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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Javier Sicilia gets a taste of Mexican terror -- UPDATED |
| 2011-09-18 |
| For a map, click here Proceso is calling it an attempted ambush. Also adding additional details about Sicilia's security detail. Mexican peace activist Javier Sicilia and his entourage avoided an ambush Friday night as they travelled from Villahermosa, Tabasco to Coatzacoalcos, according to the Mexican leftist weekly Proceso. Sicilia's bodyguard detail, comprising 12 Agencia Federal Investigaciones (AFI), Preventativa Federal Policia (PFP) and Morelos state police agents forced Sicilia's vehicle off the road at about 2014 hrs when one agent spotted a vehicle with masked men aboard, and initiated a security protocol. According to the news item, the lights on the vehicles were doused and the agents dismounted to form a diamond shaped perimeter around Sicilia's vehicle, rifles and handguns drawn. Sicilia is in the middle of a peace caravan touring southern Mexico to bring attention to the Mexican war on the cartels, now in its fifth year under president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa. The tour is in its eighth day. Among those in his entourage were the unidentified director of the Centro Nacional de Comunicacion Social (CENCOS); Brisa Solis, a worker for CENCOS; Sicilia's friend, Isolda Osorio; an unidentified nephew of Sicilia's and Emilio Alvarez Icaza Longoria former director of CENCOS. After 15 minutes, apparently sensing danger had passed, the entourage continued their trek to Coatzacoalcos, reaching the city by about 2200 hrs. Sicilia's "peace caravan" has a total of 14 buses with more than 60 individuals including a press contingent. Since the incident, security measure have been tightened especially after it was revealed agents suspected the caravan was being monitored by drug cartels using "hawks", which is a Mexican pejorative for lookouts. Sicilia's armed security detail was not his idea, as he protested during a news conference Friday, but were rather provided by the Mexican federal government, probably at the order of President Calderon Hinojosa. A federal security detail has been with Sicilia since April, 2011, it was reported Sunday. Some elements of the security detail may have violated Guatemalan law when they accompanied Sicilia to Guatemala allegedly still armed. Highway robbery and carjackings is very common in Mexico, and don't necessarily involve the drug cartels. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jamie Zapata was shot to death last February when they were fired on after they stopped at a fake military checkpoint. The motive for the shooting at the time may have been a carjacking. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 did his soiled trousers smell like roses? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-09-18 22:07 |
