Nor do reductions in murders mean other forms of violence, such as extortion, or criminal groups control over territories and people, have lessened. Softened mining regulation reform advances to Senate. Even if that means succumbing to the narcos. InSight Crime sat down with Marisol Ochoa, a researcher and expert on criminal dynamics from Mexico's Ibero-American University, to understand how the situation deteriorated. But the federal government has dramatically cut budgets to both and thus gutted the already often-inadequate local capacities, even though its own 2019 security strategy centered on relying on municipal police for security. In 2014, the Reynosa city government announced the installation of 472 surveillance cameras around the. The attacks took place in several neighborhoods in eastern Reynosa, according to the Tamaulipas state agency that coordinates security forces, and sparked a deployment of the military, National Guard and state police across the city. But the violence continues. Tamaulipas Gov. (modern). The Mexican interior ministry and Mexicos National Institute of Immigration did not respond to requests for comment on the report. Reynosa, along with other border cities such as Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo, has long been a bastion for the Gulf Cartel. Reynosa awakes to narco-blockades as cartel reacts to leader's arrest A spokesman for Tamaulipas states secretary of public security said Sunday that the attackers may be members of a splinter faction of the Gulf Cartel, which has a presence in large swaths of the Mexican state that borders Texas. On Saturday, authorities detained a person who was transporting two apparently kidnapped women in the trunk of a car. The Gulf cartel, which. As my fieldwork showed, in Baja California Sur, Baja California, and Sinaloa, criminal groups, often the Sinaloa Cartel, are muscling their way into new economies,systematically seeking to dominate both legal and illegal fishing, fish processing, and seafood sales along the entire vertical supply chain. "It's not fair," said taxi driver Rene Guevara, adding that among the dead were two of his fellow taxi drivers whom he defended and said were not involved in crime. If the value is 0, it means it is perceived as very low, and if the value is 100, it means it is perceived as very high. In Reynosa, Tamaulipas, the good guys watch the bad guys and vice versa. How much safer do you feel in Mexico City now compared to years ago. Sound like a paid troll for the government. The borough's Holy Week passion play the oldest, most elaborate and best-known in the country celebrated its 180th edition this year. Several of the past governors of the state of Tamaulipas have been accused of corruption and links to organized crime. The bloodshed appears to have been sparked by the killing of a Gulf cartel leader. Like the Title 42 expulsion policy, the Remain in Mexico program cannot be carried out legally or humanely and will only increase the danger to those seeking safety in the United States. And from theSembrando Vidaprogram to grow fruit trees to vocational programs for youth at-risk of succumbing to criminality, these Lpez Obrador administration programs have been riddled with problems. Amlo also pledged to chair daily 6am security meetings and create a 60,000 strong "National Guard". Some of its members were tied to the brutal January 2021 massacre of 19 people near the US-Mexico border. The Mexican government announced that homicidesdeclined by 3.6% from the previous year to 33,308, just below the 33,739 in 2018 when Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador became president. Thanks for contacting us. Travel to this region is not recommended. The Gulf, Northeast and Jalisco cartels are fighting for control over Tamaulipass lucrative drug and arms trafficking routes to and from the United States. 'You cant trust anybody': the Mexicans caught up in the drug war just south of Texas, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. An investigation by Human Rights First compiled thousands of attacks against migrants and asylum-seekers, including kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking and rape. An investigation by Human Rights First compiled thousands of attacks against migrants and asylum-seekers, including kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking and rape. Are you on Telegram? Jackson, Michigan, a city of 32,250, had a violent crime rate of 1,094.5, an Axios analysis found. Yet, the 2022 outlook for both the rule of law and public safety in Mexico and meaningful U.S.-Mexico security cooperation remains bleak. Having had his political immunitystripped, he faces a warrant for hisarreston charges of ties to organized crime. Adams migrant plea: Letters to the Editor April 29, 2023, Border Patrol using cellphones to process migrants in overwhelmed South Texas. According toGuadalupe Correa-Cabrera, an expert on U.S.-Mexico affairs at George Mason University in Virginia, the Gulf Cartels control of criminal economies at the border is being contested by a number of rivals. In a new report, the Washington-based organization Human Rights Firsthas registered 6,356 violent attacks against migrants in Mexico since January. Its not necessarily clear what settling of scores may have taken place here, said Ochoa. He asked the guy again to check is pockets and SURPISE SURPRISE, the guy found our passports. Speaking at a press conference on June 21, President Lpez Obrador blamedarmed commandos for the violence and ordered that an investigation be openedinto the string of shootings in Reynosa that has left at least 19 dead. In the last two months, Human Rights First helped 69 migrants in Tijuana, in the Mexican state of Baja California, and Piedras Negras, in the state of Coahuila, to apply for humanitarian visas. Early on March 9, supposed members of the Scorpions, an offshoot of the Gulf Cartel, left an apology note and turned over five . Its like Chinatown busy but with Mexicans and dangerous ones at that. And the state police forces can only investigate ordinary crime, not organized crime. And in December, the newU.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communitieswent into effect, replacing the Mrida Initiative that Lpez Obrador intensely disliked while his administrationseverely minimizedU.S.-Mexico security cooperation. Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: "Remain in Mexico" hearing - WOLA I begged the head guy to ask around or check cameras because they didnt give it back. Cartels have fought over territory in Reynosa for years. It is not safe for single traveling women to be in this city. Lpez Obrador has cut budgets and personnel to many Mexican institutions and left them with minimal regulatory, oversight, and minimal capacities. U.S. Supreme Court denied the Biden administrations request. The Zetas' Model of Organized Crime is Leaving Mexico in Ruins Tue 20 Apr 2021 05.15 EDT Last modified on Wed 19 Oct . See Mexico Travel Advisory for details. Cartel war or general chaos: the killing spree in Reynosa, Tamaulipas Lpez Obrador, often referred to by his initials, AMLO, has said he would not repeat the mistakes of previous administrations that did not contain cartel violence, which surged after President Felipe Caldern launched a military crackdown on the gangs in 2006. Self-styled militias, sometimes fronts for rival criminal groups, other times with great proclivity to slide into many facets of criminality, persist andproliferate as the government looks on. Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp), ABC Noticias (sp), Vox Populi Noticias (sp), Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC. As a lawyer there put it: The National Guard are the most expensive mannequins in Mexico.. An Indigenous man from Honduras reported that he was kidnapped and separated from his 5-year-old son after being expelled to Reynosa, Mexico. Unaccompanied minors from Central America wait to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Roma, Texas, on July 30, 2021. Research data reveals that89 percent of people from the LGBTQ community who participated in the surveys were attackedor received threats recently. Its one of the dangerous cities in Mexico because of ongoing conflicts with gangs. I stayed with him in a concrete buildings, no windows, bullet holes sprayed everywhere..pretty much all the building. Follow the U.S. Consulate Matamoros onFacebookandTwitter. The risk of fraud is high enough in Reynosa. The coordinating agency released no details about the 14 people killed by attackers, but local media reports said one family could have been killed. This city across the border from McAllen, Texas, is a key trafficking point, and has long been accustomed to cartel violence. And indeed, it doesnt respond. Thats not always the case. Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russias war in Ukraine. With fighting between the Gulf Cartel and the Northeast Cartel has beenreportedin Reynosa since 2017, it is likely the recent shootings are connected to this dispute or another of the Gulf Cartels feuds. Olga Ruiz, whose 19-year-old brother Fernando was killed by the gunmen, said her sibling was working as a plumber and bricklayer to pay for his studies. 'I'm Kidnapped': A Father's Nightmare on the Border The attacks in Reynosa, which sits on the Mexico-U.S. border in the state of Tamaulipas, took place in under two hours on Saturday, with people seemingly targeted at random by gunmen traveling in vans, according to local media outlet Elefante Blanco. This is the controversial program that the Trump administration employed between January 2019 and January 2021 to send over 71,000 non-Mexican asylum seekers to await their U.S. hearings inside Mexico, usually in Mexican border cities with some of the world's highest violent crime rates. Yes, I'm willing to do a survey, Copyright 2009-2023 Numbeo. But what I heard from interlocutors in Mexico wasa most problematic vision of the U.S. Mexico Bicentennial Framework by the Mexican government namely, that the United States should only take care of its own territory by reducing drug demand and retail in the United States and the flows of drug money and weapons to Mexico, while Mexico will do whatever it wants, without U.S. input, in Mexico. As a government official inTierra Calientetold me: Frankly, public security here, all life really, is totally managed by the narcos.. Country Summary: Violent crime - such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery - is widespread and common in Mexico. Also driving in there were tarps over the back of trucks with gun tips sticking out. Gulf Cartel In-Fighting Driving Violence in Matamoros, Mexico The risk of pickpocketing is not so high here. Caldern hoped to smash the drug cartels with his heavily militarized onslaught but the approach was counter-productive and exacted a catastrophic human toll. How much safer do you feel in Mexico City now compared to years ago. Click here to get an offer for travel insurance. The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico, as travel by U.S. government employees to certain areas is prohibited or restricted. The State Department recommends U.S. citizens do not travel to the State of Tamaulipas due to crime and kidnapping. Four suspects also died, he said. Authorities say it was an accident. Matamoros 6/25/2021 - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Mexico He has assured Mexicans that he is fighting the root causes of the violence and since the beginning of his administration in December 2018, he has advocated "hugs, not bullets" in dealing with criminals. Reynosa attackers kill at least 14 in Mexican border city - The Another hypothesis is that the shootouts were due to the recent political upheaval seen in Tamaulipas. He said that despite explaining what he suffered, he was returned to Mexico by U.S. immigration authorities. That will lead to more kidnappings, assaults, torture and other violent attacks, said Kennji Kizuka, associate director of research and analysis at Human Rights First. That policy resulted in some high-profile scalps notably Arturo Beltrn Leyva who wasgunned down by Mexican marines in 2009 but also did little to bring peace. In March, the two criminal groupsfought a running battlefor an entire day between the municipalities of Matamoros and Rio Bravo. It is also not safe to ride a bicycle here and drive a rented car. The National Action Party, to which Garca belongs, recently lostits majority in Tamaulipas legislature, which may have forced criminal groups to try and seek leverage and forge new agreements with politicians. The decline in homicides is welcome. Underneath that macro-war, many violent micro-conflicts play out in Mexico, as smaller criminal groups fight over drug, extortion, and other criminal markets and seek to control local politicians and populations. Some of them were located on access roads for international crossings to the United States and highways that connect Reynosa to Monterrey. Reductions in fighting, such as in Michoacns Apatzingn or Guerreros Acapulco where I conducted fieldwork, occurs mainlybecause a particular group or criminal alliance manages to establish temporary territorial control, a narcopeace: be it Crteles Unidos in that part of theTierra Caliente,or Caro Quinteros and Los Chapitos branches of the Sinaloa Cartel in high-value extortion and drug trafficking in Acapulco. The reduction is not fundamentally due to improved security policies. These include rape, kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking and other assaults against migrants who were deported to Mexico or people who were prevented from seeking asylum at the U.S. border under Title 42, a health ordinance implemented during the coronavirus pandemic. In my government there will be no truce for the violent.. Religion and identity meet in Mexico Citys Iztapalapa, A quick guide to Mexico Citys many Pueblos Mgicos, 6 national banks join forces to offer commission-free ATMs, US brings charges against Sinaloa Cartel, including Los Chapitos, Reform allowing state-owned airline passes in Chamber of Deputies. 2023 Copyright by Travel Safe - Abroad. Anyone very easily can end up in the midst of a shootout. An official website of the United States government. The overarching bipolar rivalry between the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG spans not just Mexico but violently all the way to Colombia and non-violently into the Asia-Pacific. A Honduran woman, a member of the LGBTQ community, told investigators that she was raped and assaulted in Ciudad Acua, a Mexican town on the border with Del Rio, Texas. All rights reserved. These data are based on perceptions of visitors of this website in the past 3 years. But the boys merely paid off or intimidated the hair salons into certifying the boys participation in the training without actually attending it. The individuals, who were aboard several vehicles, may have fired on innocent citizens as part of a dispute between rival cartels, Tamaulipas state officials said. 20 Places In Mexico Foreigners Should Never Set Foot In - TheTravel The president arrived in power with a rhetoric of nonconfrontation with a Hugs, not gunshots slogan that has led to federal forces having a passive presence in certain areas of the country, which has empowered criminal organizations to act more freely, Guerrero said. For Emergency Assistance for U.S. citizens in Mexico, call (55) 868 206 1076 from Mexico or 1-844-528-6611 from the United States. Reprinted fromInSight Crime. 'We live in fear': Over 6,000 migrants in Mexico have been violently There are dealers on streets with one pant leg rolled up. The rise and violent demise of pro-Russian war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, Ukraine live briefing: Russia blames Ukraine for drone attack on Crimea fuel depot, Britons asked to swear oath to Charles III from couch, a royal first. Reynosa, a city of 600,000 people, is a hotspot for cartel violence. With all the information provided in this article I will probably avoid going into or near Reynosa for any stops. The leftwing populist Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador took power in December, promising a dramatic change in tactics. But the area's criminal activity has long been dominated by the Gulf Cartel and there have been fractures within that group. On Sunday, Reynosa residents "were quiet as if nothing had happened, but with a feeling of anger because now crime has happened to innocent people," said local businessman Misael Chavarria. IE 11 is not supported. [The events in Reynosa] appear to have been improvised; 14 civilians died who were not involved [in organized crime] it was a very disorganized operation. But the 2021 midterms showed to an unprecedented degree that the criminal groups are no longer satisfied to coopt elected officials. No wonder, the effective prosecution rate for homicides in Mexico continues to hover around 2%.

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