THE BORDER REPORT

Near Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Noroeste newspaper is reporting at least 40 people murdered in a gunfight between ... well, nobody's saying which groups but I think we all know. Rumors are flying and the cops aren't saying much but from the chismes coming across my desk this morning, there may be more bodies than the initial 40. Or none.

In Cd. Obregón, Sonora, someone else lobbed three grenades at various police force buildings, El Imparcial reports. And this story I like: El Universal reports that the PRD is demanding a full investigation into why Calderón's Administration chose to use the Navy to go after Arturo Beltrán because the political party fears the president's cabinet has lost faith in the Army. That's something we talked about here a few days ago and it's going to raise some questions about the possible collusion between the Army and the country's drug traffickers (guess nobody thought of the Navy yet).

You also remember the pants-around-the-ankles shot of Beltrán's corpse, of course. Covered in bills and religious ornaments, clearly he didn't go down like that. His body was tampered with for the photo-op. The perredistas are asking why his body was mocked in this fashion. They're not going to be able to prove it of course and knowing the PRD, their only real reason for bringing it up is to cause Calderón some public embarrassment at what's essentially an emotional, amateur move. And, big surprise, two of the four men arrested in the Naval soldier's familial massacre Monday night were cops, Excelsior reports.

All to be expected in the waning days of Beltrán Leyva. Unless, of course, they make a comeback.