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Mexico's 'La Familia' Cartel Mixes Spiritualism, Crime
by Jason Beaubien | NPR
In Mexico, the government's three-year war against drug cartels has claimed more than 11,000 lives, snared thousands of alleged criminals and brought down scores of politicians.
One of the newer drug cartels being pursued by President Felipe Calderon's administration is La Familia — a group that mixes politics, spiritualism and violence in ways never before seen in Mexico.
La Familia was born in the rugged, impoverished hills of Michoacan, a southern state that stretches from the Pacific Ocean through the Sierra Madre, almost to the capital, Mexico City. In the port of Lazaro Cardenas, vendors sell pirated movies and CDs at makeshift stalls along the main street. Further inland, methamphetamine labs and marijuana patches are tucked into the densely forested mountains. Michoacan has become a flash point in Calderon's battle against organized crime.
Recently, Mexican authorities paraded Miguel Angel Beraza Villa, known as "The Truck," before the media. Beraza is accused of being one of the top leaders of La Familia. Mexican prosecutors say he moved a half-ton of methamphetamine into the United States each month. To arrest Beraza, heavily armed federal commandos stormed a church in a small city in central Michoacan in the middle of Mass. Two Blackhawk helicopters hovered overhead. >>> Go to Full Story >>>
Lawless roads: Mexico's southern border
From The Economist print edition
Where migrants meet criminals.
Traffic is light on the bridge linking Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico to Tecún Umán in Guatemala. Tricycle-taxi drivers and an armed guard idly stand around in the sun. All the action takes place on the river below. A small flotilla of rafts fashioned from trailer tyres and stacked with sacks of corn floats by, in sight of customs officials. Their cargo is destined for Tecún Umán's bustling market, which overflows with crackers and bread made affordable by the recent depreciation of Mexico's peso against the Guatemalan quetzal. "It's illegal, but it's a job for these people," says Antonio Aguilar, the chief of Guatemala's national police in Tecún Umán. That is one reason why he leaves the 5,000 or so small-time smugglers in this area alone. Another, he admits, is that when one of his predecessors cracked down on smuggling, a mob burnt down the police station.
Migration and the trafficking of drugs and guns across Mexico's northern border with the United States capture endless headlines. (This week agents fired at three vans containing 74 illegal immigrants as they failed to stop at a border crossing near San Diego.) But many of these problems are quietly mirrored on its southern frontier. This is "a no-man's land, a wild frontier," says Conrado Aparicio, a naval commander at Puerto Madero. That is despite recent government attempts to exercise greater surveillance.
Today's problems date from the 1990s, when traffickers began to move drugs through Central America in response to an American crackdown on their Caribbean routes. After Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998, a torrent of destitute migrants began to head north too. Mexico's governments have come to accept that if they want the United States to reform its immigration laws and to speed cross-border trade, they have to exercise more control over their own territory. >>> Go to Full Story >>>
Mexico's Record-Breaking Obsession
By MARC LACEY | The New York Times
If Guinness World Records ever creates a category for the country most obsessed with being in the Guinness book of world records, Mexico will surely be in the running.
As August came to an end, thousands of Mexicans danced to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," clawing at the air, grabbing their crotches and marching like zombies while being led by a Mexican Michael Jackson impersonator who goes by the name Hector Jackson. A light rain did nothing to curb the enthusiasm of the participants, who were of all ages. Many turned out wearing aviator glasses and white gloves, or had fake blood splattered on them.
While the matter is still under review by the Guinness adjudicators, it appears that Mexico clearly amassed enough "Thriller" dancers to best the record set in May by 242 college students in Virginia. In fact, Mexico brought together 12,937 official participants at Mexico City's Monument of the Revolution, according to the two certified accountants who were in charge of registration. "This positions us as a grand city where grand things happen," gushed Alejandro Rojas Díaz, Mexico City's tourism secretary, who organized the event. It also attracted 30,000 or so onlookers, many of whom were moving to the music as well.
In many ways, it has been a rough year in Mexico, with the swine flu outbreak, the economic crisis and continuing violence tied to the country's drug cartels. But it has been a good year for records, from the largest meatball to the biggest smooch fest, with many others in between. >>> Go to Full Story >>>
