THE BORDER REPORT

Pres. Felipe Calderón's plans to use the military to quash the narcos appears to be weakening severely. A shootout this morning between state police in Nuevo León and Mexican military left six men dead. The cops are saying the guys were not low-lifes dressed as military but, rather, actual soldiers from the Army who attempted to kidnap an unknown civilian. If the cop's version of events holds true, it'll be one of the first recent open battles between federal and state powers.

In other news, nearly four years after an El Debate newspaper photographer was murdered in the little Sinaloan town of Escuinapa, a federal judge has finally sentenced the former chief of police and three hitmen for the killing. Gregorio Rodriguez was shot in the head at a torta stand in Escuinapa after three men approached him and something was said. His five-year-old was found screaming and clutching his father's body by police.

Rodriguez's murder crossed the line; it was one of the first that launched a series of journalist killings in Mexico over the following years. By 2005, the Committee to Protect Journalists labeled Mexico as one of the world's deadliest countries in which to work as a reporter, second only to Iraq.

-- Michel Marizco