Domani Spero at DiploPundit ("Just one obsessive observer, diplomatic watcher, opinionator and noodle newsmaker monitoring the goings on at Foggy Bottom and the worldwide available universe. ") posits a logical surmise.
Money quote(s):
"If that attack on US ConGen Ciudad Juarez was not a targeted attack against US interest, well, then this latest bombing of the U.S. Consulate General in Nuevo Laredo certainly looks targeted and intentional."
Showing posts with label Ciudad Juarez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ciudad Juarez. Show all posts
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
re: "Pissed!"
Digger at Life After Jerusalem ("The musings of a Two-Spirit American Indian, Public Diplomacy-coned Foreign Service Officer") was pissed. And so was I.
Money quote(s):
"(W)hile we value all American life, and indeed, all human life, we are talking about people who are in a place at the service of the Nation. It is the ultimate sacrifice of service, not an unfortunate tragedy befalling a tourist or a duel national. More Americans besides Victoria DeLong were killed in Haiti, but she died in the service of our country."
&
"What the hell is the New York Times thinking putting a picture of the two dead Americans online?!"
Money quote(s):
"(W)hile we value all American life, and indeed, all human life, we are talking about people who are in a place at the service of the Nation. It is the ultimate sacrifice of service, not an unfortunate tragedy befalling a tourist or a duel national. More Americans besides Victoria DeLong were killed in Haiti, but she died in the service of our country."
&
"What the hell is the New York Times thinking putting a picture of the two dead Americans online?!"
Monday, April 5, 2010
re: "More on CG Ciudad Juarez Casualties, Authorized Departure, Threats"
Domani Spero at DiploPundit ("Just one obsessive observer, diplomatic watcher, opinionator and noodle newsmaker monitoring the goings on at Foggy Bottom and the worldwide available universe.") shares an illuminating press conference.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
re: "FBI: Ciudad Juarez Attackers Might Have Been "Confused" "
TSB at The Skeptical Bureaucrat ("Giving my fellow Americans the view from my cubicle") continues to be dubious about motives and targeting.
Money quote(s):
"The FBI speculates the attackers might have been looking for two other white vehicles that were leaving another kid's party in Juarez that same Saturday afternoon. And, therefore, our employees weren't targeted due to their employment and this wasn't an attack on U.S. government interests.
That's an awfully big stretch of speculation that reaches a comforting conclusion."
"(W)hy wouldn't the narcos be willing to strike directly at U.S. interest targets, especially soft ones? Aren't the narcos facing an "existential threat" from the U.S.-supported Mexican federal government's narcotics control campaign, as is stated on page 14 of the State Department's 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report that was released to Congress two weeks ago?"
"The Mexican drug cartels are fighting for their survival at this point."
&
"What would they have to lose?"
Money quote(s):
"The FBI speculates the attackers might have been looking for two other white vehicles that were leaving another kid's party in Juarez that same Saturday afternoon. And, therefore, our employees weren't targeted due to their employment and this wasn't an attack on U.S. government interests.
That's an awfully big stretch of speculation that reaches a comforting conclusion."
"(W)hy wouldn't the narcos be willing to strike directly at U.S. interest targets, especially soft ones? Aren't the narcos facing an "existential threat" from the U.S.-supported Mexican federal government's narcotics control campaign, as is stated on page 14 of the State Department's 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report that was released to Congress two weeks ago?"
"The Mexican drug cartels are fighting for their survival at this point."
&
"What would they have to lose?"
Monday, March 15, 2010
NYT - U.S. Consular Aide and Husband Killed in Mexico
Bad news from the border:
New York Times
U.S. Consular Aide and Husband Killed in Mexico
By MARC LACEY and GINGER THOMPSON
Published: March 14, 2010
LA UNIÓN, Mexico — Gunmen believed to be linked to drug traffickers shot a pregnant American consulate worker and her husband to death in the violence-racked border town of Ciudad Juárez over the weekend, leaving their baby wailing in the back seat of their car, the authorities said Sunday. The gunmen also killed the husband of another consular employee and wounded his two young children.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"The shootings appeared to be the first deadly attacks on American officials and their families by Mexico’s powerful drug organizations."
"The killings followed threats against American diplomats along the Mexican border and complaints from consulate workers that drug-related violence was growing untenable, American officials said. Even before the shootings, the State Department had quietly made the decision to allow consulate workers to evacuate their families across the border to the United States."
"The F.B.I. was sending agents to Ciudad Juárez on Sunday to assist with the investigation and American diplomats were also en route to meet with their Mexican counterparts, said Roberta S. Jacobson, the American deputy assistant secretary of state who handles Mexico."
"Officials with the state of Chihuahua issued a statement Sunday night saying that initial evidence, corroborated by intelligence from the United States, pointed to a gang known as Los Aztecas. American interests in Mexico have been attacked by drug traffickers before but never with such brutality. Attackers linked to the Gulf Cartel shot at and hurled a grenade, which did not explode, at the American consulate in Monterrey in 2008, Mexican authorities said.
The shootings in Ciudad Juárez took place in broad daylight, within minutes of each other on Saturday as the victims were on their way home from a social gathering at another consulate worker’s home."
"Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37, the husband of a consular worker, was found dead in a white Honda Pilot, with bullet wounds to his body, the authorities said. In the back seat were two wounded children, one aged 4 and one 7. They were taken to the hospital.
Shell casings from a variety of caliber weapons were found at the scene.
Another call came in 10 minutes later, several miles away. This time it was a Toyota RAV4 with Texas plates that had been shot up, with two dead adults inside and a baby crying from a car seat in the back. Mexican officials identified the couple as Lesley A. Enriquez, 25, a consulate employee, and her husband, Arthur H. Redelf, 30, from across the border in El Paso.
Ms. Enriquez, an American citizen, was shot in the head. Her husband was shot in neck and left arm. A 9 mm bullet casing was found at the scene."
&
continued
(Page 2 of 2)
"Concerned about the rising violence, the State Department had decided that employees at a string of consular offices along the Mexican border — Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juárez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros — could temporarily evacuate their families to the United States. That decision was not formally announced until Sunday."
_____
Marc Lacey reported from La Unión, Mexico, and Ginger Thompson from Washington. Helene Cooper contributed reporting from Washington, and Elisabeth Malkin and Antonio Betancourt from Mexico City.
New York Times
U.S. Consular Aide and Husband Killed in Mexico
By MARC LACEY and GINGER THOMPSON
Published: March 14, 2010
LA UNIÓN, Mexico — Gunmen believed to be linked to drug traffickers shot a pregnant American consulate worker and her husband to death in the violence-racked border town of Ciudad Juárez over the weekend, leaving their baby wailing in the back seat of their car, the authorities said Sunday. The gunmen also killed the husband of another consular employee and wounded his two young children.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"The shootings appeared to be the first deadly attacks on American officials and their families by Mexico’s powerful drug organizations."
"The killings followed threats against American diplomats along the Mexican border and complaints from consulate workers that drug-related violence was growing untenable, American officials said. Even before the shootings, the State Department had quietly made the decision to allow consulate workers to evacuate their families across the border to the United States."
"The F.B.I. was sending agents to Ciudad Juárez on Sunday to assist with the investigation and American diplomats were also en route to meet with their Mexican counterparts, said Roberta S. Jacobson, the American deputy assistant secretary of state who handles Mexico."
"Officials with the state of Chihuahua issued a statement Sunday night saying that initial evidence, corroborated by intelligence from the United States, pointed to a gang known as Los Aztecas. American interests in Mexico have been attacked by drug traffickers before but never with such brutality. Attackers linked to the Gulf Cartel shot at and hurled a grenade, which did not explode, at the American consulate in Monterrey in 2008, Mexican authorities said.
The shootings in Ciudad Juárez took place in broad daylight, within minutes of each other on Saturday as the victims were on their way home from a social gathering at another consulate worker’s home."
"Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37, the husband of a consular worker, was found dead in a white Honda Pilot, with bullet wounds to his body, the authorities said. In the back seat were two wounded children, one aged 4 and one 7. They were taken to the hospital.
Shell casings from a variety of caliber weapons were found at the scene.
Another call came in 10 minutes later, several miles away. This time it was a Toyota RAV4 with Texas plates that had been shot up, with two dead adults inside and a baby crying from a car seat in the back. Mexican officials identified the couple as Lesley A. Enriquez, 25, a consulate employee, and her husband, Arthur H. Redelf, 30, from across the border in El Paso.
Ms. Enriquez, an American citizen, was shot in the head. Her husband was shot in neck and left arm. A 9 mm bullet casing was found at the scene."
&
continued
(Page 2 of 2)
"Concerned about the rising violence, the State Department had decided that employees at a string of consular offices along the Mexican border — Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juárez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros — could temporarily evacuate their families to the United States. That decision was not formally announced until Sunday."
_____
Marc Lacey reported from La Unión, Mexico, and Ginger Thompson from Washington. Helene Cooper contributed reporting from Washington, and Elisabeth Malkin and Antonio Betancourt from Mexico City.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
KDBC4 - Hundreds in El Paso Flock to Passport Fair
From my archive of press clippings:
KDBC4
Hundreds in El Paso Flock to Passport Fair
Posted by Armando Saldivar, KDBC 4 News
May 17, 2009 09:42 PM EDT
For the past two years, foreign travelers were given word that a passport would be required in order to travel even into Juarez. With less than two weeks before the regulation is enforced, El Paso County is seeing thousands of people scrambling to get their document.
Read the whole article here.
KDBC4
Hundreds in El Paso Flock to Passport Fair
Posted by Armando Saldivar, KDBC 4 News
May 17, 2009 09:42 PM EDT
For the past two years, foreign travelers were given word that a passport would be required in order to travel even into Juarez. With less than two weeks before the regulation is enforced, El Paso County is seeing thousands of people scrambling to get their document.
Read the whole article here.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Bloomberg - Tourists Spent $13.3 Billion in Mexico in 2008
Bloomberg
Tourists Spent $13.3 Billion in Mexico in 2008
By Hugh Collins
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Foreign tourists spent $13.3 billion in Mexico last year, an increase of 3.4 percent compared with 2007.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Yesterday, the U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens that gun battles and kidnappings have become more frequent in Mexico, especially in border areas such as Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana. Border tourism increased 11 percent in 2008, the tourism ministry said. "
Tourists Spent $13.3 Billion in Mexico in 2008
By Hugh Collins
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Foreign tourists spent $13.3 billion in Mexico last year, an increase of 3.4 percent compared with 2007.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Yesterday, the U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens that gun battles and kidnappings have become more frequent in Mexico, especially in border areas such as Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana. Border tourism increased 11 percent in 2008, the tourism ministry said. "
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