Entire Town Displaced, Marshall Serzen

            The Mexican war with the Cartels has taken a new turn this weekend with over 100 families being displaced because of the violence. With this war approaching its 5^th year, this displacement of 100 plus families, totaling around 300 people, is the largest of the war.

            All of the 100 families were located in Ciudad Mier, located along the border, and relocated to Miguel Aleman.

            Recently the leader of the Gulf Cartel, “Tony the Gun” was killed in a near by town and violence has only increased since. The rival cartel, the Zetas, drove through the town of Ciudad Mier shouting that they would kill every resident who remained in the town.

            Miguel Aleman, which is only a few miles away opened up one shelter for the refugees, and is planning on opening up another one due to the huge number of people.

They government has denied knowing anything about what is going on in Ciudad Mier and said that they also denied know that the Zetas had control of the town. They did admit to knowing about the shelters though. They also said that the threats were false and this was the first time they had heard them.

It is not known yet how long the shelters will have to stay open but the displaced families are being given necessary supplies. They is even going to be some temporary employment for the families so they can still try to earn a living.

Battle on the Border, Marshall Serzen

Police and cartels battled in the city of Matamoros, Alejandro Poire in Mexico over the weekend killing a top cartel leader as well as four suspected gang members and two Mexican Navy soldiers.

Top cartel leader Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, aka "Tony the Storm", was killed during the battle. Navy soldiers were sent to investigate the house were attacked with grenades and multiple assault weapons. The Mexican government has had some moderate success with either capturing or killing top cartel leaders in the last few months. Sergio Villarreal, leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel and "La Barbie,” Edgar Valdez have been captured.

Located in Tamaulipas, where the bloody battle happened, is where most of the violence has taken place. The Gulf Cartel is one of the largest criminal and smuggling organizations in Mexico and is based south of Brownsville, Texas. The Gulf Cartel and the Zetas have been battling over smuggling operations and control over the area. The Zetas used to be part of the Gulf Cartel until they split off earlier this year.

Also in Brownsville, Texas two college campuses were shut down after suspected gunfire was coming across the Rio Grande and being directed towards the campuses. University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College were the two colleges where classes were canceled and students and faculty were sent home. The university security guard on duty said that it sounded like they were in the middle of the battle.

Mexico's Police, Marshall Serzen

Being a police officer is Mexico is not looked at as a positive thing. Over 61 percent of the state police force makes less than 325 dollars a month. You immediately have a bulls-eye on your head from the drug cartels. And you have a negative stigma in society. They work an extremely dangerous job, make very little money and are not appreciated in society so why do it. That is what the police force of Los Ramores asked themselves as they all resigned on October 28th after their station was attacked by the local cartels.

On October 28^th several armed gunmen drove up and attacked the new station shooting it over 1500 times while throwing grenades. While none of the police were hurt, six police vehicles were destroyed and one k-9 unit was killed by the gunfire and grenade blasts. Reacting out of fear for their lives all 14 police officers quit and even fled the town. This all happened just three days after the inauguration ceremony of the new station. The government has sent the local military to police the town until a new force is trained and hired. However there is speculation that finding a new force will be extremely difficult.

This area of Mexico was considered to be one of the more peaceful areas until recent attacks like this started happening on local police and several mayors have been killed. This happened among three separate massacres that have happened in the past two weeks.

Mexico's Massacre

On Sunday October 24, 2010, four armed men burst into a drug rehabilitation center in Tijuana, Mexico killing thirteen people. A survivor said that the gunmen came in and told everyone to lie down on the floor and started shooting them, with the majority of the victims being high school students. The motives for these attacks are not known but in the past attacks on rehab centers were the cartels targeting rival gang members in rehab. This is the first attack of its kind in Tijuana although it is more common in Juarez where several of these attacks have taken place.

This happened during a relatively quiet period where the city has seen little drug and gang violence in the past few months and has even been called a success story by President Felipe Calderon. The murder rate has steadily gone down since its climax in 2008, but these recent praises of Tijuana have seemingly encouraged the cartels and gangs. Almost to undermine Calderon, violence has spiked in the past two weeks with beheadings, bodies hanging from bridges, and other random acts of violence.

This is the second mass murder of the weekend. On Friday night gunmen attacked the birthday party of a 15-year-old boy killing 14 in Juarez. Around 50 people gathered, at two separate houses, for the teenager’s birthday with the majority of the victims being high school students. Police have not found out who is responsible for the attacks or a motive.

Mexico's Corruption

Since 2006 over 28,000 people have died in Mexico due to drug violence. Corruption is a huge concern in Mexico where so many people have died due to that drug violence. Recently Mexico fired 3200 police officers, ferderalies, and other law enforcement personnel due to corruption and other offences and over 450 are being charged. Now more corruption charges are emerging but this time against Mexican congressman Cesar Godoy.

Recently a Mexican radio show aired tape of Godoy and Servando Gomez, who is the leader of the “La Familia” cartel, engaging in a conversation. The station did not say how they got the tape but they did say that it was recorded more than a year ago in an ongoing investigation into Godoy’s ties with the cartels. Godoy is already in trouble for helping cartels in his state. Unfortunately because of his lawmaker status he is immune to the law, but because of this new evidence, that could change. Godoy also represents the state of Michoacán.

During the conversation, which was rather long, items discussed were the upcoming election, where Gomez told Godoy that he had total support and that he will win. They also talked about a journalist who was troublesome and talked about possible informants.

When asked about the conversation Godoy said that it was part of a smear campaign, that no one could prove that it was his voice, and denied that it was even him. He also said "It all has to do with a political persecution against me,"

The Truth at Falcon Lake

The Truth at Falcon Lake, Marshall Serzen

 On September 30 David and Tiffany Hartley were riding jet skis on Falcon Lake, which is located on the US border with Mexico, when several boats full of armed men drove up and started shooting at the American couple striking David in the back of the head. Initially it looked like another Cartel attack on an innocent couple. Now Mrs. Hartley is the prime suspect. Her account of that day, and the fact that there is no evidence doesn’t help her case.

Hartley’s story is a little confusing. Hartley’s story has changed and it appears she is loving the media attention. First she said there were several boats then she said only three. She gave coordinates of where the events happened but no evidence has been discovered. US law enforcement cannot do anything because the couple was on the Texas side of the lake but she hasn’t contacted Mexican law enforcement that can do something about it. She said that the pirates took the body and the jet ski, which doesn’t seem likely. Another odd part of the story is how these pirates were able to shoot David in the head while bobbing and flying around on a jet ski but were unable to even hit put a scratch on Tiffany’s machine. Overall tiffany’s story doesn’t add up.

Recently Mexico has named two suspects but David’s family doesn’t think anything is really being done or anyone will be arrested. Searches have been called off because of attacks by the Zeta cartel who is thought to be responsible for the attacks. Recently video evidence that confirmed the early part of the couple’s morning before the attack was released adding some validity to Mrs. Hartley story.

Mexico's Lawsuit

The hardest thing about reporting on Mexico is trying to find good news and once again I failed to do so. This has been a week when tourists have been killed and kidnapped. Also, there have been exploding grenades, more Mexican officials being shot dead, and BP is being sued by three costal Mexican states for environmental damage to its coastline.

Veracruz, Quintana Roo, and Tamaulipas have filed suit against BP for financial damages and losses. Oil is predicted to reach the shores of the Yucatan Peninsula, with the help of wind and currents, by October or early November. These three costal states rely on the tourist industry as a major source of income. Both Cancun and Cozumel are located on the Yucatan peninsula. With oil tainting these pristine beaches, the industry is expected to take a big hit financially.  Also the effect of oil on the fishing industry is still unknown be expected to cripple the Mexican industry.

This is the first foreign lawsuit to be held in a US court. These states are also suing Transocean Ltd., and the contractors Halliburton Co. and Cameron International Corp. Attorney Enrique Serna is representing the three Mexican states for the lawsuit. Mexico has already begun preparation for the arrival of the oil, with mock clean-up drills and stockpiling supplies. Serna has claimed that the states will ask for compensation for the cleanup cost when the oil arrives, the losses for hotel cancelations during busy winter hours and finally for Quintana Roo’s water supply, which is partially desalinated ocean water.