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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| 3 dead could be missing family members |
| 2011-08-11 |
| For a map, click here. For a map of Chihuahua state click here By Chris Covert Three dead bodies found in an abandoned mine in far western Chihuahua could be members of the same family kidnapped at gunpoint in December 2009, according to Mexican press accounts. Jose Alvarado Herrera, 30 and Nitza Paola Alvarado Espinoza, 31 were abducted from their residence in Buenaventura in Galeana municipality at around 2000 hrs December 29th, while Rocio Irene Alvarado Reyes, 18, was taken in a subsequent incident later that evening. Three skeletal remains were found in Buenaventura in Galeana municipality late Tuesday night. Reports at the time said that 10 men dressed as Mexican soldiers appeared at the residence of Alvarado Herrera and Alvarado Espinoza, forced them into trucks and drove them away. Details in the abduction of Alvarado Reyes are unknown, but it is known she left two minor children locked in the bathroom of her residence when she was taken. The kidnapping case has international impact because family members after being rebuffed by local, state and military officials in trying to find their relatives, filed a case with a human rights group in Washington DC in March, 2010. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled on the case in May, 2010. The case was revived last June when the Mexican national attorney general's office offered a MP $3 million (USD $243,427.50) reward for information on the three victim's whereabouts. Chihuahua state attorney's officers are awaiting DNA tests to determine the identity of the three bodies found. Mexican press accounts earlier suggested the information on the location of the three bodies were provided by Jos� Antonio Acosta Hernandez, AKA El Diego, but those reports were later found to be not true. However, Acosta Hernandez does figure into the abduction because of an alleged nexus between then Chihuahua state attorney general Patricia Gonzalez and La Linea, the vicious armed wing of the Juarez drug cartel. Acosta Hernandez was the main enforcement operations chief for La Linea. Gonzalez left her post after the change of government following the 2010 elections, and under a cloud of suspicion fostered by narcopintas, or graffiti left by criminal groups which suggested she was in the pay of the Juarez cartel. To read a Rantburg background report on Patricia Gonzalez, click here Her brother, Chihuahua city private attorney Mario Gonzalez was kidnapped from his office in October, 2010, forced to record a confession video, then tortured, beaten and then shot to death and dumped in early November in a remote area near Chihuahua city. To read the Rantburg report on the murder of Mario Gonzalez, click here. In the confession video Mario Gonzalez mentioned commander of the Mexican 5th Military Zone General Jose de Jesus Espitia. Mexican press reports around the time, and to this day of the abductions suggested that General de Jesus Espitia maintained ties with the Sinaloa cartel, while Gonzalez had alleged ties with the Juarez group. Reports said that Gonzalez and de Jesus Espitia had close ties and worked closely together. Other reports, namely recently leaked US Department of State cables suggested there was little if any information sharing between the two offices. One online anonymous post in Blogger by an individual claiming to be a former subordinate said that General de Jesus Espitia made mistakes, but that he was not in the pay of anyone. General de Jesus Espitia was relieved of command of the Mexican 5th Military Zone in July of 2010. Mexican writers at the time accused General de Jesus Espitia of engaging in forced disappearances of individuals and of intimidation of private citizens including human rights workers. In Mexican press reports and in international human rights reports it is generally assumed the Mexican Army was responsible for the abductions. Human rights groups often fail to distinguish between official army policy and the possibility of rogue elements within the military as well as possible connections between victims and drug gangs. One report by the leftist Amnesty International said that on February 4th 2010 Nitza Paola Alvarado Espinoza telephoned a friend crying and begging to be released. Voice reportedly heard in the background suggested Nitza Paola Alvarado Espinoza was left alone long enough to make the call. The local prosecutor in Galeana municipality took down the telephone number, but could not trace it, and eventually dropped the incident as part of the abduction case. |
| Posted by:badanov |
