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
The families of two girls from Matamoros who drowned in the Rio Grande held a protest in the Mexican border city last month after authorities across the river in Brownsville, TX, ruled the death of a third girl in the… Read moreSurvivors demand justice after Matamoros girls drown in Rio Grande
On June 30 El Heraldo de LeĂłn, a newspaper based in LeĂłn in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, released two graphic videotapes showing police agents from LeĂłn’s Special Tactical Group (GET) torturing other agents during training sessions. The victims,… Read moreMexican cops tape torture training
According to a July 1 press release from the Authentic Labor Front (FAT), an independent Mexican labor group, one of its affiliates has won a settlement in a two-month struggle with the Central de Abasto, Mexico City’s huge wholesale food… Read moreMexico City market union wins
Six local police officers were killed in Culiacán, Sinaloa, June 27 when two carloads of heavily armed men cut off their vehicle in an ambush. The attack came two hours after a shoot-out between armed men and federal army troops… Read moreUS Senate approves “Plan Mexico”; narcos keep up pressure
State authorities in Guerrero, Mexico, have agreed to pay 490,000 pesos (US$48,000) in compensation to 14 indigenous men coerced into having vasectomies. The men will each be paid 35,000 pesos (US$3,400) and given water storage tanks and cement to build… Read moreMexico compensates indigenous men for forced sterilizations
A group of undocumented Cuban immigrants who were supposedly “snatched” from Mexican immigration authorities by an armed commando on June 11 in the southeastern state of Chiapas have been located in Hidalgo, Tex., Mexican authorities said on June 18. The… Read moreCuban emigres “kidnapped” from Chiapas found in Texas
Workers at the Mexmode garment factory in Atlixco municipality in the central Mexican state of Puebla report that the state and local governments are maneuvering to destroy the Independent Union of Mexmode Company Workers (SITEMEX), one of the few independent… Read moreMexico: maquila union threatened
The US House of Representatives voted 311-106 on June 10 to authorize $1.6 billion over three years for the Merida Initiative, a project ostensibly aiding the fight against drug trafficking in Mexico and Central America. The measure won’t be finalized… Read more“Plan Mexico” hits snags in Congress
