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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Mexico acts as executions and kidnappings spread |
| 2008-10-02 |
| Mexico's Congress is to vote on a drastic security plan after another week of Iraq-style violence, including the dumping of 12 partially naked bodies, most with their tongues cut out, next to an elementary school. Analysts blame the staggering violence and lawlessness over recent months in Mexico on the Government's crackdown on drug cartels, which has cut off their income and caused rival organisations to wage war against each other. The problem has been exacerbated by endemic police corruption -- in one notorious case, the police were responsible for kidnapping and killing a 14-year-old boy even after his wealthy businessman father paid the ransom -- and a rapidly deteriorating economy, which is heavily dependent on so-called "remittances", or money wired back from illegal Mexican workers in the United States. The US media, preoccupied by the Wall Street crisis and the presidential election, has shown little interest in Mexico's troubles, even as the discovery of beheaded corpses becomes a weekly event and the country's kidnapping rate -- three or four a day -- is worse than Iraq's. Another 24 bodies -- all of them killed in execution-style -- were discovered outside Mexico City a fortnight ago, while last week three decapitated bodies were found in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa. Headless bodies have even turned up in the touristy Yucatan state. The violence now also has a political element, aimed at destabilising the government of President Felipe Calderón -- the authority of which is not even recognised by the Mayor of Mexico City after a disputed election two years ago. During a recent celebration of Mexico's Independence Day, suspected members of the Zetas cartel threw two military grenades into a crowd, killing eight and injuring 100. The attack took place in Mr Calderón's home state of Michoacan. The Mexican President has sent a sweeping security Bill to Congress, aimed at weeding out police corruption and improving the exchange of information on criminals. President Calderón urged members of Congress to swiftly approve his proposal so that "police can serve the people and not criminals". The Bill was drawn up several weeks ago with the help of Mexico's 32 governors -- each of whom controls rival police forces. It calls for the creation of a national database on criminal activity and aims to standardise police training and put in place a system of controls to ensure that Mexican officers meet minimal anti-corruption requirements. In addition, President Calderón has promised to crack down on criminals who use police uniforms or badges -- a common tactic for kidnappers, although in many cases the kidnappers are actually real police officers. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Mexico acts makes horrible faces and says buda-buda-buda? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-10-02 08:59 |
| #1 The US media, preoccupied by the Wall Street crisis and the presidential election, has shown little interest in Mexico's troubles,.. Which mirrors Mexico's disinterest in the effects of dumping 10 million of their unskilled, uneducated, lower caste excess population has had on the finances and fabric of American society. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-10-02 07:08 |