National Action Party secretary assassinated in heart of Acapulco tourist zone

*Updated Oct. 18*
Acapulco -
The Guerrero state chair of Mexico's center right National Action Party was assassinated here about 9:00 a.m. today after stepping out of the El Mirador Hotel restaurant in the heart of the Acapulco tourist district.

Braulio Zaragoza Maganda Villalba was shot three times and died soon after.

The Guerrero Attorney General's office is investigating the case, but PAN officials have asked that a special prosecutor be appointed.

Mexico's Guerrero state in extreme civil disorder

300 local police under investigative loupe for killing school teachers, civilians during an unruly protest

Acapulco -
Mexico's southwestern Pacific state of Guerrero remains tense today, after seven people were kidnapped and killed Thursday by organized crime operatives or local citizen militias at two different locations in the state's northern and southern limits.

Mexican peso hits 2014 low against U.S. dollar

*Updated Oct. 16*
Guadalajara -
It'good news for American expats and U.S. travelers, but generally bad news for the Mexican on the street.

Measured against the dollar, the peso hit its 2014 low today according to Banixco, the nation's central bank.

Holders of pesos who wanted to buy dollars had to hand over as much as 13.74 in major Mexico City banks - but of course such transactions affect few Americans. In the more typical scenario, those who visited their local ATM machine to withdraw pesos against a U.S. bank account received an average of 13.45 pesos per dollar - one of the best exchange rates since 2012.

Mexico's angry Chamber of Deputies demands results in Gabriel Gómez kidnapping, murder investigation

"The insecurity that exists in Mexico today is a matter that demands the State's firm attention. We cannot afford to accustom ourselves to crime and violence that remains sheltered with impunity."

*Updated: No clues from security cameras where kidnappings occurred, Secretary of Government tells legislators (below)*

Guadalajara -
Mexico's lower legislative chamber, the Camara de Diputados, lost one of its own this week in an act of almost unimaginable violence, and yesterday the often politically divided chamber was fully united in demanding action from law enforcement officials at all levels.

The Camara observed a minute of silence on the day Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Deputy Dr. Gabriel Gómez Michel was interred in this city, where he received his medical degree 24 years ago. Gómez, 49, and an assistant were nabbed Monday afternoon while in route to the Guadalajara International Airport, seized by a well organized commando team traveling in at least six separate vehicles. The incinerated bodies of both men were found hours later in a remote area of neighboring, cartel saturated Zacatecas state. Jalisco federal deputy kidnapped in Guadalajara is found murdered. There have been no arrests and no announced suspects in the case.

Employment and other discrimination based on tattoos, body piercings could be outlawed in Federal District

Guadalajara -
A legislative deputy in the Federal District (Mexico City) General Assembly plans to introduce a bill which would criminalize discrimination against any person based upon tattoos or body piercings.

Jalisco's chief prosecutor ordered to appear before state Congress, to explain downward spiraling security

"There are signs that things are not so good. We can't continue waiting for results which have been promised, but have yet to arrive." - State Security Commission chairman

*Updated Sept. 25*
Guadalajara -
State prosecuting attorney Luís Carlos Nájera has been ordered to appear before a Jalisco legislative commission to answer questions concerning an unprecedented increase in organized crime violence since the administration of Governor Aristóteles Sandoval took office on Mar. 1, 2013.

Peña Nieto calls for multinational effort against drug traffickers during U.N. week appearances

. . . and insists that Mexico is becoming safer

Guadalajara -
Addressing the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations today, Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto said that a unified multinational effort will be necessary to effectively take on drug cartels operating in the northern hemisphere.

"I believe that we must present a common front," said Peña Nieto. "The cartels are not just operating in one country; they have an international presence."

Jalisco federal deputy kidnapped in Guadalajara found murdered

He and his assistant were seized yesterday in route to the airport; no ransom was demanded

The tranquil appearance of Tlaquepaque's popular shopping district gives no hint that organized crime operates at will in the historic town and its environs, just beyond Guadalajara's city limits

*Updated Sept. 25*
Guadalajara -
Gabriel Gómez Michel, a federal deputy who represented the state of Jalisco in Mexico's lower legislative chamber, the Camara de Diputados, was found murdered today in Apulco, Zacatecas.

In New York, Enrique Peña Nieto to receive prestigious World Statesman award

Guadalajara -
President Enrique Peña Nieto departed Mexico City this afternoon to attend next week's 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

It will be his first attendance at the General Assembly since taking office on Dec. 1, 2012. Peña Nieto's predecessor delivered his farewell address to the U.N. on Sept. 26, 2012. "Drug users are killing thousands of young people in the developing nations," Felipe Calderón tells United Nations.

Jalisco, Baja California top Mexico's "Red Alert" list

*Updated Sept. 23*
Guadalajara -
The Enrique Pena Nieto administration is intensely focused on incipient security challenges in Jalisco and Baja California, and is "very worried about the deteriorating situation in both states," according to Mexican journalist Carlos Loret de Mola.

Loret de Mola, a respected columnist for Mexico City's El Universal, called Jalisco and Baja California the two new decomposing states, citing sources at "the highest level" in a piece published yesterday.

Calderón: local governments in Michoacán are corrupt, still work with organized crime

Guadalajara -
Mexico's now 93 month old drug war officially began in early December 2006, when then PAN president Felipe Calderón Hinojosa sent federal security forces marching into his home state of Michoacán, to confront violent drug cartels which had threatened to virtually take over a region long famous for its lemon, lime and avocado production.

In May 2013, six months after he took office, current PRI president Enrique Peña Nieto delivered an encore as Michoacán security continued to deteriorate. After admitting on July 25 of last year that "parts of the state have passed into the hands of organized crime," Peña Nieto flooded the state with federal troops once again in January 2014. Michoacán security accord more of the same old song.

The United States of Mexico is 204

Fr. Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo Costilla

Born May 8, 1753. Died before a firing squad, July 30, 1811. Roman Catholic priest, father of the Mexican Revolution. His simple challenge to parishoners early on the morning of Sept. 16, 1810 changed everything:

Mexican Federal Police ambush of CIA agents in 2012 was no accident, press source alleges

Controversy lingers over what really happened at the village of Three Marys

Guadalajara -
Mexico City's investigative newspaper La Jornada reported yesterday that despite the conflicting claims of PRI administration officials, a bizarre attack by 14 Federal Police (FP) officers on two undercover CIA agents in route to Cuernavaca, Morelos in August 2012 was purposeful.

"The officers intended to kill the agents, because they regarded them as 'dangerous criminals' " alleged the paper, which said it had examined court documents in the ongoing trial of the 14.

Peña Nieto has harsh words for Texas Gov. Rick Perry

In a wide ranging interview, the president also acknowledges Mexico's enormous income disparity

Guadalajara -
In Mexico City's National Palace this week, president Enrique Peña Nieto called the militarization of the border with Texas National Guard troops "not only unpleasant, but condemnable."

"It's a completely unacceptable policy that will not promote friendship and cordiality between our nations," Peña Nieto told journalist Jacob Zabludovsky.

"And that's particularly true when we see that many other American states have changed their policies towards the Latin migrant population," added the 47 year old president.

Hepatitis A cases skyrocket in Yucatán in 2014

No chlorination of water supplies is suspected

Mérida, Yucatán -
Diagnosed cases of Hepatitis A, an infectious disease of the liver which typically results from poor sanitation and feces-contaminated food and water, rose sharply in the state through Sept. 1 according to the capital city's main daily, Diario de Yucatán.

The failure by state municipios, or counties, to adequately chlorinate reservoirs in local water districts may be the reason, the paper reported in its morning edition today. Yucatán has 106 municipios, each with an administrative center (county seat) and commonly other towns as well.