Mexico's interior minister, Miguel Osorio chong Wednesday dismissed claims made by a Tamaulipas mayor that criminal groups were terrorizing the city.
According to a news account which appeared in the online edition of Milenio news daily, Osorio Chong said that he regretted Matamoros mayor, Norma Leticia Salazar's call for a curfew, characterizing the call as unneeded.
Osorio Chong hinted that the call for a curfew may have been illegal, however, municipal presidents in northern states have imposed curfews in past years due to extreme violence by local criminal groups. Because of the federalization of internal security in Mexico, the only other official who can impose curfew is the president of the republic, but only after votes by the council of ministers and the Mexican national legislature.
Last Sunday, a total of 13 armed suspects were killed by Mexican military forces in three separate incidents in Matamoros, during a time when an internal split in criminal groups associated with the Gulf Cartel had gone hot.
The situation was so dire, that even national media had reported street names, and Twitter reported that teens were being recruited at gunpoint to replace losses by the gunfights between rival factions, and security forces.
Normally in the past Mexican national media rarely, if ever reported on specific claims made by criminal groups, but it is clear now that with a nationwide clamp on news released about criminal actions, media organizations are desperate enough for news, they are reporting on claims made in Twitter and other social media means.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com he can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com