By John W. Lillpop
U.S. authorities responsible for the well being of Americans as they travel to and from foreign nations have been rather blunt in recent warnings and alerts about traveling to Mexico.
As reported at counton2.com, in part:
"The U.S. government says Mexico’s bloody drug war is a growing threat to tourists. Now, as college students start planning their spring breaks, the U.S. State Department has a new warning about traveling to Mexico.
This is the image Mexico wants American tourists to see: beautiful beaches, party time!
But recently, this is more the reality: a drug war that is spiraling out of control."
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Students Warned About Spring Break in Mexico
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In addition, university and college administrations are cautioning American students against taking spring vacations south of the border, owing to the carnage and violence.
As reported at ajc.com, in part:
"The U.S. State Department and universities around the country are warning college students headed for Mexico for some spring-break partying of a surge in drug-related murder and mayhem south of the border.
'We’re not necessarily telling students not to go, but we’re going to certainly alert them,' said Tom Dougan, vice president for student affairs at the University of Rhode Island. 'There have been Americans kidnapped, and if you go you need to be very aware and very alert to this fact.'
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Potential for Collapse Likened To Pakistan
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Mexico's overall stability and ability to function has also come into serious question. As reported recently in the El Paso times, in part:
"Mexico is one of two countries that 'bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse,' according to a report by the U.S. Joint Forces Command on worldwide security threats.
The command's 'Joint Operating Environment (JOE 2008)' report, which contains projections of global threats and potential next wars, puts Pakistan on the same level as Mexico.
In terms of worse-case scenarios for the Joint Force and indeed the world, two large and important states bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse: Pakistan and Mexico.
In the foreword, Marine Gen. J.N. Mattis, the USJFC commander, said 'Predictions about the future are always risky ... Regardless, if we do not try to forecast the future, there is no doubt that we will be caught off guard as we strive to protect this experiment in democracy that we call America.'
The report is one in a series focusing on Mexico's internal security problems, mostly stemming from drug violence and drug corruption. In recent weeks, the Department of Homeland Security and former U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey issued similar alerts about Mexico."
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Human Rights Record Assailed
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In more bad news for the third-world nation, Mexico's human rights efforts are falling short of its good intentions, says a report by Amnesty International.
As reported at thestar.com, in part:
"There is ingrained impunity for human rights violations," said Rupert Knox, a Mexico researcher with the London-based organization. The government talks about rights in general terms. But what's lacking is a dynamic commitment that has some impact on the ground.'
Arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence and unlawful killings by security officials have escalated during government security operations to combat violent criminal gangs, said the report, tabled this week as the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva reviews Mexico's human rights performance.
Although the government's list of 'positive initiatives and reforms is good news,' there was no information about how to end the rights violations, and the impunity that goes with them, it said.
Mexico has not commented on the report, but it has taken steps to reform its police forces by creating new procedures for training and screening police recruits.
Human rights organizations have been critical of Mexico's escalating violence, as the country battles warring drug cartels that have caused the death of some 6,000 people in the past year.
Mexico's own National Human Rights Commission has documented rights violations – including torture and arbitrary arrest by the armed forces – but without any resulting drop in reported incidents. Critics have called for investigations and prosecution of perpetrators of abuses.
Meanwhile, ongoing bloodshed and a fraying economy have undermined support for President Felipe Calderon's conservative government, and a recent poll shows public confidence sliding ahead of mid-term elections in July. "
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Do Not Drink The Water Or Eat The Pozole!
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Pozole is the name of a very popular Mexican stew, which includes a rich variety of meats, vegetables and seasonings.
However, hungry amigos in Mexico are thinking twice before ordering the spicy delicacy after it was disclosed that Santiago Meza López, known as “el Pozolero” in the Mexican news media, has confessed to dissolving the remains of 300 people in acid while working for a top drug trafficker.
In English, "el Pozolero" means "The Stew Maker."
As reported by Reuters, in part:
"A Mexican drug suspect has confessed to dissolving the bodies of 300 rivals with corrosive chemicals near the U.S. border, in a claim highlighting the brutality of Mexico`s drug war.
Santiago Meza, known as "The Stew Maker," told journalists he did away with bodies in industrial drums on the outskirts of the violent city of Tijuana.
More than 700 people died in Tijuana last year as rival gangs battled for control of the city`s lucrative drug trade. Many others are missing and believed dead after being abducted.
The suspect, who was paraded before journalists by the army on Friday, said he was paid $600 a week by a breakaway faction of the Arellano Felix cartel to dispose of slain rivals with caustic soda, a highly corrosive substance.
'They brought me the bodies and I just got rid of them,' Meza said at a construction site where he said he dissolved 300 corpses last year. 'I didn`t feel anything.'
'The bodies took 24 hours to dissolve but left some remains that were dumped in a nearby pit,' Meza said.
A high-ranking army officer told Reuters he believed Meza, who was arrested with three other people on Thursday, was telling the truth.
Police have previously recovered human remains burned with acid in and around the city.
Meza, 45, said he had been getting rid of bodies for 10 years.
'May they forgive me,' he said, surrounded by heavily armed soldiers.
The spiraling violence of Mexico`s drug war has cast a pall over the country and presents a huge challenge to President Felipe Calderon, who has deployed thousands of troops to crush the cartels.
The drug war claimed 5,700 lives across Mexico last year, more than double the number of victims in 2007. "
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President Calderon: Not So!
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Despite all evidence to the contrary AND the fact that Mexico is unable to feed, house, educate, and provide medical care for it's own citizens, President Felipe Calderon is adamant in denying that Mexico is a "failed state."
As reported at Huffingtonpost.com, in part:
"President Felipe Calderon hopes to quell Mexico's rampant drug violence by the end of his term in 2012, and disputes U.S. fears that Mexico is losing control of its territory.
In interviews with The Associated Press on Thursday, Calderon and his top prosecutor said the violence that killed 6,290 people last year _ and more than 1,000 in the first eight weeks of 2009 _ is a sign that the cartels are under pressure from military and police operations nationwide, as well as turf wars among themselves.
'To say that Mexico is a failed state is absolutely false,' Calderon said."
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Absolutely false, Mr. President?
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Then please make immediate arrangements to take the 12-40 million illegal aliens now free loading in America back to Mexico where your non-failed state can be responsible for feeding, educating, housing, and providing health care for said invaders!
