Armed Mexican Troops Patrol the Streets of Juarez
Sunday, 30 March 2008

The U.S. placed Mexico under a travel alert As Thousands of Armed Mexican Troops Patrol the Streets of Juarez

By Michael Webster: Investigative Reporter

Thousands of Mexican soldiers are being sent to CD. Juarez, after many pleas from the cities Mayor. The Michael WebsterMexican troops are arriving by troop transport C-130 Hercules aircraft, military transport vehicles, gunship helicopters, troop personal carries, pickups and Humvees with mounted .50-caliber machine guns. These convoys are operating throughout the city.
Photo gallery: Mexican troops arrive and patrol in Juarez



Newly arrived Mexican Army soldiers prepared Friday to move out of the Juarez airport. The soldiers have been sent to stem the deadly violence in the city. (Rudy Gutierrez / El Times

The Mexican soldiers are armed with combat American supplied M-16 fully automatic rifles. This latest action by Mexican President Calderon now places Mexican armed soldiers on the U.S. Border with Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

This latest Mexican troop movement places more than 30,000 Mexican troops combating the Mexican cartels throughout the country. This operation, dubbed Operación Conjunta Chihuahua, by the Mexican army is expected to provoke a violent response from Mexican drug cartels, officials said.

This show of force is designed to overpower the well armed and equipped warring Mexican drug cartels and their operating gang soldiers some officials have estimated there numbers at more than 100,000. Dangerous gun battles between traffickers and soldiers are predicted by many scared citizens.

The El Paso Journal has learned that the Mexican drug cartels that are armed with powerful weapons and angered by a nationwide military crackdown are going to strike back, and are threatening to start killing soldiers in bold, daily attacks that are designed to discourage the one force perhaps strong enough to take on the rich and powerful drug cartels. Many Mexicans fear even the army is outgunned.

U.S. State Department reinstated its earlier alert that travelers should be careful when visiting Mexico. In light of these new developments in Juarez the State Department will reassess and decide whether that alert should be upgraded to a more serious "warning. "We are always looking at the situation in Mexico and want to give Americans the best information (about) Juárez," said Steve Royster, spokesman for consular affairs at the U.S. Department of State. "As events warrant, we'll make changes as needed."

This is not the first time Mexico has been placed on alert, which is meant to help travelers make their own decisions, he said.

The drug trade is all-powerful in Mexico. Analysts estimate Mexican cartels make between $30 billion and $100 billion selling cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine to the hungry U.S. market and through robbery, smuggling humans and drugs, kidnapping, and extortion of businesses and would-be migrants. This criminal activity rivals Mexico's revenues from oil exports and tourism.

The Laguna Journal on March 13, 2008 reported that the U.S. are sending or preparing to send troops to our southern border and reported that “The Laguna Journal has learned that a special U.S. Military Task Force has been created to protect our southern border with Mexico. Members of this task force is preparing to secure the border by responding with specially trained fast response U.S. Army task force military units. These forces are already in place with the heart of the power being concentrated in El Paso and Southern New Mexico with a far reaching responsibility from East Texas to Southern Californiaâ€