mexico

Mexican cartels hiring US soldiers as hit men

"Mexican cartels are recruiting hit men from the U.S. military, offering big money to highly-trained soldiers to carry out contract killings and potentially share their skills with gangsters south of the border. The involvement of three American soldiers in separate incidents underscore a problem the U.S. military has fought hard to address. Using American servicemen could make it easier to carry out a murder in the U.S. since they can more easily move across the border. And the lure of quick money has proven tempting for theses soldiers given the dismal military pay scale." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMexican cartels hiring US soldiers as hit men

Mexico’s peyote casts mind-bending spell on tourists

"The tourists just keep trickling in. They have not been deterred by the difficult topography, and there is no indication they have paid any heed to rusty, metal signs announcing regularly that 'HARVESTING AND SELLING PEYOTE IS A FEDERAL CRIME.' Nor has the legal background done anything to change the availability of local guides who, when they hear the magic words from tourists — 'We want to go out to the desert' — sidle up and quietly offer their services. Mayor Hector Moreno warned: 'Peyote is exclusively for (indigenous) Huichol culture. The rest of us are only supposed to promote its preservation and respect for it.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMexico’s peyote casts mind-bending spell on tourists

Over 1,000 flee homes in south Mexico over violence

"Some 1,000 people have fled their homes in southwestern Mexico after gunfights erupted in their villages and criminal groups threatened them, officials said Thursday. Residents of three villages in the state of Guerrero abandoned their homes Wednesday after an unspecified number of people were wounded and houses were set ablaze, said Bolivar Ochoa, secretary general of the San Miguel Totolapa municipality that oversees the communities. The gang violence has led several communities in another region of Guerrero, the mountainous and rural Costa Chica area, to form vigilante groups in order to conduct their own policing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOver 1,000 flee homes in south Mexico over violence

Mexico could legalize marijuana in five years: former president Vicente Fox

"Mexico could legalize marijuana within the next five years, stripping brutal drug cartels of a major source of income, former President Vicente Fox said on Friday. Fox, who battled the powerful cartels while president between 2000 and 2006, has since become a staunch advocate of reforming Mexico’s drug laws, arguing that prohibition has helped create the criminal market that sustains the gangs. Under his successor, Felipe Calderon, Mexico launched a military offensive to crush the cartels, but the violence spiraled instead, and more than 70,000 people have been killed in drug-related bloodletting since the start of 2007." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMexico could legalize marijuana in five years: former president Vicente Fox

Mexican police chief killed with rifle lost in ATF ‘Fast and Furious’ program

"A high-powered rifle lost in the ATF’s Fast and Furious controversy was used to kill a Mexican police chief in the state of Jalisco earlier this year, according to internal Department of Justice records, suggesting that weapons from the failed gun-tracking operation have now made it into the hands of violent drug cartels deep inside Mexico. Luis Lucio Rosales Astorga, the police chief in the city of Hostotipaquillo, was shot to death Jan. 29 when gunmen intercepted his patrol car and opened fire. Also killed was one of his bodyguards. His wife and a second bodyguard were wounded." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMexican police chief killed with rifle lost in ATF ‘Fast and Furious’ program

McCain: We’ll make border with Mexico look like ‘the Berlin Wall’

"Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Tuesday that the Senate should include an amendment for increased border security in its new bipartisan immigration reform bill. In video featured by Talking Points Memo, McCain said that the amendment, proposed by Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and John Hoeven (R-ND) would make the border between Mexico and the U.S. into 'most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMcCain: We’ll make border with Mexico look like ‘the Berlin Wall’

Marco Rubio’s Immigration Scam: “You Dumb Gringos”

"All the bill requires is that Homeland Security submit a 'strategy' for securing the border, then certify that steps to implement this are 'commencing.' The bill sets up a fund, amounting to $50 million (with more money to be added as needed), to represent illegals in every phase of the process – seeking provisional immigration status, filing appeals, blocking efforts at deportation, obtaining naturalization, and so on. And who might be the people funded by this $50 million? They will be – surprise – non-profit 'immigrant-serving' organizations 'whose staff has demonstrated qualifications, experience and expertise in providing quality services to immigrants.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMarco Rubio’s Immigration Scam: “You Dumb Gringos”

Former Mexico president calls for marijuana legalization

"Ex-president Vicente Fox says Mexico should legalize marijuana to steal business back from violent drug cartels — and when it’s legal, he’s in (as a grower). 'Once it is legitimate and legal, of course, I do some farming. I can do it myself,' the conservative former leader said from his ranch in San Francisco del Rincon. Fox, a former Coca-Cola executive who was president from 2000-2006, surprised many when he was among early voices in Mexico calling for illegal drugs to be legalized, seeing it as the only way to break the cycle of violent crime. 'Mexico should become an authorized producer, and export marijuana to places where it is already legal,' argued Fox." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Mexico president calls for marijuana legalization

Mexico Bill Loosens Restrictions On Foreigners Buying Residential Property

"The longstanding restrictions on foreigners buying property along Mexico's coast and borders were loosened on Tuesday after Congress' lower house voted on a proposal that drew stiff criticism from some quarters. For decades, foreigners have had to use real-estate trusts or Mexican front companies to buy beachfront properties, because Article 27 of the constitution prohibits non-Mexicans from directly owning land within 31 miles (50 kilometers) of the coast and 62 miles (100 kilometers) of the nation's borders. The trusts and front companies have provided a lucrative income for banks, lawyers and notaries who are required to operate them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMexico Bill Loosens Restrictions On Foreigners Buying Residential Property

Mexico: Border schools adjust to influx of English-speaking students

"Thousands of school children have arrived in Mexican schools from the US in the past several years amid a record number of deportations and a foundering US economy. New migration patterns are returning Mexican nationals to their homeland years after they settled in the US, married there, and had children. Teachers read from textbooks that touch on the reasons for the reverse migration currently taking place, and oftentimes, Zatarain told the teachers, parents are deported while their children are in school and the experience can traumatize youngsters." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMexico: Border schools adjust to influx of English-speaking students