Mayor's assassination a warning

waltky · Jan 5, 2016

Mayor's assassination is a warning from drug cartel...

Governor says Mexican mayors killing a warning by drug gang
January 4,`16 A drug gang killed a newly installed mayor over the weekend as a warning to other officials to reject state police control of local cops and let cartels co-opt low-paid local officers, the governor of Morelos state said Monday.

Gov. Graco Ramirez sent a post on his Twitter account blaming the slaying of Temixco Mayor Gisela Mota on the Rojos gang, which has been fighting a bloody turf battle with the Guerreros Unidos gang across the neighboring state of Guerrero in southern Mexico. Their rivalry may have played a role in the worst mass disappearance in recent memory, that of 43 students in Guerrero in 2014. Some suspects told investigators that Guerreros Unidos mistook the students for members of the Rojos and used local police under their control to capture them. Without going into details, Ramirez had said at a news conference Sunday that Motas killing was tied to his efforts to unify state control of police forces in Morelos as a way to combat corruption in local police forces.

Mourners carry the coffin of slain mayor of Temixco, Gisela Mota, to the cemetery in Pueblo Viejo, Mexico, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016. Mota took office as mayor of the city of on Jan. 1 and was shot at her home on Jan. 2. The governor of the southern Mexican state of Morelos says the killing of the mayor was a warning by drug gangs, meant to convince other officials to reject state police control of local forces.

Mota had accepted state police control, though she had demanded traffic cops remain under local authority. This is a message and clear threat to the mayors who have recently taken office not to accept the coordination plan and police framework that we have been promoting, Ramirez said. Ramirez said the state police plan has led to a decrease in the wave of kidnappings, extortions and drug gang killings that swept the state in recent years. Many critics have questioned whether the unified command will be cleaner or more efficient than the local forces and the state government has struggled to persuade mayors to give up control of officers who are a source of influence, protection and often income from bribes.

A local newspaper, La Union de Morelos, cast doubt on Ramirezs motives in an editorial Monday that accused him of opportunistically using Motas killing to get around the growing opposition to a model of security whose effectiveness is belied by figures and facts. The biggest holdout has been the recently installed mayor of the state capital, Cuernavaca, former soccer star Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Despite Blancos refusal, Ramirez announced he was imposing state command over Cuernavacas police, and he suggested dark forces were influencing the pugnacious former athlete, who has never before held public office. Behind Cuauhtemoc Blanco there are people who want to take advantage of his lack of experience, to allow crime gangs to enter Cuernavaca, Ramirez tweeted Monday. The Cuernavaca city government said Monday it would continue to oppose the state plan.

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Phoebe Bump · Jan 5, 2016

I don't know why the Mexican people put themselves through this other than some state and federal officials are making pretty good livings being on the U.S. payroll and are trying to help us out. It simply ain't their problem that 20% of the U.S. population has bought cocaine at some point, making it very profitable to do any job for the cartels. In fact, according to an article I read in the LA Times, US Drug Enforcement is saying the reason Mexicali is as peaceful as it is for a border town is that the local drug enforcement is making no attempt to stop drugs before they get to the border and US is completely overwhelmed at the border and doesn't try to interdict until the drugs get closer to LA or Phoenix. There really is not sense for a Mexican to get his arse blown off trying to stop cocaine from reaching lawyer and stockbroker parties.

waltky · Jan 5, 2016

Mexico governor takes over local police...

Mexico mayor shooting: Morelos governor takes over local police
Mon, 04 Jan 2016 - The governor of Mexico's Morelos state, Graco Ramirez, has taken command of police services in 15 towns and cities following the murder of a newly-elected mayor on Saturday. "The government will not be intimidated by organised crime," he said.

The mayor, Gisele Mota, was shot dead at her home less than 24 hours after taking office in the town of Temixco.She promised to try to clean up the city, where problems associated with drugs and organised crime are rife. Her murder "is a message and a clear threat for the mayors who recently took office to not accept the police coordination scheme that we have supported and that is being built at a national level," said Mr Graco. Ms Mota, a left-of-centre former federal congresswoman, was shot dead on Saturday morning. Police shot two of the attackers and arrested two others. Several Mexican mayors were killed last year by alleged drug traffickers.

Mexican soldiers guarded the area where the mayor was killed

'Single command'

Ms Mota was one of many politicians backing the governor's proposals to remove powers from local police. Temixco, 85km (52 miles) south of the capital Mexico City, is one of the cities included in the "single command" scheme. Police will also come under the control of the state authorities in the capital, Cuernavaca, and 13 other municipalities. But many of Morelos's politicians oppose the scheme.

Hundreds of people attended the mayor's funeral on Sunday in Temixco

About half of the state's mayors have refused to sign up and will remain in full control of their local police forces. Drug trafficking and extortion gangs have turned Morelos into one of Mexico's most violent states. Rival cartels control drug trafficking and extortion rings in different towns, and frequently fight with each other. Local police forces are often infiltrated by the gangs.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35219169
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Mayor's assassination a warning

waltky Well-Known Member

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