MICHAEL WEBSTER: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Feb 23, 2009 at 8:30 PM PST. AP Photo of relatives mourning members of Mexico’s army who authorities found decapitated. Mexico’s unbelievable record breaking level of violent war deaths are piling up as casualties of Mexico’s on going so called civil war continues. Many Mexicans now believe that there is a civil war going on in their country. These killings in Mexico are reveled by no country even other countries with active war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands of people died in what the Mexican Government calls drug-related violence last year as Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) and trained enforcer gangs fought each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. In the last 54 days in Mexico there have been over one thousand violent killings by both warring groups, the Mexican Army and the Mexican Drug Cartels. Border protesters told this reporter that the MDC’s claim they are dedicated to overthrowing the current Calderon government and the government is hiding the true Mexican army death totals. Many Mexican troops have been killed by direct confrontations with MDC’s paramilitary forces many more than the Calderon administration is willing to admit. Hundreds of Mexicans last week, blocked roads and bridges in Mexican cities bordering the United States from the Gulf of Mexico (Matamoros) to the Pacific Ocean (Tijuana) and protested by marching in the northern city of Monterrey in a series of demonstrations that police say are organized and funded by MDC’s. Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned those public protests against his army-backed drug war, saying they were cowardly acts orchestrated by the warring MDC’s. Recently there have been intense counter attacks by the Mexican Army against the MDC’s forces, raising the intensity in the civil war against Mexico’s organized resistant protesters. According to the largest Mexican newspaper El Universal the death count so far this year is 1,003 violent murders related to the war on narcotrafficing. This is an average of 19 per day. Last year, the 1,000 mark was not reached until much later in the year in April and the year before, after mid-year. Half of these killings happened in the state of Chihuahua and over 75 percent in the most violent city in Mexico, Cd. Juarez Mexico’s 3rd largest city just across the border from El Paso Texas. Juarez Police Chief and Public Safety Secretary Roberto Orduna Cruz, left, resigned on Friday during a news conference with Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. At right is Juarez city official Guillermo Dowell. (Photo courtesy of Juarez city government) The Director of Public Security in Cd. Juarez, resigned his post under organized threats that the assassination of his police officers would continue until he steps down. Roberto Orduño said he could not allow his men, who work to defend the country, continue to lose their lives. The bodies of two recently murdered law officers had been found with narco-messages warning that this would happen to at least one police officer every 48 hours until Orduña resigned. Sunday Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas’ bodyguards where attacked and one was killed. It is reported that the attack came from the MDC’s enforcers the Zetas. Mexican authorities are investigating. The Chihuahua Gov. and his family are under protection of government forcers and their location is unknown. As this article was being written this reporter learned that death threats against Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz surfaced and Mayor Ferriz immediately with armed Mexican body guards escorted him and his family to the relative safety of the bordering city of El Paso, where El Paso police and county sheriff’s are believed providing heavily armed combat ready law enforcement protection. Earlier at least ten more people were killed in different attacks in the past few hours in Cd. Juarez. The most recent wave of killings began late Saturday and extended into late Sunday night. All of the attacks were believed carried out by trained MDC’s Para-military forces according to authorities in Juarez. According to official figures, so far this year, over 360 people have been killed by MDC’s forces in the State of Chihuahua alone. Many believe that the war began when the Calderon administration launched a military campaign to combat spiraling drug violence in Mexico. Over 45, 000 troops and federal police were sent to cities in Mexico, many on the U. S. Mexican border. Since than thousands of people in Mexico have died as a result of both the military’s action and the MDC’s and their gangs fighting each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. The Mexican people are being used by the MDC’s who are winning many of the people over to their cause by hiring and training Mexico’s very poor young men to fight for them against the Mexican government forces and paying them up to $600. 00 USD per week. This is a lot of money to pay the very poor and they are responding by the thousands. The MDC’s are reported to also be recruiting freedom fighters to train to fight for them from Central American countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Mexican officials say that the MDC’s have training comps where these young men are being trained in modern war fare both in Mexico, Panama, Peru and Colombia. The MDC’s are also reported to be providing food, medicines and cash to their families back home in small villages and towns throughout Mexico. The MDC’s are paying people to attend marches and has handed out backpacks full of schoolbooks, pens and paper to poor families who joined the demonstrations, acting as a sort of Robin Hood, police said. President Calderón labeled the MDC’s as cowards and traitors to the nation those who use women and children as part of their strategy to bring about the withdrawal of the Army in its battle against organized crime. The leader of the Mexican left-leaning PRD party, Jesus Ortega, describes as “grave” that in Mexico the number of extortions by organized crime has skyrocketed. ”We are going toward a situation where practically no Mexican is not threatened by criminals in one form or another,” he said. He criticizes the government as “arrogant” for thinking it alone can confront the problem of insecurity. He summarizes his thoughts, “The formulas of the left are an important part, but they are not enough. We need to join them with other proposals in order to make a policy of State to face up to crime. ” President Calderon said “Let no one make a mistake, let no one confuse the sides, the enemies of the country and of all Mexicans are those who assail its institutions, who harass, threaten and extort society, who poison its sons and who betray the country. “Calderón, who praised the army’s task, asserted that organized crime is condemned to defeat because the Armed Forces and an entire nation are on the side of the his government. To all who pretend to be above the law, said Calderón, we say that our Armed Forces “are not intimidated nor will they ever desist because they are composed of Mexicans fully committed to the defense of our dear Mexico. ” Police and government officials in Monterrey say Mexico’s most violent drug gang, the Gulf cartel, and its feared armed wing, the Zetas, is behind the protests. Despite warnings from rights groups about soldiers using excessive force in the drug fight, Calderon also has Washington’s support for using the army, which has made historic drug seizures and is catching more gang leaders. More killings, running battles, shootings, protests and even rioting in Mexico are expected particularly along the U. S. Mexican border.
MICHAEL WEBSTER: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Feb 23, 2009 at 8:30 PM PST. AP Photo of relatives mourning members of Mexico’s army who authorities found decapitated. Mexico’s unbelievable record breaking level of violent war deaths are piling up as casualties of Mexico’s on going so called civil war continues. Many Mexicans now believe that there is a civil war going on in their country. These killings in Mexico are reveled by no country even other countries with active war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands of people died in what the Mexican Government calls drug-related violence last year as Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) and trained enforcer gangs fought each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. In the last 54 days in Mexico there have been over one thousand violent killings by both warring groups, the Mexican Army and the Mexican Drug Cartels. Border protesters told this reporter that the MDC’s claim they are dedicated to overthrowing the current Calderon government and the government is hiding the true Mexican army death totals. Many Mexican troops have been killed by direct confrontations with MDC’s paramilitary forces many more than the Calderon administration is willing to admit. Hundreds of Mexicans last week, blocked roads and bridges in Mexican cities bordering the United States from the Gulf of Mexico (Matamoros) to the Pacific Ocean (Tijuana) and protested by marching in the northern city of Monterrey in a series of demonstrations that police say are organized and funded by MDC’s. Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned those public protests against his army-backed drug war, saying they were cowardly acts orchestrated by the warring MDC’s. Recently there have been intense counter attacks by the Mexican Army against the MDC’s forces, raising the intensity in the civil war against Mexico’s organized resistant protesters. According to the largest Mexican newspaper El Universal the death count so far this year is 1,003 violent murders related to the war on narcotrafficing. This is an average of 19 per day. Last year, the 1,000 mark was not reached until much later in the year in April and the year before, after mid-year. Half of these killings happened in the state of Chihuahua and over 75 percent in the most violent city in Mexico, Cd. Juarez Mexico’s 3rd largest city just across the border from El Paso Texas. Juarez Police Chief and Public Safety Secretary Roberto Orduna Cruz, left, resigned on Friday during a news conference with Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. At right is Juarez city official Guillermo Dowell. (Photo courtesy of Juarez city government) The Director of Public Security in Cd. Juarez, resigned his post under organized threats that the assassination of his police officers would continue until he steps down. Roberto Orduño said he could not allow his men, who work to defend the country, continue to lose their lives. The bodies of two recently murdered law officers had been found with narco-messages warning that this would happen to at least one police officer every 48 hours until Orduña resigned. Sunday Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas’ bodyguards where attacked and one was killed. It is reported that the attack came from the MDC’s enforcers the Zetas. Mexican authorities are investigating. The Chihuahua Gov. and his family are under protection of government forcers and their location is unknown. As this article was being written this reporter learned that death threats against Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz surfaced and Mayor Ferriz immediately with armed Mexican body guards escorted him and his family to the relative safety of the bordering city of El Paso, where El Paso police and county sheriff’s are believed providing heavily armed combat ready law enforcement protection. Earlier at least ten more people were killed in different attacks in the past few hours in Cd. Juarez. The most recent wave of killings began late Saturday and extended into late Sunday night. All of the attacks were believed carried out by trained MDC’s Para-military forces according to authorities in Juarez. According to official figures, so far this year, over 360 people have been killed by MDC’s forces in the State of Chihuahua alone. Many believe that the war began when the Calderon administration launched a military campaign to combat spiraling drug violence in Mexico. Over 45, 000 troops and federal police were sent to cities in Mexico, many on the U. S. Mexican border. Since than thousands of people in Mexico have died as a result of both the military’s action and the MDC’s and their gangs fighting each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. The Mexican people are being used by the MDC’s who are winning many of the people over to their cause by hiring and training Mexico’s very poor young men to fight for them against the Mexican government forces and paying them up to $600. 00 USD per week. This is a lot of money to pay the very poor and they are responding by the thousands. The MDC’s are reported to also be recruiting freedom fighters to train to fight for them from Central American countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Mexican officials say that the MDC’s have training comps where these young men are being trained in modern war fare both in Mexico, Panama, Peru and Colombia. The MDC’s are also reported to be providing food, medicines and cash to their families back home in small villages and towns throughout Mexico. The MDC’s are paying people to attend marches and has handed out backpacks full of schoolbooks, pens and paper to poor families who joined the demonstrations, acting as a sort of Robin Hood, police said. President Calderón labeled the MDC’s as cowards and traitors to the nation those who use women and children as part of their strategy to bring about the withdrawal of the Army in its battle against organized crime. The leader of the Mexican left-leaning PRD party, Jesus Ortega, describes as “grave” that in Mexico the number of extortions by organized crime has skyrocketed. ”We are going toward a situation where practically no Mexican is not threatened by criminals in one form or another,” he said. He criticizes the government as “arrogant” for thinking it alone can confront the problem of insecurity. He summarizes his thoughts, “The formulas of the left are an important part, but they are not enough. We need to join them with other proposals in order to make a policy of State to face up to crime. ” President Calderon said “Let no one make a mistake, let no one confuse the sides, the enemies of the country and of all Mexicans are those who assail its institutions, who harass, threaten and extort society, who poison its sons and who betray the country. “Calderón, who praised the army’s task, asserted that organized crime is condemned to defeat because the Armed Forces and an entire nation are on the side of the his government. To all who pretend to be above the law, said Calderón, we say that our Armed Forces “are not intimidated nor will they ever desist because they are composed of Mexicans fully committed to the defense of our dear Mexico. ” Police and government officials in Monterrey say Mexico’s most violent drug gang, the Gulf cartel, and its feared armed wing, the Zetas, is behind the protests. Despite warnings from rights groups about soldiers using excessive force in the drug fight, Calderon also has Washington’s support for using the army, which has made historic drug seizures and is catching more gang leaders. More killings, running battles, shootings, protests and even rioting in Mexico are expected particularly along the U. S. Mexican border.
Watch South Africa vs England 2nd Test Live Streaming at Durban . 26-30th DEC. 2nd Test match between South Africa vs England live score, Free Match Coverage and time to time update news, results and highlights online. South Africa vs England , 2nd Test, Durban,26-30th DEC. South Africa vs England live TV South Africa v England, 2nd Test Live streaming South Africa vs England Match scheduled: Last updated: 26-12-2009 from 09:30 until 17:30 25-12-2009 on 10:53South Africa v England at Durban, 2nd Test – day 1 Team news: De Wet’s demolition job in Centurion set a cat among the selectorial pigeons, and in any ordinary circumstances, he would surely expect a follow-up Test appearance as reward for the match-turning efforts he produced on debut. However, with Steyn set to return to the fold after his hamstring injury, the only other candidate to make way is the venerable Makhaya Ntini, and that – for innumerable different reasons – just isn’t going to happen. At least with Kallis expected to play a more rounded all-round role, South Africa will be armed with an extra bowling option. South Africa: (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Ashwell Prince, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Paul Harris, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Makhaya Ntini. Bell and Cook are under the cosh, but England like to avoid panic measures wherever possible, and with doubts still existing about Luke Wright’s readiness for Test cricket, the likelihood is of an unchanged starting XI, and a chance for the players who mucked up in Centurion to atone for their errors. A similar policy has paid dividends in the past, but England’s lack of genuine batting alternatives is probably the single biggest reason for the mass reprieve. England: (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Graham Onions. Pitch and conditions Durban is hot, hot, hot, and Kingsmead is one of the muggiest venues in the international game. It promises to be a strength-sapping contest for fielders on both sides, but equally, it could be one of opportunity if the pitch turns out to be a traditional “green mamba”. Five years ago, Smith won the toss and rightly fielded first, whereupon Shaun Pollock, Steyn and Ntini routed England for 139 in their first innings inside two sessions. Strauss will surely be wary of taking such a route given what happened in Centurion, but he’d be unwise to dismiss such a notion out of hand. For More Live Updates South Africa vs England 2nd Test Live Streaming
MICHAEL WEBSTER: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Feb 23, 2009 at 8:30 PM PST. AP Photo of relatives mourning members of Mexico’s army who authorities found decapitated. Mexico’s unbelievable record breaking level of violent war deaths are piling up as casualties of Mexico’s on going so called civil war continues. Many Mexicans now believe that there is a civil war going on in their country. These killings in Mexico are reveled by no country even other countries with active war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands of people died in what the Mexican Government calls drug-related violence last year as Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) and trained enforcer gangs fought each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. In the last 54 days in Mexico there have been over one thousand violent killings by both warring groups, the Mexican Army and the Mexican Drug Cartels. Border protesters told this reporter that the MDC’s claim they are dedicated to overthrowing the current Calderon government and the government is hiding the true Mexican army death totals. Many Mexican troops have been killed by direct confrontations with MDC’s paramilitary forces many more than the Calderon administration is willing to admit. Hundreds of Mexicans last week, blocked roads and bridges in Mexican cities bordering the United States from the Gulf of Mexico (Matamoros) to the Pacific Ocean (Tijuana) and protested by marching in the northern city of Monterrey in a series of demonstrations that police say are organized and funded by MDC’s. Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned those public protests against his army-backed drug war, saying they were cowardly acts orchestrated by the warring MDC’s. Recently there have been intense counter attacks by the Mexican Army against the MDC’s forces, raising the intensity in the civil war against Mexico’s organized resistant protesters. According to the largest Mexican newspaper El Universal the death count so far this year is 1,003 violent murders related to the war on narcotrafficing. This is an average of 19 per day. Last year, the 1,000 mark was not reached until much later in the year in April and the year before, after mid-year. Half of these killings happened in the state of Chihuahua and over 75 percent in the most violent city in Mexico, Cd. Juarez Mexico’s 3rd largest city just across the border from El Paso Texas. Juarez Police Chief and Public Safety Secretary Roberto Orduna Cruz, left, resigned on Friday during a news conference with Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. At right is Juarez city official Guillermo Dowell. (Photo courtesy of Juarez city government) The Director of Public Security in Cd. Juarez, resigned his post under organized threats that the assassination of his police officers would continue until he steps down. Roberto Orduño said he could not allow his men, who work to defend the country, continue to lose their lives. The bodies of two recently murdered law officers had been found with narco-messages warning that this would happen to at least one police officer every 48 hours until Orduña resigned. Sunday Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas’ bodyguards where attacked and one was killed. It is reported that the attack came from the MDC’s enforcers the Zetas. Mexican authorities are investigating. The Chihuahua Gov. and his family are under protection of government forcers and their location is unknown. As this article was being written this reporter learned that death threats against Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz surfaced and Mayor Ferriz immediately with armed Mexican body guards escorted him and his family to the relative safety of the bordering city of El Paso, where El Paso police and county sheriff’s are believed providing heavily armed combat ready law enforcement protection. Earlier at least ten more people were killed in different attacks in the past few hours in Cd. Juarez. The most recent wave of killings began late Saturday and extended into late Sunday night. All of the attacks were believed carried out by trained MDC’s Para-military forces according to authorities in Juarez. According to official figures, so far this year, over 360 people have been killed by MDC’s forces in the State of Chihuahua alone. Many believe that the war began when the Calderon administration launched a military campaign to combat spiraling drug violence in Mexico. Over 45, 000 troops and federal police were sent to cities in Mexico, many on the U. S. Mexican border. Since than thousands of people in Mexico have died as a result of both the military’s action and the MDC’s and their gangs fighting each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. The Mexican people are being used by the MDC’s who are winning many of the people over to their cause by hiring and training Mexico’s very poor young men to fight for them against the Mexican government forces and paying them up to $600. 00 USD per week. This is a lot of money to pay the very poor and they are responding by the thousands. The MDC’s are reported to also be recruiting freedom fighters to train to fight for them from Central American countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Mexican officials say that the MDC’s have training comps where these young men are being trained in modern war fare both in Mexico, Panama, Peru and Colombia. The MDC’s are also reported to be providing food, medicines and cash to their families back home in small villages and towns throughout Mexico. The MDC’s are paying people to attend marches and has handed out backpacks full of schoolbooks, pens and paper to poor families who joined the demonstrations, acting as a sort of Robin Hood, police said. President Calderón labeled the MDC’s as cowards and traitors to the nation those who use women and children as part of their strategy to bring about the withdrawal of the Army in its battle against organized crime. The leader of the Mexican left-leaning PRD party, Jesus Ortega, describes as “grave” that in Mexico the number of extortions by organized crime has skyrocketed. ”We are going toward a situation where practically no Mexican is not threatened by criminals in one form or another,” he said. He criticizes the government as “arrogant” for thinking it alone can confront the problem of insecurity. He summarizes his thoughts, “The formulas of the left are an important part, but they are not enough. We need to join them with other proposals in order to make a policy of State to face up to crime. ” President Calderon said “Let no one make a mistake, let no one confuse the sides, the enemies of the country and of all Mexicans are those who assail its institutions, who harass, threaten and extort society, who poison its sons and who betray the country. “Calderón, who praised the army’s task, asserted that organized crime is condemned to defeat because the Armed Forces and an entire nation are on the side of the his government. To all who pretend to be above the law, said Calderón, we say that our Armed Forces “are not intimidated nor will they ever desist because they are composed of Mexicans fully committed to the defense of our dear Mexico. ” Police and government officials in Monterrey say Mexico’s most violent drug gang, the Gulf cartel, and its feared armed wing, the Zetas, is behind the protests. Despite warnings from rights groups about soldiers using excessive force in the drug fight, Calderon also has Washington’s support for using the army, which has made historic drug seizures and is catching more gang leaders. More killings, running battles, shootings, protests and even rioting in Mexico are expected particularly along the U. S. Mexican border.
MICHAEL WEBSTER: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Feb 23, 2009 at 8:30 PM PST. AP Photo of relatives mourning members of Mexico’s army who authorities found decapitated. Mexico’s unbelievable record breaking level of violent war deaths are piling up as casualties of Mexico’s on going so called civil war continues. Many Mexicans now believe that there is a civil war going on in their country. These killings in Mexico are reveled by no country even other countries with active war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands of people died in what the Mexican Government calls drug-related violence last year as Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) and trained enforcer gangs fought each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. In the last 54 days in Mexico there have been over one thousand violent killings by both warring groups, the Mexican Army and the Mexican Drug Cartels. Border protesters told this reporter that the MDC’s claim they are dedicated to overthrowing the current Calderon government and the government is hiding the true Mexican army death totals. Many Mexican troops have been killed by direct confrontations with MDC’s paramilitary forces many more than the Calderon administration is willing to admit. Hundreds of Mexicans last week, blocked roads and bridges in Mexican cities bordering the United States from the Gulf of Mexico (Matamoros) to the Pacific Ocean (Tijuana) and protested by marching in the northern city of Monterrey in a series of demonstrations that police say are organized and funded by MDC’s. Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned those public protests against his army-backed drug war, saying they were cowardly acts orchestrated by the warring MDC’s. Recently there have been intense counter attacks by the Mexican Army against the MDC’s forces, raising the intensity in the civil war against Mexico’s organized resistant protesters. According to the largest Mexican newspaper El Universal the death count so far this year is 1,003 violent murders related to the war on narcotrafficing. This is an average of 19 per day. Last year, the 1,000 mark was not reached until much later in the year in April and the year before, after mid-year. Half of these killings happened in the state of Chihuahua and over 75 percent in the most violent city in Mexico, Cd. Juarez Mexico’s 3rd largest city just across the border from El Paso Texas. Juarez Police Chief and Public Safety Secretary Roberto Orduna Cruz, left, resigned on Friday during a news conference with Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. At right is Juarez city official Guillermo Dowell. (Photo courtesy of Juarez city government) The Director of Public Security in Cd. Juarez, resigned his post under organized threats that the assassination of his police officers would continue until he steps down. Roberto Orduño said he could not allow his men, who work to defend the country, continue to lose their lives. The bodies of two recently murdered law officers had been found with narco-messages warning that this would happen to at least one police officer every 48 hours until Orduña resigned. Sunday Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas’ bodyguards where attacked and one was killed. It is reported that the attack came from the MDC’s enforcers the Zetas. Mexican authorities are investigating. The Chihuahua Gov. and his family are under protection of government forcers and their location is unknown. As this article was being written this reporter learned that death threats against Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz surfaced and Mayor Ferriz immediately with armed Mexican body guards escorted him and his family to the relative safety of the bordering city of El Paso, where El Paso police and county sheriff’s are believed providing heavily armed combat ready law enforcement protection. Earlier at least ten more people were killed in different attacks in the past few hours in Cd. Juarez. The most recent wave of killings began late Saturday and extended into late Sunday night. All of the attacks were believed carried out by trained MDC’s Para-military forces according to authorities in Juarez. According to official figures, so far this year, over 360 people have been killed by MDC’s forces in the State of Chihuahua alone. Many believe that the war began when the Calderon administration launched a military campaign to combat spiraling drug violence in Mexico. Over 45, 000 troops and federal police were sent to cities in Mexico, many on the U. S. Mexican border. Since than thousands of people in Mexico have died as a result of both the military’s action and the MDC’s and their gangs fighting each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. The Mexican people are being used by the MDC’s who are winning many of the people over to their cause by hiring and training Mexico’s very poor young men to fight for them against the Mexican government forces and paying them up to $600. 00 USD per week. This is a lot of money to pay the very poor and they are responding by the thousands. The MDC’s are reported to also be recruiting freedom fighters to train to fight for them from Central American countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Mexican officials say that the MDC’s have training comps where these young men are being trained in modern war fare both in Mexico, Panama, Peru and Colombia. The MDC’s are also reported to be providing food, medicines and cash to their families back home in small villages and towns throughout Mexico. The MDC’s are paying people to attend marches and has handed out backpacks full of schoolbooks, pens and paper to poor families who joined the demonstrations, acting as a sort of Robin Hood, police said. President Calderón labeled the MDC’s as cowards and traitors to the nation those who use women and children as part of their strategy to bring about the withdrawal of the Army in its battle against organized crime. The leader of the Mexican left-leaning PRD party, Jesus Ortega, describes as “grave” that in Mexico the number of extortions by organized crime has skyrocketed. ”We are going toward a situation where practically no Mexican is not threatened by criminals in one form or another,” he said. He criticizes the government as “arrogant” for thinking it alone can confront the problem of insecurity. He summarizes his thoughts, “The formulas of the left are an important part, but they are not enough. We need to join them with other proposals in order to make a policy of State to face up to crime. ” President Calderon said “Let no one make a mistake, let no one confuse the sides, the enemies of the country and of all Mexicans are those who assail its institutions, who harass, threaten and extort society, who poison its sons and who betray the country. “Calderón, who praised the army’s task, asserted that organized crime is condemned to defeat because the Armed Forces and an entire nation are on the side of the his government. To all who pretend to be above the law, said Calderón, we say that our Armed Forces “are not intimidated nor will they ever desist because they are composed of Mexicans fully committed to the defense of our dear Mexico. ” Police and government officials in Monterrey say Mexico’s most violent drug gang, the Gulf cartel, and its feared armed wing, the Zetas, is behind the protests. Despite warnings from rights groups about soldiers using excessive force in the drug fight, Calderon also has Washington’s support for using the army, which has made historic drug seizures and is catching more gang leaders. More killings, running battles, shootings, protests and even rioting in Mexico are expected particularly along the U. S. Mexican border.
MICHAEL WEBSTER: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Feb 23, 2009 at 8:30 PM PST. AP Photo of relatives mourning members of Mexico’s army who authorities found decapitated. Mexico’s unbelievable record breaking level of violent war deaths are piling up as casualties of Mexico’s on going so called civil war continues. Many Mexicans now believe that there is a civil war going on in their country. These killings in Mexico are reveled by no country even other countries with active war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands of people died in what the Mexican Government calls drug-related violence last year as Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) and trained enforcer gangs fought each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. In the last 54 days in Mexico there have been over one thousand violent killings by both warring groups, the Mexican Army and the Mexican Drug Cartels. Border protesters told this reporter that the MDC’s claim they are dedicated to overthrowing the current Calderon government and the government is hiding the true Mexican army death totals. Many Mexican troops have been killed by direct confrontations with MDC’s paramilitary forces many more than the Calderon administration is willing to admit. Hundreds of Mexicans last week, blocked roads and bridges in Mexican cities bordering the United States from the Gulf of Mexico (Matamoros) to the Pacific Ocean (Tijuana) and protested by marching in the northern city of Monterrey in a series of demonstrations that police say are organized and funded by MDC’s. Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned those public protests against his army-backed drug war, saying they were cowardly acts orchestrated by the warring MDC’s. Recently there have been intense counter attacks by the Mexican Army against the MDC’s forces, raising the intensity in the civil war against Mexico’s organized resistant protesters. According to the largest Mexican newspaper El Universal the death count so far this year is 1,003 violent murders related to the war on narcotrafficing. This is an average of 19 per day. Last year, the 1,000 mark was not reached until much later in the year in April and the year before, after mid-year. Half of these killings happened in the state of Chihuahua and over 75 percent in the most violent city in Mexico, Cd. Juarez Mexico’s 3rd largest city just across the border from El Paso Texas. Juarez Police Chief and Public Safety Secretary Roberto Orduna Cruz, left, resigned on Friday during a news conference with Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. At right is Juarez city official Guillermo Dowell. (Photo courtesy of Juarez city government) The Director of Public Security in Cd. Juarez, resigned his post under organized threats that the assassination of his police officers would continue until he steps down. Roberto Orduño said he could not allow his men, who work to defend the country, continue to lose their lives. The bodies of two recently murdered law officers had been found with narco-messages warning that this would happen to at least one police officer every 48 hours until Orduña resigned. Sunday Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas’ bodyguards where attacked and one was killed. It is reported that the attack came from the MDC’s enforcers the Zetas. Mexican authorities are investigating. The Chihuahua Gov. and his family are under protection of government forcers and their location is unknown. As this article was being written this reporter learned that death threats against Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz surfaced and Mayor Ferriz immediately with armed Mexican body guards escorted him and his family to the relative safety of the bordering city of El Paso, where El Paso police and county sheriff’s are believed providing heavily armed combat ready law enforcement protection. Earlier at least ten more people were killed in different attacks in the past few hours in Cd. Juarez. The most recent wave of killings began late Saturday and extended into late Sunday night. All of the attacks were believed carried out by trained MDC’s Para-military forces according to authorities in Juarez. According to official figures, so far this year, over 360 people have been killed by MDC’s forces in the State of Chihuahua alone. Many believe that the war began when the Calderon administration launched a military campaign to combat spiraling drug violence in Mexico. Over 45, 000 troops and federal police were sent to cities in Mexico, many on the U. S. Mexican border. Since than thousands of people in Mexico have died as a result of both the military’s action and the MDC’s and their gangs fighting each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. The Mexican people are being used by the MDC’s who are winning many of the people over to their cause by hiring and training Mexico’s very poor young men to fight for them against the Mexican government forces and paying them up to $600. 00 USD per week. This is a lot of money to pay the very poor and they are responding by the thousands. The MDC’s are reported to also be recruiting freedom fighters to train to fight for them from Central American countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Mexican officials say that the MDC’s have training comps where these young men are being trained in modern war fare both in Mexico, Panama, Peru and Colombia. The MDC’s are also reported to be providing food, medicines and cash to their families back home in small villages and towns throughout Mexico. The MDC’s are paying people to attend marches and has handed out backpacks full of schoolbooks, pens and paper to poor families who joined the demonstrations, acting as a sort of Robin Hood, police said. President Calderón labeled the MDC’s as cowards and traitors to the nation those who use women and children as part of their strategy to bring about the withdrawal of the Army in its battle against organized crime. The leader of the Mexican left-leaning PRD party, Jesus Ortega, describes as “grave” that in Mexico the number of extortions by organized crime has skyrocketed. ”We are going toward a situation where practically no Mexican is not threatened by criminals in one form or another,” he said. He criticizes the government as “arrogant” for thinking it alone can confront the problem of insecurity. He summarizes his thoughts, “The formulas of the left are an important part, but they are not enough. We need to join them with other proposals in order to make a policy of State to face up to crime. ” President Calderon said “Let no one make a mistake, let no one confuse the sides, the enemies of the country and of all Mexicans are those who assail its institutions, who harass, threaten and extort society, who poison its sons and who betray the country. “Calderón, who praised the army’s task, asserted that organized crime is condemned to defeat because the Armed Forces and an entire nation are on the side of the his government. To all who pretend to be above the law, said Calderón, we say that our Armed Forces “are not intimidated nor will they ever desist because they are composed of Mexicans fully committed to the defense of our dear Mexico. ” Police and government officials in Monterrey say Mexico’s most violent drug gang, the Gulf cartel, and its feared armed wing, the Zetas, is behind the protests. Despite warnings from rights groups about soldiers using excessive force in the drug fight, Calderon also has Washington’s support for using the army, which has made historic drug seizures and is catching more gang leaders. More killings, running battles, shootings, protests and even rioting in Mexico are expected particularly along the U. S. Mexican border.
The BANFF World Television Festival, opening this year in Alberta from June 7-10, is a not-for-profit event produced by Achilles Media Ltd. , an international events management company serving the television and digital media industries. Among various sessions programmed into the festival, the Broadcaster Briefings get inside information on what broadcasters from around the world want. In these open, informal sessions, international Program Executives will provide insight into their schedules, outline production priorities and biases, discuss potential partnership deals, and answer questions. The second World Copyright Summit kicks off this year with an opening night party and reception in DC, hosted by the U. S. Rights Societies and Guilds members of CISAC on June 8. For the duration of the Summit running through June 10 the shape and impact of the new creative, economic, technological and legal environment will be addressed. Beginning June 10, industry networking and career guidance group URNetworking Alliance (meetup. com/urnetworkalliance) will be part host to a playreading series in New York, and, the group is also conducting the Casting Director Workshops and the Power Lunch Series in other venues as well. A think tank like event gives shape and substance to the 2009 Lake Placid Film Forum, running June 11-13, whose programs throughout the years have provided opportunities for filmmakers, screenwriters and actors to come together to exchange and obtain information related to the creation, production and distribution of film and other electronic media. At this year’s CineVegas Film Festival, happening June 11-20 in Las Vegas, CineVegas will honor two actors, two directors and two video game design pioneers, including Jon Voight who will be given the Marquee Award, and Willem Dafoe honored with the Vanguard Actor Award. InfoComm International will host an International Reception, one of many, when it stages its annual convention in Orlando, June 13-19, which serves the professional AV communications industry worldwide. When TeatroStageFest: the Third Annual Celebration of Latino Arts and Culture opens June 15-28 in New York, it will present 19 events featuring 23 theater, dance, music, and comedy performances, family programming, workshops, artist panels, youth awards, and an all-day conference, with performances in English or Spanish. During Broadcast Asia 2009, in Singapore, solutions will be offered for broadcasters, cable and satellite operators, content providers, new media operators, vendors, IT and multimedia providers, to gather and discuss latest trends, business strategies and technology updates over a four day run starting on June 16. The DISCOP Organisation, which facilitates audiovisual content distribution and coproduction business in 87 countries located in Central, Eastern Europe, Eurasia and Africa, presents its annual convention to an audience of International suppliers of finished programs, packaged TV channels and formats; Programming, acquisitions and coproduction executives representing TV Stations, Pay-TV operators, DVD and theatrical distributors, broadband and telco operators, and others, from June 17-19 in Budapest. North by Northeast Music & Film Festival and Conference (NXNE) is a Toronto-based conference and showcase taking place June 17-21 for new music and music-related films, where listening and mentoring sessions assist career planning for future considerations, programmed screenings of hand-selected music movies, from concert classics to the latest indie docs from Rio to Rwanda, nightly music showcases, and on June 20, Wu-Tang Clan founding member and creative engine, GZA will be interviewed by hip hop historian Fab 5 Freddy. Opening June 18-28 for its annual event, the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival features s varied offering, and such unique signature programs including the exclusive Filmmaker Retreat - hosted by the Festival’s annual Guest Director - and the Spirit of Independence Award ceremony and gala. Cinema Expo International is a pan-European convention and trade show happening in Amsterdam this year, June 22-25, dedicated to the needs of the movie theatre industry where over 1,250 cinema exhibition and distribution professionals from Europe, the Middle East and Africa come to view the latest major cinema releases and extensive product reels and more. At this year’s American Black Film Festival, running June 24-27 in Miami, the Festival hosts The Star Project, an international acting competition, and now in its 12th year, the HBO Short Film Competition, showcasing five short film finalists selected from hundreds, including Derrick Anthony’s ‘Popous Pane and the Kids He Love to Hate’ starring Alfred Rutherford (http://www. facebook. com/profile. php?id=524167566). This year Brussels Film Festival is conducted over nine days, June 27 to July 5, with open air screenings, free concerts every evening, and parties. Los Angeles based career service, Talents Connection (www. talentsconnection. com), has invited performers to the family oriented Orange County Market Place on June 28, and has announced the formation of its Roller Derby Team, Rolling Vixens, for which it is seeking sponsors (talentsconnection@yahoo. com). The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist podcast blog. Leading entertainment industry publication Back Stage has redesigned their Backstage. com website to allow for better resume and picture upload, casting and job alerts, and much more. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: http://twitter. com/actorschecklist This month on the video news summary you will again see a dynamic array of artists in performance of film and music. Last month’s video news summary showcase featured Russian film music composer, Edgar Arens and Dutch video editor, State 209, who have produced graphic game video ‘Deadly Pursuit. ‘ Freelance bass guitarist of the RagaZZ style, Jayen Varma, considered one of the fastest bass guitarist in the world. Excerpts from the web series of comedy performer Maija DiGiorgio whose documentary feature, ‘Hollywood Outlaw’, is playing out in episodes over the Web. These videos are now available on the Free Home Video Showcase which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration.
January 3rd,2010
Uncategorized | tags:
CineVegas,
Copyright,
Festival,
Film,
Music,
North,
Northeast,
NXNE,
Summit,
World |
No Comments
MICHAEL WEBSTER: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Feb 23, 2009 at 8:30 PM PST. AP Photo of relatives mourning members of Mexico’s army who authorities found decapitated. Mexico’s unbelievable record breaking level of violent war deaths are piling up as casualties of Mexico’s on going so called civil war continues. Many Mexicans now believe that there is a civil war going on in their country. These killings in Mexico are reveled by no country even other countries with active war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands of people died in what the Mexican Government calls drug-related violence last year as Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) and trained enforcer gangs fought each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. In the last 54 days in Mexico there have been over one thousand violent killings by both warring groups, the Mexican Army and the Mexican Drug Cartels. Border protesters told this reporter that the MDC’s claim they are dedicated to overthrowing the current Calderon government and the government is hiding the true Mexican army death totals. Many Mexican troops have been killed by direct confrontations with MDC’s paramilitary forces many more than the Calderon administration is willing to admit. Hundreds of Mexicans last week, blocked roads and bridges in Mexican cities bordering the United States from the Gulf of Mexico (Matamoros) to the Pacific Ocean (Tijuana) and protested by marching in the northern city of Monterrey in a series of demonstrations that police say are organized and funded by MDC’s. Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned those public protests against his army-backed drug war, saying they were cowardly acts orchestrated by the warring MDC’s. Recently there have been intense counter attacks by the Mexican Army against the MDC’s forces, raising the intensity in the civil war against Mexico’s organized resistant protesters. According to the largest Mexican newspaper El Universal the death count so far this year is 1,003 violent murders related to the war on narcotrafficing. This is an average of 19 per day. Last year, the 1,000 mark was not reached until much later in the year in April and the year before, after mid-year. Half of these killings happened in the state of Chihuahua and over 75 percent in the most violent city in Mexico, Cd. Juarez Mexico’s 3rd largest city just across the border from El Paso Texas. Juarez Police Chief and Public Safety Secretary Roberto Orduna Cruz, left, resigned on Friday during a news conference with Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. At right is Juarez city official Guillermo Dowell. (Photo courtesy of Juarez city government) The Director of Public Security in Cd. Juarez, resigned his post under organized threats that the assassination of his police officers would continue until he steps down. Roberto Orduño said he could not allow his men, who work to defend the country, continue to lose their lives. The bodies of two recently murdered law officers had been found with narco-messages warning that this would happen to at least one police officer every 48 hours until Orduña resigned. Sunday Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas’ bodyguards where attacked and one was killed. It is reported that the attack came from the MDC’s enforcers the Zetas. Mexican authorities are investigating. The Chihuahua Gov. and his family are under protection of government forcers and their location is unknown. As this article was being written this reporter learned that death threats against Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz surfaced and Mayor Ferriz immediately with armed Mexican body guards escorted him and his family to the relative safety of the bordering city of El Paso, where El Paso police and county sheriff’s are believed providing heavily armed combat ready law enforcement protection. Earlier at least ten more people were killed in different attacks in the past few hours in Cd. Juarez. The most recent wave of killings began late Saturday and extended into late Sunday night. All of the attacks were believed carried out by trained MDC’s Para-military forces according to authorities in Juarez. According to official figures, so far this year, over 360 people have been killed by MDC’s forces in the State of Chihuahua alone. Many believe that the war began when the Calderon administration launched a military campaign to combat spiraling drug violence in Mexico. Over 45, 000 troops and federal police were sent to cities in Mexico, many on the U. S. Mexican border. Since than thousands of people in Mexico have died as a result of both the military’s action and the MDC’s and their gangs fighting each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. The Mexican people are being used by the MDC’s who are winning many of the people over to their cause by hiring and training Mexico’s very poor young men to fight for them against the Mexican government forces and paying them up to $600. 00 USD per week. This is a lot of money to pay the very poor and they are responding by the thousands. The MDC’s are reported to also be recruiting freedom fighters to train to fight for them from Central American countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Mexican officials say that the MDC’s have training comps where these young men are being trained in modern war fare both in Mexico, Panama, Peru and Colombia. The MDC’s are also reported to be providing food, medicines and cash to their families back home in small villages and towns throughout Mexico. The MDC’s are paying people to attend marches and has handed out backpacks full of schoolbooks, pens and paper to poor families who joined the demonstrations, acting as a sort of Robin Hood, police said. President Calderón labeled the MDC’s as cowards and traitors to the nation those who use women and children as part of their strategy to bring about the withdrawal of the Army in its battle against organized crime. The leader of the Mexican left-leaning PRD party, Jesus Ortega, describes as “grave” that in Mexico the number of extortions by organized crime has skyrocketed. ”We are going toward a situation where practically no Mexican is not threatened by criminals in one form or another,” he said. He criticizes the government as “arrogant” for thinking it alone can confront the problem of insecurity. He summarizes his thoughts, “The formulas of the left are an important part, but they are not enough. We need to join them with other proposals in order to make a policy of State to face up to crime. ” President Calderon said “Let no one make a mistake, let no one confuse the sides, the enemies of the country and of all Mexicans are those who assail its institutions, who harass, threaten and extort society, who poison its sons and who betray the country. “Calderón, who praised the army’s task, asserted that organized crime is condemned to defeat because the Armed Forces and an entire nation are on the side of the his government. To all who pretend to be above the law, said Calderón, we say that our Armed Forces “are not intimidated nor will they ever desist because they are composed of Mexicans fully committed to the defense of our dear Mexico. ” Police and government officials in Monterrey say Mexico’s most violent drug gang, the Gulf cartel, and its feared armed wing, the Zetas, is behind the protests. Despite warnings from rights groups about soldiers using excessive force in the drug fight, Calderon also has Washington’s support for using the army, which has made historic drug seizures and is catching more gang leaders. More killings, running battles, shootings, protests and even rioting in Mexico are expected particularly along the U. S. Mexican border.
MICHAEL WEBSTER: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Feb 23, 2009 at 8:30 PM PST. AP Photo of relatives mourning members of Mexico’s army who authorities found decapitated. Mexico’s unbelievable record breaking level of violent war deaths are piling up as casualties of Mexico’s on going so called civil war continues. Many Mexicans now believe that there is a civil war going on in their country. These killings in Mexico are reveled by no country even other countries with active war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands of people died in what the Mexican Government calls drug-related violence last year as Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) and trained enforcer gangs fought each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. In the last 54 days in Mexico there have been over one thousand violent killings by both warring groups, the Mexican Army and the Mexican Drug Cartels. Border protesters told this reporter that the MDC’s claim they are dedicated to overthrowing the current Calderon government and the government is hiding the true Mexican army death totals. Many Mexican troops have been killed by direct confrontations with MDC’s paramilitary forces many more than the Calderon administration is willing to admit. Hundreds of Mexicans last week, blocked roads and bridges in Mexican cities bordering the United States from the Gulf of Mexico (Matamoros) to the Pacific Ocean (Tijuana) and protested by marching in the northern city of Monterrey in a series of demonstrations that police say are organized and funded by MDC’s. Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned those public protests against his army-backed drug war, saying they were cowardly acts orchestrated by the warring MDC’s. Recently there have been intense counter attacks by the Mexican Army against the MDC’s forces, raising the intensity in the civil war against Mexico’s organized resistant protesters. According to the largest Mexican newspaper El Universal the death count so far this year is 1,003 violent murders related to the war on narcotrafficing. This is an average of 19 per day. Last year, the 1,000 mark was not reached until much later in the year in April and the year before, after mid-year. Half of these killings happened in the state of Chihuahua and over 75 percent in the most violent city in Mexico, Cd. Juarez Mexico’s 3rd largest city just across the border from El Paso Texas. Juarez Police Chief and Public Safety Secretary Roberto Orduna Cruz, left, resigned on Friday during a news conference with Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. At right is Juarez city official Guillermo Dowell. (Photo courtesy of Juarez city government) The Director of Public Security in Cd. Juarez, resigned his post under organized threats that the assassination of his police officers would continue until he steps down. Roberto Orduño said he could not allow his men, who work to defend the country, continue to lose their lives. The bodies of two recently murdered law officers had been found with narco-messages warning that this would happen to at least one police officer every 48 hours until Orduña resigned. Sunday Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas’ bodyguards where attacked and one was killed. It is reported that the attack came from the MDC’s enforcers the Zetas. Mexican authorities are investigating. The Chihuahua Gov. and his family are under protection of government forcers and their location is unknown. As this article was being written this reporter learned that death threats against Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz surfaced and Mayor Ferriz immediately with armed Mexican body guards escorted him and his family to the relative safety of the bordering city of El Paso, where El Paso police and county sheriff’s are believed providing heavily armed combat ready law enforcement protection. Earlier at least ten more people were killed in different attacks in the past few hours in Cd. Juarez. The most recent wave of killings began late Saturday and extended into late Sunday night. All of the attacks were believed carried out by trained MDC’s Para-military forces according to authorities in Juarez. According to official figures, so far this year, over 360 people have been killed by MDC’s forces in the State of Chihuahua alone. Many believe that the war began when the Calderon administration launched a military campaign to combat spiraling drug violence in Mexico. Over 45, 000 troops and federal police were sent to cities in Mexico, many on the U. S. Mexican border. Since than thousands of people in Mexico have died as a result of both the military’s action and the MDC’s and their gangs fighting each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. The Mexican people are being used by the MDC’s who are winning many of the people over to their cause by hiring and training Mexico’s very poor young men to fight for them against the Mexican government forces and paying them up to $600. 00 USD per week. This is a lot of money to pay the very poor and they are responding by the thousands. The MDC’s are reported to also be recruiting freedom fighters to train to fight for them from Central American countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Mexican officials say that the MDC’s have training comps where these young men are being trained in modern war fare both in Mexico, Panama, Peru and Colombia. The MDC’s are also reported to be providing food, medicines and cash to their families back home in small villages and towns throughout Mexico. The MDC’s are paying people to attend marches and has handed out backpacks full of schoolbooks, pens and paper to poor families who joined the demonstrations, acting as a sort of Robin Hood, police said. President Calderón labeled the MDC’s as cowards and traitors to the nation those who use women and children as part of their strategy to bring about the withdrawal of the Army in its battle against organized crime. The leader of the Mexican left-leaning PRD party, Jesus Ortega, describes as “grave” that in Mexico the number of extortions by organized crime has skyrocketed. ”We are going toward a situation where practically no Mexican is not threatened by criminals in one form or another,” he said. He criticizes the government as “arrogant” for thinking it alone can confront the problem of insecurity. He summarizes his thoughts, “The formulas of the left are an important part, but they are not enough. We need to join them with other proposals in order to make a policy of State to face up to crime. ” President Calderon said “Let no one make a mistake, let no one confuse the sides, the enemies of the country and of all Mexicans are those who assail its institutions, who harass, threaten and extort society, who poison its sons and who betray the country. “Calderón, who praised the army’s task, asserted that organized crime is condemned to defeat because the Armed Forces and an entire nation are on the side of the his government. To all who pretend to be above the law, said Calderón, we say that our Armed Forces “are not intimidated nor will they ever desist because they are composed of Mexicans fully committed to the defense of our dear Mexico. ” Police and government officials in Monterrey say Mexico’s most violent drug gang, the Gulf cartel, and its feared armed wing, the Zetas, is behind the protests. Despite warnings from rights groups about soldiers using excessive force in the drug fight, Calderon also has Washington’s support for using the army, which has made historic drug seizures and is catching more gang leaders. More killings, running battles, shootings, protests and even rioting in Mexico are expected particularly along the U. S. Mexican border.
MICHAEL WEBSTER: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Feb 23, 2009 at 8:30 PM PST. AP Photo of relatives mourning members of Mexico’s army who authorities found decapitated. Mexico’s unbelievable record breaking level of violent war deaths are piling up as casualties of Mexico’s on going so called civil war continues. Many Mexicans now believe that there is a civil war going on in their country. These killings in Mexico are reveled by no country even other countries with active war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands of people died in what the Mexican Government calls drug-related violence last year as Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) and trained enforcer gangs fought each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. In the last 54 days in Mexico there have been over one thousand violent killings by both warring groups, the Mexican Army and the Mexican Drug Cartels. Border protesters told this reporter that the MDC’s claim they are dedicated to overthrowing the current Calderon government and the government is hiding the true Mexican army death totals. Many Mexican troops have been killed by direct confrontations with MDC’s paramilitary forces many more than the Calderon administration is willing to admit. Hundreds of Mexicans last week, blocked roads and bridges in Mexican cities bordering the United States from the Gulf of Mexico (Matamoros) to the Pacific Ocean (Tijuana) and protested by marching in the northern city of Monterrey in a series of demonstrations that police say are organized and funded by MDC’s. Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned those public protests against his army-backed drug war, saying they were cowardly acts orchestrated by the warring MDC’s. Recently there have been intense counter attacks by the Mexican Army against the MDC’s forces, raising the intensity in the civil war against Mexico’s organized resistant protesters. According to the largest Mexican newspaper El Universal the death count so far this year is 1,003 violent murders related to the war on narcotrafficing. This is an average of 19 per day. Last year, the 1,000 mark was not reached until much later in the year in April and the year before, after mid-year. Half of these killings happened in the state of Chihuahua and over 75 percent in the most violent city in Mexico, Cd. Juarez Mexico’s 3rd largest city just across the border from El Paso Texas. Juarez Police Chief and Public Safety Secretary Roberto Orduna Cruz, left, resigned on Friday during a news conference with Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. At right is Juarez city official Guillermo Dowell. (Photo courtesy of Juarez city government) The Director of Public Security in Cd. Juarez, resigned his post under organized threats that the assassination of his police officers would continue until he steps down. Roberto Orduño said he could not allow his men, who work to defend the country, continue to lose their lives. The bodies of two recently murdered law officers had been found with narco-messages warning that this would happen to at least one police officer every 48 hours until Orduña resigned. Sunday Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas’ bodyguards where attacked and one was killed. It is reported that the attack came from the MDC’s enforcers the Zetas. Mexican authorities are investigating. The Chihuahua Gov. and his family are under protection of government forcers and their location is unknown. As this article was being written this reporter learned that death threats against Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz surfaced and Mayor Ferriz immediately with armed Mexican body guards escorted him and his family to the relative safety of the bordering city of El Paso, where El Paso police and county sheriff’s are believed providing heavily armed combat ready law enforcement protection. Earlier at least ten more people were killed in different attacks in the past few hours in Cd. Juarez. The most recent wave of killings began late Saturday and extended into late Sunday night. All of the attacks were believed carried out by trained MDC’s Para-military forces according to authorities in Juarez. According to official figures, so far this year, over 360 people have been killed by MDC’s forces in the State of Chihuahua alone. Many believe that the war began when the Calderon administration launched a military campaign to combat spiraling drug violence in Mexico. Over 45, 000 troops and federal police were sent to cities in Mexico, many on the U. S. Mexican border. Since than thousands of people in Mexico have died as a result of both the military’s action and the MDC’s and their gangs fighting each other, the Mexican Army and Mexico’s security forces. The Mexican people are being used by the MDC’s who are winning many of the people over to their cause by hiring and training Mexico’s very poor young men to fight for them against the Mexican government forces and paying them up to $600. 00 USD per week. This is a lot of money to pay the very poor and they are responding by the thousands. The MDC’s are reported to also be recruiting freedom fighters to train to fight for them from Central American countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Mexican officials say that the MDC’s have training comps where these young men are being trained in modern war fare both in Mexico, Panama, Peru and Colombia. The MDC’s are also reported to be providing food, medicines and cash to their families back home in small villages and towns throughout Mexico. The MDC’s are paying people to attend marches and has handed out backpacks full of schoolbooks, pens and paper to poor families who joined the demonstrations, acting as a sort of Robin Hood, police said. President Calderón labeled the MDC’s as cowards and traitors to the nation those who use women and children as part of their strategy to bring about the withdrawal of the Army in its battle against organized crime. The leader of the Mexican left-leaning PRD party, Jesus Ortega, describes as “grave” that in Mexico the number of extortions by organized crime has skyrocketed. ”We are going toward a situation where practically no Mexican is not threatened by criminals in one form or another,” he said. He criticizes the government as “arrogant” for thinking it alone can confront the problem of insecurity. He summarizes his thoughts, “The formulas of the left are an important part, but they are not enough. We need to join them with other proposals in order to make a policy of State to face up to crime. ” President Calderon said “Let no one make a mistake, let no one confuse the sides, the enemies of the country and of all Mexicans are those who assail its institutions, who harass, threaten and extort society, who poison its sons and who betray the country. “Calderón, who praised the army’s task, asserted that organized crime is condemned to defeat because the Armed Forces and an entire nation are on the side of the his government. To all who pretend to be above the law, said Calderón, we say that our Armed Forces “are not intimidated nor will they ever desist because they are composed of Mexicans fully committed to the defense of our dear Mexico. ” Police and government officials in Monterrey say Mexico’s most violent drug gang, the Gulf cartel, and its feared armed wing, the Zetas, is behind the protests. Despite warnings from rights groups about soldiers using excessive force in the drug fight, Calderon also has Washington’s support for using the army, which has made historic drug seizures and is catching more gang leaders. More killings, running battles, shootings, protests and even rioting in Mexico are expected particularly along the U. S. Mexican border.
