News Summary for February 8th, 2010

*Chihuahua governor José Reyes Baeza formally took steps to shift powers for all three levels of state government to Ciudad Juárez in a stunning move to address spiraling violence in the border city and show solidarity with the citizens of Ciudad Juárez, facing the onslaught of drug-related crime… Chihuahua Governor José Reyes Baeza called on President Felipe Calderón to travel to Ciudad Juárez just like he has toured the State of Mexico and Michoacán in view of recent damages caused by heavy rains and flooding…

* Meanwhile Interior Secretary Fernando Gómez Mont was set to travel to Ciudad Juárez to report on the government’s strategic plan to face violence there…

* Authorities presented another alleged suspect in the Villas de Salvárcar massacre last weekend in which 15 youths were killed…Suspect Israel Arzate Meléndez, alias 'El Country' or 'El 24,' told authorities that on the day of the massacre the target was a member of the Assassin Artists’ gang but in the end they were told just to open fire on everyone…

*Turning to other news, President Felipe Calderón toured Valle de Chalco municipality to get a first-hand idea of the extent of damage there after the Canal de la Compañía underground sewage network flooded when heavy rains lashed the region last weekend… Calderón listened to demands from citizens affected by the flooding…

* The Interior Secretariat issued an emergency decree declaring a Natural Disaster in Ecatepec, Nezahualcóyotl and Valle de Chalco Solidaridad... A natural disaster was also declared in four boroughs in the Federal District that were badly affected by the rains among them: Gustavo A. Madero, Iztacalco, Venustiano Carranza and Iztapalapa...

* The number of people who died in heavy rains in Michoacán rose to 19… An emergency was declared in Angangueo, Tuxpan, Tiquicheo, Tuzantla and Ocampo.

*Relatives and friends of Luis Colosio Fernández, father of murdered PRI presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio, paid their final respects over the weekend in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora… Luis Colosio Fernández died Saturday at the age of 86 from complications from pneumonia…
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*Gasoline and diesel fuel prices rose again this weekend, the second time this year… Magna gasoline increased by 8 cents, rising to 7.96 pesos per liter, while Premium increased by 4 cents per liter to 9.70 pesos per liter... Diesel increased by eight cents to reach 8.32 pesos per liter...

News Summary for February 6th, 2010

Most of the news today has to do with the weather…
++ The Interior Secretariat declared a state of emergency in Valle de Chalco, Ecatepec and Nezahualcoyotl, in the State of Mexico… after several sewage systems known as Canal La Compañía, Río de Los Remedios and Bordo Xochiaca, flooded over.

++ Hundreds of homes in Valle de Chalco were flooded… Over 700 people had to be evacuated as water levels reached one meter high. In the municipality of Nezahualcóyotl the Valle de Aragón, Plazas de Aragón, Villas de Aragón and Impulsora district were flooded and work to remove debris and repair the system had yet to begin.

++ President Felipe Calderón toured areas in Tuxpan, Michoacán and the La Compañía canal in Valle de Chalco, in the State of Mexico, where he announced support for people forced from their homes. In Mexico City water rose to over a meter high in the Arenal district in Venustiano Carranza borough… More than 1,000 homes were flooded…

++ And rains also hit Guanajuato and Guerrero forcing more than 3,000 people from their homes.

++ And rains in Michoacán over the last five days left 15 people dead and another 35 people were missing.

++ The National Water Commission said problems arising from flooding from the Los Remedios and La Compañía sewage systems in the State of Mexico will take about a week to week-and-a-half to be corrected… The Commission said that in the case of the Tuxpan River in Michoacán, the problem is virtually under control…

++ As he marked the 93rd anniversary of the Constitution in a ceremony in Querétaro, President Felipe Calderón once again issued a call to politicians to discuss and approve political reform for the nation’s benefit.

News Summary for February 5th, 2010

Strong winds and heavy rainfall caused electricity blackouts in states such as Michoacán, Jalisco, State of México, Hidalgo, Guanajuato and the Valley of Mexico… Five thousand workers from the Federal Electricity Commission were sent out to repair the faults.
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The National Water Commission said rains will continue in most of the country… Precipitation levels for the first three days of February matched average rainfall for the entire month.

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Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said that in view of the emergency sparked by heavy rainfalls he has been in touch with National Defense Secretary General Guillermo Galván Galván since the need could arise to call in the Army to help out citizens.

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Michoacán, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Querétaro, Morelos and Jalisco are some of the states hardest hit by heavy rains… School had to be suspended in some places because of mudslides and flooding.

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President Felipe Calderón said that his new comprehensive security strategy for Ciudad Juárez will not be imposed from the center but will propose citizens’ participation to seek dialogue and promote it together with residents of Ciudad Juárez.

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The Chihuahua State Attorney General’s Office denied that four students had been “abducted” from Villas de Salvarcar… Officials said the students were taken to testify before the Public Prosecutor’s Office as witnesses, to provide their statements regarding the student killings in that district in Ciudad Juárez.

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The Supreme Court has given its backing to the Single Rate Business Tax or IETU practically in its entirety… The IETU came into force on January 1, 2008 and more than 30,000 companies and individuals took legal action to challenge it.

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News Summary for February 4th, 2010

++ The mastermind behind the student massacre in Ciudad Juárez is former prosecutor’s office policeman José Antonio Acosta Hernández, alias “El Diez,” or Number 10, and the main leader of the La Línea criminal group, the armed wing of the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel, operating in Ciudad Juárez. Civic and business organizations in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, demanded that President Calderón fulfill his responsibility and end the violence in the border town that has forced more than 10,000 families to emigrate to the United States.

++ Interior Secretary Fernando Gómez Mont said that even though the federal government is seeking to bring about political reform, it is not ignoring priority issues such as security… Gómez Mont said the government will not abandon Ciudad Juárez.

++ The mayor of Torreón, Coahuila, Eduardo Olmos, asked nightspot and club owners to shut their establishments to join in the mourning for the young people killed last Sunday at a local nightclub.

++ The Senate political affairs board decided to call Interior Secretary Fernando Gómez Mont, alongside the rest of the federal security cabinet, to appear before the Senate to explain what is being done to combat crime and also speak about the Mérida Initiative.

++ He is baaaaack! Former President Vicente Fox once again criticized PAN alliances with the PRD… However, he acknowledged that he backs the alliance that launched Xóchitl Gálvez for governor in Hidalgo.

++Business leaders expressed their acceptance of the ruling by the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the IETU single rate business tax… However, they insisted that the federal government keep its pledge that there be only one tax on income.

News Summary for February 3rd, 2010

++ The Chihuahua state Attorney General’s Office presented one of the suspects in the massacre of 16 people in Ciudad Juárez who confessed that he belonged to the Los Aztecas criminal gang, a cell of the Vicente Carrillo drug cartel… The suspect said that the reason for the massacre was to kill members of the Artistas Asesinos or Assassin Artists gang, belonging to the Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán drug cartel.

++ Speaking in Japan, President Felipe Calderón condemned the 16-person massacre in Ciudad Juárez and announced that he will shortly present a new comprehensive support strategy to help civil society to confront organized crime. He said that one of the theories in the case was that of a suspected rivalry among attackers and victims. Chihuahua State Governor José Reyes Baeza said the massacre of 16 persons in Ciudad Juárez will not go unpunished. The Chihuahua state Attorney General’s Office said that a ballistics report showed that at least seven people opened fire at the site of the massacre.

++ U.S. Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said that Mexico faces a tough test because of the onslaught of organized crime, but he ruled out that the drug cartels can destabilize Mexico.

++ Interior Secretary Fernando Gómez Mont said no apology will be forthcoming to the Michoacán state officials arrested last year and released over the weekend, after a judge found there was insufficient evidence for prosecution on charges to organized crime links… Gómez Mont said that the release was because the judge found insufficient evidence, not because “their innocence has been proven.”

++ President Felipe Calderón referred to the issue of same-sex marriage during his trip to Japan saying he respected gay couples, and that the legal challenge by the Attorney General’s Office to the recent Mexico City legislation legalizing gay marriages was not politically motivated. Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said it was “useless” to deny federal intervention in an attempt to get cancel legal reforms allowing same sex marriages in Mexico City, regulations that will be implemented in March.

++ The Supreme Court ruled that the single rate Business Tax or IETU does not violate the constitution by banning deductions such as those allowed in the case of the Income Tax.

Interview with the Mayor of the most dangerous city in the world: Ciudad Juarez..

Tonight, Tuesday february 2d, on Seguridad Total TV, at 22:30 hrs (Mexico City central time) an interview with Jose Reyes Ferris, the mayor of Ciudad Juarez, the most dangerous city in the world. This interview is in Spanish, and you can see it conn Channel 40 (if you live in the Mexico City urban area) Sky and Cablevision 140 or for local mexican cable channels that broadcast Seguridad Total click here.

News Summary for February 2d, 2010

++ The death toll from a massacre Saturday night in Ciudad Juárez has risen to 16… Twelve of the victims were where teenagers … The killings occurred when an armed commando opened fire on guests at a students’ party…The Attorney General’s Office said it will not take on the investigation into the massacre, since it is not a federal crime. Chihuahua state Public Security Secretary Víctor Valencia de los Santos, resigned from the job as he seeks to win the PRI’s nomination to run for mayor in Ciudad Juárez.

++ Gathering at the first ordinary session this year, lawmakers from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate held a minute’s silence in memory of the people killed in the massacre in Ciudad Juárez over the weekend… Lawmakers condemned the massacre.

++ And in further violence, it was reported that an armed commando attacked a bar in Torreón, Coahuila… Ten people were killed and 15 wounded.

++ In the wake of massacres in Ciudad Juárez and Torreón, the Senate summoned the federal Security Cabinet to appear before the legislative body to explain the strategy that is being implemented to fight organized crime.

++ Using “narco-banners” displayed in Michoacán, Guanajuato and Guerrero, the criminal organization known as "La Familia" announced it was forming a bloc to fight the hired gunmen’s group "Los Zetas".

++ The Federal District Attorney General’s Office has reenacted the attack on Paraguayan soccer player Salvador Cabañas, which took place in a bar in Mexico City a week ago… Mexico City security officials said five bank accounts belonging to Cabañas’s suspected attacker have been frozen…

++ José Rosas Aispuro has quit the PRI party and is now formally running for governor of Durango on the ticket of a coalition formed by the PAN-PRD-PT and Convergencia.

++ At a meeting in Tokyo, President Felipe Calderón and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama have agreed on an Action Plan for Global Strategic Partnership to strengthen joint actions by the G-20 group in areas such as global warming and disarmament.

++ The Usumacinta ship set sail from Manzanillo, Colima heading for Haiti carrying 1,251 tons of supplies and other humanitarian aid for the quake-devastated Caribbean nation.