NuevoLaredo Cartel Gun Battle 7-16-2010
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http://www.scribd.com/doc/35201752/N...attle7-16-2010
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NuevoLaredo Cartel Gun Battle 7-16-2010
Warning : graphic
http://www.scribd.com/doc/35201752/N...attle7-16-2010
If you want to get scared forget Halloween, read this about the Mexican border and Hezbollah and Hugo Chavez and every other thug that hates us.
http://www.house.gov/mccaul/pdf/Inve...der-Report.pdf
A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border - excerpt from the Executive Summary and Findings:
Quote:
... Mexican drug cartels operating along the Southwest border are more sophisticated and dangerous than any other organized criminal enterprise. The Mexican cartels, and the smuggling rings and gangs they leverage, wield substantial control over the routes into the United States and pose substantial challenges to U.S. law enforcement to secure the Southwest border. The cartels operate along the border with military grade weapons, technology and intelligence and their own respective paramilitary enforcers.
In addition, human smugglers coordinate with the drug cartels, paying a fee to use the cartels’ safe smuggling routes into the Unites States. There are also indications the cartels may be moving to diversify their criminal enterprises to include the increasingly lucrative human smuggling trade.
Moreover, U.S. law enforcement has established that there is increasing coordination between Mexican drug cartels, human smuggling networks and U.S.-based gangs. The\ cartels use street and prison gangs located in the United States as their distribution networks. In the United States, the gang members operate as surrogates and enforcers for the cartels.
Murders and kidnappings on the both sides of the border have significantly increased in recent years. The violence along the U.S.-Mexican border has increased so dramatically, the United States Ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, during the last year, has issued an unprecedented number of diplomatic notes to the Mexican Government and threat advisories to U.S. citizens traveling to Mexico. During August 2005, the Ambassador closed the U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo for one week in order to assess security.
This new generation of sophisticated and violent cartels, along the Southwest border, is presenting significant challenges to U.S. law enforcement. These criminal syndicates have unlimited money to buy the most advanced weapons and technology available. The cartels monitor the movements and communications of law enforcement and use that intelligence to enable the criminals to transport their cargo accordingly.
In addition to the criminal activities and violence of the cartels on our Southwest border, there is an ever-present threat of terrorist infiltration over the Southwest border. Data indicates that there are hundreds of illegal aliens apprehended entering the United States each year who are from countries known to support and sponsor terrorism...
I think the statement "The Next Small War Has Begun" maybe overstating the case a bit. We here in the United States face a law enforcement problem, one that is not unprecedented in our history or on the border. That problem is managable as attested to in the reports description of programs that drastically reduced crime along some border areas.
Mexico may have an incipient small war on their hands as it seems some of the drug cartels are getting confident enough to challenge the central government.
The wave of illegal immigration is mostly caused by disparity in the economies of Mexico and the United States; labor is moving from where it isn't needed and rewarded to where it is. The report barely notes this and offers no suggestion as to how to accomodate a migration that can't really be stopped.
The other component of the problem is drugs. People want them and will pay, a lot, to get them. That money finances small wars in South America and Asia. I would like to see a discussion about how the legalization of drugs, at least some of them, would affect some of these conflicts.
My opinion is we can't stop the importation of drugs, so we may as well tax and regulate them. We can't do that unless we can see them and we won't see them unless we make them legal.
As an aside, a vetern officer told me once that the difference between police work and the military was that when you do police work, if you are lucky and you get it right, everyone goes home at night. Some might have a new home, but everybody goes home. I've always found that helpful.
ISN, 7 Nov 06: Illegal Migration and Mexico’s Maras
Quote:
As Americans vote in mid-term elections on 7 November, immigration and border security will be two important issues. Yet from the Mexican point of view, heavy pressure from Washington to curb violence and stop illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border has strained relations and taken much needed resources from Mexico’s southern border between Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas. The city of Tapachula, the second most populated urban center in Chiapas, is at the center of a clandestine world of illegal migration, human smuggling and prostitution.
Mexican authorities in 2005 reported that at least 3,000 members of Central American street gangs, known locally as “maras” or “pandilleros,” prey on illegal migrants passing through the state. Since then, the numbers of maras have grown. A hurricane that ripped apart the infrastructure in early October 2005 removed important transport lines, such as the Tapachula-Salina Cruz train, forcing immigrants to walk and making them much more vulnerable.
The Mexican state of Chiapas has long been a problematic area for smuggling, passing from Central America to Mexico. Yet like many of Mexico’s other states that suffer from the drug trade and immigration patterns, police corruption, limited resources, and perhaps most of all, political pressure focused on the north has maintained a status quo where thugs steal from poor immigrants and cops do little to stop them...
Pulled from Blackwater Tactical today....
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/...8LAL8V01.shtml
Quote:
(AP) U.S. Border Patrol agents chasing suspected drug traffickers on the Texas border allegedly crossed into Mexico and had a brief standoff with Mexican police before peacefully returning, Mexican authorities said Friday.
Jose Luis Delgado, a police officer in Guadalupe, about 25 miles southeast El Paso, Texas _ said he and two colleagues encountered some U.S. Border Patrol agents on Mexican territory.
He said the Mexican police responded Thursday with guns drawn to a report that a marijuana-laden pickup truck had been abandoned in the Rio Grande.
"When we arrived (the U.S. officials) drew their weapons," Delgado said.
Delgado said he identified himself as a police officer and that the American agents returned to their side of the border without further problems.
More at the link.......
selil,thanks for posting this. I had a friend tell me about this but I had not read anything about it until now. This is not the first time this has happened and won't be the last. Other incidents have been a lot worse than this but the MSM never seemed to care until it became a hot issue.
The situation on the border has been serious for years, so to define it as the next small war is probably a bit of a reach; however, the fact that persons of interest are using Mexican cartels to smuggle them across our borders, then link them into a trans-state, trans regional gang network for support is obviously cause for concern. We can call it a law enforcement problem on our side of the border, but law enforcement on Mexico's side of the border is notably inept, and since it poses a security threat to our national interests on many levels (narcotics, human smuggling, weapons smuggling, support of gangs, potential support of terrorists if they pay enough, etc.) then maybe asking the military, or other agencies to start addressing the problem across the border is not out of the question. What was once a relatively harmless (despite the political mileage some politicians got from it) of illegal aliens crossing the border at will to work low paying jobs, is now much more significant.
Bill, it is not just Mexico helping persons of interest, Cuba, and Hugo (professional devil smeller) Chavez have been involved. About two or three weeks ago Lou Dobbs of CNN did a special about the border, the Mexican government actually produces a pamphlet on how to cross the border and make trouble for the gringos, they are considered hero's in Mexico and should do all they can to ripp off the gringo economy. When a legitimate government does that I would say that qualifies as a phase 1 insurgency (latent and subversive).
Also some of the Latino gangs"MS13" in particular are not just drug gangs but are actually revolutionary terrorist gangs. Now I am not saying we should redeploy the 1ST Cav along the border , but border patrol and national guard units could make a big dent is this problem. Two governors along the border have already said they are in a state of emergency over this.
So I say instead of waiting to the last minute like the US usually does, lets control our borders like we should have been doing all along.
Later, Viva Las Vegas!
Slapout, what ya saying, dig into a defensive position and hope for the best? We can't afford deploying that type of man power for an extended period of time, nor will a static defense work. Assumng that what you posted is factual (I like Lou, but where are the supporting facts?), then we need to conduct cross border operations to target the facilitators (cartels, and others). Furthermore, if it is true that the recognized government (instead of some shadow government) published a how to paper on how to cross the border, and then prompted the illegals to rip off the gringos, then we're in a state of conflict. This is well beyond the capability of law enforcement to manage (they're failing miserably, and it isn't due to lack of effort). Northern Mexico cannot be a safe haven for cross border operations into the U.S.. Right now they're free to sit across the border, watch our police patrols on the border, intercept their communications, and direct their infiltrations between the seams. This isn't strictly a law enforcement problem.
Hi Bill, It's me again.....
The link below is a transcript of the Lou dobbs special called Broken Borders.
It was a long show but if you read it (1/3 down) you will see where the Mexican Government publishes a book on how to illegally cross the border and encourages it citizens to do this to get money from the US. The book looks like comic book and of course you would have to order the video to see it but it is described in the transcript. You can also read about hand grenades and IED's being used.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP...29/ldt.01.html
PS Bill here is a song from Lou Dobbs show called "Goodby Teaxs Hello Mexico"
http://www.texasreddirtmusic.com/slthm.html
Having grown up in San Diego this entire topic is very déjà vu. What was a southern California problem for decades became a “national” problem. One local TV station made a great deal of hay back in the mid 80’s when they showed groups of Mexican kids crossing the border illegally every morning to line up at the bus stop and then get picked up by school busses and taken to American schools.
One of the origins of the problem as it currently exits is our success in tamping down the Colombian cartels. Squeezing sea based supply routes shifted trafficking to overland routes. Where ever drug trafficking and its enormous sums of money go so will a heavy dose of corruption, kidnapping, murder, etc. South Florida’s problems of the 80’s have become south Texas’ problems, writ large. This will take a bigger investment of time and resources to correct.
One quick observation. The corner of ATL where I work and live has a heavy Hispanic immigrant (read: illegal alien) presence. Almost all of the new immigrants we’ve been getting for the past two years have been Guatemalan. The only thing I can read into that is the exportable labor pool in Mexico is shrinking.
Seems border hostilities are warming here in CONUS.
http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news...ry0104-CR.html
Not much more at the link other than some video talking about this being a probe to see how the guardsman would react.Quote:
Guardsmen overrun at the Border
A U.S. Border Patrol entry Identification Team site was overrun Wednesday night along Arizona's border with Mexico.
According to the Border Patrol, an unknown number of gunmen attacked the site in the state's West Desert Region around 11 p.m. The site is manned by National Guardsmen. Those guardsmen were forced to retreat.
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The Border Patrol will not say whether shots were fired. However, no Guardsmen were injured in the incident.
The Border Patrol says the incident occurred somewhere along the 120 mile section of the border between Nogales and Lukeville. The area is known as a drug corridor. Last year, 124-thousand pounds of illegal drugs were confiscated in this area.
The Border patrol says the attackers quickly retreated back into Mexico.
An interesting BBC piece here about the TJ police.
A short article, but an interesting indicator of how far things have gone "south," if you will. And who's to say that the army isn't interesting in cutting itself in on a nice slice of that narco-money action?Quote:
Local police in the northern Mexican border city of Tijuana have been ordered to hand in their guns.
The move is part of an operation by soldiers and federal police to crack down on drug traffickers.
Theses attacks have been picking up quite about lately. Whenever the Border Patrol want comment on shots fired, you can bet there were! I was trying to find some other articles but I cant remember where I saw them but head chopping is becoming the favorite terrorist tactic down there. Wonder where they learned that?
I recall there was a little disagreement about Slapout's original post suggesting that the conflict on our southern was the next small war, but I think events (not just the ones mentioned here) are indicators that we are in a war of sorts, a 4th or 5th generation type conflict, where gangs have wrested control from the state (in Northern Mexico), and now they are trying to expand their control into border states (it has been going on for years, but we may be a tipping point where they feel they're strong enough to challenge us with force). Regardless of whether organized criminals or insurgents, they pose a serious threat to the security of our citizens, a threat that may be beyond the ability of law enforcement to handle.
Furthermore many gangs throughout the U.S. are becoming more sosphisticated, better networked, and in some instances starting to coalese into sosphisticated mafia like organizations (this makes them both more dangerous and more vulnerable). This is an insurgency, not for control of the government, but to weaken the government's ability to challenge their criminal enterprises. The street punk is now a punk soldier in a private Army motivated by greed and ego.
A lot of these thoughts need to be flushed out further, but I think we may have our head in the sand regarding the threat in our homefront and on our border. If our government can't control these punks based on their network organization, we will expose a soft underbelly that many different threats can exploit.
Bill,Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Moore
Dr. Max Manwaring has written and lectured a great deal on this very topic - and has worked at fleshing out the generational concepts of street gangs. This aspect of gang theory wasn't his creation - it was really given impetus by John Sullivan of the LA County Sheriff's Dept in the late '90s.
If you haven't read it, I recommend Manwaring's paper Street Gangs: The New Urban Insurgency, dated March 2005.
...to link this with what does have the national focus, there was also a student thesis from NPS in late '05 that took a look at the Iraqi insurgency in the context of "gang theory".Quote:
...The political-psychological issues of the urban gang phenomenon in the global security environment translate into constant subtle and not-so-subtle struggles for governmental power that dominate life throughout most of the world. This, in turn, leads to the slow but sure destruction of the state, its associated government, and the society. And, again, the basic threat devolves to that of state failure.
This contemporary political war situation is extremely volatile and dangerous and requires careful attention. In these terms, the United States, the other countries of the Western Hemisphere, and the entire global community must understand and cope with the threat imposed by diverse third generation gangs that are engaged in destabilizing and devastating violence, which is more and more often being called “terrorism,” “criminal anarchy,” “narco-terrorism,” or “complex emergency situations.” If the United States concentrates its efforts and resources elsewhere and ignores what is happening in Latin America and the Caribbean, the expansion of gangs, of “lawless areas,” and of general instability, as well as the compromise of effective national sovereignty and security could easily destroy the democracy, free market economies, and prosperity that have been achieved in recent years. In turn, that would profoundly affect the health of the U.S. economy―and U.S. concomitant power to act in the global security arena.
Bill, I think the gangs are encouraged by the Mexican governments attitude that they still own the southwestern US, as well. From this keyboard, I have a hard time distinguishing between "criminal gang" and "government" in Mexico.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Moore
120mm, its easy to tell the difference the criminals have newer cars.:)
On a more serious side some good Intel on Mexico's gangs and long range plans. Talks about Bolivians protecting drug routes these are land routes protected by boots on the ground, stealing form the people and their mind is on the money! Yes sometimes John Robb finds some good stuff but it ain't new. Can I get an Amen for a surge into Mexico and Central America. Whoop their Ass and take their gas!
http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/johnrobb/
For listening pleasure and cultural enhancement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypdmf...elated&search=
I was in Tiujuana/Baja over the weekend and Calderon's crackdown against the drug cartel was readily apparent. There were several military and Federales checkpoints along the main arteries out of the city and numerous trucks full of infantry moving throughout.
The drug smugglers dress like the Mexican Army. "231" documented incursions into US territory by Mexican army and law enforcement.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11226144/
El Universal, 11 Jan 07: Army troops prepare for crackdown
ACAPULCO, Mexico – More than 1,000 Mexican army troops amassed in this Pacific resort community and two other cities in the western state of Guerrero on Wednesday in preparation for the third widespread federal crackdown on drugs and crime ordered by President Felipe Calderon in less than two months in office.
The troops, on loan from three states in northern, southern and central Mexico, began arriving Tuesday night and were on standby in Acapulco; the state capital, Chilpancino; and the city of Iguala while military commanders were briefed on drug cartel and other criminal operations in the area, said a state official who confirmed the operation.
In contrast to a similar operation in the northern border city of Tijuana, however, military officials as yet have no plans to strip local police officers of their weapons during the upcoming offensive in Acapulco and other violence-plagued cities including the resort city of Zihuatanejo, the official said.
http://www.lmtonline.com/site/news.c...d=569392&rfi=6
NUEVO LAREDO – Unknown attackers ambushed two officers in the Mexican Army Intelligence Service in the southwest part of the city, killing a captain and injuring a colonel, officials said Thursday.The attack occurred near 7 p.m. Wednesday night as the two Army officers were driving on the highway to the airport near its intersection with Avenida Dr. Mier.
Mexican Drug Cartels Leave a Bloody Trail on YouTube
Quote:
Bloody bodies -- slumped at steering wheels, stacked in pickup trucks, crumpled on sidewalks -- clog nearly every frame of the music video that shook Mexico's criminal underworld.
Posted on YouTube and countless Mexican Web sites last year, the video opens with blaring horns and accordions. Valentín Elizalde, a singer known as the "Golden Rooster," croons over images of an open-mouthed shooting victim. "I'm singing this song to all my enemies," he belts out.
Elizalde's narcocorrido, or drug trafficker's ballad, sparked what is believed to be an unprecedented cyberspace drug war. Chat rooms filled with accusations that he was promoting the Sinaloa cartel and mocking its rival, the Gulf cartel. Drug lords flooded the Internet with images of beheadings, execution-style shootings and torture.......
Mexico confronts surging violence
Quote:
.....Officials said Thursday that Mexican army troops had joined the fight Wednesday after a powerful drug cartel sent the assailants into town.
Armed with assault rifles and riding in 10 to 15 vehicles, they pulled four lightly armed city police officers out of police cars and executed them in a roadside park.
The invasion of Cananea — a town that helped spark the 1910 Mexican Revolution when U.S. forces crossed the border to help put down a miners' strike — showed the brashness and power of Mexico's ruthless organized crime gangs.....
Q: The situation in Mexico's border regions continues to get worse. What is currently happening inside Mexico's border regions looks like fourth generation warfare to me. Your thoughts? Where do you this going?
A: It’s going the same way as the rest of the world. Groups like the Zetas are fighting a war to make Mexico ungovernable. They are taking stuff right out of the Al Qaeda in Iraq handbook. Video Executions. Beheadings. Assassination. Weakening the state. It’s the same as Iraq but in Mexico.
Today, everyone is thinking about global platforms and the global economy. Nobody is beholden to a nation state anymore. The mindset has changed. Our needs-for cheap labor, cheap imports, illegal drugs--those needs will be met by the global marketplace. And its driving lawlessness. Things we do locally are having consequences globally.
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/0..._me_a_lit.html
AdamG great posts. We (the US) haven't seen anything yet compared to what this could turn into. But it will be interesting.
The whole article can be found hereQuote:
A Mexican cartel army's war within
Hit men known as the Zetas are aiming at their own as a power struggle spreads.
By Héctor Tobar,
LA Times
May 20, 2007
VERACRUZ, MEXICO — The two thoroughbreds sprinted down a country track, a few million dollars in the bettors' kitty and an old-fashioned camera waiting at the finish line.
When the race was over, as veterinarians guided the expensive equines back to their air-conditioned trailers, gamblers at the private track began to argue over the nose-to-nose conclusion. Among them were members of a band of hit men known as the Zetas, employees of the Gulf cartel of drug traffickers.
Let's just wait for the film to be developed, someone said.
Then, above the din, another voice rang out. "I've come to kill you!"
A new chapter was being added to the violent saga of Mexico's most notorious drug ring. More than a dozen people may have been killed in the gunfire that followed, an ambush in which the hit men appear to have attacked one another.
Robb posted a comment about this attack on his website today. This is a very traditional insurgent attack, and behold, they're not Islamists, but good ole leftists. I have no idea what the return on investment was from this attack yet, and we probably never will get accurate figures, but it should be a few million dollars worth of bang for the buck. Not only is there lost production, damage to the pipeline that needs repaired, but a huge investment in deploying security forces in an attempt to secure the pipeline(s).
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americ...tml#cnnSTCText
Quote:
Mexico vows to increase pipeline security after blasts
Story Highlights
There were explosions at a natural gas pipeline early Tuesday
A leftist rebel group has claimed responsibility
No oil exports were affected by the blast, officials said
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Reuters)-- Mexico said on Tuesday it would tighten security at strategic installations after a shadowy leftist rebel group claimed responsibility for a rash of fuel pipeline explosions.
The four blasts shut down pipelines supplying natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, crude oil and gasoline to the domestic market.
But none of the blasts affected oil exports and no injuries were reported, according to state oil monopoly Pemex.
This could well be a leftest group, but I think they may have some new friends. When you consider Chavez's hostility toward Mexico and the US and his "strategic partnership" with Iran as well as bringing in the new central American leftists into that partnership, it is very possible that this is an indirect attack on the US energy supply by two countries who want to drive up the cost of oil. Iran has certainly used proxies in the past to achieve its objectives and I would not rule out its involvement at this time. Since the US is Pemex's best customer, I think it would be a mistake to rule out the involvement of Iran and Venezuela, especially on the funding end.
Hi Merv,
Hmmm, possible, but there is also the interesting note that there were no casualties. That is a little closer to the other types of popular leftist uprisings, eg the Zapatistas. The money may be filtering in, but I suspect that it is purely a marriage of convenience if it exists.Quote:
Originally Posted by Merv Benson
Marc
Merv,
In today's world it is easy for numerous groups with different agendas to network and support each other where there are common points of interest, or a profit to be made. Unfortunately with our current myopic view of strategic threats to the U.S., if you're not an Islamist you just don't make the list, no matter how hard you try (sorry North Korea). So what do we do, we automatically draw illogical links to Islamists, so we can draw attention to a problem. I think our nation's leaders have led much of America into a dangerous group think dynamic, where we're all extremely paranoid, thus we see the evil hand of Al Qaeda or Iran everywhere. What makes it worse is in most cases it "could" always be true to some degree, so it is hard to disprove. Sort of like WMD in Iraq, or AQ ties to Iraq, prior to our 2003 launch of OIF. I remain amused why educated men (and women) cannot collectively think rationally.
I think a communist insurgency in Mexico (without any Islamist influence) is a threat to our national interests on a number of levels. If it spreads (others were relatively easily defeated/suppressed) it could lead to increased legal and illegal migration, humanitarian issues, a hostile, or least not friendly gov on our southern border, etc. It is way to soon to make any claims like this, because this movement could be a flash in the pan, but the point is we have to look at all potential threats to U.S. interests, not just Islamists (which I know wasn't your point).
Bill
Gas pipeline attack in Mexico forces factories to shut downQuote:
Originally Posted by Bill Moore
Quote:
....At least a dozen companies including Honda Motor Co., Kellogg Co.'s, The Hershey Co., Nissan Motor Co., and Grupo Modelo SA were forced to suspend or scale back operations because of the lack of natural gas, the daily newspaper Excelsior reported. They said they faced millions of dollars in losses.
Vitro SAB, a Mexican company that makes glass containers, said the shutdown of two plants would cost it about $800,000 a day. Vitro said in a statement that it was increasing production at other plants in Mexico to minimize effects on customers.
Total business losses were being estimated at more than 70 million pesos ($6.4 million) a day, Excelsior reported, citing unidentified sources. The association representing Mexican industry said Wednesday it was looking into the extent of the explosions' financial impact....
Additional details in the 25 Jul 07 Miami Herald:
Mexican bombers also hit crude oil pipeline
Quote:
Saboteurs who blew up natural gas pipelines that shut down one of Mexico's main industrial regions earlier this month also crippled an important crude oil pipeline in an operation that indicated extensive knowledge of Mexico's energy infrastructure, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Not only were oil and natural gas pipelines targeted, but the bombers also knew enough about energy installations to destroy the shutoff valves along several pipelines that allow for the wide national distribution of oil and natural gas....
...And the bombers knew which side of the valve they should strike, ensuring that crude oil didn't flow to a nearby refinery and that natural gas didn't flow to foreign and Mexican manufacturers in the central Bajio region....
Here is the full-text translation of the bad guys' communique issued after the attack:
Quote:
To whom it may concern:
With this communiqué, our party is able to communicate with the media and our people in the state of Guanajuato regarding our political position concerning the PEMEX pipeline explosions.
We express our appreciation in advance for your attention.
To the people of Mexico.
To the people of Guanajuato.
To the national and international media.
To the non-governmental groups who defend human rights.
Brothers, sisters, comrades!
In the northern part of the country, nature has been very benevolent with us; in Cadereyta a lightning bolt struck a deposit belonging to PEMEX; here in Guanajuato, the old pipe lines have not been maintained; this compounding with a “puncture” made to extract gas caused a loss of pressure resulting in several explosions; 7 these events could be left alone, we could remain quiet, and continue listening to the absurdities offered by the authorities but, the people deserve to know the truth. This is the truth and our motives.
In compliance with the central committee of our party and with the commanders of our army, we put into play the following military action: The orders for a national campaign to scourge the interests of the oligarchy and of this illegitimate government have been put into motion.
Three squads (platoons) comprised of urban and rural units from the Francisco Javier Mina detachment counting on support from people’s militias from all over the state have carried out attacks with surgical precision by placing eight explosive charges into the PEMEX lines located in Celaya, Salamanca, Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato and into the cross section valve of Coroneo (Queretaro) all done simultaneously at one o’clock on the mornings of July 5 and 10.
We are letting our people know that the attacks/harassments will not cease until the governments of Felipe Calderon and Ulises Ruiz release our companions Edmundo Reyes Amaya, Raymundo Rivera Bravo, and Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sanchez, held – disappeared since May 25 in Oaxaca.
We are informing our central committee and our commanding general that all who follow this leadership are able and in combat position and awaiting your orders. We await orders!
For the immediate release of our companions!
For the release of all our detained – disappeared!
ISN Security Watch, 13 Sep 07: Mexican Bombings Highlight Poor Intel
Quote:
Eleven bombs exploded in the early morning hours of 10 September, destroying gas pipelines operated by Mexican state-run energy company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in the state of Veracruz. Operations of hundreds of companies in at least 10 Mexican states are still offline, collectively costing the Mexican economy over US$200 million and leaving idle some 10,000 Mexican workers.
It is the third bomb attack in as many months orchestrated by the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR), a guerrilla group many believed until 10 September to be little more than an under-funded gathering of peasants from Oaxaca.
Some facts have solidified. The EPR has the sophistication to cause significant damage to selected targets and will continue its campaign until demands are met. After the second bombing, which shut down Pemex operations in Guanajuato and Queretaro in July, this first theory was forwarded as a strong one. It is now considered a fact. Second, the Mexican intelligence system is not prepared to deal with this domestic threat.....
...this 13 Sep 07 EIU Briefing talks to Bill's point about "return on investment" for those who carried out this most recent attack:
Pipeline Bombs: Mexico's Gas Infrastructure Comes Under Attack
Quote:
....The blasts forced some 20,000 people to flee their homes, and the disruption in domestic oil and gas supplies (exports reportedly were not affected) caused numerous businesses to shut down or reduce their operations. Business groups estimate losses of at least US$90m. Some 60% of the country’s steel industry production has been halted, and two major automotive plants are crippled. As many as 2,500 companies in 10 states are reported to have been affected.
Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) will millions of dollars per day in lost gas sales and will have to spend millions more to repair the damaged infrastructure. This comes at a time when Pemex is already under strain because of a decline in revenue and output from its aging oil fields. Pemex officials are aiming to repair the pipelines and get production back on line by September 17th. Yet Pemex’s financial constraints could prevent it from making the necessary investments in security at its installations. In fact, officials admit that they cannot fully protect the country’s extensive pipeline network and other infrastructure from future attacks.
Future losses for Pemex would not only hit domestic supplies, but also potentially export revenue as well as fiscal income. Tax payments made by Pemex account for some 40% of the federal government’s tax take.....
NYT, 26 Sep 07: With Bombings, Mexican Rebels Escalate Their Fight
Quote:
....In all three attacks, the bombers filled fire extinguishers with a mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, then detonated them with plastic explosives wired to digital watches and batteries.
The power of the bombs and the logistical skill in setting them off at the same time took many top officials here by surprise. Before the blasts, the Popular Revolutionary Army was considered a moribund group that had peaked in 1996 and then splintered into several smaller groups....
....The Popular Revolutionary Army has deep roots in Oaxaca, having been founded there in 1994 when 14 small insurgent groups banded together. The core leadership came from an extremist Marxist organization known by the acronym Procup, the Spanish initials for the Clandestine Revolutionary Workers’ Party-Union of the People.....
Obviously no way of knowing who - if anyone - gave them support or training but were I to guess I would go for FARC. A good geographical and ideological match. The quote below is an extract from an interview with a former UC-ELN fighter taken from the linked Human Rights Watch report.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/colombia0903/11.htmQuote:
We had lessons in the use of explosives, and they gave us a manual on how to use them. Any type of cylinder can be used for the bombs........ we put in anfo [ammonium nitrate and fuel oil] explosive.
Wonder how long until they start going after nuclear targets...
http://www.geocritical.com/gc/Portal...SC%20Slice.gif
While it is likely that Marxist paramilitary groups are responsible for these pipeline attacks, we should not forget that the stovepipe structure of the Mexican politico-industrial powerbase fosters internecine and revenge attacks within all levels of Mexican society. Family history and family connections count for everything in Mexico’s social infrastructure. Recently while in Mexico working for an American client I was privileged to witness this process first hand. A Mexican industrial family (with strong ties to Pemex coincidently) had practiced what I would have termed ‘embezzlement’ (when I mentioned this I was told that in Mexico things were done differently than in the U.S.). The small businessmen who were the object of this ‘redistribution’ of funds were out several tens of thousands of dollars and were more than just a little upset. At the time they were intent on using whatever means they could to get redress of the situation. I was never aware at anytime that the ‘debtees’ were of a Marxist temperament in fact I found quite the opposite, they were small entrepreneurs trying to build businesses of their own and were fed-up with having their collective chains jerked over money that was owed to them. As I understand it, the issues were eventually resolved and as merely a spectator dining with the elite, I was able to steer clear of the issues except as academic discussion. My point here is, that this consortium of small businessmen were prepared to use industrial violence to get a solution to their problem and political positions were not the issue.
I have recently been catching up on the bad news in Mexico, with drug cartels running what appears to be a mini-insurgency against the government, which is employing the military in an effort to suppress the violence. All of which is spilling out in the border area. I was hoping some experts - I am not one concerning our southern neighbor - could weigh in with their judgments on the seriousness of the situation. Are we watching a new Columbia or Peru on our doorstep?
Well, the problem I see with Colombia and Peru analogy is political factor. Sure there are irredentist movements, but I am not sure they are connected to the cartels. It would seem FARC and Sendero are more concerned about coke profits then revolution these days, traded Mao for Milton Friedman. Devolving from guerrillas into illicit businesses, that seems to be the trend for alot of groups like these.
The cartels are already illicit businesses making generous fortunes, it is hard to see how they would morph into something else. The concept of "narco nationalism" lingers, but if anything this is accepted by the U.S. government. The $80 billion or so in drug cash that flows from the U.S. to Mexico (plus around $20 billion in remittances from legal and illegal immigrants also) is probably 30-45% of normal trade between us. Those hard currency flows into Mexico are larger than any foreign aid program we could muster together, and probably more effective, so for the sake of not having a failed state below us, its is grudgingly accepted.
The surplus of violence of late is because of power struggles between the cartels over the most important corridors (for both import from Latin America, and export north). This power struggle has been going on since the market hegemon, Amado Carrillo, died in 1997. It seems the Mexican government pursuing a strategy of letting no market leader emerge (or protecting their own position?), trying to assure a balance of power between the cartels and letting them duke it out. The Mexican government has been notable lately in seeking to deny sanctuary as part of their strategy. So thats why we are seeing shoot outs in nice neighborhoods lately.
So thats why I don't like the Peru/Colombia analogy. This not to say it will be incredibly interesting what happens to a fifty mile strip on both sides of the border, but my I see at as more some mutant globalization bastard child than the next Peru of Colombia.
Check the LINK.
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Originally Posted by Ken White
A "new" form of contracting? :wry:Quote:
"We're offering you a good salary, food and medical care for your families," it said in block letters.
But there was a catch: The employer was Los Zetas, a notorious Gulf cartel hit squad formed by elite Mexican army deserters. The group even included a phone number for job seekers that linked to a voice mailbox.
medical care, looks like they're ahead of us on some log issues... :D
I mean you just gotta love the phrase "elite Mexican Army deserters"Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken White
Folks thought the Wild Bunch was just a movie...:wry:
And my Mama used to date LQ Jones...:cool:
From the Economist
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The Zapatista rebellion raised Mexicans' awareness of race discrimination. But this remains a problem. The majority of the population in every one of Mexico's 100 poorest municipalities is of indigenous descent, says Mr Abreu. One policy designed to help the poor Indians is bilingual education. But the flaws of the public education system are magnified in the south. In practice, the teachers' union rather than the government controls teaching appointments; the union sometimes appoints a teacher who speaks a different indigenous language to his pupils, according to Mr Abreu. A typical adult in the south has only six years of schooling; the corresponding figure in northern Mexico is 8.1 and 9.7 in Mexico City. And those years of schooling are not full years: local education officials report that in urban areas in the south an average teacher spends only 110 of the notional 200 days of the academic year actually in the classroom. The record is even worse in rural areas.
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The big wealth gap polarises politics, too. In the north, Mr Calderón won 43% of the vote in the 2006 presidential election, while only 24% went to Andrés Manuel López Obrador, his populist rival. But in the south Mr López Obrador won 40%, and Mr Calderón 27%. This regional divide contributes to political gridlock. The right plays to its electoral strength in the north, and the left to its constituents in the south, squeezing out opportunities for compromise and progress. The latest example concerns a desperately needed reform to liberalise Mexico's declining state-owned oil industry, opposed by Mr López Obrador. The south instinctively favours big government and mistrusts private initiative.
With each passing year, the socio-economic gap widens. Monterrey, Mexico's northern industrial capital, is starting to resemble south Texas. Many parts of the south still look like a northern extension of Guatemala. But unless the government shows a greater ability and willingness to tackle its problems, the south will not just remain stuck in its poverty trap but risks handicapping the country as a whole.
Again from the Economist
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AFTER the 1994 peso crash, the risk of Mexico's difficulties spilling over into America was considered so great that the Clinton administration helped bail out its southern neighbour. In the first quarter of 2008, the boot was on the other foot, though the scale was entirely different. Now it was the turn of Banamex, one of Mexico's two largest banks, to help out Citigroup, its crisis-stricken parent. Banamex provided $453m of the $1.1 billion Citi earned in net income from its overseas operations between January and March (Citi lost $5.1 billion overall). You could almost hear Vikram Pandit, Citi's new chief, mutter “Gracias, compadre.”
Yet Banamex was not even the best-performing of the Mexican banks. Of Mexico's five largest financial institutions (which control three-quarters of the market and also include Bancomer, Santander, HSBC and Banorte), it was the only one that did not show a big rise in year-on-year profits in the first quarter. The performance of the banks was impressive for two reasons. Firstly, Mexico has one of the most open banking systems in the world; two of its top five banks are Spanish-owned, one is American, one British, and only one is Mexican. Yet the crisis in global banking has barely ruffled it. Also, Mexico's economy is usually more exposed than almost any other to a slowdown in America. As Alejandro Valenzuela, boss of Banorte, delicately puts it: “Decoupling is the wrong word, but there is now a certain shield.”