Spring Break

It's that time of year again. I think we all know some kid that wants to go to Mexico for Spring Break. MSNBC had a small news piece this morning, Sunday 03/07/10, that the Dept of State had issued a 'travel alert' for Mexico.
Source is HERE.

...Recent violent attacks have caused the U.S. Embassy to urge U.S. citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of Michoacán, Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua (see details below), and to advise U.S. citizens residing or traveling in those areas to exercise extreme caution. ...

...A number of areas along the border continue to experience a rapid growth in crime. Robberies, homicides, petty thefts, and carjackings have all increased over the last year across Mexico, with notable spikes in Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and northern Baja California. Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana and Nogales are among the cities which have experienced public shootouts during daylight hours in shopping centers and other public venues. Criminals have followed and harassed U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles in border areas including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, and Tijuana. Travelers on the highways between Monterrey and other parts of Mexico to the United States (notably through Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros) have been targeted for robbery and violence and have also inadvertently been caught in incidents of gunfire between criminals and Mexican law enforcement. Such incidents are more likely to occur at night but may occur at any time.

The situation in the state of Chihuahua, specifically Ciudad Juarez, is of special concern. The U.S. Consulate General recommends that American citizens defer non-essential travel to the Guadalupe Bravo area southeast of Ciudad Juarez and to the northwest quarter of the state of Chihuahua including the city of Nuevo Casas Grandes and surrounding communities. From the United States, these areas are often reached through the Columbus, NM and Fabens and Fort Hancock, TX ports-of-entry. In both areas, American citizens have been victims of drug related violence....
..

Read the whole 'travel alert' at the source above.
AM

[incarcerated]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...vX4hTDQ3gbzRzg

American consular employee killed in Mexico shooting: US

(AFP) – 2 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Unidentified killers have murdered an American employee of the US consulate in a Mexican border city along with her American husband and the husband of another consular employee, the White House said Sunday.

President Barack Obama "is deeply saddened and outraged by the news of the brutal murders of three people associated with the United States Consulate General in Ciudad Juárez," a national security council spokesman said.

Mike Hammer, the spokesman, said the dead included an American employee of the consulate, her American husband, and the husband of a Mexican consular employee.

The statement did not provide details of the incident in Ciudad Juarez, where more than 2,600 people were murdered last year in drug-related violence.

MSNBC this morning just reported that the US Consulates in Northern Mexico have authorized dependents to be sent home due to the ongoing violence.

link here.

State Department warns of violence threat
(AP) – 2 hours ago

WASHINGTON — The State Department is authorizing U.S. government employees at six U.S. consulates in northern Mexico to send their family members out of the area because of concerns about rising drug-related violence.

The department says the family members are authorized to leave until April 12. The six consulates are in the border cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros.

The department said in a statement Sunday that recent violent attacks have led the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to advise American citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of the Mexican states of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[incarcerated]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-a...tory?track=rss

In Mexico, 13 killed in Acapulco area, 11 others elsewhere in Guerrero

Five police officers are slain and the bullet-riddled bodies of eight men are found in Acapulco just as foreign tourists are arriving for spring break.
By Tracy Wilkinson
March 14, 2010
Reporting from Mexico City
At least 13 people were killed Saturday, some of them beheaded, around the popular beach resort of Acapulco, just as foreign visitors have begun arriving for spring break.

Elsewhere in the Guerrero state where Acapulco is located, 11 other people, including soldiers and suspected traffickers, were killed, authorities said.

The dead in Acapulco included five police officers, authorities said, who were ambushed while on patrol on the city's outskirts about 2 a.m.

Over the next four hours, the bullet-riddled bodies of eight men were discovered in three locations, police said. Four had been beheaded, in the style typical of drug traffickers who have been at war with one another and with government forces for three years.

The government is especially sensitive to reports of drug-war violence in tourist destinations such as Acapulco and Cancun. But no region is immune. Guerrero state is one of Mexico's most violent: Its position on the Pacific coast makes it a prime transit route for smuggling narcotics to the U.S. and coveted turf for warring cartels.

In June, as Acapulco was putting its hopes on a recovering tourist industry, 18 gunmen and soldiers were killed in battles one weekend in one of the city's seaside neighborhoods....

[Richard]

Another conspiracy to keep the $$ circulating here at home in these trying times...Party America First!

Richard

Originally Posted by Richard

Another conspiracy to keep the $$ circulating here at home in these trying times...Party America First!

Richard

Oh puhleeze.. having survived the spring break hordes on St Pete Beach..............

[echoes]

Originally Posted by armymom1228

"The department says the family members are authorized to leave until April 12. The six consulates are in the border cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros."link here.

Another conspiracy to keep the $$ circulating here at home in these trying times...Party America First!

Richard

Am honestly curious because I used to frequent some of these places while living in La Jolla... is this normal for the State Dept. to issue these warnings in these locaations?

Holly

[LarryW]

RIP, fellow citizens. Vio con Dios.

President Barack Obama "is deeply saddened and outraged ...

Boy, they're in trouble now. POTUS is "outraged".

In the meantime, he's on his way home to Jakarta.

Originally Posted by echoes

Am honestly curious because I used to frequent some of these places while living in La Jolla... is this normal for the State Dept. to issue these warnings in these locaations?

Holly

NO, it is due to the ongoing drug wars in Mexico. It's getting very very nasty down there.

Here as a short bit of info from the BBC.

US fury at Mexico consular deaths
Three people connected to the US consulate in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez have been killed, the White House has said.

They include a consulate employee and her husband, both American, and the Mexican husband of another employee.

The White House said President Barack Obama was "outraged" by the murders and would work with Mexican officials to bring the killers to justice.

Mexico is battling a drug war that has killed some 18,000 people since 2006.

Meanwhile, the State Department has authorised government employees at six US consulates in northern Mexico to send their family members out of the area over concerns about rising drug-related violence.

The six consulates are in the border cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros.

Drug wars

The three victims were killed in drive-by shootings on Saturday afternoon, a US official told the BBC on condition of anonymity, citing privacy considerations.

"The president is deeply saddened and outraged by the news," White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement.

"In concert with Mexican authorities, we will work tirelessly to bring their killers to justice," he added.

The White House statement did not provide any details of the incident in Ciudad Juarez, where more than 2,600 people were murdered last year in drug-related violence.


Recent violent attacks have led the US Embassy in Mexico City to advise American citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of the Mexican states of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua, the State Department said in a statement on Sunday.
On Saturday, 13 people were killed in an outbreak of drug-related violence in the southern Mexican beach resort of Acapulco, officials said.

Acapulco is one of Mexico's biggest tourist resorts, but in recent years it has been the scene of bloody turf wars between rival drug cartels.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...as/8567071.stm

Published: 2010/03/14 16:32:02 GMT

I tend to pay a bit more attention than most, due to having a Sister living in La Paz/Mazatlan most of the year. She says I am a 'worry-wart'... but hey, I adore her and would not want to have to attend her funeral any sooner than necessary.
YMMV
AM

[incarcerated]

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...rs-mexico.html

Mexican officers dismembered, put in bags

Mar. 22, 2010 05:57 PM
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY - The pre-dawn discovery of two bodies cut into pieces and shoved into two black bags brought a tragic end Monday to a search for two missing police officers in the southern state of Guerrero.

One of the victims was a regional commander, the other a state police officer. Notes written on yellow cards were attached to the bags, but police refused to disclose what they said. Drug cartel killers frequently attach messages to bodies.

In the nearby resort of Acapulco, police later found another two mutilated bodies and a threatening message outside the house of the city's former deputy traffic police chief....