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Posts Tagged ‘narcotrafico’

Mexican Tourism Board: Mexico Needs an Image Makeover

24 Mar 2009

1949726238_351271f9eb_o As much as I love Mexico, I have to admit that lately all of the violence — from severed heads in ice chests to massive roadside graves — makes it harder and harder to convince people who don’t know the country that that’s not what it’s about. The Mexican Tourism Board appears to realize that this is becoming more and more challenging, and its Secretary says that the country needs to “rebuild its image” in the eyes of foreigners, namely potential tourists. El Universal reports:

At a conference, [the Secretary] stated that it isn’t about an advertising campaign but doing anything necessary “to compensate for the attacks that Mexico has suffered in the last several weeks.”

Accompanied by the director of the Council for Tourism Promotion, Oscar Fitch Gómez, the Secretary explained that the intention isn’s just to rebuild Mexico’s image to attract visitors but to improve the country as a whole.

The Secretary also stated that potential tourists hear many things about Mexico that just aren’t true, some as extreme as the notion that the country is “at war”. He also mentioned that the ex-director of the CIA advised his own son not to visit Mexico because the narcos were planning to attack Spring Break revelers, and that the responsibility of convincing American tourists that these rumors are false belongs to Mexico.

I symphathize with this effort. I always hated when people tried to tell me things about Mexico City — you can’t walk down the street at night without getting robbed, nor get into a cab without getting kidnapped, etc. — when I lived there and knew the truth. But at the same time, we have to be realistic and realize that cosmetic changes won’t fix a problem that is getting worse and worse every day. This isn’t a job for the Tourism Board but for President Felipe Calderon.

Via / El Universal

Massive Grave in Mexico Linked to Drug Cartels

6:40 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Drugs|mexico|society|U.S.-Mexico Border|Violence · 2 Comments

15 Mar 2009

A grave containing 9 bodies was discovered over the weekend in Juarez, Mexico, and all signs point to the fact that this is yet another bloody chapter in Mexico’s on-going drug wars. CNN reports:

Investigators have yet to determine the identities of the seven men and two women found in the grave, Gonzalez said. They have not released information on how they were killed or how long they have been there.

Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas, has become one of the major battlegrounds as drug cartels fight both each other and Mexican authorities. The conflict has made violence increasingly common in Juarez, Tijuana and other Mexican border towns.

The discovery coincides with the arrival of some 5,000 Mexican troops dispatched to Ciudad Juarez in an effort to put a stop the the heightening violence in the city.

To get a sense for what drug violence is doing to Ciudad Juarez (incidentally also infamous for the mysterious murders of hundreds of women over the past several years), have a look at the above video from the YouTube and Pulitzer Center “Project: Report” project.

Via / CNN

Mexico’s Narco Violence Continues: 5 Decapitated Heads Found

6:09 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · crime|Drugs|Latin America|mexico|society · 7 Comments

10 Mar 2009

narcoheads It seems that with each passing day, Mexico’s war on drug lords seems more and more hopeless, and the country is gripped with a seemingly endless chain of violent acts that have already left hundreds dead this year and nearly 6,000 deaths last year. The latest chapter in this bloody story is striking in its violence: this morning, 5 decapitated heads were found in an ice chests on the side of the road in rural Jalisco, Mexico. Mexico City’s La Jornada reports:

Inside styrofoam ice chests 5 male heads were found in the early morning on Tuesday in the town of fueron encontradas la madrugada de este martes cinco cabezas Ixtlahuacán del Río, some 50 kilometers north of Guadalajara, with a “narcomessage”. The macabre discovery coincides with today’s visit to Jalisco by president Felipe Calderón.

Reports we called in around 2:00 a.m. via an anonymous caller to the municipal police, who after corroborating the news alerted the state police and state judicial authorities.

Each head was found in an ice chest with packing tape wrapped around the eyes. The five containers were placed in a line alongside the the highway, very close to entrance into the town.

Heads in ice chests? Can it really get much worse than this? Savage.

Calderón had better act quickly before his country falls further into the hands of these assassins. This is not the Mexico I know and love.

Via / La Jornada

Imaga via El Informador

Nearly 600 Dead in Mexican State

11:17 am By Maegan La Mala · Drugs|Latin America|mexico|society · Comments Off

16 Jul 2008

Nearly 600 people have died so far this year in the Mexican state of Sinaloa as a result of execution-style murders related to drug trafficking.

Mexico’s La Jornada reports that in May and June of this year alone, 120 people were executed, at a rate of 4 murders per day. This month 75 people have already been killed, among them 9 who were killed on Sunday. Two of the victims were minors.

La Jornada reports that most of the killings are taking place in the cities of Culiacán and Navolato, though they are spreading into surrounding areas as well.

The mayor of Guamúchil, one of the most violent cities, is taking a cavalier attitude, arguing that “Mexico city is more violent than Sinaloa.” With leaders like that, we aren’t going to get very far.

VivirMexico reports that the problem has gotten so frightfully bad that people are actually packing up and leaving the state.

Via / La Jornada

Image via EFE

Mexican singer killed in hospital room

3:59 pm By Maegan La Mala · Celebrities|crime|Drugs|mexico|society · Comments Off

3 Dec 2007

Incredible but true. Zayda Peña, 28, a grupera singer known for her anti-narco lyrics was shot on Saturday while in a hotel room in Matamoros, Mexico, where she was staying with a friend. The friend, as well as the hotel manager, died of gunshot wounds at the scene.

Zayda was still alive when she was rushed to the hospital minutes later, and might have been out of danger until the unthinkable happened: the assailants, fearing she had survived the attack, brazenly walked into the operating room and fired at Zayda, killing her, then fled the scene.

While police say it could be a “crime of passion” (it seems a popular motive among Mexican police when women or gay men are involved), many are citing narcos as the perpetrators of the shooting. El Diario de Yucatan points out that over the past 12 months a dozen grupera performers have been victims of violence supposedly linked to narcotraficantes.

Via / TV Azteca and El Diario de Yucatan

Mexican army arrests over 100 policemen

6:19 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Justice|mexico · Comments Off

16 Apr 2007

In Mexican society, the profession of policeman isn’t the most respected. Like in many other countries, most are suspicious of policemen, who are believed to be corrupt, capable of turning a blind eye to any crime or misdemeanor for a “mordida”. In the state of Nuevo León, in Northern Mexico, the Mexican army has arrested over 100 policemen believed to be linked to organized crime, and involved in the 51 murders that have occurred in the state this year:

Among these murders, most committed with large caliber weapons, are 18 murders of policeman, some of whom are presumed to be linked to organized crime and were victims of acts of vengeance by drug cartels who are fighting for the routes towards the U.S.

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