representatives from the chamber of commerce and the military, the Secretary General assures the public that disarming them will decrease the violence."

    Would someone explain this to me?

    Disarming "them" who? The cartels, the criminals? Well, what other choice do they have? Let them become more armed and violent?

    Why does he have to assure anyone? Are people prepared to just leave these gangs to their war, pack up their military and go home?

    Well, that's not a bad idea if your home is in the USA.

    ReplyDelete
  24. "Layla2 said... I think we should have a group meet in Acapulco...maybe we could get a bargin rate..."

    Perhaps a Borderland Beat conference, how about it BB, sponsor it and organize it? I have heard Buggs attends several town hall meetings in Mexico, perhaps he can set up a town hall meeting in Acapulco!

    ReplyDelete
  25. "The Secretary General of the state government, Marco Antonio Aranda, blames the week’s violence on organized crime’s response to the naming of a military general to the post of state Public Security minister.

    After a meeting with representatives from the chamber of commerce and the military, the Secretary General assures the public that disarming them will decrease the violence."

    Would someone explain this to me?

    Layla-2, your question is the whole point. After 4 years of escalating violence and 34,000 dead, this incompetent official has hit on the idea that disarming the criminals will decrease the violence! Actually he probably isn't that stupid but is engaging in the venerable Mexican politician's exercise of "es puro discurso", or in other words, just speaking in intelligent sounding nonsense to "engañar" or fool the public into thinking he is actually doing something. Even worse is the head of state SSP, or state police, saying he will no longer investigate crimes because thats the AG's job but he's ready to cooperate with the AG to decrease the violence???? That's why SLP is in such sad shape, because of these incompetents.

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  26. so can we have a show of hands for how many people think the leaders of Mexico are incompetent..

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  27. Que triste ver lo que esta pasando en el pais de Mexico.....

    Especialmente lo que esta pasando en Matehuala porque alli tengo mucha familia.... Cuando les hablo de la violencia se hacen como que alli nunca suceden esas cosas... Pero viendo y leeyendo de lo sucedido como no hay que precuparse.

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  28. Gerardo..
    Well said my friend and to the point. The "drug war" successes of the gov is reminiscent of those hollywood sets that appear authentic until one peeks around back...

    Looks like another reginaol leader of ZETAs bites the dust today in NL..."Comandante Lino"in Escobedo

    http://www.stratfor.com/sitrep/20110125-mexico-los-zetas-regional-leader-killed-nuevo-leon-state

    ReplyDelete
  29. for Z1

    that is a stupid name you are a real idiot

    ReplyDelete
  30. Brito, when the fighting does finally begin to settle down which it will do eventually some day, I think that you should apply to become the Tourist Director of Ciudad Mier and Miguel Aleman. The fine citizens there need a learned Anglo such as yourself to tout the exiting tourism potentials of the area!

    ReplyDelete
  31. @ ernest !

    i seriously do see tourist potential in the three little towns..M aleman,, Mierr, N guerro...

    a nice safe little day trip starting in M aleman...lunch in Mier ..and dinner on the lake in Guerro..fishing...boating ..lake tours all from N guerro...falcon is a pretty nice lake

    it might not sound like much...i am not talking Mexican riviera here but to the people over there it could be a pretty a
    big deal...

    also day trips to Monterrey and other places along the way

    if that area was safe for tourists ..hell yes i would try to promote it..the people could really use the money

    ReplyDelete
  32. hey urny ..why do you keep calling me anglo?

    ..there are lots of people who are not mexican ..but not anglos...

    but i guess not in your small negative world huh?


    and your smarmy little putdown of the M aleman /N guerro area didn't pass either

    you sound like you could direct a tour around castro street..mahu


    "L"B

    ReplyDelete
  33. Brito, don't go off in a big phony huff and puff about me supposedly putting down the Miguel Aleman area when I did no such thing. You're no defender of that area anyway, and my family lives just a stone's throw down the road right where the danger is.

    Your side crack about me supposedly being gay (the crap about Castro Street) is about typical of where your head is at, I might add. Up you own ass.

    And if you are not Hispanic, which is what you have said, odds are that you are Anglo. There are not a whole lot of Asians wandering around in Monterrey and these Border areas like you seem to be doing for non explained (by you) reasons. Too hard for you too keep your stories straight, I think...

    E1

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  34. and by the way uhrny..i like to keep nosy types like you guessing..part of the game "old boy"

    "L"B

    ReplyDelete
  35. legalize marijuana in the u.s. and violence and killings will diminish. some. garanteed.

    ReplyDelete
  36. My daughter is going there next week, she is white and I would hate to declare war on mexico if something happens to her

    ReplyDelete
  37. You idiot, why would you declare war on a country,its the fucking organized crime

    ReplyDelete

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