Travel Risk

And Yet Another Reason Why The War in Mexico Bothers Me

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Gunmen Kill 17 at Party in Mexico – NYTimes.com

Across northern Mexico, there have been increasing reports of mass shootings at parties, bars and rehab clinics.

In the worst such massacre this year, gunmen raided a drug-rehab center in the northern city of Chihuahua and killed 19 people last month. In January, gunmen barged into a private party in the border city of Ciudad Juarez and killed 15, many of them high school or university students. Relatives say the January attack was a case of mistaken identity, while state officials claim someone at the party was targeted, although they have not said who it was.

The killings in Torreon came three days after the first successful car bombing by drug cartels, an attack that introduced a new threat to Mexico’s raging drug war.

War Dead Nearly 25,000 in Mexico

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Mexico car bomb: ‘Colombianization’ of Mexico nearly complete – CSMonitor.com

Mexico had already overtaken Colombia in terms of kidnappings. The public has long gotten accustomed to a censored press, threats to politicians, and grisly violence that includes decapitation and bodies hanging from highway overpasses. Now, it appears, Mexico has moved even closer to the kind of violence that plagued the South American nation in its darkest days.

A well-orchestrated car bomb exploded in Ciudad Juarez late Thursday, across from El Paso, Texas, killing at least three and sparking panic among the Mexican population. It is the first known use of a car bomb against authorities and the local population, and marks a troubling new level of violence as traffickers seeking to control the drug trade battle one another and Mexican authorities.

The War in Mexico – Update 4/5/2010

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New adversary in U.S. drug war: Contract killers for Mexican cartels – washingtonpost.com

A cross-border drug gang born in the prison cells of Texas has evolved into a sophisticated paramilitary killing machine that U.S. and Mexican officials suspect is responsible for thousands of assassinations here, including the recent ambush and slaying of three people linked to the U.S. consulate.

The heavily tattooed Barrio Azteca gang members have long operated across the border in El Paso, dealing drugs and stealing cars. But in Ciudad Juarez, the organization now specializes in contract killing for the Juarez drug cartel. According to U.S. law enforcement officers, it may have been involved in as many as half of the 2,660 killings in the city in the past year.

The special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in El Paso, Joseph Arabit, said, “Our intelligence indicates that they kill frequently for a hundred dollars.“

Greetings From NYC

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While it is true I don’t get out much, I do get out now and then.  The MUD meeting was awesome.  If you get the opportunity to attend this underwriting meeting, don’t pass it up.

But do take a pass on room service.

I stayed in a midtown hotel of reasonably good quality.  The room service breakfast menu had a Build Your Own Omelete for $24.95.  Thankfully, coffee was included.  Juice? Add another $7.00.  Once you add an 18% service charge, tax, and delivery fee it starts looking real expensive.

I’ve never had a omelete, coffee, and juice that cost over $40.00.

I’m going back to Oklahoma.