Mexican A.G.: Jalisco drug cartel armed Michoacán autodefensas

*Updated Feb. 21*
Guadalajara -
Civilian militias in Mexico, the so-called autodefensas, have been accused of being nothing more than armed gunmen in the service of drug cartels since they first appeared on the scene in early 2013. Peña Nieto's drug war czar says no to militias. Yesterday Mexico's attorney general, Jesús Murrillo Karam, suggested that may be true with some of the militias operating in Michoacán, where two violent drug cartels and local autodefensas struggling to maintain law and order have turned the state into an all out war zone in recent months.

Mexico gets a very poor 2013 economic report card

*Updated Feb. 21*
Guadalajara -
Mexico's national economy grew but 1.3% in 2013, a four year low according to the nation's federal tax and budget office. The bad news had been expected for many weeks.

In 2012 the Mexican economy grew more than three times that amount, topping out at exactly 4%. In a Jan. 25, 2013 speech, president Enrique Peña Nieto told an economic summit in Santiago, Chile that his country was poised for an encore in the year ahead. But by early summer the nation's central bank warned that rough seas were on the horizon. Banixco raises storm flag warning on Mexican economy. Expansion estimates dropped the remainder of the year, with some fearing the economy might grow 1% or less in 2013.

Federals capture key Matazeta operative in suburban Guadalajara

U.S. Consulate cautions Americans in Guadalajara

Zapopan, Jalisco -
Mexican army troops have arrested the son of the leader of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), a powerful organized crime group commonly known as Los Matazetas, or "Zeta killers."

Rubén Oseguera, son of CJNG top boss Nemesio Oseguera, was taken into custody during an early morning operation in Zapopan, a sprawling suburban community just beyond the Guadalajara city limits. There were no injuries, authorities reported during a noon press conference.

Bolivia's Evo Morales to CELAC: "Let's spy on the U.S."

Guadalajara -
Bolivian president Evo Morales has something of a fiery temper, and when it erupts he has a tendency to push the diplomatic envelope. He demonstrated the skill once more today in Havana, as the second Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) came to a close in Cuba.

Morales hasn't forgotten his undignified trip home from Russia last summer, where he attended a gas and oil summit hosted by president Vladimir Putin. In route to La Paz French officials denied his aircraft overflight rights, and the Bolivian plane was forced to double back to Austria to refuel and chart a new course - the ultimate insult to a foreign head of state. All of this occurred while former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was holed up in a Moscow airport, desperately looking for a new home. Snowden had received several offers from Latin American leaders, and there was suspicion he was hitching a ride west with Morales. Ultimately the Bolivian president had to consent to a search of his aircraft during an overnight stay in Vienna. He blamed it all on Washington. U.S. likely to have more troubles with Bolivia after Morales' aircraft is forced down.

Mexico' s anti-kidnapping plan: long on speeches, short on specifics

*Updated Mar. 7*
Guadalajara -
Mexico, the 2013 world leader in kidnappings, has announced a package of strategies to combat a crime which has spread at alarming proportions since the PRI government of president Enrique Peña Nieto took office on Dec. 1, 2012. Figuring out exactly what they are will defy even the most focused analysis.

Templarios gunmen arrested in Guadalajara metro

Spillover from Jalisco's violent next door neighbor

Guadalajara -
Three heavily armed members of the Michoacán based Los Caballeros Templarios drug cartel were arrested in metropolitan Guadalajara Saturday night, the Jalisco state prosecutor reported today.

The Templarios are under hot pursuit in Michoacán, where federal police and troops flooded the state two weeks ago in an effort to restore law and order in communities plagued by open combat between the cartel and civilian militias determined to eliminate them. Security throughout the state remains very uncertain.

20 Michoacán police officers charged as "Zeta Killers"

Guadalajara -
Mexico's attorney general, the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR), has announced that 20 municipal police officers from Vista Hermosa, Michoacán have been charged with being members of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), commonly known as Los Matazetas ("Zeta Killers").

Russians are the first to benefit from PEMEX reforms

Guadalajara -
When Mexico opened the doors of its national oil company, PEMEX, to private capital investment and foreign technical participation in December, almost everyone predicted that the first to take advantage of the new laws would be U.S. and European petroleum giants. That's not what happened.

Before president Enrique Peña Nieto departed the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Friday, he and his PRI administration team signed a contract with Russian oil monolith Lukoil (Лукойл), which operates in more than 40 countries and is purportedly the second largest public petroleum company after ExxonMobil in proven oil and gas reserves worldwide.

Peña Nieto's top domestic security adviser resigns

Guadalajara -
Colombian General Óscar Naranjo, appointed with much fanfare as chief domestic security consultant to president Enrique Peña Nieto only days after he was elected in July 2012, has resigned his post.

Florence Cassez will tell her story on the big screen

Guadalajara -
French national Florence Cassez, released from a 60 year prison sentence by Mexico's Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) one year ago yesterday, is ready to let the world know all about her experience with Mexican criminal justice.

Mexican national, convicted cop killer, executed in Texas

Immortalized by a norteño band, his case is viewed very differently in Mexico

Guadalajara -
Édgar Tamayo Arias, the latest focus of a long running legal battle between Mexico and the United States over the rights of Mexican citizens arrested on U.S. territory, was executed late today by the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice at Huntsville.

Mexican judges: warrantless cell phone tracking is legal

Guadalajara -
In a case of first impression, the full chamber of Mexico's Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) has ruled that prosecutors may track a cell phone through the GPS data it emits without first obtaining a judicial warrant.

Judicial ministers found that if criminal investigators are able to present a "minimally plausible case" demonstrating their need for the GPS data, the cell phone service provider must hand it over on a continuing basis, in real time. However, such prosecutorial requests must be confined to serious cases with exigent circumstances, where time is of the essence and lives may be at stake, such as kidnapping, extortion and organized crime offenses, a majority of the 11 member SJC ruled.

Michoacán security accord more of the same old song

Autodefensas say they're not backing off

Guadalajara -
Federal and state authorities convened a heavily advertised security conference today in Morelia, capital of Michoacán. Almost seven months ago the current PRI administration poured thousands of federal police and troops into the violent zone in an effort to subdue it, as did former PAN president Felipe Calderón in the opening act of the drug war in 2006. But things have gone from bad to worse.

The violins are out in Montreal

MGR's view

Guadalajara -
The Milenio news network reported this evening that protesters marched today in front of the Mexican consulate in Montreal. They were denouncing the arrest of co-nationals (presumably) Mlles. Fallon Poisson Rouiller and Amelie Pelletier, both caught in the act of firebombing a government installation and a car dealership in Mexico City Sunday night.

Mexican politicians draw scrutiny with lavish publicity expenditures

129,434,606 pesos on image enhancement, in one of Mexico's poorest states

Guadalajara -
In a country where the official poverty rate is 45%, and things may be getting harder, not easier, for the man on the street, Mexico's upward bound politicians spare not a centavo in boosting personal images.