Yesterday's brazen daylight attack against the police chief of Puerto Vallarata, one of Mexico's most famous resorts, was the work of the much feared Los Zetas drug cartel, a powerful and violent transnational criminal organization which operates throughout Mexico and Central America.
Mexican news services report that narcomantas (signs) claiming responsibility for the grenade and machine gun assault were displayed at four locations in the city hours after the hit team ambush, signed by the "Zs."
The signs carried death threats, "sowing panic among the citizenry," reported the Milenio network in an early morning story which recapped Monday's terror.
At a press conference, police chief Roberto Rodríguez Preciado - who has held his post only 15 days - said he believes the attack was directed against him because of "important arrests" in recent days, and because of "internal modifications" he has already implemented within the department. Rodríguez emphasized that he would not resign.
It was a close call for chief Rodríguez, who together with his two escorts had to crawl from their armor-plated Suburban, which was on fire. While doing so the men were repeatedly strafed by AK-47s and AR-15s, combat arms which are common in Mexico's drug war. The vehicle was destroyed.
Several bystanders were injured by flying shrapnel from the fragmentation grenades lobbed by the assailants. They included a mother and her two children, five and nine years old. All three are reported in serious condition, and the woman is said to be in danger of losing one of her arms.
Local business and tourism associations vigorously condemned the events, and expressed solidarity with and confidence in the municipal government and regional security forces. A spokesman for the Jalisco Secretary of Tourism said, "Puerto Vallarta is safe. Most assuredly, the tourist's experience there, as always, will fulfill the highest expectations."
But behind the scenes, hotel and restaurant proprietors, merchants and all those whose livelihood depends upon an uninterrupted flow of domestic and foreign visitors with cash in hand are plainly worried by such a dramatic and aggressive display of violence against law enforcement personnel.
The question on many minds is obvious: if organized crime will attack the police chief, who won't they attack? The 8:00 a.m. combat at a busy city crossroads astounded and terrified locals, who are not accustomed to the roar of detonating hand grenades and the rapid report of military assault weapons.
Puerto Vallarata was a sleepy and unknown Pacific coast fishing village until the mid-1960's, when John Huston's cinematic direction of The Night of the Iguana, a 1961 play by Tennessee Williams which was re-energeized by Richard Burton's big screen appearance several years later, placed it on the map. Within a decade the town had become a city with an airport, converting itself into a prime destination for Americans and Europeans fleeing the cold in northern latitudes. Many eventually took up full time or part time residency in Puerto Vallarta, and real estate values shot through the roof. But the world wide recession which began in 2008, together with spreading drug war violence throughout much of Mexico, did not help local land markets - or the critically important tourism industry.
Yesterday's attack probably won't either.
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THANKS TO THE NEW POLICE CHIEF RODRIQUEZ OF PUERTO VALLARTA FOR FIGHTING THESE THUGS AND FOR HIM STAYING ON TO DO THE JOB THAT PAST POLICE HAVE BEEN AFRAID TO DO..THESE ZETAS REALIZE THEIR DAYS OF DRUGS ON THE STREETS ARE NO MORE..LETS GET MORE ARMED POLICE ON THE STREET AND PROTECT THE CITIZENS OF PUERTO VALLARTA AND RUN THESE DRUG DEALERS OUT OF OUR CITY.
ReplyDeleteMexican business leaders asking for the police chief to step down is the wrong thing to do. If that happens then these Zeta's will own Puerto Vallarta. As a tourist, I would not go where the police do nothing because they won't care about my safety.
ReplyDeleteIt is time that family members start turning in their drug dealing relatives. Friends should also turn in their drug dealing friends.
Looks like the Zetas got there way this time... the Chief resigned.
ReplyDelete