Guadalajara -Two Spanish nationals visiting Mexico's northwest Pacific coast were found dead today near Culiacán, the Sinaloa capital.
The men were in the backseat of a car which had been driven or pushed into a local canal. When the water level descended the vehicle was spotted by passersby, who summoned police.
The victims were identified by the Sinaloa state prosecutor as José Montoya Lozada, 58, and Fernando Carmona Romero, 57. Initial reports claimed the men were professional chefs who were interested in regional cuisine. Later accounts said they were clothing merchants who had lived in Guadalajara for several months. One man was from Madrid. Their remains are being repatriated by family members.
The men had been handcuffed and shot several times. They had been missing since May 4, when they set out on a tour of neighboring towns in the coastal state. The vehicle containing their bodies was reported stolen the same day.Sinaloa has long been one of Mexico's drug war hot zones. Earlier this year the Spanish Foreign Ministry advised its citizens against travel to Mexico, after six young Spanish tourists were robbed and repeatedly raped in their Acapulco beach house on Feb. 4. Sinaloa was one of the locations on the Ministry's advisory list. Huge cancellations in Acapulco, as spring breakers go elsewhere and Spain issues new warning for Mexico.
Feb. 24 - Murder of Belgian in Acapulco tourist district further damages an already tarnished image
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission
AP has much different details:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10788098
Notwithstanding the AP report, most of the Mexican press continues to report at this hour that the men were chefs. One reliable news agency listed Spain's Embassy in Mexico as its source.
DeleteIt's not unusual, in fact it's quite common, for news agencies to vary on such details. They're interested in getting the story on line, and figuring out the incidentals later.
In any case, most readers will find the brutal execution of these men to be the essence of the matter - not whether they were peddlers of food or peddlers of clothing. AP reported the event, but 12 hours after it was available here.
Or peddlers of something else entirely...
ReplyDeleteTragic. Not to diminish this senseless crime, but I doubt that these two victims were even remotely connected to the drug culture, but they unfortunately fell prey to opprotunistic sadists. Mexican citizens face these hazards daily, but happening to pedestrian tourists, from any country and in any country, has certain shock factor. And the real tragedy for the families of these men, and for Mexico is, the crime will probably never be solved and the perpetrators brought to justice.
ReplyDelete