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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Tamaulipas: A Death Trap for Mexico's Military

Vanguardia (June 2, 2014) Source: 24 Horas

Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat

Sixty soldiers have died in operations against drug trafficking in the past 18 months; the Gulf and the Nueva Generacion (Jalisco's New Generation cartel) are the main aggressors.

 REYNOSA.- A total of 60 Mexican Army soldiers have died in the first 18 months of this presidential term while taking part in operations implemented against organized crime and drug trafficking. One in three has lost his life in Tamaulipas.

Jalisco and Michoacan are states that have also seen soldiers fall, six in each case from December, 2012, until now. Next are Durango and Chihuahua with five (deaths) each,  Sinaloa with four, and the rest in seven other states.

Two attacks have resulted in the greatest number of deaths for the military. In both cases, the criminals had an advantage because they were ambushes, not direct confrontations.

One of them took place just this past May 13, at kilometer marker 70 on the Ameca-Mascota highway, right at the arches at the entrance to the municipality of Guachinango. A convoy of six soldiers with the 32nd Infantry Battalion were sent to obtain a sample from an illegal fuel tap. When the military transport was traveling through the area, a pickup truck blocked the road and triggered the ambush. More than 20 gunmen with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion) fired several volleys with their AK-47 assault rifles from the east side of the road, from about 40 meters away. The criminals also used fragmentation grenades.

Four soldiers lost their lives, unable to defend themselves. Another two, a lieutenant and a soldier, were badly wounded and were transferred to a hospital. There were no casualties among the criminals. 

The other attack, the deadliest to date, took place on October 3, 2013, when gunmen from the Gulf Cartel ambushed a convoy of military police in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The soldiers managed to defend themselves but they were at a disadvantage due to the poor visibility in the area where the attack took place. Thirty-five were killed by gunfire.

The number of fallen soldiers is slightly greater than (the number) during the first 18 months of the Calderon presidency, when 57 soldiers were killed. Another important difference, according to an official updated report from the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena: Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional) is that, at the start of the previous administration, the principal cause of death was due to accidents during operations, and today, they are due to attacks with firearms.

The facts show that, of the 60 soldiers who have died from December 2012 to date, 35 were murdered by gunfire from criminals, compared to 19 that died from the same causes during the first part of the Calderon administration.

Vehicular accidents during operations are currently the second cause of military deaths, with 21 soldiers killed. The four remaining military deaths were: two from falls, one by drowning and one more from an aerial accident.

The majority of soldiers killed were from the lowest echelons, that is, they were soldiers. The higher ranking ones were an Infantry Second Captain, who died from gunfire in Guamuchil, Sonora, on May 30, 2013, and two lieutenants who died in Chihuahua and in Michoacan. Among those who died is a Lieutenant aircraft pilot with the Mexican Air Force, who lost his life in an aircraft accident in Chihuahua, Chihuahua.

It bears pointing out that, unlike previous years, there are no members of Special Forces or other elite units among the military casualties, which, according to authorities consulted, is due to the fact that criminals have preferred to attack conventional Army transport or patrol convoys. 

In the past months, the operations with the greatest impact against criminal leaders have been carried out by special groups within the Mexican Navy.      

36 comments:

  1. in a war zone like tamps. who the hell sends six soldiers anywhere?
    no aerial survey? no drones? pemex guards? strategy?
    of course it's all in the bag, corrupt government, and military brass, who always steal a few checks from the elements gone "awol", juan soldado's worthless ass does not matter, it doesn't even rate an investigation...
    maybe mañana...

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    1. Drones hahahah for those untrained paisas...

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  2. send in the U.S. military with drones and air support the cartels would be blown clean off the face of mexican soil. the u.s. fires first and asks questions later to them their are no civilian casaulties but hey their methods work they killed bin laden and also helped catch z40 with a predator drone. im guessing el chapo was also captured because of u.s. intelligence.... remember escobar.... the US CIA was responsible for his death...

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    1. The US has been an effective killing machine since its inception.

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    2. They where also responsible for fast and furious, the crack epidemic in the 80's. The bay of pigs, the non existant WMDs in Iraq. The war on drugs and their participation in drug sales, with rick ross, the Iran Contra affair. They're responsible for plenty of deaths all right.

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    3. And we all know that with the death of Don Pablo Escobar all cartels in colombia seized to exist

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    4. Seal team six... Goss man just shut up n be realistic.. ya its sad but it ain't happening..

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    5. You mean it would be as easy as it was in Iraq and Afghanistan? I think this war in Mexico is the toughest they've ever encountered. When the enemy doesn't wear a uniform, looks like the rest of the civilization, who are you fighting?

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    6. The cartels have infiltrated every social class in mexico....you cant just wipe it out with bullets....there are so many silent investors that you will never even hear about :)

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  3. Can you prove the cia or the US in general killed Pablo.........i thought so. You need to get your facts st8. The reason they caught pablo was becuas of the hard work by A COLUMBIAN son of captian of police of medillin.

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  4. Not one american was present during PABLOS death.

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  5. --the US/CIA was also responsible for JUAN PABLO ESCOBAR's rise as a drug lord, for the prosperity of his empire and for the persecution that ended with his execution.
    --the US/CIA is also responsible for the mass murders dirty wars and depopulation campaigns being carried on on the latin american countries...
    --and there are still no indictments, not even any investigation...

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  6. Apperantly the previous administration was lying through their teeth. Accidents where reported, but if there's one thing we know about México is that we can always make it look like an accident. They have become adapt at working the numbers. You'll never have all the names of the dead at casino royal or the mass graves in Tamaulipas. They just wouldn't add up if famulies got a kist together, so in Tamaulipas they sent people whom where looking for their families home because they didn't want the familes to a quaint themselves with each other.

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  7. Apperantly the previous administration was lying through their teeth. Accidents where reported, but if there's one thing we know about México is that we can always make it look like an accident. They have become adapt at working the numbers. You'll never have all the names of the dead at casino royal or the mass graves in Tamaulipas. They just wouldn't add up if famulies got a list together, so in Tamaulipas they sent people whom where looking for their families home because they didn't want the familes to a quaint themselves with each other.

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  8. Drones and air support LOL ! like the wars over seas ha ? every war has being lost.

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  9. Damnnnn i knew the gulf cartel wasnt weak thas bullshit they wouldnt of been able to pull of an ambush and murder of 35 soldiers if they were no cartel in history has ever done that.

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    1. Gulf cartel is weaker than it was but is not weak even though is not under one chain of command. Theres plenty cdg to go for a while.

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  10. Like always the US military involvement...lol just stop sending weapons to the cartels and stay the fuck outa Mexicos internal conflict.

    Go refix iraq, libya and afghanistan.

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  11. What the U.S does is just destable regions look at: Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mexico, Central America,with a few to begin with. Lol

    Stop acting like thr damn world police and begin feeding and helping the Citizens more. The world doesnt need more violence or death.

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  12. 9:09 PM
    That's right,keep it on topic.
    .
    I hadn't heard these figures before" CDG.Thirty-five were killed by gunfire" CJNG seem to be particularly well organized and deadly,they are similar to an armed militia?

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  13. There in lies the problem than occur when you allow the cartel problem to fester as has happened in Mx. The cartel sicarios are gaining combat experience and are probably becoming more efficient killers. If anybody has seen the famous Reynosa shootout video, you can clearly see how these can manage to give govt. forces a hard time. Although they would eventually lose the battle. As soldiers in a war zone though, they should always be prepared to engage an enemy since they are armed combatants. Either way, your bound to lose soldiers in a war zone. Even the best militaries in world take combat losses.

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  14. Wtf are the soldiers using sling shots?

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  15. Tamualipas is the big sex slave (kidnapped migrants) spot for various gangs to include Maras. There's so many hands in that pot its sad.

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    1. No maras in cdg controled tamaulipas their may b mara members around n their way north or may b working for the zetas but not cdg.

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  16. I don't think U.S. military intervention will ever happened given the history of both countries and the reputation the U.S. military has. Although i do believe that if the U.S. starts denying visas to all the local corrupt politicians, it will have an impact in the level of violence. The majority of the politicians have their families living in the U.S. for security reasons. And in the border towns such as Reynosa, the past 3 mayors had not even live in the city, they sleep in Mission or McAllen, tx. And just cross when is safe, with a convoy of 20 bodyguards.

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  17. I looked this up on the internet for what it is worth.

    In 1992, the United States Joint Special Operations Command (consisting of members of the US Navy SEALs and Delta Force) and Centra Spike joined the manhunt for Escobar. They trained and advised a special Colombian police task force, known as the Search Bloc, which had been created to locate Escobar.

    So because of the US training this take down of Pablo took place.

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  18. Not one American present at Escobars death? I suggest you read 'Killing Pablo' or look into the history of JSOC in Colombia. It is confirmed there was more than one JSOC unit operating in the hunt for Escobar. Rumor has it that JSOC snipers are the ones that hit him in the roof top.

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    1. Americans where in the airplain that tracked Escobars satellite phone for sure.And the americans told the whoever kiled him where the phone signal was coming from

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  19. like noriega, escobar knew they wasn't trying to fuck him up for the shit he and the CIA did together, for which oliver north and felix ismael rodriguez were presidential pardoned, even if they and the caleros lost the contra war because they stole most of the money and they piggybacked a lot more drugs for themselves than the CIA, they got persecuted for stealing market and money, they are suppossed to keep only 10% for all the expenses, including production, and when they went down, guess who got all their money?
    if all the drug trafficking operation had to come down for a while, so be it, why did amado carrillo was on cuba for a while? and brasil? argentina?...just because it was the hank rohn brothers, the arellanos and taesa airlines tijuana/califa time? and time for the casinos invasion of mexico, Howard Hugues casinos were not making enough money to the lds church...
    of course the US never has anything to do with nothing...
    --ups has little helos to deliver small loads like a dynamite cartridge, and they can search, but you don't send anybody on a frontal attack like this, right to the trap, when something like this happens, you know perfecly it was a set up, and if it wasn't, somebody must still prove or at least explain what was the strategy there, let us not believe in "accidents"

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  20. Just wait 30 more years when they declassify more info on Pablos rise and fall.....

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  21. "Yeah Man send in the seals and the Deltas .narley dudes." Like you did in Somalia and Vietnam ......

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  22. CDG has been on the decline since abrego got taken down, and even then the cdg never pushed as much dope as juarez, tijuana nor the sinaloa cartel. cdg of today is a bunch of lose armed gangs that call themselves a cartel to intimidate civilians.i don't know if they have any Maras in their ranks but it wouldn't surprise me since it is well known that alot of guatemalans and salvadoreans are fighting for el CDG... CDG soldiers are now mostly central americans and not mexican...the only thing keeping cdg breathing is the financial backing that they're getting from CDS to keep them fighting in tamps in order to eliminate the zetas and move in to the plaza. to be honest i can't wait till CDS wins over all of tamps. i havent set foot in Ciudad Mier (my hometown) in over 3 years and once the zetas are erradicated Sinaloa will make their move and finally squash las golfas once and for all.

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  23. Hey"un vato"can you believe these fuckin idiots fell for the US soldiers comment again?Look how easy someone turned these sheep into little arguing girls?The story was about Tamaulipas.

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  24. 10:59 dear untrained paisa, my uncle, mexican air force captain, helicopter pilot specialist, mexicana de aviacion pilot and parachutist since the fifties, he knows someting about the mexican paisas, but you can check and see the mexican air force pilots on you tube, they are great with their second hand planes, it is a pity that they will only use them against the civilian and indigenous populations, like the gafes and the kaibiles...
    it used to be the law that the mexican government could NOT use the armed forces to attack the civilian population, then the US ambassador and the CIA station got better ideas, and the DFS, police agencies and military, created the porros and the many paramilitary that evolved into the narcos of today, ok?

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  25. Too bad there's no information on former soldiers that joined the Narcos, then were killed by their enemies. 3rd hand info here. A friend of mine a former Marina soldier. Once told me that the narcos tried to recruit him. He declined. But 10 soldiers did join. 8 are dead. Food for thought.

    Peace,

    ESB

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