Thread: Juarez Bridge Protesters Were Paid

Juarez bridge protesters were paid, officials say

By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Posted: 02/19/2009 12:00:00 AM MST


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More on the violence in Juárez

Mexican officials characterized Tuesday's protests at the international bridges as suspicious, while Juárez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz condemned the deaths of four police officers killed in an ambush, also on Tuesday.

In a news conference Wednesday, Ferriz said one of those killed, police director Sacramento Perez Serrano, 49, had been recruited last July from the interior of Mexico to help reorganize the Juárez police force.

Perez was in charge of police operations.

Before the mayor's conference, officials removed banners with threatening messages aimed at police that had been placed in various parts of the city.

"These three officers, along with the police director, lived and died in the line of duty, and gave their lives to the country," Ferriz said. "Until his last day, (Perez's) only goal was to serve the public.

"Juárez Police Chief Roberto Orduño Cruz profoundly laments the loss of a man who lived and served our country with conviction, the same as the officers who died at his side."

Perez, who was a former Mexican army captain with a law degree, will be buried with honors, along with police Officers Antonio Arias Feria, Vicente Mata Beltran and Francisco Javier Reyes Moreno.

Officials said the officers were traveling by truck to the Babicora police station when they were attacked by a group of armed men around 5 p.m. Tuesday at Ejercito Nacional and Paseo de la Victoria, near the U.S. Consulate.

On another matter, Joint Operation Chihuahua issued a statement alleging that the protests that temporarily shut down three border bridges Tuesday -- about four hours before the policemen were killed -- were carried out by people "who received money for their participation" in the protests.

Officials said several people were observed Tuesday filling up buses with paid protesters to march against the military's crackdown on the Mexican drug cartels.

Joint Operation Chihuahua also confirmed that on Feb. 10 authorities detained taxi driver Oswaldo Muñoz Gonzalez, who reportedly inspired the protests, and that he is being investigated in connection with marijuana and weapons found in his possession.

About 20 Juárez taxi drivers took part in Tuesday's bridge blockades, officials said.

Joint Operation Chihuahua also cautioned the public against being used by others to take part in protests intended to discredit soldiers who were sent to Juárez to fight drug cartels.

Similar protests against the Mexican army, which has been accused of abuses, have occurred in other cities besides Juárez.

Last week, Nuevo Leon Gov. Natividad Gonzalez Paras said in a news conference that protests against the military operations in Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas and Veracruz "were organized and financed by the Gulf cartel Zetas," the drug organization's enforcement arm.

More than 5,000 people died last year as a result of drug violence in Mexico, including 1,600 in Juárez.



Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_11735422? ... ost_viewed

That answers my question.....I asked it earlier, because it didn't make sense......now it does.........they are never going to fix this issue when even their own people stand for nothing.