Free Republic

THE Mexican Army is hunting a 12-year-old assassin who is allegedly employed by a drug cartel to torture and murder its enemies. Known simply as El Ponchis - which means "The Cloak" - the young boy has been accused of helping wage a turf war in the central Morelos state. Reports said he was paid $US3000 per murder and that he tortured his victims before killing them. He often cuts his victim's throat, leaving the head attached by just a thread. Videos of El Ponchis attacking one enemy with a stick and cutting the throat of another have appeared online,...

ACAPULCO, Mexico -- The dismembered bodies of two men were hung from a bridge Tuesday on a highway leading to Acapulco, the second such discovery in three days in a region where two drug lords are fighting for control of their divided cartel. The men were hung from their feet at the entrance of Chilpancingo, the city nearest to Acapulco along the highway connecting the Pacific coast resort to Mexico's capital, according to police in the state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located. Their arms had been cut off, and a message was left threatening extortionists, kidnappers, police and the...

MEXICO CITY — The mayor of a city south of Mexico’s capital was shot to death on Saturday, less than a day after taking office, officials said. Gunmen burst into the house of Mayor Gisela Mota in the city of Temixco and killed her, said the government of Morelos state, where Temixco is located. Two presumed assailants were killed and two others detained, said Morelos Gov. Graco Ramirez in the government statement. Officials attributed her killing to organized crime. ... Temixco is a city of about 100,000 people neighboring Cuernavaca, a resort and industrial city which has been suffering kidnappings...

Another election, another surprise. Actually, two elections, in two countries last weekend, with surprisingly pleasant surprises. And in two very large countries: Turkey (population 82 million) and Mexico (119 million), both very important to the United States. In the runup to the Turkish election, speculation in English-speaking publications centered on whether President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP party would get a large enough majority in the parliament to amend the constitution without a popular referendum. The AKP, usually described as mildly Islamist, has been in power since 2002. In some respects it has compiled a record that compares favorably with those...

The bodies of the four young men were discovered early on Sunday, hung upside down by their feet from a bridge near a wealthy area of Cuernavaca, a leafy city about an hour outside Mexico City, where many of the nation's elite own homes. The victims' genitals, index fingers and heads had been cut off, according to a statement from the attorney general's office in Morelos state, which includes Cuernavaca. Their heads and genitals were found nearby, along with a handmade sign, the statement said. "This will happen to everyone that helps the traitor Edgar Valdes," the placard read, referring...

ACAPULCO, Mexico — Police say they found 11 bodies dumped around a southern Mexican state, including seven wrapped in plastic bags and thrown off a bridge. Guerrero state police say the bodies of five men and two women were found in a river between the Pacific resort town of Acapulco and the city of Cuernavaca. They were wrapped in bags and dumped off a bridge. The other four bodies were found in a 600-yard ravine in the Guerrero state town of Pilcaya.