2,000 troops patrol Juárez to stem drug violence
[url]http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_8723438[/url]
JUAREZ -- A deployment of more than 2,000 soldiers is arriving in Juárez to take the city back from feuding drug traffickers -- blamed for intensely violent murders that are causing concern on the U.S. side of the border.
Top-level federal Mexican officials said Thursday that the soldiers would patrol the streets in 180 heavily armed military vehicles and three aircraft, including a helicopter gunship, and that federal police officers and investigators would operate checkpoints on main arteries entering the city.
The deployment is expected to spark more violence, but officials said they were prepared to meet any threat or attack. Officials did not say what kinds of weapons the soldiers would carry.
The escalating violence has caused uneasiness on the U.S. side of the border, and some officials fear that the violence will spill into El Paso.
Thursday night, the violence in Juárez was the subject of the first question asked at a forum featuring the five finalists for El Paso police chief. All said the killings in Mexico were a concern.
"That violence will spill over into El Paso," Assistant Chief Diana Kirk said. She added that federal officials have said people are already seeking refuge in El Paso.
Allen, who spoke after Kirk, tried to ease concerns. "I don't think there is a danger of spillage over to the U.S."
El Paso Mayor John Cook said he spoke with Juárez Mayor José Reyes Ferriz earlier this week and said both were worried that tourism and other commerce could be hurt by fears of increased violence, though they didn't believe any real threat to the general public exists.
Cook said the violence may create the perception that El Paso and Juárez are not safe. "But if you look at who (the victims) are, they're all related to the drug trade," Cook said. "I think people who need to be afraid, either in El Paso or Juárez, are people who deal with drugs."
At a news conference Thursday, officials said the "extraordinary" measures were needed to battle the explosion of drug violence in Juárez, where nearly 200 people have been slain since Jan. 1.
"The government of (Mexican) President (Felipe) Calderón shares the concern of the government and the people of Chihuahua (state) who live under a wave of violence unleashed recently and (the government) is acting accordingly. The challenge that we are meeting together is taking back the spaces that organized crime have taken from the people," said Juan Camilo Mouriño Terrazo,
Mexican Secretary of the Interior Juan Camilo Mourino Terrazo, left, talked Thursday with Gen. Guillermo Galvan Galvan, Mexican secretary of national defense, at a joint news conference in Juarez on the deployment of Mexican federal troops. Mexico's secretary of the interior.
Mouriño predicted drug traffickers would react violently to the operation but said, "No criminal group will be able to resist the force of the Mexican nation."
Gen. Guillermo Galván Galván, Mexico's defense secretary, said 539 soldiers arrived in Juárez earlier this week and 977 soldiers were expected to arrive in 173 vehicles Thursday and today. Others are to fly to Juárez; 303 soldiers are expected to land at the Juárez airport today and 392 Saturday.
Patrols could start immediately, Galván said, but the operation, dubbed Operación Conjunta Chihuahua, or Chihuahua Joint Operation, will be in full force next week and will last indefinitely.
The soldiers will be organized in 10 patrol bases and 46 roving units, Galván said.
About 100 of the soldiers will be deployed to Palomas, across the border from Columbus, N.M., where dozens have been killed this year and where the police chief sought asylum in the United States last week.
In Juárez, the death toll accelerated from about 45 killings in January to almost 100 in March, with as many as eight murders in a day. At least half of the homicides follow the pattern of warring drug cartels -- a car ambush that ends in a shooting spree, or a bullet-riddled body dumped in the street. In all of last year, there were 304 homicides in Juárez.
Several police officers have been sprayed with bullets and killed while on duty or on their way home. One state police commander was wounded in one attack and was taken to El Paso's Thomason Hospital, where armed police officers guarded the entrances and visitors had to go through a metal detector.
In mid-January, Juárez Mayor Reyes Ferriz asked the federal government to intervene and help secure the streets. Two weeks later, federal police officers were reportedly sent to the state of Chihuahua, but they stayed in the capital, Chihuahua City. Federal investigators worked in Juárez to dig up 36 bodies from clandestine graves at two houses and soldiers from the South Juárez military camp guarded a hospital where a top police official was treated after an assassination attempt.
But Thursday's announcement was the first major deployment of federal forces in Juárez and is reminiscent of other military deployments against drug cartels in other border cities such as Nuevo Laredo.
Those other operations reportedly weakened drug cartels but also unleashed more violence.
"Criminals react with violence when faced by the will of the people to regain a peaceful and secure way of life," said Mexico's Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza, in Juárez Thursday. But the violence, "will be contained and uprooted," he said.
Thursday, Reyes Ferriz said the federal police would also investigate all city police officers in an effort to weed out corruption, "so that we can have the police force ... that Juarenses deserve."
Gorgeous TV News Reporters
Yes, this topic is a tad off the subject. However, for my money, I'll take the stunning Karla Mariscal on Channel 26. To each his own, "cada quien" as they say, but I just get weak watching her. She is also married to one of the employees there.
To pay $1,000 to either of these news reporters? I think that's a bit too much. When females in the U.S. can command this kind of money for physical pleasures, it is totally THEIR world and females do control well over half the wealth in the U.S. as well.
My Freedom
Mongering at Venus on Monday, March 31; 7 PM
Still looking for Jmchave's Marisol, I hit Venus again tonight.
I found Marisol. But she looked too tranny for my taste.
So I chose Patty. Patty is 23 yo, nice face, light-skinned blond, about 5’7”, with a couple of extra pounds.
She’s as cold as dry ice. No kiss—even for a $20 tip. Would not let me feel her out even over her panties. Rushed me a little. Always acts somewhat annoyed and uncomfortable as if she’s thinking “why do I have to deal with this loser?”
So no need to call the EPA!! The traditional Venus chica is not endangered!!
On the positive side, she responded to the actual act, and never did any upsell.
Will not repeat or recommend.
***OTHER STUFF***
There were a couple of cute blonds as I was leaving. Wish they were there when I came in.
There was some smart-ass kid talking shit to me in the lobby. Now I appreciate Genesis not letting mongers wait inside.