Posted on 02/12/2006 10:01:03 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
NUEVO LAREDO - Organized crime is beyond the ability of state and local authorities to control because it's a national and international problem, the governor of Tamaulipas said Saturday at the doors of El Mañana.
"There's a lack of force and decisive action, although we have seen the good intentions of the president of the Republic, Vicente Fox, in fighting those who violate the law," said Gov. Eugenio Hernández Flores after meeting with the paper's owners. "We have asked the federal government for more help to avoid any further increase in crime."
Two reporters were injured, one critically, when masked men stormed El Mañana's newsroom last week, raking it with machine gun fire and setting off a grenade.
While the governor emphasized the importance of maintaining sovereignty and ensuring all international laws are followed, he indicated he has no problem with Gov. Rick Perry's decision to send more officers to the border during these troubled times.
Hernández Flores added that he works well with his Texas counterpart, and that it will take both sides to resolve the crime problem. He praised the friendship and cooperation between Texas and Tamaulipas on issues involving the common U.S.-Mexico border.
He sought to maintain a respectful tone as he talked about Fox's personal efforts, but he blasted Mexico Seguro, a federal plan to restore order on the border, as ineffective and all but useless. There have been few arrests, he pointed out, and the violence continues virtually unabated.
For his part, Gen. Alvaro Moreno, who heads Mexico Seguro, recently said that his program has resulted in the arrests of 25 major drug lords and 300 minor drug traffickers, but he declined to list a single name.
On Saturday, Hernández Flores and Mayor Daniel Peña Treviño spent an hour and 45 minutes at El Mañana with leaders of Grupo Editorial Argos, which owns the newspaper, including Ramón Darío Cantú and Ninfa Deándar Martínez, and her brother, Heriberto.
After the meeting, Hernández Flores told waiting reporters that the attack on El Mañana was deplorable and that the injuries suffered by reporter Jaime Orozco Tey, who was shot several times in the shoulder and back, were a serious cause for concern because the public has a right to be informed.
Violence caused by organized crime has been unleashed across the country, the governor lamented, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico's main port, hasn't escaped the violence, because it's a strategic location for the criminal gangs.
"We are fighting with blood and guns to take back our communities," Hernández Flores said. "We are allied with the federal government in this battle, although it's the responsibility of the Republic to attack and eradicate this (crime wave)."
He offered journalists protection if they believe they are at risk because of their work and the often sensitive topics they cover.
The governor said his administration is doing what it can, noting that the city of Nuevo Laredo has received major funding for law enforcement technology and efforts have been made to clean up the police department.
He encouraged young people throughout Tamaulipas to join the police department, saying the job comes with good benefits and training. The city is looking to hire more than 200 new officers to increase the strength of the police force to 600.
While the group met inside El Mañana, an estimated 70 armed state and federal police officers stood guard around the building and in the streets nearby, bulletproof vehicles at the ready.
After the governor left, El Mañana's owners immediately went to the second floor, refusing to talk to reporters.
Daniel Rosas, a high-ranking editor at El Mañana, was designated as the spokesman for the group, but Rosas said there would be no comment on the meeting.
"I am not authorized to discuss those issues. We have been forbidden (to talk about it)," Rosas said to reporters from other media who were waiting at the newspaper's office. "The only thing I can tell you is that a Mass will be celebrated to pray for Jaime Orozco Tey."
(Miguel Timoshenkov can be reached at 728-2583 or timo1@lmtonline.com.)
Same on this side of the border, Gov. Flores.
Hey Gov....put bounties on their heads and welcome hit teams.
Safe Mexico Ping!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
Yep, Mexico is the country who doesn't believe in the death penalty. Look where it has brought them.
I love that Idea, bounty hunters helped civilize this country. Plus I need a few extra bucks
Cleaning house on the corrupt mexican government might help matters somewhat. It is hard to stop crime with the police and federal agents are a large part of the criminals.
I love that Idea, bounty hunters helped civilize this country. Plus I need a few extra bucks
That would be one way to find out if Mexico believes in a free exchange of labor.
not "ineffective", "en efectivo" - that is, "cash only".
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