Mexican Candidate for Governor Is Assassinated

Mexican Candidate for Governor Is Assassinated

www.nytimes.com

A popular candidate for governor who had made increased security his prime campaign pledge was killed along with at least four others Monday morning in a brazen attack, rattling a nation already alarmed by surging drug violence.

Despite years of atrocities tied to drug gangs, the killing of a candidate who was widely considered the front-runner just days before voters go to the polls drew unusually wide condemnation, and it drove election-related violence to a level not seen in Mexico in years.

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Another good politician, Rodolfo Torre Cantu, gubernatorial candidate for the state of Tamauilipas, ran on a platform aimed at going after the cartels and making the security situation better. He met his fate in a gangland style assassination before election day. Apparently, he was a politician with a spine and turned down the bribe?

Moreover, these criminals are in the business of manipulating elections. How can men like this one and others root out corruption, and make things difficult for these criminals when practically every aide or political leader above them is on their payroll? It is a shame that the people of Mexico have to live in fear and in most cases having politicians and law enforcement are in the pockets of these criminals.

President, Felipe Calderon, vows to make a firm response to those responsible, but I will believe it when I see it. As this drug war escalates, he is being subjugated to the position as President of Mexico City instead of the country as a whole. The central government is losing control, and in time, this country will spiral into a narco state.

www.nytimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 28-6-2010 by Jakes51]

reply to post by Jakes51


Mexican Government is pretty much,right now,Government by Drug Cartel.

Every time you think that something may get a little bit brighter, someone's flame is dimmed, by either corruption, money, greed, or violence. In this case, all of the above.

reply to post by BigDaveJr


I agree with you, and this seems like Columbia during Pablo Escobar's days. Moreover, what makes it worsel it is spilling over the border and turning the southern border states into a war zone in the making. It is not quite there yet, but if the Mexican government can not get a handle on their security situation, next stop will be the border states and beyond. Manipulating elections and political process is absolutely unacceptable!

Originally posted by NoRegretsEver
Every time you think that something may get a little bit brighter, someone's flame is dimmed, by either corruption, money, greed, or violence. In this case, all of the above.

Very well put. It is a shame that when one stands up and does the right thing they are immediately silenced in a hail of lead. It is the way of the world and others have suffered similar fates as this gubernatorial candidate. The honest man is becoming a pariah, and criminality seems to be as powerful as ever around the world.

reply to post by Jakes51


Do you think it'll regress to the point that the US government will find itself in Mexico trying to clean the situation up? We sent advisors into Columbia in the past when Escobar pretty much ran the Country,it might eventually happen in Mexico.

Originally posted by BigDaveJr
reply to post by Jakes51

 

Do you think it'll regress to the point that the US government will find itself in Mexico trying to clean the situation up? We sent advisors into Columbia in the past when Escobar pretty much ran the Country,it might eventually happen in Mexico.

I had the same discussion with someone else about what you are getting at. The US may have to get involved in more than giving funding to the Mexican government. Now, I am largely opposed to US intervention in the affairs of foreign governments, but this situation is a threat to national security given the country's close proximity to the US. If the Mexican government is unable to keep their criminal element in line, then someone has to.

The people are being held hostage by these violent criminals, and that is part of the reason why they are crossing the border in droves. Their government is inept and in the pockets of the criminals. They are even unable to relay information to the authorities or politicians because they have no idea who to trust. It is a mess down there, and now they are even attacking the the political process. To me that ought to be the third rail and a sign that the Mexican government is on the ropes. The US ought to take a more hard-line approach to the violence in Mexico.

Jesse Ventura for Governor of Mexico!

Jesse says:
"Now, I've been living in Mexico for half the year. You know, i live with those brown skinned people that we're so scared of that we're gonna build walls and barbed wire fences and all of this stuff, and we're going to turn my country into East Berlin, because we fear these brown skinned people who manage to come up here looking for economic advantage, looking to help their families the same way you want to help yours, and to me, when I look at the United States being turned into East Berlin, it is not the country that I served when I was in the Navy."

Viva Mexico

Coming to a South Western state near you!

Militarize the border. Shoot anyone that comes across on foot, driving a box truck with illegals in it. .50 cals every 500 yards and "toe poppers" 5 deep and staggered.

If they can make it through this, enlist them. They have talent.


But that is only if we had a problem on the border, and we dont.....so we're told.

Originally posted by Jakes51
The people are being held hostage by these violent criminals, and that is part of the reason why they are crossing the border in droves. Their government is inept and in the pockets of the criminals. They are even unable to relay information to the authorities or politicians because they have no idea who to trust. It is a mess down there, and now they are even attacking the the political process. To me that ought to be the third rail and a sign that the Mexican government is on the ropes. The US ought to take a more hard-line approach to the violence in Mexico.

more hard-line approach, yes, but something needs to be done about the drugs themselves to deal with the war. i honestly believe that all drugs should be legalized, and taxed, using the tax money to pay for rehab clinics. this would be a huge blow to these gangs, hitting them right where it hurts. it completely eliminates their entire motivation.

i guess the question would be, however, what would the drug cartels do if their product was eliminated? i couldnt imagine them making the same amount of cash via prostitution or any other illicit venue.

i really hope this gets sorted out soon. sometimes its hard to believe that there is a war right at our door step yet our troops are on the other side of the ocean fighting for god knows how much longer.

reply to post by felonius


You are advocating turning the border into a demilitarized zone with minefields, pill boxes, and armed troop patrols with APC's and an Abrams tanks? Why all the theatrics when we have a border patrol that is capable of policing the border and enforcing our immigration laws. First, they need more support from the Congress, President, and funding for state of the equipment and manpower. Perhaps the military could augment the efforts of the border patrol if needed, but not exclusively taken over by the military. There are civilians that live down there as well.

Give the politicians an inch when it comes to putting boots on the ground on American soil, and if we are not careful we could see armed soldiers patrolling the streets in Phoenix, San Diego, or El Paso before it said and done. The President and the Congress need to show a concerted effort at enforcing the immigration laws, and beefing up preexisting border enforcement policies. The only problem I see is years and years of neglect on the issue as the culprits for our woes today.

So, in short, anything short of World War III; I am opposed to the US military doing civilian law enforcement and even along the border. However, I am beginning to open up to the idea of military advisers being sent to Mexico to assist their military efforts against the cartels. The approach would be similar to the strategy used during the eighties in Columbia.

The corruption in Mexico is truly pathetic. The cartels run the country. Its leaking into our country now. I hate to say it but the only way to beat this scum is to end the war on drugs. Once drugs are legalized the cartels will be out of business and go broke and powerless shortly after.

on a different note i thought Jesse Ventura made a good point about the Berlin reference. I never thought of it like that. I still disagree with him on the issue, but i thought it was a valid point.

I don't see military guarding our border as being a violation of Posse Comitatus. In fact I believe it is the sole duty of the Fed's and the Military to do so.

We all know they can close the border any time they wish. A good double fence and enforcement would do it. Any contractor could build the fence for nothing compared to what the government would spend to do it. They should contract sections to struggling Contractors and then man the thing with enough people.

The people of Mexico have my utmost sympathy, but it is time they take up their own cause instead of running away. Mexico has ample resources and should be a wealthy member of the Industrialized World. The blame lies squarely on the people of Mexico.

It is no more dangerous for a Mexican to stand up to the bad guys, than it is for some other group to do it. Civil Wars must be fought internally. Look where running away has gotten them. The 30 million we have here should be down there fighting for their homes. It is not our responsibility.

Send the good guys all the guns and money they need, but they need to do the dying for their own homeland.

[edit on 6/28/2010 by Blaine91555]

Originally posted by Jakes51
...Why all the theatrics when we have a border patrol that is capable of policing the border and enforcing our immigration laws.

True, the Border Patrol is capable of enforcing immigration laws. However, when it come to an invasion of our soil by heavily armed guerrillas, aka savages, aka animals, they are ill-equipped and ill-trained. There are areas of our southern border which should be entirely under military protection. In my opinion, we should bring home our soldiers to protect our lands, rather than having them die to protect someone else's.

Perhaps the military could augment the efforts of the border patrol if needed, but not exclusively taken over by the military. There are civilians that live down there as well.

The problem with military "augmentation" of civilian law enforcement is simply, "rules of engagement". Our military is not trained in civilian law enforcement and the Border Patrol is not trained in military tactics. If one is placed in control of an area, it should be because they are trained, qualified and equipped to deal with any reasonably predicted problem and the other should be kept far away. Areas evidenced to have a high potential of armed incursions by cartel guerrillas should be left to the military. Such actions are inarguably a direct assault on our sovereignty and should be dealt with as such, by the military, rather than the Border Patrol who's hands are tied by an obligation to due process.

Originally posted by riffraff
The corruption in Mexico is truly pathetic. The cartels run the country. Its leaking into our country now. I hate to say it but the only way to beat this scum is to end the war on drugs. Once drugs are legalized the cartels will be out of business and go broke and powerless shortly after.

Maybe, but at what cost? Before advocating for the legalization of "drugs" ask yourself this question. What is the one "drug" that is responsible for the most deaths, the most violence, the most family problems, etc.?....................................................I'm certain you will agree it is the legal "drug", alcohol. What then is the potential for exponential growth in these problem areas, if yet another "drug" is legalized? What about all of them? I ask again...At what cost?

Something needs to be done, and I mean QUICK.
Some of these guys are alerady here and it's just a mtter of time until we experience something like this in the USofA.

WARNING! Extremely Graphic

reply to post by Blaine91555


In a time of war I am open to the US military handling border security operations, but the situation on the border is far from what I envision a war as being. It may escalate to that if the violence spikes to levels seen in Mexico, but at present it has not. Moreover, troops ought to be the governments last approach in any contingency operation on US soil. That is how I feel about it, because I fear one day they may be on Americas streets? You know, give them an inch and they will take a mile. Perhaps the military could be used on a case by case scenario?

As for the Mexican people taken care of their own problems? I wish that was possible, but when corruption of the police and government is at epidemic levels it is almost impossible. Moreover, if they cooperate with law enforcement and the military, they could very well being signing their own death warrant. We know the kind of brutality these thugs are capable of, and it so outrageous that even the police and government would rather take the cash and turn a blind eye than doing their jobs in running them down and destroying them.

I agree it is the fight of Mexico to stem the violence and reestablish law and order. Sending arms and funds to the good guys is the difficult part, because it is hard to tell which are doing legitimate business of the Mexican government or moonlighting as accomplices to the drug cartels? There lies the problem, but I would be open to the US government sending military advisers to train locals in military tactics, giving them arms, and funding. Similar to what went on in Columbia with the US Special Forces, and other government agencies. Hopefully, the people can form a group to combat the cartels like the Los Pepes did against the Medellín Cartel and Pablo Escobar?


[edit on 29-6-2010 by Jakes51]

reply to post by WTFover


thats a very, very good point as well. alcohol is one of the worst drugs out there. most other drugs have a subduing effect on the user,except maybe coc aine and meth. of course legalized drugs would have to still be federally regulated so we wouldn't have babylonian anarchy. im sure there's a proper way to do it. how does holland do it?

reply to post by riffraff


In the Netherlands You can buy marijuana in licensed shops. I think you have to have a license to sell it,sort of like a liquor license.