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OVER THE WEEKEND: MEXICO’S NARCO WAR SEEN DESTINED FOR FAILURE; SHOWDOWN ON ARIZONA LAW LOOMING

Posted: 28 Jun 2010 09:15 AM PDT

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
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Note to our readers: After our notice that the M3 Report would cease at the end of June, your responses continued to inspire us to renew efforts to increase our staff. We now have one additional reporter and an interested candidate. We’re not yet completely out of the woods, but enough so for now that we won’t have to break camp. We will forge on until further notice, and muchas gracias for the encouragement.

Saturday 6/26/10

El Universal (Mexico City) 6/25/10

Narco war seen as destined for failure

Jorge Castaneda, Mexican ex-Secretary of Foreign Affairs and academic, considers the “war” against narcotraffic waged by the government of Felipe Calderon to be destined for failure and pleaded for the legalization of drugs to stop the problem. Castaneda, who served in the government of Vicente Fox from 2000 to 2003, feels certain that President Calderon made a mistake in launching the fight against narcotraffic. According to Castaneda, Calderon’s government did so for political reasons that “could not be won.” In his judgment, the conflict with the drug cartels has greatly increased the violence in Mexico and is assuming a cost, both economically and socially, difficult for the government to take on. In a press meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the ex-Secretary said that for Mexico to move forward, only two ways exist: the creation of a “Plan Mexico” similar to the “Plan Colombia” with the involvement of the United States, or the legalization of drugs as has been proposed in California (US). ”If he (Calderon) wants to continue in this war, he must take a step forward and ask the only ally he has, the United States, to put money into this,” he affirmed.

The article added that Castaneda began his political activities as a militant communist, but was selected for office by Fox, a conservative.

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/690406.html

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Immigration reform blockage – the view from Mexico

The US has more than 12 million undocumented aliens, the majority of them Mexicans. To move forward with their legalization it is necessary to persuade the conservative political class of that country and that job requires more than just simply desire. The past failed initiatives for immigration reform are signs that, without an ample consensus, the attempts will fail again. After 9/11, it has been very difficult to place an immigration agenda above that of security. Legalization has become subordinate to a reinforced control of the border, which, for its extent, seems impossible to accomplish. To complicate things more, Democrats as well as Republicans have used the undocumented as scapegoats to explain problems like unemployment.

Now, the president of the US opens another opportunity for reform. The xenophobic Arizona law permitting the arrest of people on the basis of their racial profile opens a debate that has been lost since George Bush tried without success to pass immigration reform. As a consequence, an unprecedented coalition of more than 100 Democratic congressmen, mayors, business leaders and magnates — like Rupert Murdoch, owner of the conservative Fox network — whose objective will be to revive legislation efforts to bring the undocumented “out of limbo” and prevent the “orphanage” of nearly 5 million children born in the US of parents without papers.

They know it is not feasible to expel 12 million people who, furthermore, are necessary for the economy. They also know that it is difficult for a politician to back legalization of the undocumented. Many US citizens feel threatened by the presence of people of different races, cultures, religions and customs. The only way to force a change is with an ample coalition, above the political posturing that restrains discussion, to convince the people of the US that a reform is necessary.

So what can Mexico do to for its countrymen when it involves internal politics of another country? The Mexican foreign office will have to be alert. If in any way it can help Mexico in this cause, it is with a responsible and measured voice, with an image of solidarity and not just an anti-imperialist crusade.

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/editoriales/48828.html

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Illegals transport drugs: Brewer

The governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, said that the majority of the undocumented migrants that enter the state transport drugs. Brewer said many of the undocumented come to the country motivated by the desire to find work, but the narco gangs use them as “mules” for transporting drugs. ”I believe that today, under the circumstances that we face, the majority of those who enter the state of Arizona do so under the direction and control of the drug cartels to bring in drugs,” said Brewer.

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Blaming migrants a desperate position: Mexican Senator

The spokesman for the PRI political party in the Mexican Senate, Carlos Jimenez Macias, labeled as “lamentable” the statement by the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, that “many” of the illegal migrants are used as “mules” to transport drugs. The Senator condemned the “lack of respect” and considered it to be “a desperate attitude” by the governor before the onslaught against the Arizona law by international organizations as well as her own US government.

[Ed. note: “mule” (Sp. “mula”) as used above, is not a pejorative, but rather, a common narco term for a porter of drugs.]

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El Sol de Mexico (Mexico City) and other Mexican news sources, 6/25/10

Adolescent killed by Border Patrol affirmed to be a smuggler

[A follow-up to previous M3 Reports on this subject. ]

El Paso, Texas – A 15-year-old Mexican killed by gunfire from a Border Patrol agent had prior arrests for smuggling people into the US. According to federal records examined by the Associated Press, Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca had been arrested at least four times since 2008, two of the arrests in the same week in February 2009. A Border Patrol agent trying to arrest a group illegally crossing the border over the Rio Grande in El Paso on June 7, killed Hernandez by firing toward Mexican territory. Witnesses said a group of people on the Mexican side had begun throwing rocks at the agents.

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La Jornada (Mexico City) 6/25/10
Fear paralyzes the border area
Armed groups staged shootouts this past Thursday morning on the road from Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas, to San Fernando. (The area is only some 20 miles from the Rio Grande River, just southwest of Matamoros.) The shootouts “caused a stoppage of schools, traffic, work and police.” In the last few days, the state of Tamaulipas is experiencing a wave of nervousness due to the constant confrontations and rumors of shootouts. The armed encounters are believed to be between Los Zetas and the Gulf cartel.

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Important link between Colombia and Sinaloa narcos arrested

Manuel Garibay, an important Mexican narcotrafficker who acted as liaison between cocaine producers in Colombia and the Sinaloa drug cartel was arrested in a farm community near Mexicali, Baja California, Thursday. Garibay “was responsible for the cocaine traffic from Cali (Colombia) to Mexico for delivery to the criminal organization of Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman,” said Daniel de la Rosa Amaya, Secretary of Public Security in the state of Baja California. The narcotrafficker, 52, had been arrested in 1995 in San Diego, California, and placed into the US protected witness program. Garibay is described as a “dangerous criminal,” accused of various murders and kidnappings, who commanded a group known as “Los Garibay.”

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La Nacion (San Jose, Costa Rica) 6/25/10

Ndamamba caught with the goodies

Costa Rican officials became suspicious when Emery Ngoyi Ndamamba, an ex-consul of the Democratic Republic of Congo (ex-Zayre) in Mexico up until Oct. ’09, kept making airline trips from Mexico into Costa Rica, arriving at night and leaving early the next morning. The last time, his briefcases were opened. Ndamamba was carrying 3 million dollars in cash. He was detained at the airport.
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China pressures Costa Rica for visas

Costa Rica’s ambassador to China wrote to his own country’s Vice-Chancellor (equiv: US Under Secretary of State) to report that the Chinese commercial attaché was pressuring Costa Rica’s Ministries of Labor and of Foreign Relations for the approval of visas for one hundred Chinese to enter Costa Rica for construction work.

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El Financiero (Mexico City) 6/25/10

US “legals” urged to accept farm worker jobs

San Diego, California – The United Farm Workers union (UFW) called for unemployed US residents and critics of immigration to learn agricultural work. ”We are tired of farm workers, documented and undocumented, being blamed for the recession and budget problems,” said union president, Arturo Rodriguez. As part of the campaign “take our jobs,” the union invited US “legals” to leave the unemployment lines and learn to work farm labor. California has accumulated at least 250,000 more unemployed thus far in the recession. This week, 1.5 million (sic) unemployed Californians used up their two years’ unemployment benefits. The grape harvest in the Central Valley in August will need approximately 100,000 workers. The UFW president explained, “there are two issues facing our nation, high unemployment and undocumented workers and many people think they are related. Missing in the debate of both issues is honest recognition that the food we all eat, at home, in restaurants, offices, including the state government’s palace, comes from the labor of undocumented workers. “

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Sunday 6/27/10

El Financiero (Mexico City) 6/26/10

Hispanic journalists urge US government to block SB 1070

The US National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) urged the US Department of Justice to file a law suit to block the anti-immigrant Arizona law SB 1070. The NAHJ maintains that the law provides racial profiling because it “criminalizes illegal immigration” and allows local police to arrest any person on suspicion of being undocumented.

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Monday 6/28/10

El Universal (Mexico City) 6/27/10

Nine mob executions in Nuevo Leon in 24 hours

The narco-war between organized crime in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, has left nine dead in the metropolitan area. A total of five attacks occurred throughout the night and into Sunday morning. To date this year, the border state of Nuevo Leon has suffered nearly 200 such murders, the most violent period in its history.

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Nine dead in attack on rehab center

An armed group burst into a drug rehabilitation center in Gomez Palacio, Durango, Saturday firing indiscriminately, killing nine, including the center’s administrator, and wounding nine others. The group then escaped, leaving behind spent 2.23 caliber and 9 mm shell casings.

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El Financiero (Mexico City) 6/27/10

White House seeks direct confrontation with Arizona

Phoenix – The White House this week would initiate a direct confrontation with Arizona over the controversial immigration law by filing a suit in federal court to block enactment of SB 1070. Arizona’s governor, Jan Brewer, is prepared for the confrontation with the federal government and has gathered some $123,000 in donations to cover costs of legal defense of the new law. The suit is expected to be filed in the next few days.

-end of report-