3 US Consulate Workers Slain in Mexico

[jimmy olsen]

I just had to laugh at the bolded sentence. As if these murders, tragic as they are what's finally proved that. If the 2,000 murders, many of them double digit massacres, in Juarez last year didn't prove that, than nothing will.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/16/mexico-violence-us-juarez

US demands decisive action as three consulate workers slain in Mexican drug violence

President Obama 'outraged' as drug violence claims three workers with connections to US consulate

    *   Jo Tuckman in Mexico City
    * The Guardian, Tuesday 16 March 2010
   
There was growing pressure on the Mexican government today to prove that it has not completely lost control of the drug wars raging around the country, after three people associated with the US consulate in the border city of Ciudad Juárez were murdered.

A White House statement said Barack Obama was "outraged" by the murders, which took place in two separate incidents on Saturday afternoon.

A pregnant consulate worker, Leslie Enriquez, and her husband, Arthur Redelfs, were shot in their car after leaving a children's birthday party at a colleague's house. Their seven-month-old baby was found unharmed in the back seat.

Almost simultaneously, assassins in a different part of the city killed Jorge Alberto Salcido, the Mexican husband of another consular employee who was driving away from the same event. His two children, aged four and seven, were recovering from gunshot wounds in hospital.

An army and police spokesman, Enrique Torres, said both murders took place after a brief car chase involving at least one vehicle with several gunmen inside. "They were not caught in crossfire," he said. "They were targeted, although we don't know why."

Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, promised his "unbreakable commitment to resolve these grave crimes".

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said the killings reinforced the need to work with the Mexican government "to cripple the influence of trafficking organisations at work in Mexico".

An estimated 19,000 people have died in drug-related violence since Calderón sent in tens of thousands of troops to crack down on the cartels' inter-gang warfare three years ago. Very few of the murders have been resolved.

Juárez, just over the border from El Paso in Texas, suffered about 2,500 murders last year alone. The local cartel is trying to fend off incursion into its territory by the Sinaloa cartel, headed by trafficker Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.

At street level, the war involves different local youth gangs associated with the different cartels, but the violence has been increasingly affecting people outside the gangs.

President Calderón was due to visit the city tomorrow as part of a drive to respond to growing anger there at the government's inability to control the killing and provide some hope to a community living in terror.

Fury boiled over after he initially dismissed 16 victims of a massacre at a teenager's party in January as gang members. There is no evidence to suggest they were anything other than ordinary school students trying to have a good time in a besieged city.

Saturday's murders were not the first time US citizens have been caught up in the violence, but the victims' links to the consulate and the timing raises the possibility that the gunmen may have been specifically targeting US officials.

The US state department has announced that consular workers will be allowed to evacuate their families across the border.

A statement from the Mexican police indicated that the first line of investigation in Saturday's murders pointed to a street gang called the Aztecas, which is linked to the Juaréz cartel. It did not give any more information and the US embassy in Mexico was unavailable for comment. Local media reported today that FBI agents were in Juaréz investigating the case.

It was not immediately clear how the murders might affect US support of the Mexican government's offensive, that began under President George W Bush and increased after Obama took office.

Obama has called Calderón "a hero" for taking on the cartels.

Recently, however, there are suggestions that the US authorities are working behind the scenes to encourage Calderón to alter the emphasis of his strategy away from the overriding military focus that does not seem to be working.

This has been nowhere more intense than in Juaréz itself, where the number of soldiers patrolling the city reached 8,000 in 2009. The numbers were reduced earlier this year in a move described by the US ambassador, Carlos Pascual, as "intelligent". There are currently 5,000 soldiers and 2,600 federal police in the city.

[KRonn]

An estimated 19,000 people have died in drug-related violence since Calderón sent in tens of thousands of troops to crack down on the cartels' inter-gang warfare three years ago. Very few of the murders have been resolved.

What a mess. The country is in near anarchy, isn't it? Well beyond criminal activities anyway. It would seem that besides controlling the drug trade, the groups are vying for power versus the Mexican government.  How bad do we think this can this get to?

[HisMajestyBOB]

I just had to laugh at the bolded sentence. As if these murders, tragic as they are what's finally proved that. If the 2,000 murders, many of them double digit massacres, in Juarez last year didn't prove that, than nothing will.

Yeah, but those were Mexicans. Now that Americans are getting killed, things must be serious.

[Valmy]

Mexico is absolutely a mess these days and it is our own apetite for drugs that are to blame.

It is very sad and frustrating but there is nothing really to do but just stay out.

[Razgovory]

Mexico is absolutely a mess these days and it is our own apetite for drugs that are to blame.

It is very sad and frustrating but there is nothing really to do but just stay out.

Actually the violence is probably a by-product of Mexico cleaning itself up.  The cartels and gangs are lashing out because real pressure is being put on them.  Before the government turned a blind eye (or actively helped), now with new political leadership the government is busting these groups up.  This causes alot of instability as groups are destroyed and new ones take their place.  The new cartels fight each other and the government.  Hopefully the government can stomach the violence and come out victorious.

[grumbler]

What a mess. The country is in near anarchy, isn't it?

Not yet.  When the government starts cracking down on the narco traffickers in the military and police, we will know the crisis has been reached.

[DGuller]

What is it about Mexico that breeds such sociopaths?  These gans aren't just involved in a drug war, they're practically terrorist groups that rose up in open rebellion.  Has the drug war ever been nearly that bad in US during the worst times?

[Alcibiades]

Nearly 20,000 in 3 years and people are bitching about Iraq and Afghanistan?   

We must: Bail them out, and incorporate them into our great union.   

[KRonn]

Nearly 20,000 in 3 years and people are bitching about Iraq and Afghanistan?   

We must: Bail them out, and incorporate them into our great union.   

We need a new General "Black Jack" Pershing, to invade and stamp down the outlaws!!