A News Company Makes the Case for War (Again)
Mar 12th, 2009 | By Michel Marizco | Category: Politics
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THE BORDER REPORT
The third largest newspaper company in the United States seems to think it’s mission is to terrify the American public with bad information to convince us of the need for the military on the Mexican border.
To me, it’s a disturbing aspect of the relationship between the media and the State, this propensity for reporters to confuse their role and start thinking it’s their job to sell the public on the government’s plans. It’s not your job. Your job is to ask critical questions on the public’s behalf. If you can’t do that, go work in p.r.
The best example, of course, is the Iraq War. Journalists dumped their critical thinking skills and reported the administration’s Saddam Hussein links to the Sept. 11 terror attacks with no question whatsoever.
Now, I notice, they’re at it again, this time with Mexico and apparently without much prodding by the government.
Yesterday, the McClatchy Co. wrote up a story about how Pres. Obama won’t call for the military to head to the border but is considering sending the National Guard down this way.
Fairly straightforward piece of reporting and a hugely important one.
Then you find this paragraph:
“Already this year there have been 1,000 people killed in Mexico along the border, following 2008′s death toll of 5,800, according to federal officials who credit Mexican President Felipe Calderon for a crackdown on drug cartels.
But the spillover on the border – for example, to El Paso, Texas from neighboring Ciudad Juarez – has created a political reaction.”
What spillover to El Paso? Where did you get that?
I’m certainly not going to apologize for Juárez’s desmadre. Last year, Juárez had more than 1,200 drug-related homicides. Two police chiefs have quit, one fleeing to the United States. Yesterday alone, six police officers were kidnapped. That’s Juárez and yes, it sits right across the border. In January, there were 246 carjackings in Juárez, about one every three hours on average.
Now look at El Paso.
This city, with a third of Juárez’s population (600K), had 16 homicides in 2008. That’s a zero change from 2007 when El Paso also had 16 homicides. Yesterday, the El Paso Times reported that carjackings, which leaped in Juárez, “almost tripled” in El Paso so far this year. That made me blink. Then I looked at the numbers.
My God, they nearly tripled alright. To eight. From three.
Call out the National Guard. Literally.
But the McClatchy folks won’t allow cold hard facts to stop their drumbeat.
The very next sentence is their presumed basis for the need for the military.
“In a recent visit to El Paso, Texas Gov. Rick Perry called for 1,000 troops to protect the border,” the reporter writes.
Yeah, the same governor who dropped a few million dollars on the citizen border-watch cameras last year so Texans could play online Duck Hunt with illegal migrants. Clearly that man’s clamoring shows a strong need.
I’ll be the first to say that the conflicts of the border are very, very present here in the U.S. The corridors of killing from Sinaloa range to Tucson and Phoenix where kidnappings now average three a day.
My friend Vicente Calderón at TijuanaPress.com has teamed up with KPBS to illustrate how the Tijuana battles reach into San Diego with this incredible journalistic effort, Border Battles.
But El Paso? Really? Leaving alone the fact that it’s not a reporter’s job to act as a mouth-piece for the government, I find it incredible that McClatchy wants to start convincing the American public of the case for war in one of America’s calmest border cities.
I waited to post this story because I wrote to McClatchy’s DC news desk chief Beryl Addaisy and bureau chief John Walcott yesterday asking them for an explanation. No response. Typical.
Their silence is really all the answer we need.
Not to mention the El Paso housing market is booming right now.
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it’s really not booming over here, but there is a little rise.
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very irresponsible journalism
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Nice work, Marizco. I’ve been realizing lately that journalism’s migration to the Web is opening the door for real-time peer review, and that’s a good thing. Thanks for the ground-truthing.
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Updated: McClatchy Co.’s DC reporter Maria Recio responded to my questions asking for an explanation of this story. She gave me permission to re-print her response:
The story quoted Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., on the spillover effect. Here are three recent news stories about the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez situation.
1)From U.S. News & World Report
In Mexico’s Seething Drug Wars, New Alarm About Violence Moving North
By Alex Kingsbury
A stone’s throw from El Paso, Texas, a war is raging. There are almost daily running gun battles, kidnappings, robberies, and a frightening death toll. The northern Mexican town of Ciudad Juárez has gotten so overrun by drug-related violence that Mexico deployed an additional 5,000 soldiers this month, joining thousands of others already on patrol. . . The ferocity and duration have shocked senior U.S. government officials, who are watching some of the violence spill over the border into cities like San Diego, El Paso, and Phoenix.
2) WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday said they feared that ferocious Mexican drug gang wars might spread across the border into the United States.
“With over 6,000 dead in 2008, and over 1,000 dead in January 2009 alone, the violent clash of drug cartels in Mexico has caught the attention of many of us in Congress,” Rep. David Price, the Democrat chairman of the House of Representatives subcommittee on homeland security, said at a hearing.
About 90 percent of all cocaine consumed in the United States comes through Mexico, which is also a major source of heroin, methamphetamines and marijuana in the United States, according to Homeland Security officials.
Mexico has deployed thousands of troops to Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, the bloodiest flashpoint in President Felipe Calderon’s war against drug cartels fighting for control of smuggling routes.
3) Drug War Has Texas Lawmakers Demanding Action
Carol Han (KFOXTV)
Posted: 4:43 pm MDT March 9, 2009Updated: 10:02 pm MDT March 9, 2009
WASHINGTON — The rest of the country now seems to be catching on to a reality El Pasoans know all too well: The drug wars in Mexico are getting worse, and the violence threatens to spill across the border.
Ground zero for the violence is Juarez, where Mexican President Felipe Caldren has deployed thousands of troops and federal police to calm areas plagued by gangland violence.
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its not a war zone as everyone makes it out to be, I’m there on the weekends and have yet to see some sort of violence besides a fist fight
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Perhaps it is better to be aggressive as opposed to trying to prevent something after the fact? Or as the old saying goes ” It is better to be safe than sorry”.
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If it’s real journalism and reporting you are craving (aside from the presnt website), watch Jon Stewart kick the living sh*t out of Jim Crammer.
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At least someone is finally aware that there IS a problem, so the cartels can no longer benefit from killing off the journalists. This is serious business, and if you were lucky being in Juarez without incident, that is great. But no one is over dramatizing anything.
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Ann, may I ask when is the last time you’ve been near the border?
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approx. 2 weeks ago, I have a son missing amongst all this tragedy.
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I’m genuinely sorry to hear about your missing son, Ann.
However, in your reply, you used “this tragedy.”
To what “tragedy” are you referring, Ann?
I ask, because I live along the border in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Which is – absolutely – far more a tranquil, safe, and less crime-ridden place than other places in the US of A where I’ve lived.
That safety and tranquility, Ann, also includes Nogales, Sonora which I visit at least 2 times a month.
And so, Ann, may I gently ask you where is the source of your conviction that I’m now living in the midst of a “tragedy?”
Finally, may I also ask you from just where you’re launching your emails?
Trust me, Ann.
The next time you make it down to our border with Mexico, you will have nothing to fear!
(To repeat: “may I also ask you from just where you’ve been launching your anti-Mexican emails?”)
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They are not anti-mexican or anti-mexico, they are anti-violence. I have family there, my emails are launched from the US, but that is irrelevant to how often I am in and by Mexico. When you say you guarantee next time I go I have nothing to fear, how do you know this? The last time my daughter in law was there, her and a 12yr. old girl were raped and knifed. No, they did nothing to deserve it.
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so your son is missing and your 12 year old grandaughter was raped and knifed…….and you say its very dangerous but you still go down there?? I agree with Jack Im from AZ too and go to Sonora at least once an month its not Juarez but still nothing to fear these wars have been going on for quite some time and now that we are in a recession it dangerous to go down there. Maybe they dont want our spring breakers to spend their $$$ in Mexico…we need that consumption in the US…. Could it be????
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My dear, Ann.
Where, exactly, are you now living?
Is that too much of me to ask?
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Ann, can you copy out and post any news accounts of the terrible assaults your daughter-in-law and the 12-year-old girl allegedly suffered?
I’m certain there must be some news of that somewhere on the Web.
I’ve been searching the Web, but, so far, have not found any accounts of a US of A 12-year-old girl who was raped and knifed.
Help me out, please, Ann!
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The 12 year old was not my granddaughter, and NO she did not call the police (this was in Juarez) as most women don’t. As far as your area, Sonora, I only know what I read. Why are you so curious about where I live, EXACTLY? For what possible reason could you need that info? I hope many things do change. It is now hitting the news, but I have been posting here for 2 years, the news is finally catching up. For now it is not safe to go there, I realize that Mexico depends on Tourists, and it is a beautiful place to be. But the Cartels have escalated to a new type of violence, and its more at random. Your tone is well noted, but not appreciated.
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I dont agree with you Ann the cartels are in the business of drugs, and I dont know why you say violence is more random because from what I hear its drug dealers killing other drug dealers STILL.
And you are correct you have been posting here for a while and you have evolved from the days you used to think that Mexicans spoke “mexican.”
I still dont believe your stories!
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that is your choice. Regardless..they are true. You do not know me to believe them, niether do you know me to not believe them. Mine is one of many and mine is not that different from many others. Or is the story of the 7 people they found today in Juarez, my imagination too.?
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Curious, what is so hard to believe that a woman and child were raped in an area that found 400+ womens bodies mutilated and nothing was done about? Why would I lie about my son missing there for two years? Your right last July when I made the comment about speaking ‘Mexican’ I did that when I was super stressed. But,you already know that the problems are ongoing. If your point is that this has been going on all along (and yes to a lesser degree it was) thats no excuse. Are Journalists being killed, because of MY story, I don’t think so. This is not JUST about drugs, there is many things going on there that are purely about sadistic brutality.
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Oh, my dear Ann, the more you blabber on here on this site, the less credibility you seem to be earning.
I’m sure you’ve been noticing that.
For the last time, I’m asking you (I hope gently?) where’s the source of your “information” that I’m now living in such a dangerous place?
It just ain’t so, Ann.
Frankly, I think you, yourself, might be living in a land of a far more dangerous fantasy.
This seems so to me, like when you posted this gem: “This is not JUST about drugs, there is (sic) many things going on there that are purely about sadistic brutality.”
“Sadistic brutality?” Never seen any of that stuff around here, Ann.
Really wouldn’t care to, maybe unlike you?
Whatever prompted you, Ann, to use such a phrase of “Sadistic brutality?” Does such a thing fascinate you? Seems so to me…
Meanwhile, my current reality is that I’m more concerned that I may soon find myself stopped by a US Army Humvee on my way to my local supermarket.
To buy a pork roast on special?
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Your glibness is not lost on me. I am sorry that you feel my credibility is in jeopardy. But, so what. I consider the mutilations of women, kidnapping/killing of children and decapitations pretty brutal. If Michel feels as you do, then he needs to say so. Otherwise, who are you?
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I also live near the US/Mexico border near Nogales and in my work with the Samaritans and No Más Muertes I’ve certainly seen plenty of sadistic brutality on the part of la migra against Mexicans and Central Americans crossing north and south. I have been subjected to threats and harassment on the part of the same federal employees. I still hike alone down around Arivaca and between Ruby Rd. and the border. The spanish-speakers I meet are unfailingly polite and courteous. The feds are unfailingly rude, threatening and obnoxious. I make it my practice to avoid them.
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Can’t we all just get along……
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Ann,
Its hard to believe that a woman with so much experience with Mexico makes the mistake of thinking “Mexican” is the official language there. Being stressed is not a good excuse, I rather you said I’m ignorant.
I think that you are a middle aged white woman that has never been outside or your home state because you just cant stand the feeling of leaving your 3 cats behind for more than a couple of days.
Please dont use Mexico’s wave of violence to feed your alter ego!!
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What the hell is this all about? I have a son missing there you ass….and I have been to Mexico multiple times, what the hell is going on here? I am sorry I offended you, but dont analyze me, you dont know anything about me.
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One of the aspects of life in the U.S. that the undocumented immigrants love is the rule of law. Try living the life of a dirt poor Mexican or central american. A life where crimes against poor people are rarely investigated, and where you don’t know if a cop is also a drug cartel enforcer. A rich Guatemalan college kid once told me that he could take a machine gun and shoot up an indian village and kill a bunch of people. If the cops would stop him on his way home, he could tell them to go fook themselves. He would continue home and they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
The reason “Ann” has been so apparently sheltered, and “Jack” and “Lallorona” so comfortably safe living near the border (on the U.S. side) is because the U.S. rule of law. And because of the rude, threatening and obnoxious feds enforcing U.S. law.
Probably more than a third of the undocumented female border crossers get raped near the border. About half of all the illegal border crossers get robbed. Sometimes this crime happens on the U.S. side. Ask those poor people how safe the border is.
Say what you will about U.S. drug policies and immigration law causing some or most of the border violence, but you can’t deny the border is a violent place. This is a pretty well documented fact. The vast majority of Americans just aren’t affected by it like the poor Mexicans and immigrants are.
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MISSING PEOPLE AND RANDOM VIOLENCE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CARTELS IS A KNOWN FACT THEY KILL EACHOTHER ..NEWS STATIONS AND REDNECKS ACROSS THE COUNTRY NEED TO STOP TALKING OUT OF THEY ASS ABOUT MEXICO IF U WANT THE FLOW OF DRUGS TO STOP TELL YOUR RICH KIDS TO STOP CONSUMING THEM SIMPLE AS THAT..BRAINWASHED AMERICANS WATCHIN TOO MUCH FOX AND BILL OREILLY NOW THEY WANNA TELL THE MEXICANS WHAT TO DO WITH THEY COUNTRY NO WONDER THEY HATE US AROUND THE WORLD
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I spent my teenage years growing up in Catulla TX. My father was Chippewa Indian, so many assumptions going on. I follow this because of the obsession I feel towards my missing son. Do I feel I have it worse off than those who live in border towns in Mexico, absolutely not. I am angry, but not disconnected to the realities of what is happening. There are horrible things that go down in the US also, but its frustrating because I cant get any answers to what has happened to him. I have done much extensive traveling, it was during this time all this came down with my son. This is personal for me, not about any beliefs that the US is better or any less corrupt in its own way than other places.
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The fact of the matter is that the US of A IS a better place, and IS less corrupt than almost every other country in the world. Why do you think people keep immigrating here? (Despite all the “rednecks”) Because a poor person from a country that “hates us” wants his child to have opportunities in life that he won’t have in his native country.
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Good points made by Tontos.
But from whence do you write, Tontos?
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The Zetas were (supposedly) my sons disappearance. Are they not part of the Cartel? In fact arent they know for there incredible violence?
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NOW EVERYBODY ALSO BLAMES THE ZETAS FOR THE VIOLENCE TRUTH BE TOLD THE ZETAS ARE A SMALL ELITE FORCE..THERE ARE WANNABES OUT THERE THAT TRY TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS ZETAS WICH IS BULLCRAP ..FOR THE ZETAS TO GET INVOLVED UR SON MOST OF BEEN MOVING HUNDRED KILOS A MONTH AND I DOUBT HE WAS DOING THAT DONT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ..AND THE ZETAS ARE NOT A CARTEL
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THE U.S IS A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE BUT IT DOESNT MAKE IT LESS CORRUPTIVE THEN ANY OTHER COUNTRY I THINK IS MORE OF BIG GIANT ALWAYS RIGHT ANYTHING YOU SAY AGAINST IT YOU WILL BE SANTIOCNED LETS NOT FORGET ALL THIS SONS OF POLITICIANS WHO GET CAUGHT DOING THIS AND THAT AND GET A SLAP ON THE WRIST WHILE ANYBODY ELSE ON THE STREETS ESPECIALLY LATINOS WILL END UP GETTING YEARS IN JAIL FOR THE SAME CRIMES..THE SYSTEM IS ALSO DESIGNED TO BRAINWASH YOU AS HARD AS THEY CAN.. SOMETIMES I CANT BELIEVE HOW THIS REPORTERS CAN GO TO SLEEP AT NIGHT KNOWING THE BULLSHIT (PARDON MY FRENCH)THEY WRITE TO MAKE HEADLINES THE GOOD OLE U.S.A
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TO THE BLOGGER GOOD STUFF U GOT GOING ON HERE MAN ATLEAST SOME PEOPLE GOT SOME SENSE ABOUT WHAT REALLY IS GOING ON
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Whoops, I guess I now must reject my praise for Tontos’s comments.
That’s because he (or she?) just wrote: “The fact of the matter is that the US of A IS a better place, and IS less corrupt than almost every other country in the world.”
I’m not so sure about that, Tontos.
You might like to check out http://www.transparency.org/
Which is a highly regarded organization that publishes objective ratings of countries – mostly relating to corrupt practices. Its repetuniation is impeccable.
And while you do that, please join me on another internet search to discover just where that $8 billion of cash went when the US illegally invaded Iraq.
Or, maybe you can assure us all that the US is among the “less corrupt” nations, when, according to some stories I’ve just read today about “bailout money” being shuffled off into huge bonuses paid to the Wall Street thieves?
And, Tontos, is it OK if I point out that the name you use here is such an insulting word in Spanish?
It means “silly, foolish, stupid.”
Finally, Tontos, when you wrote, “Because a poor person from a country that ‘hates us’ wants his child to have opportunities in life that he won’t have in his native country” were you referring to all those fictional “anchor babies?”
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Ann, I do feel genuine sadness for your loss of your son.
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JACK JUST KILLED “EL TONTO” AHAHAHA
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Damn,
Kill the caps.
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Jack, you are not that important, you are not the owner of this site, quit writing as though your point of view is correct or more important then other’s.
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And so, Vincent, why are you reading and responding to what I write?
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I keep putting bits and pieces together. Does the Zetas do strong arm work (or at least did 1 1/2 years ago) for the Aztecas? Its almost like all the answers I get, are ‘riddles’ last I talked to him, he told me he was working at a ‘pig farm’ and that Christmas said he received a Rolex Watch (that must be some damn pig farm) my son has left behind two children, we cant even go for financial help for. Yes, they DO live in Juarez. I dont doubt that I sound like I am rambling. I have been doing most the groundwork for this myself. I received a ransom note via email once, that turned out to be bogus. I do not know how far my son got into things. He became connected to Juarez through his wife. I dont know where to go to get answers.
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Ann why don’t you have Michel write a story about your sons disappearance?
Not trying to put Michel on the spot but You keep coming on here like our comments are somehow going to help you find him. Do you have any links to news stories about him? Pictures? More info?
Just an idea!!
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lallorona writes:
<>
I agree, lallorona, that the US Border Patrol is far more troubling than are the always “unfailingly polite and courteous” Spanish-speaking border crossers.
During my 12-years’ worth of long hikes with my dogs in the river valley below my house, I’ve met at least 1,200 migrants, and not once, have I ever felt threatened by them.
But,lately, I have begun to have felt far more threatened by the BP when I now and then encounter them.
That’s because they demand to know why I’m hiking down in the valley with my dogs.
They ask me my name. Which I freely give.
They ask me my address, which I always refuse to give.
They ask me why I’m down in the valley. Which I also refuse to answer.
Which sometimes, pisses some of the agents off.
A few of them have actually threatened me that they have the right to arrest me for declining to answer those clearly illegal questions.
“And what would be your “probable cause” for such an arrest?” I gently ask.
“You do know what ‘probable cause’ means, don’t you? Please tell me why you’re challenging the right of a US citizen to take a hike with his dogs on US soil.
So far, they’ve backed off. Which is the correct response.
I just hope that continues…
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¡Perdoname!
Somehow, this site failed to insert this comment from allorona:
<>
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Failed again!
Well, OK, I give up.
Just scroll upwards to read allorona’s most perceptive post.
Thanks…
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Well now Tantos I feel every bit as safe walking alone at night when I’m in Mexico which is a fair amount of the time. Fact is I’m making plans to move to Mexico. It is a lot safer in general than the US as long as you don’t involve yourself in the drug trade.
If Americans would stop DOING drugs (unlikely) or if we would legalize and tax them (wow, a way out of our economic crisis!) there wouldn’t be any drug violence. We are numero uno when it comes to drug consumption so maybe we should start taking responsibility for the problems we’re creating.
Thanks Jack
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You get killed walking your doggie…
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For information and a picture of my son, go to Lagunajournal.com look under old heading of ‘americans kidnapped in Mexico’
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Also: If anyone knows anything his name is Kyle ‘Matthew’ Mostello Belanger. He turns 25 next month. He is tall, slender, brown curly hair he wears short and blue eyes. He has the chinese charactures on his upper arm that spell out God and Honor, a playboy bunny tattoo and a cross tattooed on his chest. I do not believe he has any lower arm tattoo;s. He has been told he has a resemblance to Justin Timberlake. He is fluent in spanish and has a very articulate and charming way about him. He is not the type to wear low riding pants or such. I never knew him to do more than pot, though among other things I have heard that may have changed. The one pic Michel shows in the photo box reminds me of him (in the prison cell) although he would usually be more clean cut and last I saw him, more slender. I have been told he worked for the Aztecas and more recently was told he worked for the Zetas. It is hard for me to believe this though, he has never in the past been violent in any way. When he went there to pick someone up in Nov. 2006, he called and told me he was being held in Mexico against his will, that he could not cross the border or he would be killed. At Christmas time he told me he had been working on a ‘pig farm’ and that he received a rolex watch for a gift. The last call he left on my phone was right before Mothers day of 2007. He at that time wrongly assumed I was not talking to him. I had heard he had been spotted after that severly beaten. His wife had been raped along with a 12 yr. old and the rapists left a message it was a payback to my son. His children are small and live in poverty too, as many others in Juarez. I want to know what happened to him. I have spoken with Michel on this in the past.
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what about his wife, what info does she have?? Do you talk to her?? Why are his children in poverty, cant you help them?? With the peso being 15:1 you can definitelly help them without “sacrificing” too much.
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I help them, trust me. She has other children besides my grandchildren. Some of the info has been from her, more has come out over time.(from her)but she says she doesnt know what happened, for she too lost communication with him.
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Ann you are correct in alot of your fears, but the reality is you now have the cartels realizing that it does not serve their interest to allow this to continue. So what was, is gone. Mexico has ‘new rules’ many want answers for their missing on both sides. Its time for all to cooperate in healing Mexico. It is in no ones interest to have all this negative publicity.
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Gracias for the Spanish lesson, Jake. The reason the U.S. is inherently less corrupt than most other countries (particulary central american countries) is because of our constitution and separation of powers. American politicians aren’t necessarily less corrupt, there’s just a mechanism in place (3 branches of gov’t) to minimize the corruption.
Jake, I’m sorry you are so inconvenienced by the border patrol, but if you are living 10 or 15 miles from the border and just “bumped into” over 1,200 migrants, what do you expect? That number is pretty astonishing, yet sadly, believable. And what is with your obsession of knowing where people online currently live? Are you are stalker, or do you think you know more about the border because you walk to the corner store to buy granola in your hippie haven of a town?
Again, why are all these people migrating? They really miss the death squads in Guatemala and MS-13 taking over entire villages and neighborhoods in El Salvador? The dark indios in those countries suffer real discrimination – as in they get killed for no reason. The people coming north outnumber “Lallorona” moving south about what, 3 to 1, 10 to 1, 100 to 1? Even with the bad U.S. economy, they are still coming in waves.
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I came in late here, though it seems like this is a explosive subject not ready to die down yet.
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I assume by “Jake,” you mean me?
I reasonably pressed Ann for her location, which is apparently somewhere near Los Angeles, because she made so many generalizations about how dangerous Mexico is. (including the border) That’s not our experience in our rural town whose population is 80% upwardly striving Mexican-Americans – most of them legal. (Definitely not granola eaters!)
Where are the sources of your information? Lou Dobbs? Bill O’Reilly? Pat Buchanan? Must be, because your assumptions about the causes of migration are so far off the mark as to be ludicrous. I could prove that to you: join me on a trip into Mexico to visit farming villages where the family’s traditional livelihood has been destroyed by the the multinational agri-businesses.
Where do you live, Tantos? Ever been to Mexico?
1,200 is not an astonishing number when divided by 12 years. Definitely not “waves.” Actually more are returning than coming, due to the bad economy.
However, I don’t anticipate a rational discussion with you. So, why am I bothering to reply?
Beats me!
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Jack…dont know where it disappeared to but I saw your apology during the night, maybe the ‘operation’ was too much…
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[...] Border Reporter – News That Crossed The Line » Blog Archive » A … [...]
[...] Border Reporter – News That Crossed The Line » Blog Archive » A … [...]
And I’m donald duck………
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I say what I mean, and I do what I say.
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The death squads in Central America and South America (Chiquita/Dole bananas anyone?) were/are trained and armed by the US government. Some of the drug cartels like the Zetas have their origin in the US trained death squads.
As for why so many people continue to come north how’s starvation for a reason? In Mexico about %40 of the population lives on less than $2 a day and it’s worse in El Salvador and Honduras. And Jack’s right – NAFTA,CAFTA and the flood of big corporations like Archer Daniels Midlands and Cargill (2 of the largest manipulators of corn in the world) displaced over 2 million campesinos in Mexico alone in the first few years and it continues.
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You cannot hold the US responsible for the Zeta’s turning on their own country and using the training they received in the US as a good gesture ,with Mexico’s blessing. Thats really reaching. Why does everyone always have to play the blame game without truly looking at what they are talking about?
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Ann, I explored the website you offered (“But as For me”) as one of the major ones from which you receive your information.
(Frankly, I thought the best piece posted there was by a little kid named Lau. I’m using irony, of course. Actually, his was the most disgusting post I’ve read anywhere.)
I also learned, Ann, that your missing son worked for the Zetas. Which as you clearly know, is one of the most violent Mexican drug cartels.
But from what I gather, your son chose to do that, as the adult child he has become.
By inference, as cruel as this may seem, your son clearly has cast his lot with the drug trade.
I’ve also read here some very sympathetic comments here on this site about the terrible distress you feel. Including mine.
But I do have some advice which you can take or leave: Hire a private investigator to help you find your son.
None of the posters here can help you.
Especially, not Michel, the owner of this site.
Good luck, Ann…
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Jack, where did you learn my son worked for the Zetas, I heard that rumor but hoped it was just such.
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It’s fascinating, isn’t it, how these comments have strayed so far from the original topic, which was, if I recall correctly, was about Michel’s cautioning journalists from making news stories into editorials.
But I was totally astounded when Tomas asked me “where did you learn my son worked for the Zetas.”
Maybe he’s just having fun?
As I been having fun here also…
But “basta para mi…”
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What a coincidence, Mexico has a problem with the NAFTA trucking agreement, so they are going to impose increased tariffs on U.S. imports. Except that that they are excluding CORN from these increases! Wasn’t CORN the major cause of the increase in Mexican illegal aliens???
Remember the poor peasants couldn’t afford to make tortillas any longer? Where is the anger from Lallorona towards the Mexican government? NAFTA has hurt Mexican farmers much more than American farmers. But I’m sure some sort of Gringo involvement is the cause of that, NOT the stratified Mexican social system and corrupt Mexican political system. Do you really think illegal immigration is new to the U.S? Ever heard of “Operation Wetback” from the Eisenhower administration? Or the waves of undocumented aliens in the 70′s and 80′s that resulted in Reagan’s amnesty program 23 years ago? NAFTA nor Ex-Pres Clinton nor Bush caused this human catastophe.
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The Zetas grew out of Salvadoran death squads as did the MS. When the civil wars ended, more or less, they found themselves with highly specialized training and no jobs.
Re; gringo involvement. After NAFTA Archer Daniels Midlands (ADM) bought up almost %50 of Maseca the leading masa producer in Mexico and then proceeded to manipulate the price of white corn. They’ve been caught price-fixing before so no big surprise. Oh and ADM is owned by the Andreas family of Illinois. I actually know one of the daughters. Don’t get much more gringo than these folks. BTW – gringo farmers were equally screwed they just had more options.
Immigration to the US for work has been going on since before southern Arizona was part of the US. For most of that time it hasn’t been a big deal. Men came, worked and went home. All that started to change with Operation Gatekeeper and Operation Hold-the-Line and continues to worsen with new(er) programs like Operation Streamline. I DO know the history of the subject and I’m pretty well-versed about what’s happening here in the desert.
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Check this out Michel, talk about selling “The War”
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/03/15/nr.war.next.door.cnn?iref=videosearch
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Tomas…I do not appreciate being mocked, this may mean nothing to any one on here, but it means a hell of alot to me. Jack..Thank you, I was afraid this may be the answer.
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Wait, you are saying your son has been missing for 2 years give or tak, right, and he went missing in Juarez?
Now you think he was a part of the Zetas? In Juarez, two years ago? Very, very, very doubtful he was a part of them, nearly 100 percent unlikely. Zetas didn’t operate out of that region then, AND they were still a group of ex-military badasses, unless your son was Army Ranger, Marine Corps Force Recon, or Navy SEAL, your son wasn’t a part of Zeta, even if he was ex-military in the US, he would again almost 100 percent NOT be a Zeta.
Your son was Barrio Azteca I thought…Jack quit f-ing with this lady
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He joined in Nov. 2006, I was told initially he did work ‘for’ the Barrio Aztecas, then a source told me he was Los Zetas. The other source who told me was pretty close to him. I have hoped it wasnt true though. Are there other gangs that give a ‘rolex watch’ ? And he is NOT the type to dress like a gang member, hes very clean cut.
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Lady, go hire a professional to help you, who gives a fook aout a watch, did you ever see that watch? if you didn’t, I doubt it was real, so who cares, bank records, ATM, phone records, all that stuff, real evidence, clues, that is the stuff that will answer your questions, is he officially reported as missing? File a complaint against his girlfriend yet? This guy who wrote the piece on your son a few years ago, he doesn’t know shit lady. Good Luck.
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He is officially reported as a missing person, both here and Mexico. Why would I file a complaint against his girlfriend? I still have the phone records for I was paying for his cell phone during all this. Everything comes up to throw aways or dead ends. How would I know how to find a investigator for Mexico with everything going on? Or who to trust? Its a possibility that he changed his name. I wont keep driving everyone on here crazy with this. Just seems people here know alot of the things going on that are not public.
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She is a person of interest in the dissapearnce of your son, his children are US citizens, right? File for Grandparent gaurdian rights for the children, take the kids away from her, sounds harsh, but if she is a mother she’ll start singing loud and clear about what happened to your son.
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people in here don’t know jack shit about jack shit. if they knew they wouldn’t be in here reading all this nonsense, bs, rumors.
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Greetings, Zomg.
So pleasant to see you here.
But please tell us all what you know about Jack ****.
And why you think we shouldn’t be here, “reading all this nonsense, bs, rumors.”
Gracias…
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Yes Lallorona, illegal immigration is a generations old issue. And yes, U.S. politicians are guilty of striking deals with corrupt Latin American leaders. But I’d just like to see you organize a labor union in Mexico, or Guatemala, or El Salvador to combat the evil multi-national corporations. Problem is, the top (white) 1 percent of those countries don’t play fair with someone trying to organize the (brown) peasants. They don’t send out negative press releases or initiate a “whisper campaign.” They simply KILL any threat to their profit. That’s why I am talking about the rule of law in the U.S. At least there is the possibility of justice for poor people in the US, and freedom from justice can’t always be bought.
Oh, I almost forgot, only one country has surpassed Mexico in recent years for journalists being killed in the line of duty (Iraq). Maybe I read that statistic on this website?
Last I heard, Mexico still doesn’t allow foreigners to own any property on Mexican soil. So how can the gringos so easily enslave Mexicans without the collusion of the Mexican ruling class?
U.S corporations love illegal immigrants. They only get Darwin’s best (survival of the fittest crossing the desert) with a great work ethic. But Mexico’s white elite has depended far too long on the U.S. to employ their unskilled poor.
That’s great that you know the names of the federal operations which are more press garbage than real action, but maybe you should learn more about Mexico since you want to live there. Learn that Mexico has never had it’s own drug policy, it only reacts to U.S. policy. Learn that as far back as the 1930′s, Mexican government officials have been involved in the trafficking of substances as soon as they were outlawed in the U.S. Learn that if you don’t come from money, you are a piece of shit.
All that doesn’t matter, just keep blaming the gringos and don’t say a word to the Mexican elite.
So continue on your quest to move to Mexico. Something tells me you are saving money to make this happen. Save up, because life is pretty hard there if you have nothing, and even worse if you criticize the government. Maybe Zmog is right….
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THAT was great!
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Ann, your son was neither Los Zetas or Barrio Azteca.
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Micheal , how do you know? and what was he?
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i agree with slick…..he wasn’t Zeta or an Azteca……….
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Based on what though? A guess, an assumption, inside information or what? Or just because its not logical to you.
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you also speak in past tense, do you know for a fact he is dead? And how?
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