Sister City erupts again with widespread gunbattles
By
Laredo Morning Times
Published: Thursday, July 22, 2010 2:26 AM CDT
More bloody gunbattles erupted in Nuevo Laredo on Wednesday night, leaving several people dead and an unknown number injured as armed gunmen fought each other through the streets near the center of the city, on Colosio Boulevard in the Parque Viveros area, on Guerrero, on Reforma and other parts of the city.
“I saw a dead body hanging out of a car,” near the restored historic train station downtown, said one witness who asked not to be identified.
Most of the heavy violence seemed to occur between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
At about 10:30 p.m., one government source said soldiers were patrolling the streets and things appeared to be slightly calmer, but that few people were venturing into the streets.
Sheriff Martin Cuellar said preliminary information indicated one gunbattle broke out near the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge.
“We’re on alert at this time,” Cuellar said at about 9 p.m.
Investigator Joe E. Baeza, Laredo Police Department spokesman, also said authorities had confirmed the gunbattles in Nuevo Laredo and that Laredo Police had received numerous calls from Laredo residents saying they could hear the gunfire across the river.
At about 9:30 p.m., the U.S. Consulate General in Nuevo Laredo issued a warden message, saying there were reports of gunbattles near the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Colonia Victoria and also in the Viveros area of town, where Expomex is located.
“There are reports of the gun battles now moving into other parts of the city at this time and all U.S. citizens are advised to shelter in place until further notice,” stated the message posted at the consulate’s website.
Reports of the gunbattles filled Twitter and Facebook, starting after 7 p.m. and continuing well into the night.
“Parece guerra … lluvia de balas!!!...esta horrible!!” (It looks like war … rainfall of bullets!!!) read one Twitter report from a Nuevo Laredo resident.
Another wrote: “De nuevo balaceras, carros atravesados en las calles … dios nos cuide...” (Again there are shootouts, cars blocking the streets … God protect us)
At a downtown gas station in Laredo, a taxi driver from Nuevo Laredo was overheard telling another motorist that his dispatcher was warning drivers in Nuevo Laredo to park their cars, take their keys and take cover because gunmen were carjacking vehicles to block roads.
Nextel traffic filled the airwaves as people trapped inside their workplaces and restaurants called family and friends to report the danger.
Streets were reported blocked at 15 de Septiembre and Reforma and Paseo Colon and Reynosa, among others.
At about 10:30 p.m., the City of Nuevo Laredo’s Facebook page reported that the risk appeared to be over for now and asked people who had abandoned their cars or whose cars were blocking streets to “please go pick them up, carefully.”
Wednesday’s attack was just the latest in a series of violent outbreaks in the Sister City.
On Friday, 12 people were killed in gunbattles between alleged drug traffickers and soldiers.
On Monday, an unknown person dressed in civilian clothes tossed a grenade into a late-night crowd at a sports complex, killing one person and injuring 16, including several children.
And on Tuesday, a grenade was lobbed at a police car parked at an auto repair shop, but no injuries were reported.
Warden Message: Nuevo Laredo (Mexico) Reports of Ongoing Gun Battles
Consular Affairs Bulletins
U.S. Consulate General Nuevo Laredo released the following Warden Message on July 21:
The U.S. Consulate General has received reports of ongoing gun battles near the International Bridge 2 in the Colonia Victoria and Viveros areas of town. There are reports of the gun battles now moving into other parts of the city at this time and all U.S. citizens in the area are advised to shelter in place until further notice.
For the latest security information, U.S. citizens traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's internet web site at http://travel.state.gov/ where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, and Travel Alerts can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States and Canada, or, for callers from Mexico, a regular toll line at 001-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). American citizens traveling or residing overseas are encouraged to register with the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate on the State Department's travel registration website at https://travelregistration.state.gov/.
For any emergencies involving U.S. citizens in Mexico, please contact the U.S. Embassy or the closest U.S. Consulate. The numbers provided below for the Embassy and Consulates are available around the clock. The U.S. Embassy is located in Mexico City at Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, telephone from the United States: 011-52-55-5080-2000; telephone within Mexico City: 5080-2000; telephone long distance within Mexico 01-55-5080-2000. You may also contact the Embassy by e-mail at: ACSMexicoCity@state.gov The Embassy's internet address is http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/.
The Consulate General in Nuevo Laredo is located at Allende 3330, Colonia Jardin, Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The Consulate General’s telephone number from the U.S. is (011)(52)(867) 714-0512; within Mexico, (01) (867) 714-0512. The fax number is (011)(52)(867) 714-6075. For additional inquiries,
This is all out civil war. What else can it be called?
ReplyDeletewe need to build a wall around nuevo laredo and have mexicos best law enforcement to not let any more criminals in from the south.
ReplyDeleteComplete psychosis. And what are they fighting over? They already have money. They already use politicians as puppets. They have complete control over cities, states, and maybe the president. You would think they had enough sense to all come to an agreement and divide up their routes and chill the fukkkk out!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI can say that the US gov should have to take some action immediatly by stoping all these drug consumers living in the US. My personal experience had allowed me to see people on the streets and bathroom's bar selling/buying/using drugs in a daily basis after all all those problems are because of the high demand here in the US...FYI Im not a consumer.
ReplyDeleteThat would require the police to arrest pretty much EVERYONE in America because from what I've seen most people use some drug or another. The only way to put some of this to rest is for the Americans to legitimize the drug trade and make it safer for the consumer and the dealer to conduct business in a relatively controlled and safe environment, away from innocent bystanders who want nothing to do with this.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has ever seen The Wire, the police created a zone for drug consumption and distribution called "Hamsterdam" it wasn't pretty but it worked.
This is not a civil war, the reason for those chaos are not political per se. It is over the right to extort, steal, drug smuggling rights to a specific territory. there is no respect for law and order which means whatever remains of any semblance of government is illegitimate. As longs as this is so criminals will always kill each other for the bigger piece of the pie.
ReplyDeleteHow can people in the US be on welfare Social Security Food stamps Medicade etc,etc and use illegal drugs?? Drug test everybody in the US if dirty cut off the govt titty. Many high performance companies require drug testing. It would not surprise me if the Obomacrats make drug testing illegal??There is a reason Drugs are illegal, because they destroy the productivity of the society,broken familys,unimployment,crime, I for one remember when drugs were not a national problem and the vast Majority of Americans were responsible hard working citizens What Happened?? All The arguments MX and US about the war in Mex about who is at fault-- just another symptom of our decaying social structures. OH WELL!!!
ReplyDeleteBullshit. Drugs are a symptom of our problems in American society. We are too focused on materialism and not on enjoying and appreciating life. We do not focus on the spiritual self, and allow so many of our citizens to live in demoralizing poverty. We have gradually lost morals and values. Drugs are a symptom of our sickness
ReplyDeleteAaron H
Please quit blaming the US and its citizens for Mexico's culturally embedded malfeasance.
ReplyDelete"This state corruption has enabled and generally encouraged the growth of Mexico’s drug cartels, which otherwise might have been prevented from growing as they did. President Felipe Calderon’s Drug War has revealed for the first time the extent to which top Mexican authorities have been bought off by the cartels. What some have lost sight of, however, is that PRI cooperation with the cartels was never much of a secret."
http://www.centerforajustsociety.org/2010/01/21/27765/cjs-forum/terror-and-corruption-in-mexico-part-one/
Whu not nato dont do nothing its so pathatic so shameful this cowards can get away with all this murders to me itd all out civil war.so sad the mexican gov dont or can't do nothing.
ReplyDeleteOBAMA,CALDERON,AND THEIR GOVERMNETS ARE COWARDS...HOW CAN THEY LOOK IT THEIR KIDS EYES AND HUG THEM..BUT YET INNOCENTS KIDS ARE DYING IN MEXICO AND US SOUTHERN BORDER..WAT EXAMPLE IS THE US AND OBAMA ARE THEY SETTING FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD! MARINES, RANGERS, AND NAVY SEALS WHAT GOOD ARE THEY? DO WE ONLY HAVE THEM TO INVADE COUNTRIES WITH OIL? PLEASE MR. OBAMA DON'T LET MY COMMENT STOP YOU...WHILE INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE DYING..OH! AND STOP SENDING MILLIONS OF MONEY TO CALDERON, SEND TROOPS YOU COWARD!HOW SAD THAT WE HAVE A MILITARY THAT IS MATCHLESS, YET WE JUST HAVE TO HANG IT IN OUR TROPHY SHELF JUST LIKE A FISH! SO MAD! I'M SURE U R TOO!
ReplyDeleteI agree, We should random drug test anyone who is recieving any kind of government assistance. ...Test positive, loose assistance. plain & simple.
ReplyDeleteThe reason random drug testing and "cutting off the Govt Titty" won't work is because the welfare system is actually a giant payoff to the lower classes to keep them from rising up against the bourgeois that control a vast majority of the wealth. The Western rich have learned a lesson from the French revolution which is: you can't fight a revolution on a full stomach. Keep them on drugs and Double cheeseburgers and the poor will gladly kill each other in their ghettos while the rich and powerful enjoy the finer things in life at the expense of the rest of the 99% of us.
ReplyDeleteEvery politician is a snake and should be dealt with as such.
Hard work education and ambition can place anybody anywhere with native intelligence far above either drug dealing or living off of a welfare state this goes for the US Mexico Russia etc. The LOWER Class and their saviors LIBERALS have risen up The Socialization of what is left of the once productive wealthy US has accelerated therfore accelerating the decline of virtually every aspect of the US society WE CAN THEY DID AND NOW THEY ARE. If Mex aliens get citizenship Obama will then hang hell of the cross to insure the votes.
ReplyDeleteSo many of the comments in this thread are ill-informed and want to lay blame rather than claiming responsibility.
ReplyDeleteFirst, before you blame the US, remember that Mexico is a sovereign nation and must ask the US for help. Except for a few helicopters and drones and a few trainers, Mexico has officially asked the US to stay out of it's affairs.
For so many years, corruption at all levels - political, police, military has gone unchecked while the people have buried their heads in the sand and said this is only a cartel and US problem. Now we are paying the price for ignoring the problem for so long.
Let's look at our police - less than 5% of murders are investigated at all, and less than 2% achieve convictions. Police routinely hustle drivers looking for payoffs to avoid phony tickets.
Our problem is right here in Mexico. Forget blaming the US. We need to take responsibility and acknowledge that we created this monster.
Only after we have cleaned up our institutions that are raped by our politicians and their families are we ever going to be free. No more automatic employment for all your family members. Accountability for the public purse.
Any politician that gets into office must face automatic investigation into their backgrounds. Anyone caught working with the cartels must face long jail time.
Start at the top and work your way down is the only way to save Mexico. The people must stand up to the cowards in the cartels and protest for reform of the institutions.
But corruption is a way of life in Mexico and I don't know if it will ever change as long as people look to get rich without working hard
I could not agree more with the above assesment. It is about the corruption, and economics. The pres says oil will dry up in 7yrs. so it is apparent without revenue from drugs Mexico will collapse, it is no longer solely about winning the so called Drug War. Police? there is no rule of law in Mx. N O N E. It is the wild west part II. I would not report anything, ever, and clearly never any crime or activity involving drugs. We all see it, we can do nothing. I will dissagree on one point, Mx has asked for help, the US is not willing to involve its self, not yet. I am afraid when that does happen it will be defensive as it spills over. Innocents are going to be target next..rather than bystanders. I am scared to be at the border. At the del rio border last sunday 4 carjackings at gunpoint for newer trucks in daylight on the international bridge...seems every week there's a new method of brazen violence.
ReplyDeleteIf they really want to stop some of the drug usage, after they confiscate a huge drug shipment, lace it with cyanide and then re-distribute it out onto the street. Users die, and others hear of the fatality of using and stop using. Problem solved. It if starts up again, do it again.
ReplyDeleteHey, this is a good lesson for the U.S. When the common citizen is not allowed to own guns, then the gangs take over and the populace is helpless. The people in the U.S. should N-E-V-E-R give up their guns. NEVER!!
ReplyDeleteIf we do we will be at the mercy of the bad guys -- just like Mexico is now.
...so guns are the real reason there is civil discourse in the US; and why there isn't any in Mexico? Are you saying that we solve our contract and everyday disputes through the courts simply because we are afraid of the gun the other guy is carrying? How do people like you come to convince yourselves of this?
ReplyDeleteListen here boy....
YOUR GUN IS YOUR HOBBY; NOTHING ELSE. To me you sound like you don't use it for protection as much as you use it to help you make up for your small intellect and smaller appendage. It seems like guns help you feel better, safer and more secure about yourself. Face it; you are afraid.
I like guns. I have enjoyed firearms for target shooting, hunting and they were how I made a living for 6 years. I am a firearms safety instructor and have firing line experience with everything from air rifles, full and semi-auto small arms, shotguns, grenade launchers, all the way to surface-to-air, surface-to-surface and surface-to-subsurface guided missiles. For me, guns and weapons are tools; not unlike a wrench, a hammer, a scalpel or a pencil. You do stuff with all them. You and I have had fun, eaten what we hunted and wasted time just shooting shit up. That’s all well and good! I enjoy it too! But the language you and some of my fellow hobbyists use is just insanity! I promise that your patriotism is not proportional to how many trips you make to the shooting range. The 2nd amendment is only one of many; and its not even close to the most important one to our everyday lives (certainly not more important than the 1st, or 4th, or 5th or 13th, or others).
You know who enjoys egging you on, though? It is the people that make a living from your purchases or your vote that feed this crap to you.
Get a clue.
the laredo border is the most important there is when it comes to commerce AND drugs! the different cartels, z's, gulfs, etc. are all fighting to see who gets it ! they move a looooot from here. i live in this place! its terrible . people wont even come out of their houses. you're going to school and theres a shooting right in front of you. youre in school and theres another one right outside. you're at the movies and they come in and your stranded in there.! you can not go home, they have guns and u cant move. IT IS TERRIBLE. LEGALIZE THE DRUGS.!!! HAVE THEM PAY TAXES !!!!! NO MORE NARCOTRAFICO!
ReplyDeletefirst of all i would like to say that making everyone that is receiving gov. funding take a drug test and if test pos.cut their funding!thats insane!of course alot of people will test pos. for drugs because most people that receive ssi or ss have medical conditions that need drugs to help cope with the pain from their illness. do you think the poor man can afford to buy cocaine and weed buy the kilos! no its the rich mans drugs they buy and distibute and the way i see it maybe we should random drug test docs,lawyers,judges, pilots,nurses,because their sure are alot of them that like weed and cocaine
ReplyDelete