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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Mexico rejects video call to exterminate Zetas

by Mark Stevenson
AP



The Mexican government said it is investigating videos posted on the Internet in which a gang of masked men vow to exterminate the violent Zetas drug cartel, and said it opposes such vigilante methods.

At least two videos have been posted by a group believed linked to the powerful Sinaloa cartel that calls itself the "Mata Zetas," or "Zetas Killers." The Zetas were founded by deserters from an elite military unit and are known for their brutality.

In the most recent video, posted over the weekend, the group says it is attacking the Zetas because people are tired of the gang's kidnappings and extortion.

"We are the armed wing of the people, and for the people," says a man with a ski mask, who is seen in the video sitting at a table with four other masked associates and reading from a prepared statement. "We are anonymous warriors, with faces, but proudly Mexican." The speaker said his group was prohibited by its ethical code from carrying out kidnappings or extortion.

No group has formally claimed responsibility for that video, but the language and style of the declaration were similar to a video released in July, in which about two dozen armed men claimed to be "Mata Zetas" from the Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel, or New Generation cartel, a group linked to the Sinaloa cartel.

The Interior Department said in a statement Monday night that the Attorney General's office "has opened an investigation into the videos that express the aforementioned ideas and are circulating on the Internet."

"While it is true that the criminal organization known as the Zetas should be defeated, that must occur by legal means and never by methods outside the law," the statement said.

While Mexican video-sharing sites and blogs frequently feature alleged statements by cartels, the "Mata Zetas" videos are being taken more seriously after a gang dumped 35 bound, seminude, tortured bodies on a busy avenue in front of horrified motorists in the Gulf coast city of Veracruz.

All 35 victims, who included 12 women and two minors, were linked to the Zetas cartel, and the killers were believed to be from the New Generation gang, said an official of the Mexican armed forces who couldn't be quoted by name for security reasons.



Local media reported that other banners appeared in Veracruz state over the weekend, accusing the Mexican Navy, which has been active in the anti-cartel offensive, of favoring the Sinaloa cartel, and of kidnapping local people.

While the Interior Department statement did mention those banners, it stressed that "any group or organization that operates outside the law and with violence, is being combated through (government) institutions, and without any favoritism."

However, security expert Edgardo Basucaglia has expressed fears that Mexico might be spiraling into a situation where paramilitary style organizations spring up, taking one side or another in the war between cartels, with the aid, cooperation or tacit tolerance of parts of the police or military forces.

Such a situation occurred in Colombia in the 1980s and 1990s, when officials allowed illegal far-right militias to spring up to fight leftist rebels. Those Colombian militias become deeply involved in killings and drug trafficking.

"In every country that has been studied throughout history, when they have faced this kind of institutional decadence, society has adopted private mechanisms of protection that give rise to paramilitary forces," Basucaglia wrote in a recent article. "Mexico today finds itself in the initial stage of the situation they went through."

The Interior Department, which is responsible for domestic security, rejected any vigilante or paramilitary action.

"In Mexico, there is no room for any person, group or organization to violate by word or deed the rule of law, for whatever reason or end," the statement said. "The federal government rejects any action that would stray from the path of legality."

13 comments:

  1. I don't endorse any of the criminal groups in Mexico. However, the Mexican justice system is so corrupt and inept, that it boggles the mind that officials would believe that the average law abiding citizen trusts them. So you are asking people to continue to have faith in a system where most police forces are corrupt, the military for the most part is seen as honorable, yet they also have been accused of wrongful acts.

    The issue is not who is doing what to who anymore. The issue is the future of drug smuggling. What they fight for is the right to smuggle and deal drugs. Is Mexico going to fight something that can't be won? Does the average citizen understand that drugs are for adults and teenagers, what candy is to babies. HUMANS LOVE TO CONSUME DRUGS.

    We love to alter our consciousness. Remember when you were kids, you would spin around in cirles and get dizzy and you liked it??Or when someone would twirl you around and you liked it?? It begins as kids, we love to alter our consciousness.

    Therefore, this war will never be won. To big a demand for drugs and too many footsoldiers..

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  2. Calderon doesn't seem to get that what he says and does means nothing. My voice on BB is as relevant as his.

    Why?

    Because the Mexican government don't run the country. The cartels do. To kill a cartel, it takes a cartel, not a government.

    Mexico is out of control. and no-one is at the wheel.

    This will start to get bad when the Zetas start kidnapping and killing tourists in the Yucatan. It surely has to be their big ace up their sleeve. The Mexican government don't want them doing that at any cost, and so that is their leverage to get them off their case.

    But the cartels don't care for the tourists. They only care for the drugs. This is going to get much worse before it gets any better;

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  3. Pinche gobierno de Mexico, es una mierda. There are few that are worth a shit but most have sold themselves for la plata. Para que se hacen pendejos, in Mexico existe mucha pinche mierda.
    I would welcome the United States to come in and wipe out the basura.

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  4. It almost sounds like Heriberto Lascano Lascano told him to say that.

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  5. If Mexico had functioning effective LAW then the argument to let the government police and contain criminal gangs might have some credability,BUT MEXICO has no such ability YET. At present killing of gang members by other gang members from halcones to bosses is great entertainment and is OK. There are probably about 100,000 more to go until the message gets thru, IT DOSEN'T PAY TO BE A CRIMINAL.

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  6. "In Mexico, there is no room for any person, group or organization to violate by word or deed the rule of law, for whatever reason or end,"

    Law? what law??? the country is in chaos!! no one trusts the law anymore and the cartels control area. The time to sort this horrible mess out would had been at the beginning with true honest cops who want to make a positive difference but no because of the huge amount of dirty cops the situation has gotten wayyyy out of hand to try and stop now.

    Mexico is finished but at least the one good thing is the Narco's kill each other.

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  7. Hypocrisy at its finest. Where was the noble Mexican govt. when my friends were killed by zetas for not being able to pay extortion money?

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  8. As inconsiderate as this might sound. They will never stop the drug business. There is way to much money involved on both sides of the border and globally. If there is anyway they can just control what's going on. A suggestion would be to start a union between the head of the cartels. Who controls what. These guys should understand that when there is blood shed its harder to make money. After all that is the bottom line..

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  9. "beginning with true honest cops who want to make a positive difference"

    I am afraid they do not last very long. They can't just put on a cape, and off they go. It is never one dodgy cop. It is the whole police department. How can one low level peasant with a desire to fix the world overcome that? Secondly, the pay is lousy, and whilst not condoning it, it is no surprise that they substitute their income with back handers.

    "There are probably about 100,000 more to go until the message gets thru, IT DOSEN'T PAY TO BE A CRIMINAL." - That is not true. It does pay, and very well, for MANY. 100k dead out of possibly 5 to 10 million isn't very much for a group of individuals who have no education. Skydiving has worse odds.

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  10. " What they fight for is the right to smuggle and deal drugs. Is Mexico going to fight something that can't be won? Does the average citizen understand that drugs are for adults and teenagers, what candy is to babies. HUMANS LOVE TO CONSUME DRUGS. "

    Absolutely correct, which is why it is not an American issue, as many Mexicans want to believe. There are as many drug users in Mexico as there are in the USA. As in Canada, Europe and the rest of the world.

    Why doesn't politicians read some history and learn about what happened during the prohibition. Drugs are bad, alcohol is bad, smoking is bad. Speeding is bad, prostitution is bad, and gambling is bad. Everything is bad if looked at it the right way. Illegality makes these cartels flourish. Legalize all drugs, and watch the madness disappear.

    Is there anyone here who wants to consume drugs, but doesn't because they can' get hold of any? No, no-one. Why? Because if you want to consume drugs, you just leave your house, go to your local dealer, and buy some. If he gets arrested or killed, you just go to the next dealer. The law doesn't feature in it. At all. Making it illegal just puts it out of the control of cartels. Stupid politicians. Prohibitions is the very opposite of control.

    Alcohol is managed in our society. Sure, it has some bad effects, but we manage it in our society.

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  11. You're right it mostly does not pay to be a criminal. Cause the end, for many, usually comes too quickly even before the big bucks. It'll take a while, for morons to quit gambling with the odds.

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  12. IOI what's wrong finally some one is facing those so called zorrillos ,and now they wanna pretend they care , I think the show must go on , just like those setas have murder inoccent people , they should be eradicated from mexico, they should be exterminated till Mexico becomes a save country , if they wanna go to central america and do their shit there go do it , but in mexico we are not going to tolerate that crapp , I'm gladd some one is taking care of it , for a safer mex

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  13. I just don't understand y we complain about corruption, when we brought it to ourselves. When I was in Mexico people always talked about how they pay the cops so they didn't have inspect their vehicles. Cops were doing their job. And just because we didn't want them to take their time or because we were afraid that they might find something we not suppose to carry. We decided to go the easy way, bribes . Now most of the cops are so used to make easy money. We blame the government bullshit hipocrats that's all there is to

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