October 9, 2008
Lawlessness and organized crime spiraling out of control in Mexico and Latin America

La Prensa Grafica  (San Salvador, El Salvador)  10/7/08 (AFP news agency) - (full article transl.)
Mexico's President Felipe Calderon said this Tuesday that Latin America records the world's highest rate of homicides with 27 assassinations for every one hundred thousand persons, and he urged the United States to transfer resources similar to those of the Merida Initiative to the rest of the countries of the area.

At the opening in Mexico City of the first Meeting of Public Security Ministers of the Americas, Calderon said "It's important that initiatives like these (Merida) are also taken to a continental level, because the problem of criminality and organized crime is continental."

The Mexican head of state spoke in front of the 34 representatives of the Justice Departments of the Organization of American States (OAS) member countries, and mentioned some of the figures which make "the preservation of public security the greatest challenge."

He added that "The OAS points out that while the world average for homicides is five for every one hundred thousand inhabitants, in Latin America we have an average of 27 homicides for every one hundred thousand inhabitants."

The incidence of crime, according to the most recent poll by "Latinobarometro", shows that in 1995 29% of Latin Americans had been victim of some crime but in 2007 that percentage rose to 38%.
The Mexican president said that a recent UN estimate states that "even though this region only represents 8% of the world's population, 75% of the world's kidnappings took place in this region." According to Calderon the cost of insecurity  represents 15% of the Gross Domestic Product in Latin America. In that sense, he called for the american (sic) countries to coordinate via accords and mechanisms which will permit the combat against lawlessness and organized crime and he proposed a data base about criminality in the entire region to identify the drug trafficker gangs, their financial flows and modus operandi.
He also urged the United States to make available the funds of the Merida Plan because organized crime does not wait, as well as to combat the consumption and distribution of drugs in its own territory.
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La Hora  (Guatemala City, Guatemala)  10/7/08
 
Guatemala's Director of Human Rights, Sergio Morales, labeled the high rates of violent deaths recorded so far this year as worrisome and impressive, because "not only has violence become unleashed  to levels not seen before, but because  the ability  to govern is itself threatened."
According to Morales, should this behavior continue, the homicide statistics could reach 5,990, an amount that would surpass by more than 200 that of the cases recorded in 2007. Morales said  that just in August 616 violent death took place in the country.
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El Financiero  (Mexico City)  10/7/08
 
Four adult Chinese males were injured due to an explosion and fire  believed to have been caused by a gas leak. This took place in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, (across from McAllen, TX) and after medical treatment the Chinese are to be turned over to the "INM" (Mex. Immigr.) since they lacked documents to show their legal status in Mexico.
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El Diario (Ciudad Juarez ed., Chihuahua)  10/7/08
 
-    After a vehicle chase outside Palomas, Chihuahua (across from Columbus, NM), Mex. military located the abandoned vehicle by the "Las Chepas" township. It was loaded with a rather large number and variety of ammo, law enforcement uniforms, shotguns, assault rifles, hand guns, loading clips, grenades and a grenade launcher, helmets, etc.
-    The head of a special auto-theft unit of the state of Chihuahua's AG office was shot to death at a hotel parking lot on Tuesday. There have now been 33 homicides in seven days in Juarez.
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La Cronica  (Mexicali, Baja Calif.)  10/8/08
 
Two state police officers were shot to death a couple of blocks from their office and in broad daylight yesterday in Mexicali. (Note: this is the place where the death threat funeral wreaths were delivered a few days ago)
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Frontera  (Tijuana, Baja Calif.)  10/8/08
 
Short takes:
-   At least one man shot to death in Playas de Tijuana
-   Two more murdered in Rosarito
-   Man riddled by gunfire in Rosarito
-   Rosarito city police officers are assaulted and robbed of their firearms, radios and patrol car keys
-   Tijuana mayor announces that the army will control the streets of the city because of the high rate of criminality
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Excelsior  (Mexico City)  10/8/08
 
This paper's homicide tally for yesterday in Mexico reaches 31, ranging from Juarez and other areas of the state of Chihuahua but also including Durango, Puerto Vallarta, Culiacan, the state of Mexico, Baja California and Jalisco.
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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. 
 

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