mexico

Mexican vigilantes seize town, arrest police

"Hundreds of armed vigilantes have taken control of a town on a major highway in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, arresting local police officers and searching homes after a vigilante leader was killed. Members of the area's self-described 'community police' say more than 1,500 members of the force were stopping traffic Wednesday at improvised checkpoints in the town of Tierra Colorado, which sits on the highway connecting Mexico City to Acapulco. They arrested 12 police and the former director of public security in the town after a leader of the state's vigilante movement was slain on Monday." Continue reading →

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Mexican town finds more security by throwing out the police

"The indigenous town of Cherán used to be like many places in Mexico, caving under the weight of drug-related crime and a police force that did little to stop it. But about two years ago, citizens here threw out the police, and took over their local government, running the town according to indigenous tradition. So far, they’ve had remarkable success. About six months after villagers threw out the police, the Mexican state granted the town a degree of legal autonomy to govern itself on the local level, according to indigenous tradition." Continue reading →

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Mexico’s audit office tells Bank of Mexico to verify gold held at Bank of England

"The Mexican government audit office has reprimanded the Bank of Mexico for failing to verify its supposed purchase of $4.5 billion of gold vaulted at the Bank of England. The audit office confirms a complaint last year that the Bank of Mexico had purchased only 'paper gold' at the Bank of England and had no idea of the number of bars it had supposedly purchased, nor of the purity of the bars. The audit office has recommended that the Bank of Mexico 'make a physical inspection with the counterparty that has the gold under its custody, in order to be able to verify and validate its physical wholeness and the compliance with the terms and conditions of dealing with this asset.'" Continue reading →

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Why Is Mexico Asking The U.S. Government For A Registry Of U.S. Gun Owners?

"Mexican lawmakers will ask the U.S. Senate to create a registry of all commercialized firearms in border states, which includes California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Mexico says it will make it easier to trace guns used in violent attacks. The measure was reportedly approved on January 9 by Mexico’s Permanent Commission, a government entity that meets when Mexico’s Senate and the Chamber of Deputies is in recess. Gun owners in Arizona are calling the proposal 'foolish' and an 'invasion of privacy.' A number of the gun owners interviewed also referenced the Obama administration’s disastrous gun-running operation known as 'Fast and Furious.'" Continue reading →

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U.S. Stepped In To Halt Mexican General’s Rise

"That back-channel communication provides a rare glimpse into the United States government’s deep involvement in Mexican security affairs. The American role in a Mexican cabinet pick also highlights the tensions and mistrust between the governments despite proclamations of cooperation and friendship. In the end, General García Ochoa did not get the job. Instead, it went to Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, who Mexican officials said had become close with Mr. Peña Nieto when he served as governor of the state of Mexico and General Cienfuegos commanded the area’s military base." Continue reading →

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Mexican Militias Fight Back Against Drug Lords, Accomplish What Authorities Could Not

"Outraged at relentless extortion, kidnapping and theft as a wave of drug-related violence washes over Mexico, farmers, shopkeepers and other residents in the mountainous southern state of Guerrero are taking the law into their own hands as 'community police.' 'We have to fight for everyone’s good so we decided to try to clear away all the bad people. We have to get rid of these animals because they are committing extortion in the community, the whole town and the people are fed up.'" Continue reading →

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Mexico to create new national police force to fight drug cartels

"Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced the creation of a national police force to crack down on crime and battle the country’s powerful drug cartels. The force — a gendarmerie based on the model of Spain’s Guardia Civil — would be 10,000 strong. Currently Mexico has a patchwork of city and state police, along with some national police. Pena Nieto also said he was allocating $8.8 billion for social programs aimed at preventing crime. Pena Nieto, 46, is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the party that ran Mexico for 71 years ending in 2000." Continue reading →

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Mexico’s Zetas drug cartel strikes gold in the coal business

"Mexican druglords have found an earthy new source of wealth: dirty old coal. They are mining it themselves in a coal-rich area along the US border or buying it from small mine operators, then reselling it to a state-owned company at fabulous margins that can see them make a profit 30 times greater than their initial investment. Reforma newspaper says the Zetas produce or buy 10,000 tonnes of coal a week. Selling it at their inflated prices, that means yearly revenue of $22 million to $25 million." Continue reading →

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Rooftop gardens growing in popularity in notoriously smoggy Mexico City

"A green revolution is sweeping across the car and concrete jungle of Mexico City, an infamously smoggy capital that was once dubbed 'Makesicko City' by novelist Carlos Fuentes. Residents are growing vegetables on rooftops, planting trees where buildings once stood, hopping on bicycles and riding in electric taxis, defying the urban landscape in this metropolis of 20 million people and four million cars. 'This is our vote for the environment,' said Elias Cattan, a 33-year-old bespectacled architect pointing to the lettuce, onions and chilies growing in a planting table and inside used tires on the balcony of his rooftop office." Continue reading →

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Mexico says marijuana legalization in U.S. could change anti-drug strategies

"President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto and his team are scrambling to reformulate their anti-drug strategies in light of what one senior aide called 'a game-changing' referendum in the United States. Mexico spends billions of dollars each year confronting violent trafficking organizations that threaten the very security of the country but whose main market is the United States, the largest consumer of drugs in the world. With the Washington’s urging and support, Mexican soldiers roam the mountains burning clandestine plantations filled with marijuana on its way to the United States." Continue reading →

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