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View Full Version : Mexico shootout leaves 18 dead in Tamaulipas state



Deepsepia
03-08-2011, 06:21 AM
Reading the newspaper, its my impression that casualty counts in Afghanistan and Mexico seem to be running at a somewhat similar pace-- the number I've seen for Mexico is 30,000 dead in the last 3 years. Now Mexico is a much bigger country than Afghanistan, but then again, its on our border, and Afghanistan is about as remote as a place can be. This slaughter should matter to us . . . Note that areas in Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, are now quite literally "lawless"-- no police presence

At least 18 people have been killed in gunbattles between rival gangs in a north-eastern Mexican town, police say.

The Tamaulipas state government said the fighting took place in the town of Abasolo, but gave no further details.

Reports said groups of gunmen in trucks and other vehicles had exchanged fire around the town.

Tamaulipas has been at the centre of a turf war between the Gulf and Los Zetas cartels which are battling to control lucrative drug smuggling routes.

Mexican media says Abasolo has lacked a state police command post for several months.

Reports said Tamaulipas residents exchanged Twitter messages about Monday's shootings hours before the bloodshed was confirmed by the state government. Some tweets warned people to stay indoors.

Abasolo is an agricultural community about 100km (60 miles) from the state capital Ciudad Victoria and has a population of about 14,000.

Godfather
03-08-2011, 08:27 AM
So fucked... and the media is so quiet on it. I guess it's not worth risking your life reporting. Can't say I'd do it.


Simply because the media is so quiet, my parents almost booked a trip... took a lot of convincing to show them that the deals were so good because it's not where you wana go. It's not just rough, it's a war zone. They changed to Hawaii thankfully :thumbsup:

That having been said, damn are the resorts cheap :lol: I might have to go...

Deepsepia
03-08-2011, 10:59 PM
So fucked... and the media is so quiet on it. I guess it's not worth risking your life reporting. Can't say I'd do it.


Yeah, they shoot reporters. Its a paradox. The fact that you haven't heard much about crime in a place usually means that its OK-- but sometimes it means its so dangerous that the reporters won't go.



Simply because the media is so quiet, my parents almost booked a trip... took a lot of convincing to show them that the deals were so good because it's not where you wana go. It's not just rough, it's a war zone. They changed to Hawaii thankfully :thumbsup:

That having been said, damn are the resorts cheap :lol: I might have to go...

Mexico is a big place -- you wouldn't even consider going to Tamaulipas for vacation-- its just a shithole on the Mexican side of the border with Texas.

Baja is still pretty safe. Acapulco and the "Mayan Riviera" -- I've heard mixed things. I think its a pretty good bet, all things considered.

FBD
03-09-2011, 02:58 PM
When I went there a couple years ago it was ok. But the Moon Palace has armed guards at the entrance :lol:

Either way, I say punish the bastards by punching them in their wallet and dont give them tourist dollars. If they dont want to get serious about improving their security situation, there is no reason to lend the financial support even if it is in the form of your business.

Deepsepia
03-09-2011, 06:47 PM
When I went there a couple years ago it was ok. But the Moon Palace has armed guards at the entrance :lol:

Either way, I say punish the bastards by punching them in their wallet and dont give them tourist dollars. If they dont want to get serious about improving their security situation, there is no reason to lend the financial support even if it is in the form of your business.

Or, we could help them out by not pouring billions of dollars into their narco-gangs, and then selling them advanced weaponry.

Mexico's civil war is "made in the USA".

Take a poor country. Offer ambitious and ruthless people the prospect of hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, just have to be willing to kill and be killed. Sell them any weapons they'd care to buy.

. . .and you get Mexico.

The best thing for Mexican security would be a really strict border security regime. You stop the drugs coming north and the guns & money going south and Mexico would have a chance.

Tourist dollars are "pro-stability" dollars. You see a lot of police paramilitary presence around tourist sites-- without the tourists, those guys would be out of a job. Tourism an incentive, and provides the dollars to "make stuff safe". Deprive Mexico of those, and the narco dollar is even more powerful.

FBD
03-09-2011, 08:05 PM
We've certainly made things worse, but "Made in USA"??? :roll:

Oh that's right, I forgot, the USA is responsible for all the world's ills.

Tourist dollars may be "pro-stability dollars" but when the government isnt willing to make a serious effort, then why simply support the status quo?

Sorry, they aint getting one more dollar of mine (that hasnt already been stolen by the feds and given away) to support their status quo.

Deepsepia
03-09-2011, 10:46 PM
We've certainly made things worse, but "Made in USA"??? :roll:

Oh that's right, I forgot, the USA is responsible for all the world's ills.


The world's? No. Mexico's? We've got a big role in their problems:

we pump billions of dollars into their black market.
we supply them with advanced weaponry in volume, stuff that they'd never get in similar volumes anywhere else




Tourist dollars may be "pro-stability dollars" but when the government isnt willing to make a serious effort, then why simply support the status quo?

There are a lot of dead Mexican policemen who thought they were "making a serious effort".

As to "why support the status quo?" -- do you want to see "legitimate Mexico" win? "Legitimate Mexico" is in a civil war with "narco-Mexico". If narco-Mexico prevails, then we have Afghanistan on our border, with 140 million people . . .

FBD
03-10-2011, 02:16 PM
:lol: ok, the ATF does something asinine and lets a chunk of automatic weapons go over the border, but to you, that's plenty of confirmation that supplying narco terrorists with weapons is a standard practice.

we pump billions into their black market because of the policies of our government.

their government ignored their issues for YEARS until it really came to be a significant problem. why is that the fault of the USA?