Felipe Calderón, Mexican cabinet make last call on U.S.

President says he's leaving with "no regrets"

Guadalajara -
Mexican president Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, his wife Margarita Zavala and his cabinet arrived in Washington early this evening for the president's final official visit to the United States.

Calderón's last full day in office will be Nov. 30. The next day Mexico's first PRI president in more than a decade, Enrique Peña Nieto, will be sworn in. Presidents here serve a 72 month term, known as a sexenio, and are not eligible for reelection. Calderón's National Action Party (PAN) has held Mexico's highest office since 2000, when Vicente Fox was elected president.

Vicente Fox enjoyed a solid relationship with former U.S. president George W. Bush, as did Felipe Calderón during Bush's last 24 months in office. Together the latter two forged a joint Mexico-U.S. security agreement to confront international drug cartels. That pact is alive and well, and will unquestionably survive the change in one - perhaps two - administrations (Governments come and go, but Mérida Initiative will continue). While the U.S. Congress is not always pleased with the course of Mexico's drug war, it's invested over $1 billion in the strategy just since 2008, and few if any realistic alternatives are on the table (U.S. set to approve more Mérida Initiative funds).

Guadalajara's Virgin of Zapopan makes her rounds

MGRR photojournal report

Guadalajara -
Many have written about the Virgin of Zapopan, patroness and protector of Guadalajara and the state of Jalisco, and I can add nothing to what they've already said. But today she passed right by my front door, so I felt compelled to capture a few images.

The legend of Nuestra Señora de Zapopan dates to 1541 in this profoundly Roman Catholic nation. Here's one Church account.

Expiatorio del Santísimo Sacramento, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012, 12:30 a.m.

Routine traffic stop in Mérida yields Sinaloa Cartel "Boss of the Plaza" in Cozumel, Playa del Carmen

Quintana Roo capo for El Chapo Guzmán controlled narcotics trade in eastern Yucatán, police say

Mérida, Yucatán –
On April 18 MGRR published an article which said the following: "A commando team of at least 50 hired executioners has arrived in Cancún to take control of the city's main plaza from two other warring groups. The executioners work for Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, a/k/a Los Matazetas, which allegedly is in close alliance with the most wanted narcotics trafficker in the world, Joaquín El Chapo ("Shorty") Guzmán. Guzmán escaped from a Mexican prison in January 2001, and runs the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, known in Mexico as Cartel del Pacifico. The United States claims that Sinaloa imports more drugs into the country than any other cartel. The U.S. and Mexico have offered millions of dollars in bounties for Guzmán's capture, and Felipe Calderón wants few things more than to take down the elusive trafficker before his six year term as president ends on Nov. 30."

The rest of that story, which describes a local drug trafficking war along Mexico's famous Riviera Maya coast, is here: 50 Matazeta executioners in Cancún to "recover the plaza" for Chapo Guzmán.

Governments come and go, Mérida Initiative will continue

So predict Mexican foreign minister and U.S. secretary of state, at a final diplomatic summit

Guadalajara -
In the U.S. fiscal year which begins Oct. 1, Mexico will receive another $250 million under a joint security agreement worked out with the United States in 2007. The Mérida Initiative was negotiated between outgoing PAN president Felipe Calderón and former U.S. president George W. Bush during his second term, to address the rising power of international drug cartels which threaten the domestic security of both nations. The plan is named after the Yucatán capital, where the two leaders met to hammer out the details. And although Congress is not entirely enamored of it, Members continue to fund the pact every year, often bickering over the details. (U.S. set to approve more Mérida Initiative funds, amid continued charges of torture, human rights violations by Mexican army).

U.S. Inspector General files Fast and Furious Report

Disclosures are likely to further incite congressional Republicans as presidential election approaches

Guadalajara –
On November 1, 2011, an assistant U.S. attorney general told Senator Dianne Feinstein (D. Calif.), that of the then approximately 94,000 weapons seized by Mexican troops since the drug war began in December 2006, at least 64,000 could be directly traced back to the United States. That number represented about 68%, but Mexico has said that 80% of all firearms it seizes from drug traffickers came from the United States ("Dear friends in the United States - please, no more assault weapons to Mexico")

Peruvian Nobel Prize winner flip-flops on drug war, and urges Peña Nieto to abandon Calderón security strategy

Calling the drug war "foolish," he urges legalization, joining a former Mexican president who agrees

*Correction below*
Guadalajara –
In an unusual turnabout from statements he made repeatedly over the past year, Peru's 2010 Nobel Prize winner in literature has called for an end to the six year old drug war launched by outgoing PAN president Felipe Calderón in December 2006.

At a book presentation on Monday, Mario Vargas Llosa said, "I hope Enrique Peña Nieto abandons this senseless strategy of fighting drugs solely through repressive measures, as has been done by Felipe Calderón. That's not the road, and Mexico is proof of it." Vargas Llosa holds joint Peruvian and Spanish citizenship, and frequently comments on Mexican affairs.

Case of alleged Hezbollah loyalist arrested in Yucatán leaves many questions unanswered

A disciple of radical Islam, or just a common thief?

*Updated content*
Guadalajara –
A U.S. citizen of Arab descent arrested in Mexico 10 days ago, alleged to be a member or supporter of the militant Islamic group Hezbollah, has been returned to federal court in San Jose, California, where he faces a charge of parole violation following 2010 convictions for bank fraud.

Rafic Mohammad Labboun Allaboun, 44, a dual citizen of Lebanon and the United States, was taken into custody at a private residence in Mérida on Sept. 8. The arrest was carried out by Mexican federal immigration (INM) agents and state security police (SSP). Labboun was flown to Houston less than 24 hours later. But now he's back in California, where the criminal case originated more than a decade ago, and Labboun may have to explain to a federal judge why he took an unapproved vacation to the Yucatán peninsula.

Fallout continues after attack on CIA agents, as Mexico and U.S. disagree over what happened at Tres Marías

MGR News Analysis -
A mere misunderstanding, or murder in the making at Three Marys?

*Updates below*
Guadalajara –
In late August two American CIA agents, operating clandestinely in Mexico, were saved from the unpleasant effects of AK-47 and AR-15 rounds (136 of them, to be exact) by the Level 7 armor plating of their Toyota Land Cruiser - but just barely. By the time Federal Police units arrived on the scene and ordered a cease fire, shrapnel had already penetrated the vehicle and slightly wounded the men, as well as the Mexican marine officer accompanying them as translator and aide-de-camp. It was a business trip the agents surely will never forget.

The curious details of the case - such as we have them - are reported here.

Gruesome discovery in Jalisco on Independence Day: 17 bodies dumped along highway to neighboring Michoacán

A disquieting event in normally tranquil Jalisco state

Guadalajara –
There was no respite for law enforcement authorities in Jalisco today, as Mexico celebrated its 202nd birthday amid plenty of evidence that the 70 month old drug war rages on unabated.

The state prosecutor's office reported that at about 5:30 a.m., the bodies of 17 partially clothed men were found alongside a major highway which runs from this cultural heart of the nation to Morelia, capital of Michoacán state, just to the southeast. The bodies were discovered by passing motorists, piled up alongside the roadway. All had been bound with chains or ropes. Their eyes were taped shut.

Investigators say the victims were killed elsewhere and then dumped on the highway. They were adult males, say police, and appeared to have died from gunshot wounds. None of them have been identified. Their remains have been brought to Guadalajara for post-mortem examination.

Arab-American citizen with alleged terrorist ties arrested in Mérida, raising new concerns about Hezbollah cells in Mexico and Central America - and Yucatán

Guadalajara –
A U.S. citizen of Arab descent, alleged to be a member or supporter of the militant Islamic group Hezbollah, has been arrested in Mérida, the capital of Yucatán state.

The story was reported in today's edition of The Yucatán Times, a peninsular English language news service, and other press sources.

Rafic Mohammad Labboun Allaboun, 44, was taken into custody at a private residence in Colonia Francisco de Montejo on Saturday evening (Sept. 8), according to the paper. The arrest was carried out by Mexican federal immigration (INM) agents, and heavily armed state security police (SSP) units. Eight other persons with him were also detained. The operation was without incident, and there were no injuries.

López Obrador breaks with leftist coalition, forms new party and calls for peaceful civil disobedience on Dec. 1

AMLO's departure from Movimiento Progresista marks an end to "political schizophrenia" on the left

*Updated Nov. 21*
Guadalajara –
Defeated presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador told supporters at a Mexico City rally today that he would leave the leftist political coalition known as Movimiento Progresista (MP) and form a new party. MP won about 32% of the ballots cast in the July 1 national election, which offered voters four choices across a broad political spectrum.

MP is composed of three parties: Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), or the Democratic Revolution Party; Partido del Trabajo, or Workers' Party; and Movimiento Ciudadano, the Citizens' Movement.

López Obrador will become the leader of a fourth leftist party, Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional (MORENA), the National Regeneration Movement, which will chart its own political course apart from MP.

Mexico awaits a show of López Obrador muscle, as candidate follows through with final legal challenge

Guadalajara –
Tomorrow could be the last act in the long-running Andrés Manuel López Obrador drama, or just another scene in a political stage play which has no final curtain.

The defeated PRD candidate has refused to accept an August 30 federal court ruling which declared Enrique Peña Nieto the winner of the country's July 1 presidential contest. He's called supporters into the street Sunday to stand by him.

Six murders in 12 hours alarm Guadalajara metro and suburbs; federal and state security operations underway

Southern Pulse storm warning may already be proving its validity

Click on map to enlarge

Guadalajara –
Guadalajara proper has a population of over 1.5 million. Counting suburban communities, almost 4.5 million people live here. It's the second largest metro area in the country, exceeded only by Mexico City and the Federal District.

With a few exceptions, Guadalajara has been spared the worst excesses of the nearly six year old drug war. But there have been some dramatic exceptions.

In November 2011, the brutalized bodies of 26 execution victims were found in abandoned vehicles along a busy city freeway, an event which shocked the local community (and the federal and state governments).

Peña Nieto transition team confirms: Mexican army, marines and federal units will remain on the streets

MGRR News Analysis -
What a difference a year makes

Guadalajara –
Ten months ago, as Mexico's president-elect Enrique Peña Nieto prepared to launch his 2012 campaign, he made a quick trip north for a get-acquainted meeting with U.S. officials. In public comments, he called for a withdrawal of Mexican armed forces from the drug cartel offensive launched by president Felipe Calderón in December 2006 - the so called National Security Strategy. Four months later, in March, he told vice president Joe Biden that while he remained committed to the drug war, he would pursue a different strategy. The new PRI chief executive probably wishes he had been more circumspect in his comments.

Mexico gets final "state of the nation" address from Felipe Calderón, amid rising tensions; YoSoy 132 spares no one

"Las autoridades electorales mandaron al diablo a la Constitución - The electoral court sent the constitution to hell" - Ricardo Monreal, PRD senator

Mérida, July 7: "If there is no justice for the people, there will be no peace for the government"

Mérida, Yucatán –
Mexico is a nation simmering tonight.

Today marked both a beginning and an end. It's the beginning of the last 90 days of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa's sexenio, the stormy six year voyage on which the PAN president embarked Dec. 1, 2006. Historians, professionals and amateurs alike, will forever analyze and judge FCH's presidency based upon his National Security Strategy - "Calderón's drug war," as it's referred to by detractors here and abroad. About that there cannot be the slightest doubt.