U.S. frustration with Mexico may be growing
News reports of death and violence in Mexico are near daily reading, with savagery taking place not only along the northern border and in states like Sinaloa, but in popular resort areas such as Cancun and Acapulco.
In what is becoming old hat, the Gulf Cartel and drug traffickers from Sinaloa fight for control of routes into the U.S. As well, they are at war over marijuana and heroin production and supply in Mexico’s western states, including Guerrero where Acapulco is located.
Guerrero Governor Zeferino Torreblanca Galindo is now calling for the Mexican federal government to help him fight back. Torreblanca has reported that the gangs killed more than 20 people in the resort area over the last year, with four execution-style killings on August 10, 2005, alone. But it seems the governor is more mindful of tourism implications, as he says that he “wants police, not soldiers” on the streets so as not to scare off some 1.5 million visitors that include many Americans....
Meanwhile, back in Nuevo Laredo the drug war continues without the usual details as journalists have stopped investigating and reporting. Many of their colleagues have been killed and threatened. Daniel Rosa, the managing editor of the daily El Mañana in Nuevo Laredo said: “It is the new trend of drug gangs — journalists are warned, paid off, or killed.” The editor of El Mañana, Roberto Garcia, was stabbed to death on March 19, 2004.
The journalists complain that corruption makes it impossible for them to research their stories accurately. Yet more serious, the reporters note that Tamaulipas is the most dangerous place to work in Mexico. Since January there have been at least 108 execution-style murders, whereas over the last year 173 people have disappeared, including 23 still missing Americans....
In February a reporter with the Televisa TV network was gunned down after airing a report on the paramilitary group known as the Zetas. The Zetas were accused of involvement in the disappearances of both Mexicans and Americans in Nuevo Laredo, but the TV coup-de-grace probably came when the broadcaster said municipal police back the Zetas, and that they have an informant in the Mexican Army....
Read the complete article.