Mexico: Violence Continues: Beheadings and Bombings – Will a New President from an Old Party Bring Peace to the U.S. and Mexican Border?

Newly Elected President of Mexico - Enrique Pena Nieto and Family - image: nbclatino.com



From the Telegraph (UK): Enrique Peña Nieto, (Institutional Revolutionary Party –PRI) won the Presidential Elections held in Mexico this past week. The party had ruled for decades prior to 2000- but was ousted over corruption and violence. That said, the problems with violent Drug Cartels and a stagnant economy, plus the popularity of Neito, who is married to one of Mexico’s most famous soap opera stars, Angelica Rivera (ABC News) coupled with promises of reform without a return to the corruption of the past, propelled him to victory. (Telegraph)

However, the violence in Mexico has continued with a dozen dismembered bodies were discovered in Durango State (Borderland Beat), coupled with a car bombing, days before the election in Neuvo Laredo which is less than 2 hours drive from Carrizo Springs, TX, and the beheading of rival drug members which was videotaped and placed online (ABC News).

It remains to be seen, therefore, how the new President, who officially takes office in December, will deal with the cartels: either through a mutual agreement as in past decades under PRI party rule, or other methods not yet know. It that without serious intervention, including marshal law and a complete military compliance with zero tolerance for gangs – little can be done to stem the ever increasing battles on and crossing the U.S. Mexican border into neighboring states (Texas and Arizona (less in California as the border has been secured with 18-foot-high fences and camera monitors in hard-to-reach valleys(USA Today).

President Obama did call and congratulate President elect, Enrique Peña Nieto, but did not mention the drug cartels or address the growing violence on the border. (Yahoo News) This is most likely related to the ongoing scandal with the Justice Department under Attorney General Eric Holder who was found to be in Contempt of Congress for refusing to submit documents relating to the Fast and Furious gun exchange with Mexican Cartels which led to the death of a border patrol agent and untold numbers of Mexican nationals (Alaska Dispatch). President Obama has exercised Executive Privilege in refusing to release the documents subpoenaed by Congress in this case, protecting Holder. The President insists he knows nothing about the situation. That said, the administration has offered a $5 million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of one of the cartel members who has operations in both the U.S. and Mexico (U.S. Department of Justice).

Mexico, it appears, is on its own, with a new President, an old political party and an out-of-control border war that once was based on the occasional shootout, but has morphed into Middle Eastern like car bombings, beheadings and dismemberments. As this is occurring right on the U.S. border as well as in popular cities throughout Mexico, it bears watching by those planning trips to Mexico, as well as Border States in the U.S. It also gives credence to Arizona’s Governor, Jan Brewer, who has fought relentlessly for the rights of Arizonan’s to protect themselves from the overflow violence. She has gone head to head with the administration, and has won a partial victory in the Supreme Court over enforcement of the Arizona Law SB1070. Governor Brewer is one of the biggest advocates for a controlled U.S. Mexican border to preserve the peace, lives and livelihood of Arizona and U.S. residents.

Of course, it remains to be seen if the popular new President will have an impact on the border, but, as Mexico’s elections, which require a national voter i.d. card (USA Today), are based on the will of the people, his political fortunes may depend upon finding a solution to end the violence.

Rene Orta, Mexican Journalist - Murdered – Latest Journalist to be Killed in Mexico – Press in Mexico Death Sentence for Reporting on?

The body of Rene Orta discovered in trunk of his car - image and article from Siempre.com.mx

From Presna Latina: A Mexican journalist, Rene Orta, was found in the trunk of a car, cause of death not yet determined – he is the latest victim in a string of atrocities that appear to be a daily occurrence in this nation. . It is uncertain if the fact that the Orta was working for the Presidential campaign of the very popular, Enrique Peña Nieto, was a factor. (Presna Latina)

There was a case earlier in May, 2012 :

“The bodies of two Mexican news photographers who specialized in the crime beat were found along with the bodies of a former photojournalist and a fourth individual in a canal in the city of Boca del Río, in Veracruz state, according to news reports.
The dismembered bodies of photographers Gabriel Huge Córdova and Guillermo Luna Varela were found along with the body of Esteban Rodríguez, a former Veracruz news photographer, and Irasema Becerra, who was said to have been Luna's companion, according to news reports. News accounts said Huge and Luna had disappeared on Wednesday.”

(CPI.org)

The statistics are troubling, to say the least, journalism in Mexico is a high-risk profession, according to Presna Latina, The National Commission on Human Rights has filed 580 complaints since 2005. In that period, of known incidents: there were 79 journalists, 14 who had disappeared and an additional 26 assaults on media intuitions in the nation of Mexico. (Prena Latina)

Understanding that the drug cartels are extremely dangerous, does not belie the fact that even organized crime would welcome “good press” from time to time, and or the opportunity to allow the media to report in order to show their hold over the nation that separates the United States from Latin American – this appears not to be the case. There are instances where the brutality of the murders (decapitation, dismemberment) are not the norm of Mexican Culture, which begs the question, what have these dead and or missing journalist discovered that puts them at such a high risk? It could very well be that the war between the “king pins” of drugs that run the cartels and the nation, have become so violent that it is more than a high risk, rather suicidal. Perhaps it is hoped that if journalists do not report, then they will be able to precede business as usual – however, there is little to suggest that the nation in that time had a high success rate in corralling the king pins, and the violence against innocents, gang members, and members of the press, continues unabated. So what would be the purpose? Unless of course there may be a larger, underlying story unfolding in Mexico, one which would mean an immediate death sentence for anyone who might be looking for the scoop of the century. What that might be, is anyone’s guess.

Then again, there is the distinct possibility that the alleged drug cartels are only a cover story for terrorists, who are more familiar with the culture of beheading: The blog: Right Side News, chronicles the increase of Jihadist in the nation to our south – entitled Mexican Jihad, they cite sources such as the New York Daily News: “Close to home: Hezbollah terrorists are plotting right on the U.S. border” (2010), , The German News outlet, Der Spiegel, from 2005 offer the report “Praying to Allah in Mexico, Islam Is Gaining a Foothold in Chiapasl”.

Whatever the case may be, at this point, it is obvious that the nation of Mexico is out of control, and that it lays directly on an open border with the United States, one which may be the only hope for those escaping either the drug wars or the more troubling concept of having those who have vowed to destroy the west, within walking distance. Either way, as administration after U.S. administration has closed its eyes to the distinct possibility that an open border policy may not be such a great idea, and promises made by politicians are not kept, for fear that they may lose a constituency who apparently would destroy any political capital if someone had the gall to secure the U.S. border. Time for someone, on either side of the border, to step up and protect not only the citizens on the U.S. border, but the citizens behind what can only be referred to now as the Mexican Front lines. This last, an hypothesis based on minimal reporting, (outside of the Mexican state where any Reporting might land one a death sentence), cultural abnormalities, and the inclination for actual “crime” bosses to be more flamboyant, cultivating loyalty through both intimidation as well as charity. This is puzzling, and it appears that as more journalists are silenced, the true story of how, in less than a decade, the nation to our south has become the subject of world headlines touting multiple murders on a weekly or often more frequent, basis.

Mexican Drug War – 49 Bodies Found at U.S. Border Town – Beheadings and The Mexican Culture - A Mystery.

The most recent Mexican Beheadings & Mutilations: image from indiatv.com

The Violent Drug Gang War, that has seen an increasing body count, has been a situation in Mexico for years. In 2011 the incidents of beheading and mutilation began to appear, with victims ranging from journalist to alleged “rival drug cartel” members, yet there was little to no reporting on the growing number of incidents. It has, in some reports, spilled over the U.S. border(MSNBC) The latest is a mass murder of 48 individuals, found in a pool of blood on the road to one of the larger border cities being reported widely in U.S. newspapers:

Forty-nine bodies with their heads, hands and feet hacked off were found Sunday dumped on a northern Mexico highway leading to the Texas border in what appeared to be the latest massacre in an escalating war between Mexico's two dominant drug cartels. (San Francisco Chronicle)

How does beheading figure into Mexican Culture? It appears in only ancient instances – the main example being the Aztecs “ball games”, where the loser was summarily beheaded. Other than that there is little mention of the act of beheading as common in the Mexican Culture – rather, ripping out of the heart, was popular in the Mayan Culture, but of which have little bearing, other than commercial tourism on today’s Mexico.

Surprisingly there are few other modern cultures which actively use decapitation in practice, either terror and/or as a style of execution. One mostly finds instances in the Middle East, for example Saudi Arabia uses beheading as a means of execution(CBS News). An interesting report of modern-day beheading and culture by by Ronald Jones, a Carlisle Paper by the U.S. Army War College, is both historically accurate and well written (U here in PDF). In the report, the topics cover ancient civilizations and the methodology of execution by beheading, however, it then covers modern day executions as well as the use of the methodology in terror organizations, specifically in the Middle East. Also of note: the use of hanging multiple bodies from bridges do not appear outside of current history, except for two incidents, the Iraq war, and theorist use of the method, and the Mexican “drug war”. Although mass hangings did take place on what is now U.S. soil, it was the British Government whose “war on pirates” resulted in the hangings in pre-revolutionary Newport RI.

Which begs the question: Where did the “drug cartels” discover the art of beheading? Was it through their ancient cultures – if so, there would be more hearts ripped out of bodies than heads lying on the streets. One might speculate with the open border between the U.S. and Mexico, funds needed by terrorist organizations in the Middle East and the easy access to Mexico from those nations in the Middle East and Africa that use beheadings in terrorism , coupled with the huge amount of capital that can be gained from running drugs for cash and weapons (see Fast and Furious), if there isn’t another influence at work.