Saturday - November 06, 2010

Close The Damn Border

Mexico’s drug war is within inches of spilling over into the US. Close the border, send in the Army, and let Mexico solve it’s own problems. Failing that, invade and create a 100 mile wide burnt out buffer zone.

Mexican marines killed drug baron Ezequiel “Tony Tormenta” Cardenas in a ferocious gunfight at the U.S. border on Friday, a fleeting victory for President Felipe Calderon that is unlikely to quell raging violence.

Around 150 marines backed by helicopters and soldiers fought running battles with members of the powerful Gulf cartel for hours in Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, terrifying residents and briefly shutting border bridges.

Dodging grenades and coming under heavy fire from gunmen hidden in houses and shooting from trucks, the marines moved in on Cardenas, one of Mexico’s most-wanted traffickers, and killed him on Friday afternoon, the navy said.

“He died in a shootout with us,” a navy spokesman said.

Three marines and four gunmen were killed, the navy said. A reporter was killed after being caught in crossfire, local media reported.

Cardenas, 48, was the brother of former Gulf cartel leader Osiel Cardenas, who was extradited to Texas in 2007. He had a $5 million bounty on his head in the United States and ran the powerful gang with his partner, Jorge Eduardo Costilla, known as El Coss, who is still at large.

Gunfire broke out in Matamoros Friday, leaving at least 47 people dead and causing the closure of all three bridges between Brownsville and Mexico. The fighting reportedly involved members of the Gulf Cartel, the Zetas and Mexican federal police and military.

University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College closed the Fort Brown campus and moved the soccer games scheduled for Friday night to the Brownsville Sports Park.

Gunfire was reported in Matamoros in a number of incidents beginning Friday morning, with at least 30 people dead by around noon, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition that his name not be used. In the afternoon, a major confrontation near city hall killed at least 17 more people, the source said.

One of those killed around midday was identified as Carlos Alberto Guajardo, 37, a reporter for the newspaper El Expreso. Sources with knowledge of the incident said Guajardo apparently was killed by soldiers who were chasing narcotics traffickers.

The gunfire was heard by UTB-TSC officials, who were at the men’s and women’s soccer finals of the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament at the campus.

“At first we were not sure if they were fireworks,” said Ronnie Zamora, sports information director for UTB-TSC. “But you could smell the smoke of the gunfire.”
His assistant, Cynthia Hernandez, a junior at UTB-TSC, said she was terrified when she heard the noise.

“I was shocked that this could happen so close to campus,” said Hernandez. “I don’t think the other (out-of-state) teams realized how close we were to the border, what we are dealing with down here.”

Hilda Silva, vice president for student affairs, said she believed the situation had been handled quickly and properly.

“As soon as something like this happens, the campus police, Brownsville PD, everybody comes together to decide what needs to happen to keep our students safe,” Silva said.

The first bulletin sent out about 5 p.m. alerted the campus community to stay indoors. About 30 minutes later, all classes were canceled, and faculty, staff and students were asked to leave the campus immediately.

I’d certainly call this situation too close for comfort. What the hell is the government waiting for? 

Posted by Drew458     on 11/06/2010 at 12:22 PM   
Filed Under: • Border Security • Crime • Mexico •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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