Mexican authorities announced Dec. 30 the arrest of Alberto Espinoza Barron AKA “La Fresa” (the Strawberry), reputed head of the “Michoacán Family“—the drug cartel accused of setting off two grenades during an Independence Day celebration in September, killing eight people… Read moreMexico: bloody New Year despite arrest of kingpin
A member of Mexico’s presidential guard was reportedly arrested as a spy for the Beltran Leyva crime machine (Sinaloa Cartel) Dec. 26. An anonymous official of the federal prosecutor’s office identified Arturo González Rodríguez as an army major who was… Read moreMexico: presidential guard, beauty queen busted in narco wars
Soldiers arrested Timoteo Mata Cruz, deputy police chief of the Mexican resort town of Zihuatanejo (Guerrero state), and six of his officers for allegedly protecting prominent narco-jefes at a cock fight Dec. 25. Fourteen suspected members of the Beltran Leyva… Read moreMexico: Zihuatanejo police chief busted for protecting Sinaloa Cartel
Nine decapitated heads were found in plastic bags in Chilpancingo, capital of Mexico’s southern Guerrero state, among 13 men assassinated in the state Dec. 21. Four were thrown off the Quetzalapa bridge in Iguala. Of the nine decapitated, eight were… Read moreMexico: army pledges to hit back after decapitations
On Dec. 12 a judge in Mexico’s Coahuila state ordered the release of Carlos Pavón Campos, political affairs secretary of the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers of the Mexican Republic (SNTMMRM), on 5.611 million pesos bail (about $426,600)…. Read moreMexico: miner leader still in jail
Mexican President Felipe Calderón said Dec. 19 his government “does not and will never negotiate” with the drug lords, and vowed to press ahead with his military crackdown on the cartels. Drug-related deaths have doubled this year, to more than… Read moreMexico: Calderón pledges “no negotiation” with cartels
Another 44 people were killed in Mexico’s narco wars this weekend, including four police officers in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, which has been the scene of some 1,500 violent deaths this year. Two police were killed at a… Read moreMexico: Ciudad Juárez civil strike to protest narco violence
A US anti-kidnapping expert was himself kidnapped in northern Mexico Dec. 10, Coahuila state authorities revealed. Felix Batista—a veteran FBI agent now working for ASI Global Kidnap & Ransom Response of Houston who claims to have helped resolve nearly 100… Read moreMexico: anti-kidnapping expert kidnapped
General Motors Mexico will temporarily shut assembly lines at three of its Mexican plants as part of an overall strategy to cut production due to falling demand, the company announced Dec. 15. The plants in San Luis Potosi and Ramos… Read moreGM to idle Mexican plants
Killings linked to Mexico’s narco wars have more than doubled this year compared with 2007 and are likely to escalate before they start to fall, Prosecutor General Eduardo Medina Mora said Dec. 8. The number of narco-killings since the start… Read moreMexico: narco-war death toll doubles ’07; Juárez femicide breaks records
On Dec. 2 Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA), Mexico’s main steelmaker, announced plans for laying off 8,500 contract workers in its Proyecto Fenix modernization project and 3,500 of its own employees. (La Jornada, Dec. 3) In the two days after… Read moreMexico: layoffs up, unionists busted
The Sixth Intergalactic Commission of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) has announced a “First World Festival of Dignified Rage” (Festival Digna Rabia), to be held in January at San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. Participants have been confirmed from… Read moreChiapas: Zapatistas to host “Festival of Dignified Rage”
