Mexican Left lambasts poverty war: "a massive failure"

On the day a Mexican admiral is buried & devastating poverty stats are released, the Left speaks out

Guadalajara -
In election years Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is often referred to by foreign journalists as "leftist" or "center left," mainly to distinguish it from the "right" or "center right" or "conservative" National Action Party (PAN), which lost the presidency in last year's contest. In neither instance is the description particularly accurate, at least measured by what those terms typically mean in many other countries. Calling PRI a leftist party is rather like calling the U.S. Democratic Party leftist (admittedly, the FOX network would probably approve).

But everyone can agree that the far Left in Mexico really is so. In the 2012 presidential election a fiery leftist politician, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, carried the banner for a coalition known as Movimiento Progresista (MP). MP was composed of three different parties which shared common visions for Mexico: Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), or the Democratic Revolution Party; Partido del Trabajo (PT), which is the Workers' Party; and Movimiento Ciudadano, the Citizens' Movement. MP lost last year's election, but it performed much better than expected, easily pushing aside PAN to capture second place, with just under 32% of the ballots cast.

53.3 million - that's how many Mexicans live in poverty

Government programs have accomplished little, notes Peña Nieto cabinet secretary

*Updated Oct. 16 - extreme poverty by state*
Guadalajara -
Two weeks ago MGR reported that over 60% of Jaliscans earn less than a mere subsistence income.

In practical terms what that means is that their income is under 6,900 pesos (about $550) per month, the estimated minimum needed for food, household products, fuel, transportation costs, basic services and children's educational needs. Even skilled or better educated workers who earn two or three times the minimum wage of $5 dollars per day fall short of the mark. That's why University of Guadaljara researchers recently reported that "Jalisco residents can't afford basic necessities, much less enjoy themselves, or save something back."

Mexican vice admiral killed in further Michoacán violence

His wife is seriously injured in the latest attack, as the narco dominated state spirals out of control

Guadalajara -
A Mexican vice admiral was killed in an ambush in warn torn Michoacán state today, the Secretary of Marine and Naval Forces announced late this afternoon.

Admiral Carlos Miguel Salazar Ramonet died when a naval SUV in which he was traveling came under small arms fire by yet unidentified insurrectionists in the region. The government says they are most likely members of the powerful Los Caballeros Templarios drug cartel.

Mexican armed forces arrest 4,760 drug traffickers in first eight months of PRI administration

Military units remain at the vanguard of the drug war under new government

Guadalajara -
For those who thought, and predicted, that Mexican military involvement in the country's now 80 month old drug war would become a thing of the past once its new president was sworn in late last year, things have not quite worked out that way.

Mexico's army, marine and naval forces arrested 4,760 drug traffickers and members of organized crime groups between Dec. 1, 2012 and July 15, 2013, the Secretary of Defense (SEDENA) reported last week.

Three federal employees executed in Guadalajara suburb

Guadalajara -
Three men believed to be employees of Mexico's federal social development department were found shot to death last night in Zapopan, a sprawling suburban area just beyond the city limits of the Jalisco state capital.

Zapopan is the equivalent of a county or township in the U.S., and consists of many separate communities.

The victims, whose ages were estimated by police at 35, 55 and 60, where found in the town of Nextipac about 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Police do not know what their business was, but residents said they had observed the men driving around for several hours earlier in the day. Nextipac, northwest of Guadalajara proper, is home to 3,500 people. This weekend residents are celebrating its founding.

Yucatán state government announces huge commercial investment commitment, with 5,000 new jobs as a bonus

U.S. companies bet on the land of the Maya

Mérida, Yucatán -
The secretary of economic development has announced that 10 domestic and foreign companies will invest 400 million pesos in business expansion from now through 2015, a move which the industries say will create up to 5,000 jobs in the largest of the peninsula's three states.

The investment is worth about $32 million US dollars. The companies indicated most of the money will be spent on enlarging existing physical facilities, purchasing new machinery and equipment and expanding their labor forces. In the first year alone the businesses said they would generate 2,365 new jobs in the state.

Mexico complains about "generic" U.S. State Department travel warnings

"Be more precise," urges Secretary of Tourism

Guadalajara -
Mexico's Secretary of Tourism, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, urged today that future U.S. warnings about the dangers of travel in Mexico "reflect specific locations and exact problems, rather than addressing security generically, in such a manner that it's possible to put into accurate perspective what's actually happening today in Mexico."

Attorney General Eric Holder's full court press in Moscow

Yet another wasted effort to move an unbudgeable Vladimir Putin in the Edward Snowden case

Guadalajara -
One week ago today confessed kidnapper and former CIA agent Robert Seldon Lady nicely made his way from Panama back to the U.S. Lady fled Italy six years ago, after orchestrating a 2003 operation in Milan which resulted in the "extraordinary rendition" of an Islamic cleric to Egypt, where he was subjected to torture for the next four years. Lady was convicted by an Italian court in 2009, and sentenced to eight years in prison. He's been on the lam ever since. Ex-CIA agent detained in Panama quickly returns to U.S..

There is an outstanding international arrest warrant for Lady, but the Justice Department has diligently avoided commenting on the case. The head man at Justice, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder, did have time this week to dispatch a letter to Moscow, assuring his counterpart that neither torture nor a death sentence is in store for Edward Snowden if the Russians will just hand him over. Perhaps the A.G. should call upon Mr. Rendition himself, Bob Lady . . . he's rather experienced in these matters.

Common crime, Guadalajara style

It's not just drug cartels you have to worry about in Jalisco

*Updated Aug. 16*
This brutal assault occurred in a busy commercial area Thursday, July 25. Neither police nor the state prosecutor have issued any statement on the case. Passersby didn't seem particularly concerned, either.

Federals will remain in Michoacán, promises Peña Nieto

"Regrettably, parts of the state have passed into the hands of organized crime" - Enrique Peña Nieto

Heroica Veracruz, Veracruz -
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for Mexican naval cadets, president Enrique Peña Nieto said today his government is working hard to restore peace in violent Michoacán state, where six Federal Police officers were killed in an ambush by unidentified gunmen on Tuesday.

"Michoacán has the full backing of the federal government, as we return the rule of law to every region of the state," he said. Yesterday Peña Nieto called an emergency meeting of his cabinet to deal with chronic instability in the area, which has plagued the new PRI administration since last spring.

Mexican army units fortify Jalisco-Michoacán border

Guadalajara -
In the wake of multiple attacks against Mexican Federal Police units in Michoacán on Tuesday, the commander of the Fifth District Military Region, Gen. Daniel Velasco Ramírez, announced today that the state border with Jalisco has been sealed by army units. Michoacán erupts; 22 dead as regional violence escalates.

"¿Por qué deberíamos preocuparnos?"

MGR's view -

"It's very early to take on a triumphal attitude, but the trend is already apparent" - Mexico's Secretary of Government Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, addressing what he called drug war progress on April 10

America's beloved Alfred E. Neuman* made the question famous.

More narco butchery in impoverished Guadalupe y Calvo

In default of a military presence, mayor solicits God's protection

Guadalajara -
Guadalupe y Calvo is a county in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. The county seat of the same name is home to about 6,000 persons.

There is no industry or commerce in the rural region, apart from raising marijuana and opium poppy. Those operations are controlled by competing drug cartels, which pay local workers $12-$15 dollars a day to till the land, bring in the harvest and pack the products for shipment north, to the U.S. border. No other economic livelihood is available for many, and there are mouths to feed.

Civilian militias stop Mexican army near Acapulco

*Updated Aug. 5*
Acapulco, Guerrero -
On the Mexico City to Acapulco highway today, about 500 local autodefensas blockaded the road to stop advancing federal troops, whom they contend are in the area to disarm them.

The events follow six ambushes yesterday against Federal Police convoys in neighboring Michoacán state, which left 22 persons dead, most of them assailants. The government has not said who was responsible for the guerrilla style attacks. Michoacán erupts; 22 dead as regional violence escalates.

Michoacán erupts; 22 dead as regional violence escalates

Nobody's fully in charge there

Attacks occurred in these and other spots today, with federales the targets

Guadalajara -
Michoacán state is swarming with federal troops and law enforcement personnel this evening after heavily armed insurgents launched six attacks against Federal Police convoys today. Commanders on the scene said they were ambushed.

The attacks killed 22, including two federal agents. Another 15 police officers were wounded in the multiple assaults by the yet unidentified gunmen. The remainder of the victims were the assailants.