Free Republic

In 2016, my dad, Charlie Garcia — a third-generation Mexican American and lifelong Republican — supported Sen. Ted Cruz in the GOP presidential nomination contest. Recently, he recalled that, of the 17 candidates who ran for the Republican nomination in 2016, “Trump was my 17th.” Toward the end of the election, I remember him saying that he would “hold my nose and vote for Trump.” But by this past November, something had changed. As far as I can tell, my dad voted while breathing through his nose as clearly as somebody could when wearing a face mask. Not only did...

A verified and convicted terrorist who attacked a U.S. Consulate with a grenade and automatic rifle fire has taken over the ruthless Los Zetas cartel, a group headquartered at the Texas border in the Nuevo Laredo-Laredo metropolitan border area. Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, sits immediately across the border from Laredo, Texas, and is the only urban location along the entire U.S.-Mexico Border that does not have any fencing or constructed security barrier of any kind. The convicted terrorist, Hector Raul Luna Luna, is known as “El Tory” and was convicted in the 2008 terror attack on the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey,...

A clinical trial called “Ambrosia” seeks to discover the long-sought Fountain of Youth – and some scientists believe they’ve found it in the blood of young people. Unlike most clinical trials, people actually paid to participate instead of the other way around. Patients over the age of 35 ponied up $8000 to take part in the experiment where they get transfusions of young blood, run by Dr. Jesse Karmazin. People are getting transfusions of “young blood” to slow aging. Unsurprisingly, the business “experiment” is taking place in Monterrey, California, right on the edge of Silicon Valley. . . . And...

Engineers from across Mexico streamed into Monterrey for a chance of a job with the U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc which is looking south of the border for talent. Scheduled interviews with a number of candidates on Friday and was slated to screen other prospective employees over the weekend at the closed-door event.

The Pentagon has responded to a globally-released ‘Kill List’, asking law enforcement to give extra protection for military personnel whose personal information was released,News Channel 10 reports. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports the Pentagon spent the weekend notifying the soldiers who appeared on the list, and urged city police departments and military police to increase patrol in the neighborhoods where the targeted live. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) published the list days ago, a report that contained names, photos, and home addresses of U.S. Armed Forces personnel, causing alarm in cities potentially at high-risk....

Armed robbers slaughtered 10 people during a robbery at a beer distribution center Friday in Mexico, authorities said. The attackers, who targeted the warehouse on the outskirts of the northern city of Monterrey, got away with a paltry 10,000 pesos in cash, or $650, sources close to the investigation said.

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...

A maverick former mayor known as El Bronco is mounting a serious bid to become Mexico's first independent candidate to win a governorship, buoyed by voter mistrust of the country's traditional political parties. Waging a social media campaign on a shoestring -- paid for largely with the crumpled bills supporters press into his hands on the stump -- Jaime Rodríguez is shaking up politics in Nuevo León, the conservative northern border state that includes the industrial powerhouse of Monterrey, and jolting politicians nationwide. An opinion poll published Friday in El Norte, Monterrey's leading newspaper, puts Mr. Rodríguez ahead of his...

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Secret Service visited the office of a Pennsylvania-based refrigeration contractor, Fazio Mechanical Services, in connection with an investigation of the Target Corp consumer data breach, a spokesman for the agency said on Wednesday. Fazio is the largest refrigeration contractor in the Western Pennsylvania region, and Target is one of its clients, according to the Sharpsburg-based company's website. A law enforcement source told Reuters that evidence suggests the hackers stole login credentials from Fazio and may have used the credentials to break into Target's network. The source added, however, that investigators were not sure that...

SAN ANTONIO — A proposed high speed rail between San Antonio and Monterrey is in the works. One lawmaker says it would revolutionize trade and travel between the U.S. and Mexico and pump more tourism dollars into the local economy. On Thursday, Representative Henry Cuellar will meet with the Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx along with state and Mexican officials to discuss the proposed rail system. Instead of paying for a round-trip airline ticket to Monterrey from San Antonio — which can cost at least $400 — Cuellar said a commuter could hop on a high-speed train and travel between...

MONTERREY, Mexico — Gunmen killed eight cab drivers Tuesday in two attacks in the city of Monterrey in northern Mexico, officials said. Three people including an 8-year-old girl were injured. Nuevo Leon state public security spokesman Jorge Domene Zambrano says four gunmen shot the first five drivers outside a taxi base office. Minutes later, three men were killed apparently by the same group a few blocks away. Domene said two of the three people wounded in Tuesday's attacks were innocent bystanders, including the girl. He said the victims were driving taxis without permits. Police are investigating a former driver who...

MONTERREY, Mexico – Imprisoned members of the hyper-violent Zetas drug cartel stabbed and bludgeoned 44 members of the rival Gulf cartel to death and then staged a mass escape, apparently with the help of prison authorities, officials in northern Mexico said Monday. Rodrigo Medina, governor of the northern state of Nuevo Leon, said the prison's director and three other officials have been fired and are under investigation for purportedly helping in the escape. The same was done with 18 prison guards. "Unfortunately, a group of traitors has set back the work of a lot of good police," Medina told a...

MEXICO CITY -- The U.S. Embassy in Mexico says two Americans have been slain outside the northern industrial city of Monterrey, an area plagued by drug violence. It identifies them as John and Wanda Casias. The embassy says the former Amarillo, Texas, couple's family has been notified and it is providing relatives consular services. The embassy hasn't confirmed reports that the killing happened Tuesday. Its statement provides no other details. Valerie Alirez in Greeley, Colo., is John Casias' eldest child. She says he and his wife were found dead Tuesday in Santiago, Nuevo Leon, by one of her brothers.

On Sunday, I wrote a story detailing the presence of the La Familia cartel in Austin, and in particular a group led by men from the central Mexican region of Luvianos.On Monday, after reading the story, officials with the Austin Independent School District canceled a scheduled football game between Travis High and the team from Monterrey Tech, citing safety concerns. If the game really was nixed simply on the basis of our story, it struck me as a curious decision. While I tried to explain how and why La Familia came to use Austin as a distribution hub, the presence...

MEXICO CITY -- Police have arrested a former Mexican professional wrestler accused of being one of the four members of the Zetas drug cartel who planned the casino arson that killed 52 people. Jose Alberto Loera is also known for his Lucha Libre name "El Voltaje" or "Voltage." Federal police regional security official Luis Cardenas Palomino said 28-year-old Loera was captured with two other men Tuesday in northern Mexico and flown to Mexico City where he was shown to the news media. He is the 12th suspect to be arrested in the case. Six others remain at large. Gunmen entered...

Gunmen in northern Mexico have shot dead three relatives of a police officer being held over a deadly arson attack on a casino last month. The officer's father, stepmother and stepbrother were killed in their home in the city of Monterrey. Police believe it was an act of revenge by the Zetas drugs cartel, after the officer named gang members allegedly involved in the casino attack. The blaze killed 52 people and caused revulsion across Mexico. Police officer Miguel Angel Barraza is one of six suspects detained in connection with the 25 August arson attack on the Casino Royale in...

Vice President of Intelligence Fred Burton demonstrates how video surveillance footage is used to reconstruct the recent arson attack in Monterrey, Mexico. Editor’s Note: Transcripts are generated using speech-recognition technology. Therefore, STRATFOR cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. In this week’s Above the Tearline, we’re going to show you how agents utilize video surveillance tape to reconstruct the crime using the recent casino fire in Monterrey, Mexico, as an example. Let’s take a look at the first video, which takes place before the crime occurs............

MONTERREY, Mexico — At least 22 people were killed in a string of attacks in Mexico, authorities said Sunday, including a shooting at a bar in Monterrey just hours after the opening of soccer's Under-17 World Cup. Gunmen stormed the bar in Mexico's third largest city late Saturday and "executed three people," wounded another, and kidnapped a security guard at the bar who was later found dead, an official of Nuevo Leon state's investigation agency told AFP. Four other people, 18-25 years old, were killed Sunday morning in Guadalupe, a city adjacent to Monterrey. "The victims were gathering in front...

CUERNAVACA, Mexico — Police found the bodies of six men and one woman inside a car abandoned Monday in an exclusive gated community near the picturesque central Mexican city of Cuernavaca. A shootout between rival gangs in the northern city of Monterrey killed two men, including a hot dog vendor caught in the cross fire, state police said. Three others were injured, including a 2-year-old and the child's father. In western Michoacan state, the bodies of two men were found with messages from a new drug gang (The Knights Templar) that has been taking responsibility for recent killings in the...

In Monterrey, Mexico, an armed commando stole the body of a TV personality moments after another commando had dropped the body on a street near a narco message. Jose Luis “La Gata” Cerda Melendez was found dead Friday morning along Miguel De La Madrid Boulevard, according to information released by the Nuevo Leon Attorney General’s Office. Cerda was reported missing Thursday evening after he was picked up near the Televisa station in Monterrey by a group of hooded gunmen. He was host of the show called “El Club.” Authorities didn’t release the content of the message, which was scrawled on...