Thread: 2005: A Year of terror on the border

http://www.lmtonline.com/news/s1.php

Despite government promises, crime wave continues to plague border residents

By MIGUEL TIMOSHENKOV
LAREDO MORNING TIMES

NUEVO LAREDO The residents on the south side of the Rio Grande say they have learned to live with the seemingly endless onslaught of crime, a stain on the community that grows as the list of violent deaths grows.

At least 176 people died violently in 2005 in this border city of about a half-million residents; some counts put the number at closer to 200.

Whats worse, some say, is that there have been few arrests despite repeated promises from officials at all levels of government.

At least 17 police officials and officers were slain, including Police Chief Alejandro DomÃÂ*nguez Coello, who was gunned down in broad daylight June 9.

Several weeks later, City Councilman Leopoldo Ramos was also gunned down in daylight as he made the short drive from his home to City Hall.

Most of the killings were done execution-style, either as drive-by shootings involving machine guns, or by single shots to the head. The bodies of about a dozen victims were found stuffed in oil drums, where they had been set on fire. All had been shot.

The sheer numbers of deaths, kidnappings and other violence that filled 2005 laid bare the city police forces flaws, including reports of corruption and a lack of resources and strategic planning to improve the safety of city residents, critics said.

In fact, federal authorities ordered all city officers off the streets in June, confiscating their firearms and radios, after several city police shot a federal officer coming into town to help fight the growing crime wave as part of "México Seguro."

Many city officers were later fired after the force underwent intense background checks and various physical, mental and ability tests.

The federal governments "México Seguro" program, designed to stop the violence and restore order in Nuevo Laredo, started in June after the police chief was slain. Troops were sent in, and special teams of highly trained officers were brought in.

It doesnt seem to have made much of a difference, people say.

From attorneys to spiritual leaders, from journalists to police officers themselves, the general agreement is that the city has become a haven for criminals, particularly major drug trafficking gangs that seem to ply their trade virtually unabated.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza took the rare action of shutting down the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo after gunfire erupted in an upscale neighborhood near the facilities. It reopened a week later, even as executions continued.

Alberto Guerra González, a journalist with 50 years of experience, said this is the worst he has ever seen it.

"To say that 182 people have died means it (homicide) happens every two days," Guerra González said. "This is serious. We are living in anarchy. This has stained our image on an international level."

Attorney Roberto RodrÃÂ*guez Chávez said residents are feeling desperate, and are searching for a way to continue their everyday lives without getting stuck in the middle of a gunfight between rival gangs.

"Authorities, in an effort to excuse themselves, claim that some of the victims who died, without having any connection to criminal groups, were just in the wrong place," RodrÃÂ*guez Chávez said. "Thats a dumb excuse. There is no authority here that is exercising its responsibility. The plan México Seguro is a panacea."

Several critics note that not even the police are safe; with 16 dead, including the chief and several high-ranking officers, there had been increasing concern about a lack of qualified candidates for the force.

Still others, however, say things are at least a little better. A leaner, but better-trained and more qualified, force was returned to the city streets in late summer and the terror seems to have lessened, they say.

A police officer with five years of service, who asked not to be identified, sees less fear about becoming a police officer.

"Were able to be more at peace; the purging of about 350 officers has brought confidence," he said. "Were not counting on support yet, but we believe that the criminal gangs are calmer. They are directing their actions at those who were on a list marked for execution."

Officers also point out that their colleague Adriana de León MartÃÂ*nez, who was shot in August, was the last city officer killed this year.

New Police Chief Omar Pimentel said he regrets the deaths of the officers who were killed in 2005, but he said law enforcement is a risky profession. Those who ply that trade should be brave and believe in their mission to maintain public order.

Pimentel said he is making major efforts to implement discipline, order and honor within the ranks a difficult job, he said, but it is being accomplished.

That said, officials say its difficult to find recruits for the citys police academy.

Antonio Aguilar Candelaria said only 18 students have registered for the new term and about half of them have completed only high school. The department prefers to have students who already are in higher education.

"We seek to persuade them that in the future, a police career will be a professional career," Aguilar Candelaria said.

A spokesman for the Iglesia San José, where Leonardo López officiates, said the church is encouraging authorities to exercise their rights and protect Nuevo Laredos families by fighting the crime wave.

"Father Leo is a just man. He knows the Nuevo Laredo families are suffering," the spokesman said. "He prays for them and seeks justice to ensure the spiritual and moral well being of the community."

Tamaulipas State Attorney General Mercedes del Carmen Guillén recognizes that the executions have spread, but neither state nor federal authorities appear to be investigating those types of killings.

The attorney generals office says they dont investigate the crimes because they involve weapons used exclusively by the army, which are not available to the general public. The federal authorities should take charge of those investigations, she said.

But federal authorities counter that homicides are the province of state police forces, and decline to overstep their bounds.

President Vicente Fox, who has visited the border several times, said during his state of the union address in September that a stronger, more united effort is needed to effectively fight the crime gangs along the border.

Fox touted several major arrests of drug-trafficking leaders, but critics say those have occurred in other parts of the country and the border region is still a hotbed of crime.

People were murdered? That's too bad. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sounds like Mexico is the wrong place at any time.

RR

People were murdered in Mexico? Gee...I think a bunch of Americans including police officers have been murdered here in the US by the same "ilk".

We need a WALL OF AMERICANS to keep it out of here.

40,000...20 Americans to a Mile. Cost of program $2 Billion a year. Savings to FEDS - $8 Billion (CIS states illegal aliens cost feds $10 Billion a year or more).

Lets do it America. 20 to a mile...2000 miles of border....40,000 Americans at $20 a hour...$40,000 a year plus benefits and equipment.