La Otra División del Norte

Trabajando para la paz en las calles del norte de México.

Como se tratan los periodistas en México

A lo mejor ignora el primero minuto

Ignore the first minute or so

Another version:

This version doesn’t have the intro advert rubbish, but then talks over the scenes, losing some of thr sense of being there that you get when you hear the exchanges between them- the vulnerability of lone cameraman or journo surrounded by three or four thugs who don’t know anything except how to push people around and shout. And have got the full backing of the State behind them.

There a hardy lot though, the journos in this clip. It looks like after a few rounds of pushing, shoving and kicking the soldiers get the idea that the reporters are never going to give up following them, and they just fuck off back to their HQ. (It’s hard to tell though, there may be scenes missing).

‘La lucha sigue’

In the week and a half or so since the last entry it’s become something of a mathematical challenge to keep up with the body count in Tamaulipas state alone. Sources on the ground speak of major gunbattles on a more than daily basis, automatic weapons and grenades are the tools of the trade.

On the 29^th of September the mayor’s office was attacked with grenades at 9 in the morning, when the office is open to the public. 3 civilians were wounded. There is no security/military/police infrastructure in the mayor’s office- it’s where people go to pay taxes and engage with bureaucratic tedium. After some 4 or 5 attacks against the prosecutor’s office it looks like the narcos have changed targets; to paralyse the city’s civic functions and render the city ungovernable.

On the 28, the mayor of Tancitaro, Michoacan; Gustavo Sanchez and an aide were stoned to death and their bodies dumped by the roadside. He was (at least) the 17^th mayor to be killed in the last two and a half years.

There has been yet more evidence of ‘overspill’ onto the US side of the border. Two narcos, ex-lietenants of the Gulf Cartel who had switched sides to operate with the up-and coming Zetas, were killed near Brownsville, Texas, on the 30^th of September (presumably by their former colleagues). Also, the Mexican army ‘accidentally’ crossed into US territory whilst pursuing a suspect.

In Matamoros, city on the North-Eastern corner of Mexico that has the unfortunate honour of being the birthplace of two cartels, those selfsame cartels are engaged in a battle to the death. The ongoing mass violence that began on the 14^th is result of the Z’s attempt to take over one of the most proffitable smuggling routes on the border. The Gulf Cartel had previously resisted all attempts by the Zs to enter the city, but it appears that by sheer force of arms they’ve managed to established ‘beachheads,’- that is to say safe houses from where they can operate. Major fighting was reported (by locals if not by the media) today, the 2^nd of October, in the south of the city (Periferico de Niño), where soldiers and narcos have been facing off, again, with automatic weapons and explosives.

Meanwhile, further south and west the story is of the kidnapping of 22 tourists in Acapulco, allegedly by gangsters associated with La Familia Michoacana. This is apparently ‘worrisome’ for the Mexican tourist industry.

Tamaulipas under attack from air, land, water and firepower

During days of torrential rain and flooding, four days and nights of fighting (starting Monday 14th with an attack on the Prosecutor’s Office) have left approximately 100 dead. Much of the fighting has been centred on or near Matamoros, home of the CdG. Although figures are hard to come by approximately 20-25 gangsters (and a couple of soldiers) have been killed in gun-battles every day during the last few days.

News media from Brownsville, Texas report seeing a Mexican military helicopter giving close air support with snipers’ rifles to troops on the ground battling the narcos. The reports suggest that this was visible from both sides of the border.

More escalations in Mexico’s narco-civil war: A full-scale invasion of Tamaulipas by (presumably) the Zetas and an aerial attack on the narcos by the Mexican military.

Consider first the scale of the attack- if 25 were killed in one night and the hospitals accrued a similar number of casualties, we can assume that at least that same number survived the firefight unharmed. So that means that these gun-battles have involved at least a hundred soldiers each day/night, attacking multiple targets (or defending multiple locations). And this total excludes marine, army and federal troops.

Much of this has taken place within earshot of the USA, and yet the only place it’s reported is in the local Texan press, and the travel warnings are both serious and yet emanate from lowly local US law enforcement agencies. The USA is suspicously silent on these attacks. These attacks are taking place on the same border that has just been further militarised on the US side, with the addition of two Predator drones to augment US border security.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/cartel-116914-gulf-mexican.html

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/09/2010915175744263894.html

Matamoros querido: 25 dead after a night of gun-battles

Matamoros Querido

Last night (15th of September '10) saw running battles between the Zetas and Gulf
Cartel, and between the Cartels and the Mexican army. The state prosecutors office was
attacked with grenades (for the 5th time in little over a month). The battles have left at
least 25 people dead, including two Marines, along with, sources report 'un chingo' (ie
fucking loads) of wounded in the hospitals, and doctors report that some of these are
expected to die from their wounds. The fighting was spread over Fraccionamiento Rio,
Colonia Del Carmen, Colonia Jardin, by the Gateway International Bridge, Calle Sexta,
Lauro Villar,near the Los Tomates / Veterans Bridge. These are rich areas normally
free from violence, and near to the Rio Bravo/US border.The battles could be heard
over the river in Brownsville, Texas (which put it's own security on alert status, and
advised students there to stay in their dorms). 

The story goes that the Zetas are desperate to retake control of Tamaulipas state from
the Gulf Cartel, and had given them an ultimatum to leave by the 14th of be forced out.
True to their word, they launched their attack on the early hours of the 15th. 
Ever since the discovery of the massacre of the 72 indocumented migrants in
Tamaulipas, there had been a tense calm over the place. That calm has been well and
truly shattered. The streets are under military curfew again, and people are afraid to
leave their homes. 

All of this has taken place with an almost complete news blackout in the Mexican press.
The only detail reported there is the deaths of the two Marines, and that some areas of
the state won't be celebrating Independence Day due to security concerns. Across the
river in Brownsville, the papers have been somewhat more forthcoming, and so it is
possible (for English-speakers at least) to have some idea of what's just taken place in
the last 24 hours. Obviously, those who actually live there know all too well what's
going on.

All this in a place that was once mostly famous for being the subject of a cheesy Norteno tune that went like this:

A orilla del rio Bravo, hay una Linda region
Con un pueblito que llevo muy dentro del corazon.
Mi Matamoros querido, nunca te podre olvidar.”

(To the banks of the Rio Bravo, there is a beautiful region
With a little town that I carry deep inside my heart
My darling Matamoros, I cannot ever forget you)

Some time after that (around 2005) they became known as the place that the Zetas came from,and, in the words of El Pais’ Pablo Ordaz that it (or rather the stateof Tamaulipas) is “que ya es símbolo del horror y el desgobierno” (the emblam of horror and lawlessness) of whole of Mexico.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/authorities-116757-confirmed-matamoros.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/09/2010915175744263894.html
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Bicentenario/triste/America/elpepiint/20100915elpepiint_4/Tes

‘Security Developments in Mexico’

For those who like their news unfiltered and international, you can't do much better than
 Reuters Alertnet (alertnet.org). Alertnet, for the uninitiated, is the Reuters newsfeed
 specially tailored for ngos and ingos who need to know the basic facts concerning war, 
famine, disease and disaster: where is going on, who's involved, how many dead, how 
many injured. 

Normally every  military/paramilitary attack, bombing, earthquake, disease outbreak etc
 gets its own story. However, some countries are so fucked that Reuters bundles all of the
 days/weeks horrors into one single story. 'Security Developments in Iraq' is one- a roll of
 dishonour of the day's shootings and bombings. Afghanistan also a regular 'security
 developments briefing. 

So, the other day, I noticed for the first time 'Security Developments in Mexico'. 
In other words- its now official: Mexico is fucked. There's too much daily violence to 
report separately and so now Mexico has joined Afghanistan and Iraq in the champions
 league of political violence.




Compare and Contrast

FACTBOX-Security developments in Mexico, Sept 7-13
14 Sep 2010 18:29:09 GMT
Source: Reuters
Sept 14 (Reuters) – Following are selected incidents that took place this past week in Mexico’s escalating drug war as the government cracks down on cartels battling for smuggling routes. More than 28,000 people have died since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched his military campaign on drugs when he took office in late 2006. 
PUEBLA – Mexican marines captured drug lord Sergio Villarreal, dubbed “El Grande” (The Big One), in central Mexico on Sept 12. Villarreal was a leading member of the Beltran Leyva cartel, the navy said. [ID:nN13211575] 
OCOTLAN – Suspected drug hitmen killed a police chief in the western state of Jalisco on Sept 12, shooting him more than 30 times as he drove to work, police said. 
REYNOSA – Eighty-five suspected members of the Zetas cartel escaped from prison in the manufacturing city of Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas, on Sept 10, in one of the biggest jailbreaks in Mexico since Calderon launched his drug war, police said. [ID:nN10101474] 
CANCUN – Authorities removed the director of the main prison in the Caribbean resort of Cancun on Sept 11, accusing him of protecting suspected members of the Zetas cartel.
with
FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Sept 15
15 Sep 2010 17:32:57 GMT
Source: Reuters

Sept 	15 (Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 1730 	GMT on Wednesday. * Denotes new or updated item 

*BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb in southern Baghdad wounded four civilians, a Ministry of Interior source said. 
*BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in northern Baghdad wounded two policemen and two civilians, an Interior Ministry source said. 
* TALAFAR – Police shot and killed a suicide bomber before he could detonate an explosives vest he was wearing in Talafar, 420 km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police said. 
MOSUL – Nine Iraqi soldiers were killed and six people, including five soldiers, were wounded when a roadside bomb destroyed a bus in a village west of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police and army sources said. 
FALLUJA – At least seven people died in a gunfight when Iraqi and U.S. forces raided three houses in Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, hunting for a suspected insurgent leader, Iraqi police and U.S. military officials said.
MOSUL – Police found the body of a man with bullet wounds in the head and chest, in eastern Mosul, police said. 
BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb went off in northern Baghdad near the convoy of a deputy minister of labour, wounding two civilians, a Ministry of Interior source said. BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb wounded four civilians in the central Baghdad district of Karrada, an Interior Ministry source said. (Compiled by Baghdad newsroom)




							

Deliberate Mass Attack on Civilians in Mexico’s Narco War

A Molotov Cocktail killed 8 people in a restuarant in a tourist resort in Cancun, after a carfull of men threw a molotov cocktail at the guests. Six died on the spot and a further two died in transit. There are two people still in hospital.

This happened on the 31st of August, not 24 hours after the last entry was written (but not yet uploaded). It’s probably considered bad form to quote yourself on your own blog but in this case I believe that it is justifiable:

“There is a trajectory being followed here, and it is leading in an obvious direction. The Mexican government is intent on a military solution to the narcos and their Cartels. The Cartels are armed groups that do not need to rely on the support of the local population. They are perfectly poised to respond in kind President Calderon’s escalation.

The Cartels (first and foremost Los Zetas- who are earning a bit of reputation lately for a Latin American ‘El Qaeda’) have already escalated the level of violence to deliberate attacks on civilian targets. The next tactical escalation is to attacks designed to cause maximum civilian casualties. This looks like where it might be heading, it is happening quickly.”

The bar had previously been paid a visit from men claiming to be from “Los Zetas,” and had demanded protection money. The bar’s owners refused to be intimidated, and so a message has been sent out. Two messages really- the first to any who oppose the Zetas, and the second to everybody else as well- that the Cartels are willing to attack Mexico’s soft underbelly- a rich, fat, easily-pannicked tourist underbelly at that. They are now striking at civilians with the explicit purpose of killing as many people as they can.

Mexico- After the Massacre of the 24th of August, 2010

On the 26th of August 72 murdered migrants from Central & South America were discovered after the lone survivor alerted marines at a naval checkpoint.

The state investigator, Roberto Suarez, (an establishment lawyer from Mexico’s elite) ‘dissapaeared’ after being appointed to look into the deaths. His body was found two days later. The one time it looked like he might take his job seriously, he got killed for it.
Two car-bombs exploded, one outside Televisa, the national TV station in Cuidad Victoria, the other outside a police station, several people were injured in the blasts
Later on there was a further grenade attack on another police station
Entire areas of the northern cities Victoria, Reynosa and Matamoros have been under army curfew.

Mexico’s migrants (for the vast majority Mexico is an obstacle on the way to the US rather than a destination in itself) staged a 300 strong demo in Coahuila- with their faces covered to protect their identity. The USA is not famed for its benign treatment of ‘indocumentados,’ but it is generally recognised that what they have to put up with in Mexico is much much worse. The recent massacre is just the tip of the iceberg.

This was just what happened this week. In one State, Tamaulipas.

If Mexico were a Muslim country, the talking heads would now be asking, “Is Mexico sliding into civil war?”Or we might choose to ask a slightly different question: “Is another word for term for a multi-factional armed struggle that’s killing an average of about 130 people per week ‘civil war?’” It’s a moot point, really. Mexico is sliding into chaos, fast. Were Mexico Muslim it would be a ‘failed state’.

Laughingly, the UK foreign office says that there is a low danger of terrorism (although it does mention that if you’re holidaying in Mexico you might want to stay away from any explosions that are happening). The US embassy has ordered its staff to evacuate their kids from Monterey (Mexico’s second city).

Another grenade went off this week, in the tourist town of Puerto Vallarta, killing one and injuring 14 (including four amputations), but that was just put down to high jinks.

Oh, and just Monday (30th) the government sacked over 3,000 cops for corruption (or at least for being corrupted by the wrong faction).

There is a trajectory being followed here, and it is leading in an obvious direction. The Mexican government is intent on a military solution to the narcos and their Cartels. The Cartels are armed groups that do not need to rely on the support of the local population. They are perfectly poised to respond in kind President Calderon’s escalation.

The Cartels (first and foremost Los Zetas- who are earning a bit of reputation lately for a Latin American ‘El Qaeda’) have already escalated the level of violence to deliberate attacks on civilian targets. The next tactical escalation is to attacks designed to cause maximum civilian casualties. This looks like where it might be heading, it is happening quickly.