Posted on 06/09/2005 6:00:30 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
MONTERREY, Mexico — For weeks, no one applied for the Nuevo Laredo police chief job. Many saw it as a death sentence. But Alejandro Dominguez proudly took office on Wednesday, saying he wasn't afraid of anything. Nine hours later, he was ambushed and killed by gunmen who fired some three dozen times. Dominguez's violent death was the latest blow to Nuevo Laredo, a city across from Laredo, Texas, that has been crippled by a wave of drug violence. The city is on the front line of a turf battle between Mexico's two largest drug gangs, the Gulf and Juarez cartels. Since January, more than 60 people have been killed there, including several city police officers.
President Vicente Fox's administration sent in 700 soldiers and federal agents in March to try to restore law and order. Dominguez, a businessman who once worked at the federal Attorney General's office, was sworn in Wednesday afternoon, and promised to weed out corruption in the city. "I don't owe anybody anything. My duty is to the citizenry," he said. "I think those who should be afraid are those who have been compromised." After dark, a group of assailants opened fire as he climbed into his Ford Lobo outside the city's business chamber, which he led.
State police director Fernando Vallejo said officials had recovered 35 to 40 casings from assault rifles similar to those used by drug gangs. A witness told authorities Dominguez was targeted by a group of men who arrived in three dark Chevy Suburbans. "They cut him off so he couldn't go," said the witness, who asked not to be identified. "They shot him from inside (the vehicles) and then got out to shoot him some more." The witness said that once Dominguez was dead, the gunmen climbed back into the Suburbans and drove slowly away, with their lights turned off.
Last month, Nuevo Laredo Mayor Daniel Pena said no one had come forward to replace Police Chief Jose Valdes, who left the post to become City Council secretary. Dominguez was selected from a group of three potential candidates. He was the only one to voluntarily seek the job. Authorities say drug violence in Nuevo Laredo intensified after the 2003 arrest of Osiel Cardenas, the alleged leader of the Gulf Cartel, in the nearby city of Matamoros. They say accused drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has been fighting Cardenas to gain access to drug smuggling routes in Nuevo Laredo and other border cities. The U.S. government has issued a warning to tourists traveling to the border, at the request of U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza. Garza has come under fire from Mexican officials who say the warning is unnecessary.
I lived at Chimney Rock and Gulfton...I understand what you're talking about...my point is this is not lawless Mexico.
These people end up being arrested for one thing or another, incarcerated or deported depending on citizenship...the law doesn't look the other way as it does in Nuavo Laredo. Yes, we all want to say "off the top of our head"..."nothing is being done" but that is a myth.
If they deported all of the illegals in that area it would be empty.
Nothing of consequence is being done.
To say otherwise is either ignorance or dishonesty.
I used to work in that area. We all carried our guns in our hand entering and leaving the office. It was nothing out of the ordinary to see crime scene tape around a dead guy in the mornings.
Really a dead guy in Houston, you don't say? How often do you remember? Again, I think it's only bad because the news tend to sensationlize things.
I am not saying an "illegal" immigrant shouldn't be deported....but I was I lived in the area when the INS would show up with buses and load up all the illegals. Things are done...granted always more can be done. The problem is a revolving door.
Yes...I too had a CHL, it is not uncommon to have them in Texas. Many areas are dangerous, or perceived dangerous, but not necessarily do to immigration.
You see...I am being honest.
The ONLY dead people that I have seen in Houston were in that area. In the 3 years I worked there I saw about a dozen murder crime scenes. Keep in mind that the murders were in the morning hours not at night and were on one side of Bellarie or the other. I would not have seen any on the side or back streets.
If you don't see that as a problem then you must live in a rough neighborhood.
INS buses? What the hell is the INS? I haven't seen any evidence of INS in Houston in 25 or 30 years.
We are both talking about Houston, Texas right?
I did not use the word DIVERSE....not would I ever.
I don't care if a race baitor calls me a bigot.
That's all you got.
That's harsh. At least in Tijuana, they let the guys serve a while before they pop 'em.
BTTT...
Culture isn't race. Most of us here value our culture over any other out there. So what?
You have to be a pharmacist to sell those in Kansas now.
Right. But how long will it take the Administration to come down against the "good honest people?" After all, this Administration has a record, a bad record, in Arizona for acts much less, well, decisive.
OK boys let's try this one in the key of C...
As I walked out in
the streets of Lar***BANG!
I agree that if things were not so bad the authorities would come down on the good honest people, mainly because they are easy targets and law enforcement sometimes tends to be lazy. But in a situation where police chiefs are being brazenly gunned down and the federal authorities are totally inept I think that vigilantism may be the only solution. I'm basing my comments on a situation as bad as described in the article coming here, with no hope in site of course. At one time the U.S mail was robbed so often that people were losing hope. The U.S. Marines were called in and the problem was solved. If a similar problem existed that could not be solved by a similar solution I think we would need to take action. And the authorities would be unable to stop us.
If you think that is wrong, just think back just 15 years ago. Would you suspect that 7,000 automatic weapons would be issued to employees of the EPA? Would you suspect that, after a horrendous, murderous terrorist attack by Muslims, our President would repeatedly call Islam a religion of peace? Would you suspect that any President could impose this kind of airport TSA crap on the public and be reelected? Would you suspect that any President could be reelected with Mr. Bush's position on illegal immigrants, especially after the terrorist attacks? Most of those are Mr. Bush's policies--I won't list more than the EPA thing for Mr. Clinton, since that would take all day.
Law-abiding citizens are the easy plums on the low branches that are picked, once self-defense is declared to be the crime of vigilantism. It's difficult to stop the assassins. It's easy to blame and prosecute those who try to stop them. So, which target will be in the government's sights (sorry for the terribly mixed metaphors and the cynicism)?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.