Uncovering Mexico
Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.What's on this page?
The entry titled "Borderline crazy: Killings up along the frontier in Mexico."
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Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2007 > November > 12 > Entry
Borderline crazy: Killings up along the frontier in Mexico
Violence along the border is spiking again, with police chiefs and politicians among the targets.
The bloodshed is especially troubling in the border state of Coahuila, which until this year had been an oasis of calm along a roiling frontera.
A month ago, Austin Police suspended visits to their counterparts in the Coahuila capital, Saltillo, after two high ranking local cops were kidnapped and executed.
Over the weekend, the chief of the federal police in Coahuila, Luis Hernandez Marquez, was sprayed with cop-killer bullets as he drove his car through Saltillo. The top cop is in grave condition at a local hospital.
Border violence also ratcheted up ahead of Sunday’s state elections in Tamaulipas, which borders Brownsville and Laredo.
The elections, which were virtually swept by the PRI, featured conservative PAN candidates and PRIistas alike complaining of threats and attacks.
A PAN city council candidate was kidnapped just hours before the election, sparking a protest at the international bridge in that border town.
Election day on Sunday saw numerous rumors of gun battles and constant overhead flights of military helicopters meant to keep the calm, according Mexican media reports. Despite the rumors, there were no reports of major election-day violence.
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By Phil
November 12, 2007 3:24 PM | Link to this
So sad. Mexico is so beautiful and would be a great place to vacation but they can’t keep the poop out of the water and the killing down to a minimum. Some people say drugs are a victimless crime but this shows it ain’t so. The US needs to step up intradiction. We must work to improve the quality of life in the western hemisphere or watch it decay like Africa has.
By Larry
November 12, 2007 3:44 PM | Link to this
Mexico has no death penalty so they are unable to get rid of the worst of the worse. So killer gangs now run their prisons and looks like they are trying to take over many of their cities. If Mexico is afraid to punish their killers, even when it is clear they are massacreing their fellow countrymen, then who is going to stand or testify against them. It is also the main reason Mexicans who kill in the US flee back to the safety of Mexico….they are afraid of the death penalty. Hopefully this is a lesson the US is learning and won’t duplicate.
By Frank
November 13, 2007 7:07 AM | Link to this
Yes. Because ever since the US reinstated the death penalty 30 years ago, violent crime has pretty much disappeared. And now that Iraq has it, too, everything should calm down there very soon.
By ChristineR
November 13, 2007 7:41 AM | Link to this
Most of the violence could be eliminated tomorrow if we could legalize drugs. I understand that there will be other issues that we will need to deal with, but it is the only way to take the wind out of the sails of the drug lords, gangs and entire supply chain. There would also be a tremendous amount of money available that is now being used in the “war on drugs”. We could still ban drugs in areas such as the workplace, in order to control use. Legalization won’t happen, of course, because such initiatives will make for a terrible sound bite for our politicians- and clearly their career is more important to them than minimizing brutal violence across at least 2 countries.
By peter
November 13, 2007 8:21 AM | Link to this
If mexico fell off the face of the earth,I wouldn’t shed a tear. It’s a third world s@#%hole, which probably explains why so many are literally dying to get out.
By Arabonita
November 13, 2007 8:54 AM | Link to this
Larry, you should apologize for your ignorance. Mexico DOES have death penalty, is not a tool in use because of human rights (and religion). Most Mexicans do not support it. Also, death penaldy do not stop or reduce crime and is not cost efective as appeal after appeal cost more to the government than keep criminals in jail for life, as statistics have shown.
By Larry
November 14, 2007 9:18 AM | Link to this
As I said Mexico does not have the death penalty. And of course the death penalty does stop murders, otherwise there would be a lot more. A killer that is put to death will not kill again at the very least. Just look at Mexico where they don’t execute murderers and now they run many of the prisons because if they kill again(civilian, fellow prisoner,guard) they get a life sentence again….not much of a deterence. And as I said most Mexican’s who kill flee back to Mexico because of their fear of the death penalty….that should tell you something.