For a map, click here. For a map of Coahuila, click here
By Chris Covert
Mexican Army units have re-entered the La Laguna area of Coahuila Thursday following a brief absence of about two months, according to Mexican news accounts.
The announcement was made by Durango state governor Jorge Herrera Caldera who said that the security strategy planned by the federal government would be implemented once the troops are in place. The strategy includes joint patrols of Mexican Army, Policia Federal and Coahuila and Durango state police agents much like the security arrangement used in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon where Federal and state units are cross detached into small units which patrol city streets.
La Laguna is the name of the region which includes the twin cities of Torreon, Coahuila and Gomez Palacio, Durango.
The total number of military returning to La Laguna was not revealed in the announcement nor have local press ventured any estimates as to the size of the redeployment.
What is known that last May 1,500 Mexican Army troops were sent to Torreon along with a detachment of about 300 Policia Federal elements, possibly in response to news that the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels had formalized an alliance.
To read the Rantburg report on the original deployment of Mexican Army and Policia Federal troops in Torreon, Coahuila last May, click here
Reports also say that the Durango border with Zacatecas state was another area slated to receive reinforcements. Numerous gun battles between cartel groups and between those groups and security forces have taken place in eastern and southern Zacatecas and are raising security concerns for the La Laguna region as well.
Zacatecas has been considered to be a Los Zetas stronghold.
| What has changed is the August Massacre of 53 individuals at the Casino Royale casino in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. Since the military been operating under what Mexican Secretaria Defensa Nacional General Guillermo Galvan Galvan has termed uncertainty, forces in the field have been involved in very few direct confrontations with criminal groups operating on Mexican highways. The likely cause of that is that those forces have been reset to a defensive and a reactive posture, deploying only after a security event has taken place. |
The decision was heatedly opposed by senior Mexican military commanders, who threatened just after the the court decision was made to withdraw their troops or change their posture. Apparently those commanders have made good on those threats, although any withdrawal of forces had not been formally announced.
The security situation in northern Mexican states has improved dramatically with violent deaths down in Juarez, Chihuahua, La Laguna, Coahuila and Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.
What has changed is the August Massacre of 53 individuals at the Casino Royale casino in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. Since the military been operating under what Mexican Secretaria Defensa Nacional General Guillermo Galvan Galvan has termed uncertainty, forces in the field have been involved in very few direct confrontations with criminal groups operating on Mexican highways. The likely cause of that is that those forces have been reset to a defensive and a reactive posture, deploying only after a security event has taken place.
The Casino Royale massacre is a very good example. For several hours following the attack Mexican Army units did not appear on the scene, as they were possibly withdrawn to their bases back in July. It also appears that Policia Federal units, Mexico's paramilitary force has been undertaking additional security duties in the absence of military units in the field.
To read Rantburg reports on Policia Federal confrontations with armed groups in Zacatecas, click here and here.
The new deployment represents a significant change. Just prior to the September 15th decision by Mexican president Felipe Calderon to deploy troops to Torreon, Gseneral Galvan had been publicly calling for the national security law to be passed. Also, leftist peace activist Javier Siclia has recently threatened what he termed "civil resistance" should the new law be passed.
While no news in the Mexican national press has emerged that the new law was about to be passed just after the Casino Royale massacre, Jorge Carlos Ramirez Marin, president of the Board of the Chamber of Deputies said passing the law would be a priority.
The redeployment may well be a sign the Mexican Army and Marines are back in the fight against organized crime with the newest weapon, the national security law.