The Mexican Government Secretary (Segob) announced that the Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR) is pursuing an investigation “without any limits” into the “forced disappearance” of Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Alberto Cruz, presumed militants of the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR)…. Read moreMexico: feds probe “forced disappearance” of leftist militants
Drug-related murders in Mexico have already exceeded last year’s total despite the deployment of 30,000 troops to tackle the issue. The Mexican newspaper El Universal said (Aug. 16) 2,682 people across Mexico had been killed since the start of this… Read moreMexico: narco-killings surpass last year’s total
JosĂ© Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, a prosecutor who oversaw Mexico’s extradition of drug traffickers, resigned Aug. 4—the second senior crime fighter to quit in a week. Santiago was Mexico’s top anti-drug prosecutor for two decades before taking his current position as… Read moreMexico: top drug prosecutors step down in shake-up
Some 1.8 million Mexicans voted overwhelmingly in an unofficial, non-binding referendum on July 27 to reject President Felipe CalderĂłn Hinojosa’s proposals to allow more involvement in the state oil monopoly, Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), by local and foreign private companies. The… Read moreMexico: “no” vote on Pemex “reform”
On July 27 voters in Mexico’s Federal District (DF, Mexico City) and nine states were scheduled to vote in a non-binding referendum on President Felipe CalderĂłn Hinojosa’s proposals to allow more involvement the state oil monopoly, Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), by… Read moreMexico: Pemex referendum starts
Excavations at the ex-military barracks at the Mexican village of Atoyac, Guerrero state, to discover the remains of an estimated 470 “dirty war” victims, are expected to conclude this week. Overseen by Argentine anthropologist Claudia Bisso, the excavations were undertaken… Read moreMexico: excavations conclude at “dirty war” site
Police officials in Mexico say drug traffickers have built makeshift car bombs to attack police officers, troops and rivals. Soldiers found two car bombs in a safe house in Culiacán, Sinaloa, July 14. One vehicle was packed with cans of… Read moreMexico: narco gangs gird with car bombs, submarines
According to the online magazine Narco News, the company that taught torture methods to police agents in Leon in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato (see Update, July 6) is Risks Incorporated, a private security firm with offices in Miami… Read moreMexico: US-UK firm teaches torture?
Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) July 11 issued eight recommendations to the Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA) concerning grave violations of basic guarantees—including homicide and torture—in anti-crime operations in the states of Sinaloa, Sonora, Michoacán and Tamaulipas. The first… Read moreNational Human Rights Commission blasts Mexican army
Residents of Ciudad Guzmán, in Mexico's west-central state of Jalisco, took to the streets to demand the withdrawal of military troops from the municipality—and the reappearance alive of two local youths. Mexican naval troops were ordered to the town, also known as Zapotlan el Grande, to fight the New Generation cartel, but were accused by locals of "disappearing" the two young residents—one just 17 years old. In both cases, witnesses claim the young men were detained by the Navy and were never seen again. Navy troops fired shots in the air after the rally turned violent, with protesters throwing rocks and bottles—possibly due to infiltration by provocateurs. At least three were reported wounded. (Photo: El Sol de Mexico)
For the past two weeks, some 200 troops from Mexico’s elite Federal Preventive Police (PFP) have occupied the village of Zimapán, Hidalgo, the scene of protests over a toxic waste site that the Spanish firm Befesa is scheduled to open… Read moreFederal police occupy Mexican village in toxic waste fight
Police discovered the tortured and burned bodies of six men in an empty lot in Tijuana July 7, bringing the total found over the weekend to 11—including the corpse of a woman found in a barrel. The three-day tally pushed… Read moreNarco-killing spree in Tijuana, Culiacán
