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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| A little Irony - hold the starch |
| 2004-02-17 |
| Rooters- Mexico Fears Spread of Central American Gangs EFL - echoing the Tailand/ Malasia border crisis which mirrors the Yemen / Saudi Wall Crisis which echos the Palestinian/ Israeli fence fiasco... Hunted down by new governments in Honduras and Guatemala, members of the feared "Salvatrucha" and "Mara 18" gangs have turned up in recent months in eight Mexican states from Chiapas in the south to Tijuana on the U.S. border, leaving a trail of killings and rape. The gangs, known as "maras," prey on illegal migrants who travel from Central America up through Mexico by hopping cargo trains in the hope of reaching the United States. While crime figures are hard to come by, local legislators say gang-related violence is on the rise. "The southern Mexican border has very few controls, which is why in recent years illegal trafficking in arms, drugs and stolen cars has grown. There is also a rising flow of migrants using Mexico to get to the United States," said left-wing PRD deputy, and former Chiapas governor, Emilio Zebadua. And without even demonstrating the common curtesy of providing a reach around. "Migrants fall victim to these gangs who attack them, rape them, rob them and kill them. The cash they have on them to pay traffickers is attractive and they are vulnerable as there is no authority protecting them," he told Reuters. A string of arrests suggests the El Salvador-based Salvatrucha is recruiting in Mexico and becoming entrenched along the southern border. In the past few days, police in Chiapas have arrested some 100 gang leaders, said Zebadua, who believes Central American gangs are setting up bases along the border for arms and drugs trafficking and forced prostitution rings. "This kind of behavior is always a risk for national security and it should be seen as such," Chiapas public security secretary Horacio Schroeder Bejarano told the Mexican daily Reforma on Sunday. Local governors accuse President Vicente Fox, |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #2 tu, Unless *he* is getting a reach-around from the gangs..... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-2-17 5:14:11 PM |
| #1 I'll bet Vincente will have no problems with shutting down that border. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-2-17 4:53:37 PM |