2 Grim Discoveries in Chihuahua -19 Dead Bodies

Borderland Beat

Eight bodies were found Saturday morning.  The discovery was made in a field approximately 100 meters off the highway between the towns of Delicias and Satevó, in Chihuahua.

It is believed that some of bodies may be those who were kidnapped Friday night by armed gunmen who abducted three from the towns of Jimenez Parral and two from Valle de Allende.

Gunman arriving with a convoy of eight trucks executed five men Friday night at different locations in the space of half an hour in Meoqui... After seven in the evening, three men were shot inside a vehicle in the plaza of Guadalupe Victoria and minutes later a 17 old year was killed near community  El Torreon, in the same municipality. Another man was later assassinated  at his home, located in the neighborhood of Genaro Vazquez, and according to early reports, the five murders were allegedly committed by the same armed group who allegedly called themselves "Death Commando."
The spokesman for the state attorney general, Carlos Gonzalez Estrada, confirmed the incidents and also confirmed that the eight victims were found half naked, having been killed  from shot to the head in another location, then transported and discarded in this manner near kilometer 46, near the turn off  to Rancho San Miguel in Chihuahua.. 

He clarified that they were investigating whether the victims are some of the same subjects kidnapped by gunmen on Friday in the towns Jiménez and Valle de Allende.

There are reports of a message being left with the bodies but no details have been indicated.

The forensic medical examiner  transported the bodies for autopsy and identification. (Semefo)

Hit read more for list of those identified: 

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Is Piedras the Next Juarez?

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat

 

6 Dead 1 survivor critical and two children taken in latest incident
Texas sheriff says the border town is the new Juarez.

Piedras Negras; Four bodies were discovered in a taxi, while the other two died in a second incident and  found in a house in the Colonia Acoros.
 

Santos Vasquez Estrada the delegate of the Attorney General of Northern Coahuila reported that at 4:30 am the Taxi was located on the old road to Zaragoza, about a mile from the urban are. Onboard  were 4 males and 2 females with gun shots.

In the back seat of the taxi were found two women with gun shots while the taxi driver and front passenger also had gun shot wounds.

He said the taxi driver was identified as Fabian Martinez Ibarra 35 years while the other companions were unidentified.

In the second incident,  two people died in the Colony Acoros from stab wounds, the authority identified Josefina Puneda Tamez, 49, and Oscar Pineda Oziel Gobea 19,  a third was stabbed but survived. Gobea Ignacio Vazquez, husband of the deceased, who is in critical condition.

It was reported that two children ages 3 and 5 years  were kidnapped but later found wandering the streets in a nearby colonia .  The home that came under attack was at Tule Street # 1306 of Acoros Cologne.

Piedras Negras has become a hot spot in the Mexican drugwar.  The Mexican city shares a border with  Eagle Pass Texas.  Logistically sitting in a prime location  at the POE into Texas in Northeastern Coahuila  and connects with many major highways running through the south, west, east of Mexico feeding into Piedras and into the US.  

Zetas and government forces have intensified presence, complicated by the apparent growing presence of the SInaloa Cartel.

Last week both Federal Police and the Coahuila GATES agency sent additional convoys of troops to the area, focusing in Piedras Negras.

 

The Zetas Cartel have enjoyed a comfortable presense and control of the state of Coahuila since they split from the Golfo Cartel in 2010.  Golfos, also known as CDG, can take "credit" for the creation of the violent Zetas as they recruited the group as an enforcer wing of CDG together the two groups called themselves "La Compañía".

Until the split, La Compañía controlled the state of Coahuila.  After the split Zetas gained control of the majority of the state.  Seemingly, with collusion from Saltillo, the media and municipalities. 

It is surreal to live in a Coahuila city where everyone knows who the Zs are, where they live, where safe houses are, easy to spot halcones, and just about anyone can take a visitor to places such as staging lots filled with stolen boats, and vehicles of all types, mostly with Texas license plates.  But, few speak of it, paralyzed by fear.  That is changing, slowly but steadily people are beginning to speak of it with friends.  But the openess of narco activity exists and has changed little.

It seems the new governor does not want to be completely married to the Zs, or perhaps wants an open marriage of sorts.  and that sparked the struggle that was inevitable when a party refuses to play ball within Zetas rules.

Ruben Moriera, is the current governor,  Ruben is the brother of Humberto Moreira, former governor who resigned to make a successful run for the chairmanship of the PRI party. Only to resign in disgrace when improprieties were made public of missing Coahuila funds

Much is spoken about Humberto's governorship and agreements he made with the Zetas.  Violence was abound but few spoke about the many “disappeared” or dead, including the Coahuila press of which the Moreira’s have a large investment in newspaper and radio outlets.  Zetas have the last say of what narco news regional newspapers run.  For the killings reported, many times more go unreported.  The fact of the matter is that Coahuila has never maintained an official count of drug deaths or disappearances.

Because of the lack of media coverage and official counts, estimation is the method used to tally deaths and kidnappings.  The government of Mexico has concluded that Coahuila may have the most "missing" persons, a reasonable person would insist surely it is one of the top 3 or 4 states that have high numbers of kidnapped persons never to be seen again. If one looks at the Coahuila map it reflects a large land mass, but it has a small  population rendering large masses of land that are vacant undeveloped and many prime locations to dump bodies. (see maps on page two)

In Acuña, in one violent week while Humberto was governor, terror gripped the city, as kidnappings and killings erupted in a narco rampage.  Buildings and homes burned to the ground-fire fighters were warned not to attempt to extinguish the fires, or pay with their lives-the chief of police was killed left with a narco message in the parking lot of a large candy warehouse, torched and destroyed.

Though citizens witnessed the violence around the city, not a word of the violence was reported  on the radio, television or Coahuila newspapers.  For three days, no reporting then finally a report of the chief, but little else.  Fast forward to October 2012, the night of Lalo Moreira's murder, Lalo is Humberto's son.  Hours after the murder four men were killed and thrown into the Bravo, on the Acuña side of the river. 

One victim was not dead ,and despite being handcuffed, he managed to drift to the Del Rio side of the river where Border Patrol watching the events unfold, rescued the man  and took him to the hospital.  Upon his release he was kept in GEO for deportation processing.  The name he gave was "Jesus Piña".  A strange thing is Jesus is a dead ringer for Victor Sifueñtes- the police supervisor wanted for Lalo's murder- and when parties connected to the "Jesus" case were shown  Victor's photo they made a positive ID as he being the man in the river calling himself "Jesus Piña.. 

Victor had disappeared directly after "finding" Lalo's corpse and was on the run for weeks.  "Jesus" was deported, then  Victor was apprehended in the Coahuila city of Monclova..  When he was picked up Victor's face still bore the injuries and scabbing consistent with Jesus' injuries sustained from  his late night encounter in the Bravo, just hours after Lalo's killing.

None of this was reported in Mexican news. However, the story of the 4 bodies dumped in the Bravo was in the Del Rio Herald, stating the bodies were dumped on the Acuna side.  Four bodies and not a word written about it in Coahuila nor Mexico.  It is evident that Coahuila is no better off with Rueben Moreira.  Corruption is still very much alive and thriving in Coahuila. 

Ruben made the decision to send forces and fortify  the border town of Piedras Negras. Zs did not take kindly to that action, and successfully executed a mass prison escape from the Piedras Prison of 131 inmates.  When most inmates stayed close to and in the area it was obvious they were freed to defend Zeta ground. 

About and hour west of Piedras lies the border town of Acuña, adjacent to Del Rio Texas.  It was in this relatively peaceful city that all hell broke loose, pitting governor on governor, brothers on brother, split a powerful family, killed a nephew in retribution for the GATES killing of the nephew of Miguel Treviño aka Z40 leader of the Zetas.


Humberto left stands next to his brother Ruben



Lalo Moreira

In early October  in a conflict with GATES 4 gunmen were killed in Piedras Negras. One of the dead gunmen was the nephew of Miguel Trevino, his name; Alejandro Treviño Chavez.  This incensed Z40 who ordered a hit on one of the Moreira family members.

Banners began appearing in the region almost immediately.  This was confirmed by Carlos  younger brother Ruben and Humberto.  The banners warned "Family for Family" and were signed Z40. Jose Eduardo Moreira was the most vulnerable.  He was the son of Humberto and known as "Lalo".  Lalo lived in Acuña with his wife and infant son, he was 25 years old.

His dead body was found in his truck 24 hours after Z40s nephew was killed in Piedras.

The absence of Ruben at Lalo's funeral  brought to light the severity of the estrangement of the once close brothers.  Followed by accusations by the young widow holding the governor culpable in the death of her husband. 

Stating that Ruben knew of the warnings and did nothing to protect Lalo,  even though he knew he was defenseless as one month prior Lalo's armor truck and state police body guards were taken from him with the governors order for the municipal police to fill the roll of body guards.  Ironic, as it was the police chief, and supervisor on duty that were two of the 6 men suspected of Lalo's murder, the chief has already confessed to the killing.

If the relationship between the two governors ever had a chance in hell of mending after that, the fate was sealed when Ruben said it was El Lazca, the other premier leader of the Zetas at the time of Lalo's death, as the one who ordered the Lalo's murder.  Convenient, since Lazcano is now deceased.  Ruben announced the "case closed".

No one believed the governor's announcement and the action incensed the Humberto Moreira family further.  This time Lalo's younger brother took to Twitter to accuse his uncle Ruben of being a liar.

Blame the dead guy-an often use tactic to close cases

In the weeks that followed, police and army presence increased in Acuña and Piedras, Zetas retreated from Acuña seemingly to concentrate on Piedras.  Meanwhile as this heavy deployment in to the area by federal and state forces with the intent to fight off the Zetas and maintain peace, rumors of CDS presense growing both in Acuña and Piedras.  The rumors have been persistent.

-click on read more below for page 2-

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20 Reasons for Legalizing Marihuana

Denise Dresser for Proceso 11-22-2012

 

Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat

MEXICO, D.F. (Proceso). --

1.  As the election in the United States demonstrated, that country is headed towards legalization. Mexico should not keep fighting a war against a drug that is being legalized more and more. As Sergio Aguayo has written, the United States' legalization is "a slap on the face for Felipe Calderon and a lesson for Mexicans."

2.  32% of the population in the United States can now go to a dispensary to obtain marihuana for medical reasons. 11,753,000 inhabitants of Colorado and Washington approved the recreational use of marijuana. Around 50% of the population in the United States is in favor of some form of legalization of marihuana.

3.  As argued in a study by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, the possible legalization of the drug at the state level in the United States could result in a significant reduction in income for Mexican drug traffickers.

4.  Among the benefits that legalization could bring would be treating addicts as sick people, not criminals, decreasing the cartels' revenues, decreasing the violence and the number of deaths from the war against drug trafficking.

5.  A report written by Carlos Zamudio Angles and Jorge Hernandez Tinajero shows the almost total lack of results obtained by the Distrito Federal (D.F.) police in their efforts to identify and arrest the individuals who head the gangs selling marihuana at retail.  The police's efforts have focused on catching users and sellers in the act, not as a result of intelligence work. The sellers who are arrested are easily replaced by drug trafficking groups.

6.  The persons arrested for consumption have to be set free because the law does not punish that act, and a survey of more than 300 marihuana users revealed that two out of three had been extorted by the police.  That shows the limitations of a policy focused on combating drug sales by merely closing down retail locations or catching the people who use drugs.

7.  One proposed alternative are the "cannabis clubs" to try to eliminate retail drug sales networks. These organizations would provide a series of real advantages to users. They would generate economic activity for the government through taxes; they would eliminate the need to go to illegal traffickers; they would guarantee quality standards that the illegal market does not provide; they would offer information services to reduce risks and health hazards. 

8.  Legalization would also help the grower, who would see his crops as a legitimate agricultural and business activity. The producer would have direct contact with the user and eliminate the middleman, who currently plays an illegal role.

9.  Despite the war against drug trafficking, illegal consumption of drugs has not stopped, but rather, has increased in recent years. Drugs are now more available to the public than six years ago. In the Federal District (Distrito Federal), there were 5,000 drug retail locations in 2006; today there are 13,000.

10.  Faced with this reality, even Felipe Calderon himself recently joined the leaders of Honduras, Belice, Costa Rica and Guatemala to ask the OEA (Organizacion de Estados Americanos) for a complete analysis of the social, political and health implications that legalization of the use, production and distribution of  marihuana would represent for their countries.

Click image to enlarge

11.  Luis Videgaray, the coordinator for Enrique Pena Nieto's Government Transition team-- on growing legalization in the United States-- said the following: "We're closely following these modifications, which have changed the rules of the game a little with respect to the United States, that I believe will lead us to review joint policies...in the war against drug trafficking and of security in general."

12.  The opposition in Mexico to legalization -- 70% of those surveyed -- is based on the lack of information society has on the subject. Hence the need to discuss and disseminate the advantages and disadvantages that decriminalization would bring.

13.  In every high level bi-national meeting for the past few decades there is talk that there will be a different focus, a different method to address the war against drugs and the violence it engenders, but that's not the way it is. The U.S. strategy -- that Mexico buys and applies -- continues to be the same.

14.  Year after year, the positions remain the same. The United States' pat on the back of whatever president is in place, who is congratulated for his "courage" and "commitment". The usual list of joint actions, of efforts made to limit the supply of drugs in Mexico and limit the consumption in the United States. The expanded list of pilot programs that will be launched, the flow of weapons that will be controlled, the drug addiction studies that will be initiated. History repeats itself, government after government.

Next?

15.  There is a growing United States involvement in Mexico -- in terms of presence, advice, equipment, training and resources-- but we haven't yet seen a substantial shift in the simplistic and counterproductive vision that has predominated for decades.

16.  The time has come to question the vision, the supposedly unmovable premises, from which the war against drug trafficking derives: that the "war" against drugs can be won; that the United States can reduce the demand for drugs, and will attempt it; that the anti-drug policies of the United States should be the anti-drug policies of the rest of Latin America; that legalization could be good, but it will never happen.

17.  The time has come to question ideas engraved in stone, tiresomely repeated by officials on both sides of the border, disseminated by U.S. policy makers and memorized by Mexican politicians.

18.  Every one of the conventional premises in the "war" against drug trafficking can and should be confronted.  Each of the arguments being raised needs to be reviewed. In view of the growing legalization in the United States, the war against drugs -- carried on the way it is today-- is ever more futile. Ever more painful.

19.  Mexico needs to demonstrate its capacity to decide its own fate and make decisions  that strengthen its national security, promote its political stability, build social cohesiveness. Going in that direction would involve viewing limited decriminalization as an instrument -- among others -- able to dismantle a market too powerful to be defeated by any government.

20.  It's time for Mexico to begin a public debate, serious and wide-ranging, over the legalization of marihuana. Enough with dedicating more and more resources, more money, more weapons and more troops in a war that can never be won.  

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Border Patrol arrest alleged wife of the son of 'Chapo' Guzman

Borderland Beat

Authorities identify Zulema Aracely Lindoro as the wife of Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, son of "El Chapo" Guzman.

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A woman suspected of having links to the family of Mexico's most wanted drug lord has been arrested in California on immigration charges, a Border Patrol spokesman said Friday.

Zulema Aracely Lindoro was stopped Monday at a Border Patrol checkpoint in San Clemente, south of Los Angeles, spokesman Paul Carr said,

A fingerprint check verified that her student visa was revoked in March for suspected ties to the family of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, authorities said.

Lindoro is identified in Border Patrol documents as a spouse of Guzman's son, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, though it was unclear if the couple is or ever was legally married.

Carr said there was no evidence to suggest Lindoro was involved in the drug trade.

Lindoro, who was born in 1990, did not acknowledge any family connection after the arrest.

Lindoro was released Tuesday on humanitarian grounds to care for her infant son and ordered to appear before an immigration judge, Carr said. She returned to Tijuana, Mexico, voluntarily on Thursday, he said.

In May, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions on Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, saying he was involved in his father's cartel.

Joanne Moore, a State Department spokeswoman, said Friday that she had no information on the arrest or possible ties to the Guzman family.

Lindoro was a passenger in a car with the infant, Carr said. The spokesman didn't know the name of the driver, who was a U.S. citizen.

The Sinaloa cartel, named after the Pacific coast state of the same name, controls trafficking along much of the U.S. border with Mexico.

Last month, a woman described by U.S. officials as a daughter of Joaquin Guzman was arrested on immigration charges at San Diego's San Ysidro port of entry on suspicion of attempting to enter the U.S. on someone else's visa

.

At the time, U.S. officials said 31-year-old Alejandra Gisselle Guzman Salazar told them Guzman was her father and that she was six months pregnant. She has pleaded not guilty.

Here are photos that have been posted with the article, but really I want proof.

AP, Sipse

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President of the dead

Jorge Ramos El Diario November 19, 2012

Photos of victims hang on walls of homes outside Mexico City

 Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat

Miami. --I very much doubt that when people ask about Felipe Calderon, after he leaves office, they will say he was the employment president, as he promised in the 2006 electoral campaign. What people will say is that Calderon was the president of the dead. Many dead.
 

How many? Impossible to count with absolute precision. Based on government numbers, communications media speak of approximately 65,000 deaths during Calderon's six year term. But there are more. The journal Proceso published an independent investigation that calculated 88,361 deaths from December, 2006, to March of this year. And the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) counted a total of 95,000 up to the fifth year of the Calderon government's six-year term.

Whatever the correct number may be, it is unacceptable. No strategy against drug trafficking can be called successful, in any country in the world, which leaves more than 65,000 dead. The deaths describe a gigantic failure, incompetence and simple stupidity.

Didn't anybody think something was wrong when the deaths went over a thousand? What about when they surpassed 10 or 20 thousand murders? President Calderon didn't change course. On the contrary, he continued with the wrong strategy and the number of dead continued to grow. That's why they're Calderon's dead. And that's why it went so badly for his party, the PAN, in the last election. It was, in part, a punishment vote.



Juarez

His government insists that many of the dead are criminals. True. But many were not. If the majority of the 65,000 dead had been drug traffickers and criminals, there would be no criminals left in Mexico.

The reality is that there is no Mexican family that has not been touched by a murder, a kidnapping, a robbery, or by fear. Mexicans lost their streets and their public places. They also lost the already faint hope that the police and authorities could protect them. Impunity rules. 98.5% of crimes in Mexico go unpunished, according to a study by the Monterrey Technological Institute. That's also why the victims do not denounce criminal acts. What for?

Here, I am not doubting Calderon's courage in confronting drug traffickers. Of course it requires a lot of courage to fight against the worst Mexican criminals, armed with American pistols and rifles, and willing to send their merchandise, at whatever cost, to the insatiable drug market in the United States. What I am questioning here is the intelligence of choosing a strategy that only produces Mexican deaths and that has not reduced the production, traffic or the consumption of drugs. 

This is the war that Calderon started and lost. It's his responsibility. And it is a war. Just like George W. Bush committed a terrible mistake in starting the war in Iraq in 2003, when there were no weapons of mass destruction there.

Calderon likewise erred seriously when he started a war against the narcos without the necessary preparation, without an elite group to do it with and without a measurable objective. In the end, the number of deaths in the nine years of war in Iraq (109,726, according to IraqBodyCount.org) is very similar to that of Calderon's six year war against the narco. Both are wars. Both failures. And thousands of innocents are dead.

Calderon's government never considered that this was a war that was lost before it started. There are drug traffickers in Mexico because there are drug consumers in the United States. 22 million Americans have used drugs recently, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Colorado and Washington State have just authorized the recreational use of marihuana and 16 others allow its medical use. It's enough to watch any Hollywood movie to see that the use of drugs is absolutely generalized in American society. Stopping its consumption is not a priority for its politicians.

This is what Calderon didn't see or didn't want to see. While Mexicans are killing each other in a narco war without a concrete objective, Americans make the consumption of drugs even easier. Of course, I'm not advocating negotiation with the drug cartels. Neither should they be allowed to control our streets, our businesses or our political system. But what Calderon has done so far has not worked.

San Fernando Tamaulipas

A new strategy against narcotics requires the integration of all of the country's police agencies under a single command and the creation of an elite force; the liberation of cities, highways and public places from the hands of drug traffickers; strike at the narcos where it hurts, that is, at their money, seizing accounts, profits and properties; reducing levels of violence with tactics involving hyper-vigilance and creativity; and, above all, understanding that Mexico is a corridor for sending drugs to the north. No more, no less.

Calderon is leaving, but he leaves us many cemeteries. And a failed anti-drug policy that will cost a lot to dismantle and replace. But the worst thing is a terrible sensation that we were deceived. Calderon was never clear in the 2006 electoral campaign about his strategy against the narcos, and today he leaves us a bloodied and demoralized country.

Had they known, many would not have voted for him.

No, we will not remember him as the employment president. Calderon will always be remembered as the president of the dead.

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Mexican Narcos Dominate Bolivia

Borderland Beat

Buenos Aires, Argentina (Nov. 21, 2012) Ayda Levy, penned the highly anticipated book, El Rey de la Cocaína, (The King of Cocaine: My Life with Roberto Suárez Gómez and the Birth of the Narco state," released Tuesday in Buenas Aires. The book chronicles the adventures of  Roberto Suárez Gómez,  known back in the eighties as "The King of Cocaine," and regarded by many as the one primarily responsible for the expansion of cocaine trafficking in Bolivia in the seventies and eighties. 

At 76, Levy decided to break her long silence and tell their story because she was "tired of hearing and reading a thousand and one lies about the life of Roberto Suarez," she declared at the launch of her book in Buenos Aires. 

Ayda married Roberto Suarez in 1958, then a successful cattleman. No one could have predicted that 20 years later her husband would be one of the major drug traffickers in South America, and closely associated with Pablo Escobar. Suarez would lead what became known as "the Corporation" helping lay the foundation of a "narco-state." "Roberto was a true idealist. He blindly believed in social justice, and the eradication of poverty.  I loved him, respected him, but when I discovered his involvement in drug trafficking activities, I left," Levy added. 

Despite the separation, the couple kept in close contact.  Ayda recorded every account of her husband, dates, names and documents, "She wrote down everything and also has a prodigious memory." She managed all the family's legal business, as well as all the farm business." remarked their son Gary.

An interview with Gary Suárez Gómez is included in his mother's book, El Rey de la Cocaína, Mi vida con Roberto Suárez Gómez y el Nacimiento del Primer Narcoestado. "Today Bolivia is full of Mexican narcos."  With these words,  Gary Suárez Gómez, also son of Roberto Suarez offers a portrayal of the exponential growth of Mexican cartels in Latin America.  

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Rubi's Killer Dead: Marisela This One is for You

Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat

 

 

 Rest in Peace Marisela..

She was one of Mexico’s heroes, Marisela Escobedo had but one mission in life after the 2008 murder of her daughter, Rubi Marisol;  to bring her daughter’s killer to justice.

The confessed killer was Rubi’s boyfriend and father of her baby, Sergio Rafael Barraza Bocanegra, aka comandante Bamino or “Piwi”, all of the violent Mexican city of Juarez. 

Marisela petitioned, marched, and kept her daughters case alive in the press.  Barraza gave a written detailed confession of his torture and murder of Rubi,  and led authorities to the burned corpse.  In 2009 he  went on trial in Chihuahua.   

Incredibly he was found legally innocent by a panel of three judges. In a misunderstanding of the new American style of the administration justice- without the benefit of training- resulted in implementation of  a system whereas a conviction standard was so great it was impossible to convict.

 

 

Absurdly, the three judges unanimously enacted a killer his freedom.

In courtroom footage Mareisela is seen and heard releasing all hope, grief, and the pain of injustice as she rises from her seat in the court and completely “loses it”.  Her screams are felt and impossible to forget.

The judges were removed from the bench and were hunted down by outraged citizens.  They applied for asylum in the US.

She continued her protest, now against impunity, and spoke of the many threats she received.  “I have threats from him and against my family, if he is to kill me let him do so in front of the government  so they can feel shame.” A prophetic statement from the brave woman.

She accused Ciudad Juarez of protecting Rubi’s killer because he was part of a cartel, so they did not act.

On December 17, 2011 Marisela  was murdered in front of the Government Palace of Chihuahua on while conducting a sit-in protest demanding justice for the murder of his daughter.  She ran across the street towards the government palace being chased by her assassin who easily caught up to her and shot her in the head, on a busy highway, with many witnesses, and filmed on security cameras.

Marisela fell to the floor in dispair after her daughter's killer was set free

This is the video of Marisela breaking down in court.  WARNING IT IS DIFFICULT TO WATCH

November 2012:

Reported by Sol Zacatecas events unfolded on Friday in the municipality of Joaquin Amaro, Zacatecas that resulted in the killing of Barraza by the Mexican army. His wife of three months identified the body announced the Procurator of Justice of the State of Zacatecas Nahle Arturo Garcia. The body was in the facilities of the Forensic Medical Service (SEMEFO) where the wife identified and claimed the body.

 

This video tribute is the best I have seen. It has her last minutes alive, her last protest and her execution below :

 

Marisela's killer El Wicked confessed when apprehended, he contends the killing was and order of Zetas and La Linea

Marisela Son speaks after his mother's killer is apprehended. He rejects the notion and blames an American for the killing and the government of Chihuahua. Below video is the narrative of his speaking in the video...

 

Speech of Marisela Escobedo’s son He says the man is not the killer the killer is an American:

“This time they looked for somebody that was similar to the killer. For obvious reasons I am not going to say the name, at this time I am not going to say it. What I am going to say right now is that the Mexican authorities know who the killer of my mother is and they don’t want to arrest him. This man is an American citizen.”

“The only witness of the case, my uncle Ricardo Escobedo was able to identify the killer by photograph. All these information was given to the PGR, directly to the Lawyer Cesar Peniche, after this, the communication from the PGR was broken, after three months approximately the Prosecutor office appears with this man, El Wicked, which is not the killer, but this time they looked for somebody very similar to him. Once again we have found lies, tricks and corruption.”

“And I am always going to say it: The government of Chihuahua authorized the death of my mother, these people didn’t show up just like that and killed my mother; you are talking about the spot with most surveillance of the state of Chihuahua, in 2010 of course.”

“The Prosecutor of the State of Chihuahua is responsible, I can’t give a name, I can’t say it was this one or that one but I know it was from the prosecutors office of the State of Chihuahua and of the government of Chihuahua.”

(The video repeats the first paragraph again)

“This time they looked for somebody that was similar to the killer. For obvious reasons I am not going to say the name, at this time I am not going to say it. What I am going to say right now is that the Mexican authorities know who the killer of my mother is and they don’t want to arrest him. This man is a U.S citizen.”

“There is one true that this man said, it was half true, that the murder of my mother was an agreement between the zetas and la linea, that is true and we have always known that a long time ago but what he didn’t said was that it was an agreement but it was allowed by the government of Chihuahua”.

Thanks Badanov

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8 die in shooting in Durango state -- UPDATED

Updating with new information from a Nunez Rodriguez radio interview with Denise Marker

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of eight individuals were shot to death in an attack at a ranch in Durango state last Sunday, according to Mexican news reports.

According to an article posted on the website of Informador news daily, the attack took place at a ranch owned by the president of Inde municipality, Ernesto Nunez Rodriguez.

According to a news item which appeared on the website of eleconomista.com.mx Wednesday afternoon, Nunez Rodriguez filed a complaint with the Durango state Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) or attorney general charging Inde municipal police were involved in the shooting and subsequent abduction.

According to a news item posted on the website of Animal Politico website, in a radio interview Saturday with Denise Marker,  Nunez Rodriguez said that his sister, whom the article fails to identify, had also identified at least some elements of the municipal police who had participated in the assault.

Nunez Rodriguez said in the program the the municipal police were in the pay of a Sinaloa cartel chief who is a plaza chief in Inde, El Oro, San Bernardo, and Ocampo municipalities.  He said, without specifically identifying whom, that the municipality provides protection for the unidentified cartel associated plaza chief.

According to the account of the attack provided by Nunez Rodriguez, armed suspects came to the ranch and started shooting, forcing Ernesto Nunez Rodriguez and three other family members to flee to the cellar of their residence.  The residence itself was later shot up and destroyed by fire.

The victims identified included four family members, two ranch employees, and two veterinarians visiting from Zacatecas state.  Of those one was an unidentified pregnant female and a 4 year old girl, both burned to death. 

Rene Nunez Garay, 28 years old, and Juan Angel Nuñez Salas, 19, nephew of the mayor, and Luis Antonio Tinoco Chavez, 28 were among the victims who died in the shooting.  All were employed in the cattle business.  One of the veterinarians were identified as Luis Uriel Garcia Talavera, 49, identified as an employee of Zacatecas state Secretaria de Desarrollo Agropecuario (SEDAGRO) or Department of Agricultural Development. The other veterinarian was identified as Jose Guadalupe Ortega Valdez.

According to a new account posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily, between two and five unidentified individuals were kidnapped by the shooters during the course of the attack.

In the same account, Nunez Rodriguez denied reports that gunfire was exchanged.

Inde municipal seat is about 12 kilometers southeast of Santa Maria del Oro, which is on Durango state Highway 45.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

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Bloody Zacatecas: 12 die

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 12 individuals,including two young females were murdered in ongoing drug and gang related violence in Zacatecas state since last Friday, according to several news accounts which appeared on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas news daily.

• Three unidentified individuals were found dead last Sunday in Jerez and Ciudad Cuauhtemoc municipalities.  Two dead were found on a road in Jerez municipality between Jerez, and Fresnillo municipalities.  A third corpse was found in Ciudad Cuauhtemoc municipality near the dam at El Cargadero.  The body found at El Cargadero was said to be a female.
• Three unidentified individuals were found dead in Fresnillo municipality in two separate incidents.  One man was found dead near  Calle Suave Patria in Barrio Alto colony at around 0300 hrs. The victim had been shot several times.  Two more dead were found later Monday afternoon near the village of Purisima del Maguey.  Both victims had been shot.
• Two unidentified men were found dead Wednesday morning in Fresnillo municipality.  The victims were found near the village of Modelo, on the road to the village of Mesa de Puentes.  One of the victims was wearing the uniform of a private security company.
• Two unidentified  young females swere found dead in Calera municipality Friday.  The victims, aged 19 and 13, were found on the access road to the airport at around 0700 hrs.  Both females were shot in the face and were found nude.  The news item said the crime was organized crime related.
• Two men were shot to death and two others were wounded in a shooting at a Fresnillo dance hall early Saturday morning.  The shooting took place at the Foro 57 dance hall on Avenida Garcia Salinas, where armed suspects entered the establishment and started shooting at around 0200 hrs.  One of the dead were identified as Cesar Mayorga Fierros, 28, of Corrales in Sombrerete municipality.  One of the wounded were identified as Mario Adabache Ibarra, 26 from Francisco Villa colony, presumably in Fresnillo.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

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The Third Strike of a Presidenta

I know this event has already been covered but I wanted to add more information that has since come out and also share some observations.  

Well as was already reported on Borderland Beat the body of the woman found last Thursday morning in a field in the town of Cuitzeo was identified as the former Mayor of Tiquicheo María Santos Gorrostieta Salazar. She had already survived two previous attacks from heavily armed sicarios. One occurred in October 2009 where her husband lost her life and the other occurred in January 2010 where she was gravely injured by gunfire.

It was reported that last Monday at around 0830 AM Gorrostieta Salazar left her home to take her daughter to school. While on her way, on the north part of the city of Morelia, Michoacan another vehicle blocked her path. Two men forced her in a black car with tinted window while pushing and kicking her. This happened in the middle of the street in plain view of many motorists that just watched the event unfold. As they were trying to get her in the car, she begged them not to take her daughter and told them she would get in if they left her daughter alone. They left with Gorrostieta Salazar leaving her daughter crying alone in the car. No one dared intervene to help her.

The family waited for the abductors to call, thinking they would want a ransom or something. When the hours turned into days with no calls, the family asked the police for help locating her. Gorrostieta Salazar was abducted Monday November 12, 2012 and was not offically reported missing by the family until Wednesday November 14, 2012.

 

At around 0800 this last Thursday field workers from the community of San Juan Tararameo, in the municipality of Cuitzeo discovered the body of a woman facing up wearing a red dress. The woman showed signed of being tied up and had at least two blows to the head from blunt instrument that caused her death. In fact according to the preliminary report of the PGJE it was reported that the cause of death was by "severe head trauma", and her body showed multiple abrasions and contusions that is consistent with signs of being tortured. 

The body was not identified until family of Gorrostieta Salazar went to the office of the Attorney General of Michoacan at 9pm on Friday to identify the body.
 

An investigation to the murder is alleged to be underway and it is not known who might have been responsible for her death. Hopefully the Mexican authorities can find the people responsible. One has to wonder why with a history of at least two attempts on her life she was not better protected.

The state government of Michoacan gave a formal statement that she did not have any dignitary protection because she had not officially requested it nor was there any report of threats on her life.

Gorrostieta Salazar was Mayor of Tiquicheo from 2008 to 2011 and during her tenure she was routinely threatened by criminal groups.

 It just doesn't make sense.  Not many things make sense in Mexico now a days, and she just becomes another casualty in what is so wrong in Mexico today.

The political party PAN in Michoacan condemned the murder and demanded justice for the former mayor. Enrique Peña Nieto, PRI President-elect, gets sworn in the end of December, see how that goes.

Sources: El Diario de Coahuila

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