Mexico: massacres in Mazatlán, Michoacán

Gunmen killed six at a nightclub in the Mexican beach resort of Mazatlán, as six more decapitated bodies were found in an SUV in a town in Michoacán state.

White House asks Congress for $410 million under Merida Initiative

The White House asked Congress for $410 million in Merida Initiative drug war aid to Mexico and Central America for FY 2011, despite ongoing concerns about human rights.

Mexican politicos urge drastic drug war measures

Sharp debate over the direction of Mexico’s narco war has broken out in the country’s Congress in the wake of twin massacres in Ciudad Juárez and Torreón last weekend.

Mexico: electrical workers start sit-in

In Mexico’s first major demonstration of 2010, thousands of unionists and campesinos marched on the capital’s main plaza, continuing a tradition of annual protests against NAFTA.

Ciudad Juárez prepares monument to femicide victims

Ciudad Juárez Mayor José Reyes Ferriz announced that the city is calling on artists across Mexico to submit proposals for a monument to memorialize the city’s murdered women.

Ciudad Juárez: massacre targets high school kids

Gunmen burst into a party and killed 14 high school students in Juárez. The 24 hours before the massacre had been one of the most violent on record in the conflicted border city.

Mexico: 23 dead in Durango prison riot

A riot at the notoriously harsh Durango prison known as Social Readaption Center (CERESEO) No. 1 left 23 inmates dead. Army troops were sent in to put down the violence.

Mexico: 860 more army troops to Tijuana

Mexico’s National Defense Secretariat announced the mobilization of 860 army troops to Tijuana in anticipation of reprisals following the capture of kingpin Teodoro García Simental.

Mexico: body of kidnapped journalist found

The body of José Luis Romero, a Mexican journalist kidnapped in December, was found on a roadside in Sinaloa state. Romero covered police and crime issues for a local radio station.

Mexico: more hideous narco-violence

Severed heads and mutilated bodies with threatening “narco-massages” were found in Juárez and Los Mochis, as a shoot-out left one soldier and three narco-gunmen dead in Michoacán.

Mexico: Guerrero rebuked in disappearance of indigenous leaders

Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission issued a harsh “recommendation” to Guerrero Gov. Zeferino Torreblanca in the unsolved case of two indigenous leaders kidnapped last year.

Mexico: activist cleared in Brad Will murder —again

A judge in Oaxaca issued an order giving the federal government 10 days to release activist Juan Manuel Martínez Moreno, held since October for the murder of journalist Brad Will.