Violence linked to drug trafficking no threat to Mexico’s national security: spokesman
Violence linked to drug trafficking puts public security at risk in some cities and regions in Mexico, but it has never threatened national security, a spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox said Monday.
“There are red flags in some areas and cities, but not in the Mexican state as a whole,” said Ruben Aguilar, the presidential spokesman.
Last July, 11 local governments launched the “Mexico Seguro” (Safe Mexico) operation in an effort to restore peace and security in the most violent areas. Much of the violence stems from a war between two powerful drug cartels for control of smuggling routes at the northern border.
However, since the violence shows no signs of abating, the Mexican government has recently established permanent meetings to monitor the situation.
Due to the rampant border violence, the government of United States has issued several tourist alerts this year for American citizens who travel to Mexico. In addition, the American state of New Mexico’s governor, Bill Richardson, has declared a state of emergency in four counties bordering Mexico. Enditem
Source: news.xinhuanet.com
Deaths mounting on Mexico’s border security watch
A multimillion-dollar border security program launched in June has realized measurable results, but critics say it has failed to prevent more than 100 deaths since its inception as rival drug cartels fight for dominance along the country’s northern border.
Mexican President Vicente Fox initiated the Mexico Seguro or Safe Mexico program June 11 to address public safety concerns along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Since January, more than 800 have been killed in drug-related violence on the Mexican side of the border with almost daily killings and no arrests reported in Nuevo Laredo.
Although Matamoros and Reynosa have seen
One female police officer has been killed and another badly hurt in a drive-by shooting in the northern Mexican town of Nuevo Laredo.
The killing takes the number of police murdered in the town this year to 15, with about 110 killed during 2005.
The assassination took place close to the border with the US state of Texas.
Violence in Nuevo Laredo is the result of a vicious turf war being fought between two powerful drug cartels for control of the lucrative drug trade.
This brazen assassination, in the middle of the afternoon, took place in central Nuevo Laredo, just
The government has assigned bodyguards to at least seven federal judges and magistrates after death threats were made against them in recent weeks, an official who oversees the federal judiciary said Wednesday.
Some analysts said the announcement, which comes after high-profile killings of police officers and prison workers, shows that Mexican drug gangs are launching an all-out assault on the government and civil servants, as they did in Colombia.
Elvia Diaz de Leon, head of the Federal Judicial Council, said the judges under threat are overseeing cases involving drug gangs.
"Today we have seven or eight cases of threats against circuit judges and
PHOENIX, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- The governor of Arizona and her counterpart in Sonora, Mexico, plan to coordinate efforts to fight drug trafficking and illegal immigration on the border.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has been voicing frustration with federal officials in helping with U.S.-Mexico border issues, the Arizona Republic reported Friday. She and Sonora Gov. Eduardo Bours said they were setting up plans to combat "coyotes" who smuggle people across the border and the smugglers who take drugs across.
Napolitano said she was ordering 12 Department of Public Safety officers to an auto-theft task force. Stolen cars are often used in border
California drug busts soar despite Mexico crackdown
Mexican drug cartels are sending ever greater quantities of narcotics through border crossings in southern California, despite a Mexican government crackdown and a bloody feud between rival drug gangs.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources said late on Monday that seizures of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and amphetamines at five border crossings in the state jumped nearly 50 percent to 140,384 pounds (63,677 kg) in the nine months to June over the same period a year earlier.
The surge comes despite a clampdown on drug gangs by the Mexican government, which has sent hundreds of troops
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. ambassador to Mexico now says he should have used "different phrasing" rather than saying he closed a border town consulate partly to punish the Mexican government for not stopping violence there, according to the State Department.
Spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday that Ambassador Tony Garza's real reason for closing it was to protect Americans working there.
Garza closed the U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas, during the first week of August following dozens of drug-related killings, the assassination of the police chief and a city councilman, and a machine-gun, grenade and rocket
Mexico warns church on drug-tainted money
A spokesman for President Vicente Fox on Tuesday warned that no one may accept illegal funds, responding to a Roman Catholic bishop's statement that the church has no obligation to investigate whether donations come from drug trafficking.
The exchange between church and state officials came the week after Pope Benedict XVI lamented that Mexican society was troubled by corruption, drug trafficking and organized crime, during a meeting with bishops from northern and central Mexico at the Vatican.
"At no time, under no condition, may anyone receive illegal money," said Fox spokesman Ruben Aguilar. "No one may
Mexico says drug trafficking DVD won't cost federal investigators their jobs
Mexico's top anti-drug prosecutor will not lose his job despite doubts about whether federal agents were involved in the videotaped beating and torture of four drug hit men, a government spokesman said Monday.
Ruben Aguilar, chief spokesman for President Vicente Fox, said that no federal investigator was in danger of being fired in the wake of the recording, which has sent shock waves through Mexico's anti-narcotics efforts.
"It doesn't put anyone at risk" of losing their jobs, Aguilar said during his daily briefing with reporters.
But he refused to comment
Mexico wary of rights violations on U.S. border
Mexico says it will be keeping an eye out for human rights violations after Texas Gov. Rick Perry pledged $9.7 million to step up security along the Mexico-Texas border.
In a statement sent out late Wednesday, Mexico said it understood that the fight against crime and violence along the border must be fought on both sides.
But the statement also called on the United States to allow more legal migration and respect the rights of Mexicans north of the border.
"Without a doubt, the security of both countries, especially along the border, would benefit from the
7 killed in new wave of violence in Mexico
Seven people were killed and 19 others arrested in a new wave of violence affecting several regions of Mexico over the past 24 hours, police said Sunday.
Among the victims were three guards of a prison near the city of Monterrey in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon, police said.
The guards were thought to be killed in a revenge by drug-traffickers operating on the Mexican-US border.
So far this year, a total of 25 people have been killed in
