"Man held in deadly gun battle in Acapulco" by Associated Press | April 16, 2010
ACAPULCO, Mexico — Police have identified an alleged hit man arrested on suspicion of taking part in a gun battle that left six people dead and five wounded during a raging attack on the main boulevard in Acapulco’s tourist zone.
A federal police statement released early yesterday said Ernesto Antonio Rocha Reyes, 26, was carrying a high-powered assault rifle when authorities, searching for suspects after the attacks, caught him.
The statement said Reyes is an associate of Texas-born Edgar Valdez Villarreal, nicknamed “La Barbie,’’ who federal authorities believe is battling Hector Beltran Leyva for control of the Beltran Leyva cartel.
A mother and her 8-year-old child, a taxi driver, and a federal police officer were among the dead Wednesday. At least three bystanders also died in the shoot-out, which occurred in daylight on the wide, palm-lined avenue, within sight of major hotels and the beach.
Desperate motorists crashed their cars and apparently sought to drive over the median strip to escape the gunfire.
Police said the gun battle started when men traveling in several vehicles opened fire on the occupants of another vehicle, killing both men. It was unclear why the men were targeted.
So which government agency or private contractor were they working for?
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"Families fleeing Mexican cartels; Exodus is driven by blatant threats" by Mark Stevenson and Alicia A. Caldwell, Associated Press | April 18, 2010
EL PORVENIR, Mexico — The drug smugglers told them to....
In a new strategy, Mexican drug cartels seeking to minimize interference with their operations are using terror to empty the entire area.
They have burned down homes and torched a church....
Wherever they strike, they leave notes ordering residents to leave....
Yeah, that cinches it.
The exodus appears to be the work of the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico’s most powerful drug organization. The Associated Press, citing US intelligence, reported recently that the group has seized control of smuggling corridors through the region after a bloody, two-year battle with the Juárez cartel.
Related: All Wars End the Same
Also see: U.S. Government Brings Drug War to U.S. Cities
Mexican Oil Siphoning Story Stinks
Must have sucked it all up.
The cartel, led by Joaquin “El Chapo’’ Guzman, is now trying to show residents who’s in charge, specialists and Mexican officials say. Mexican soldiers who arrested four men Tuesday for allegedly torching more than 20 homes in the valley said all are connected to the Sinaloa cartel....
Laura Pallares, a clerk at a convenience store overlooking the bridge to Fort Hancock, Texas, said she has seen up to 20 pickup trucks heading to the border every day for the past few weeks, carrying families and their possessions.
“It’s been an exodus,’’ said Arturo Vega, the town council secretary in nearby Guadalupe, where gunfire rings out at night, shopkeepers have been killed, and homes burned down.
Some are fleeing to Fort Hancock and Fabens, another nearby Texas farming community. US Customs and Border Protection officials say requests for asylum have jumped since the fiscal year started in October, with 47 people asking for the protection of the American government, up from 11 the previous year. And those numbers don’t count the people who didn’t seek asylum or crossed illegally.
The influx of new residents — nearly 50 new students have enrolled in schools in Fort Hancock, population 1,700 — has made townsfolk afraid that cartel enforcers have followed them to Texas to intimidate them.
But if you criticize the hard-working illegals who are just... awwww, forget it.
Sheriff’s deputies have advised local farmers and ranchers to be vigilant — and armed.
This as they are trying to take your gun away, pfft!
Fort Davis High School canceled a baseball game at Fort Hancock because of security fears....
Why don't we ALL JUST STOP LIVING RIGHT NOW?
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Don't seem to have that trouble a bit further west:
"Ariz. border towns say violent crime rates are low
FBI Uniform Crime Reports and statistics provided by police agencies, in fact, show that the crime rates in Nogales, Douglas, Yuma and other Arizona border towns have remained essentially flat for the past decade, even as drug-related violence has spiraled out of control on the other side of the international line. Statewide, rates of violent crime also are down.
While smugglers have become more aggressive in their encounters with authorities, as evidenced by the April 30 shooting of a Pinal County deputy, allegedly by illegal-immigrant drug runners, they do not routinely target residents of border towns....
And when you think of who benefits from the drug trade -- CIA black-ops and banks -- you again realize why the illegal immigration issue is never solved and why is the subject of such attention and debate.
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And I didn't even get a body count.
Also see: Drug War Diversion
MSM memory hole getting awfully full, isn't it?
Might as well jump, readers:
Michelle Obama played with children at a school in Mexico City, but she also challenged them to tackle big problems. (Omar Torres/ AFP/ Getty Images)
"Michelle Obama a hit in Mexico
MEXICO CITY — Michelle Obama stepped into a sea of screams, cheers, and squeals of delight that filled the sun-splashed courtyard of an elementary school yesterday in Mexico’s capital. Dozens of 6- to 12-year-olds welcomed her with a show.
One group dressed as Aztecs performed a ritual dance. Another group did calisthenics; Obama’s cause at home is a campaign against childhood obesity. Others entertained with a lively twist-style dance.
Related: Meet First Lady Michelle Obama
Of course, they eat good, taxpayers. Lies are filling.
I know from reading an AmeriKan newspaper.
They do not taste too good, either.
Obama joined in at one point, clasping hands and singing along with students at Escuela Siete de Enero, in one of Mexico City’s poorer neighborhoods.
“That was beautiful, everything you did,’’ she said.
The two-day visit is her first to Mexico.
Obama went to Mexico to launch an international effort to engage young people everywhere and encourage them to become leaders and problem-solvers in their communities....
Just do not protest wars or raise questions about 9/11, 'kay, kids?
Addressing some 2,000 invited high school and college students at Universidad Iberoamericana, Obama said ordinary citizens, including young people, must step up to help governments and world leaders solve everything from poverty to climate change.
HOW SAD to see the FIRST LADY so VIGOROUSLY pushing the NEW WORLD ORDER AGENDA!
“The fact is that responsibility for meeting the defining challenges of our time will soon fall to all of you,’’ she said.
If you and your hubby haven't f***ed it all up first.
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Related: Gunmen abduct 7 at hotels in Mexico (New York Times)
The the Fifth only gets a PHOTO, Globe?
"CINCO DE MAYO -- Mexicans wearing period costumes reenacted the Battle of Puebla in Mexico City yesterday. The clash marked the defeat of French forces in 1862. Yesterday, men dressed as female Indian peasants fought mock battles against French invaders."
Exsqueeze me?
Ms. Obama didn't mention those role models for girls, did she?
