"Nuevo Leon on the verge of collapse"

Rioting by prisoners and disturbances by family members at the prison gates of Apodaca continued Tuesday night in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the transfer of incarcerated Zeta comandantes to the Puente Grande maximum security federal prison in Jalisco, Mexico (photos courtesy of El Universal.com).



Está NL cerca del colapso.- PAN
Ángel Charles/El Norte
 http://www.elnorte.com/local/articulo/675/1349805/?compartir=3cdce23326877ef3db9f9852f5efdc6b

Monterrey, Mexico: The PAN state congressional caucus issued a warning Wednesday that Nuevo Leon has sunk to a state of ungovernability in terms of security that leaves zero options for the state's communities to reclaim their tranquility.

State deputy Hernan Salinas, leader of Nuevo Leon's PAN congressional caucus, stated that if this slide cannot be stopped in the next few days, the state's ability to provide security to its citizens will collapse.

"The last 72 hours have demonstrated that there is a severe crisis in the state's ability to provide security," said Salinas.

"We have to change directions, in Nuevo Leon we are close to collapse. We are already in a state of ungovernability."

On Sunday, 44 prisoners were massacred inside the Apodaca prison and 30 others, among them leaders of Los Zetas in Nuevo Leon, escaped from the prison compound.

Moreover, rioting continued Tuesday with fires set inside the prison compound and more than a dozen injuries after the transfer of 3 key Los Zeta inmates to another prison.

The PAN legislator added that at this moment the struggle against organized crime is lost, without any direction or strategy and the situation will worsen severely in the coming months if no corrections are made.

"The struggle has been lost because there is no strategy, there is no action. There are a lot of plans that end up in the air without any concrete advances. The government is manifestly unable to provide security."

"If security cannot be guaranteed inside a prison, then what hope does a citizen on the streets have?"

Salinas added that the State must reconstruct its security strategy to return order to the streets.

(Nuevo Leon is ruled by a PRI executive and although the PRI does not hold a majority of seats in the State Legislature, id does enjoy a plurality)

Monterrey, NL. Officials and guards from the Apodaca penitentiary are presented to the media after being arraigned for their alledged participation in the murder of 44 inmates and the escape of 30 others. Reuters

"The inmates are laughing at us"

Los reos se están riendo de nosotros, alcalde de García, NL
http://noticias.terra.com.mx/mexico/estados/los-reos-se-estan-riendo-de-nosotros-alcalde-de-garcia-nl,517f32f74e6a5310VgnVCM4000009bf154d0RCRD.html

Jaime Rodriguez, the PRI Mayor of the Monterrey suburb of Garcia, stated Wednesday that Nuevo Leon authorities have lost control of the state's prisons and that "extreme measures" are necessary to take back control after Sunday's murder of 44 inmates and escape of 30 others in Apodaca and extensive rioting on Tuesday.

Rodríguez said that the inmates in the Apodaca Cereso are essentially laughing at the incompetence the authorities have demonstrated with their inability to subdue them and bring order to the facilities.

"There is no control. We have to admit this and not fool ourselves," declared the Mayor.

"The more than 2,000 inmates in the Apodaca Cereso are laughing at us because we can't control them, what the hell, we can't even control the streets."

The control of the prisons, added Rodríguez, are in the hands of the inmates and not the authorities and now is the time for "extreme measures" to regain operational control of the facilities.

"The inmates that have total control of the prisons are criminals and they are not going to change their ways just because we put them in there, so the State must impose its will by force and our citizens must understand."

"Extreme measures are necessary together with experience in the art of mediation to guarantee the participation of the citizenry."

"The Governor (PRI Governor Rodrigo Medina) must take action to reinforce his security strategy. I believe Rodrigo must reflect on this and strengthen his approach to punishment. I believe the Governor must take blunt action, and he will do it."