Funeral held for Manuel Uribe, the world's heaviest man, in Mexico

ITN

Llegan a México 15 balseros cubanos que intentaban alcanzar la costa de EEUU

Diario de Cuba

Un total de quince balseros cubanos llegaron esta semana a un puerto de México tras ser rescatados por un carguero, después de pasar siete días a la deriva intentando alcanzar territorio estadounidense, informó EFE.

El Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) dijo en un comunicado que los quince cubanos, entre ellos una mujer, habían salido de su país en una fecha no precisada "en un bote pesquero rudimentario" con destino a Estados Unidos.

Fueron encontrados por un buque de carga de bandera de Malta que hacía una travesía entre Colombia y Estados Unidos.

Los balseros presentaban quemaduras de primer y segundo grado cuando fueron atendidos por las autoridades mexicanas, agregó el comunicado.

En México fueron atendidos por representantes del INM en el estado nororiental de Tamaulipas, que les prestaron servicios médicos y consulares, con el fin de que puedan ser repatriados a su país de origen.

Según informes de medios regionales, los quince cubanos habían zarpado con destino a Miami, pero una fuerte tormenta los llevó a la deriva, quedando sin alimentos ni agua potable a medio camino, hasta que fueron rescatados por el carguero.

De acuerdo con la edición digital del diario La Tarde de Tamaulipas, uno de los balseros dijo que cuando fueron rescatados la embarcación en la que iban estaba a punto de hundirse, y para poder sobrevivir tuvieron que saciar su sed con sus propios orines.

Habían partido el 23 de febrero de Cuba y fueron rescatados por el carguero en alta mar el 1 de marzo, antes de ser dejados en el puerto mexicano de Tampico.

Mexican Drug Cartels Now Make Money Exporting Ore

By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY
Mexican drug cartels looking to diversify their businesses long ago moved into oil theft, pirated goods, extortion and kidnapping, consuming an ever larger swath of the country's economy. This month, federal officials confirmed the cartels have even entered the country's lucrative mining industry, exporting iron ore to Chinese mills.

Such large-scale illegal mining operations were long thought to be wild rumor, but federal officials confirmed they had known about the cartels' involvement in mining since 2010, and that the Nov. 4 military takeover of Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico's second-largest port, was aimed at cutting off the cartels' export trade.

That news served as a wake-up call to Mexicans that drug traffickers have penetrated the country's economy at unheard-of levels, becoming true Mafia-style organizations, ready to defend their mines at gun point.

Three Michoacan state detectives were wounded in an ambush earlier this week when they were traveling to investigate a mine taken over by criminals. When reinforcements arrived, those officers were also ambushed, part of a string of attacks on police in Michoacan on Wednesday and Thursday that left two officers dead and about a dozen wounded.

The Knights Templar cartel and its predecessor, the La Familia drug gang, have been stealing or extorting shipments of iron ore, or illegally extracting the mineral themselves and selling it through Pacific coast ports, said Michoacan residents, mining companies and current and former federal officials. The cartel had already imposed demands for "protection payments" on many in the state, including shopkeepers, ranchers and farmers.

But so deeply entrenched was the cartel connection to mines, mills, ports, export firms and land holders that it took authorities three years to confront the phenomenon head-on. Federal officials said they are looking to crack down on other ports where drug gangs are operating.

"This is the terrible thing about this process of (the cartel's) taking control of and reconfiguring the state," said Guillermo Valdes Castellanos, the former head of the country's top domestic intelligence agency. "They managed to impose a Mafia-style control of organized crime, and the different social groups like port authorities, transnational companies and local landowners, had to get in line."

Valdez Castellanos said that even back in 2010, the La Familia cartel would take ore from areas that were under concession to private mining companies, sometimes with the aid or complicity of local farmers and land owners, then sell the ore to processors, distributors and even, apparently, foreign firms.

Mexico's Economy Department said the problem was so severe that it prompted the government to quietly toughen rules on exporters in 2011 and 2012 and make them prove they received their ore from established, recognized sources.

Many exporters couldn't. In 2012, the department denied export applications from 13 companies, because they didn't meet the new rules. And the problem wasn't just limited to Michoacan, or the Knights Templar cartel.

"Since 2010, evidence surfaced of irregular mining of iron in the states of Jalisco, Michoacan and Colima," the department said in a statement to The Associated Press.

"That illegal activity was encouraged by the great demand for iron by countries such as China, to develop their industries," according to the department. "Many trading companies began to build up big stockpiles of legally and illegally obtained iron (ore), that was later shipped out for export."

More at breitbart >>

"Guan Jondred Dollar" - Cortometraje Mexicano

Cortometraje Mexicano/ Director - Antonio Galicia
CINES3MX

Ancient mammoth skeleton discovered in Mexico City

itnnews

"Spacecraft over Mexico" -- Air Traffic Controller Enrique Kolbeck Testimony

csetiweb

Mr. Enrique Kolbeck is a senior Air Traffic Controller at Mexico City International Airport. In his testimony he speaks about the frequent UFO sightings seen at the airport visually and on radar. They are clocked at tremendous speeds and making almost instantaneous hairpin turns. Of the 140 air traffic controllers at the airport, he estimates that over 50 have seen this phenomenon.

The Mexican elections and their impact on the drug war

Just the Facts/  By intern

Vázquez Mota, Peña Nieto y López Obrador

During the second and final presidential debate on June 10, the three main candidates in the Mexican election discussed how they would move forward in the continuing drug war. All three pledged a different strategy to that which has been carried out by current president Felipe Calderón, who has focused on using the armed forces as the main form of attack during his tenure. This has led to a death toll "which has spiraled out of control during Mr. Calderón's six-year tenure." Each candidate has mentioned reducing the body count, although the manner in which they plan to achieve this differs.

Below is an overview of the three candidates' strategies for combating the violence in Mexico.

The three candidates:

Enrique Peña Nieto: The current front-runner, for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), stated recently in an interview with the New York Times that

The adjustment in the strategy is to focus on decreasing violence [as opposed to reducing drug trafficking]. And that means that the whole Mexican state, jointly between the three levels of government‚ - state, federal and municipal‚ - should really focus its efforts on combating homicide and the impunity that is a given in many of the homicides committed, as with kidnapping and extortion.

Peña Nieto's promises include:

• Bringing more police to less populated areas. "There are too few police, sometimes without equipment, without weapons, and organized crime . . . ends up easily getting there and taking over these places with small populations."
• Focusing on "combating homicide and the impunity that is a given in many of the homicides committed, as with kidnapping and extortion" primarily through cutting corruption.
• While Peña Nieto says he will continue to work with the United States, he has made clear that Mexico should not be "subordinate to the strategies of other countries."
• Peña Nieto has said he would hire former Colombian police chief, Oscar Naranjo, as a security advisor. A move which could mean continued strong U.S.-Mexican cooperation, according to the Washington Post.

One question being asked is whether Mr. Peña Nieto really would be a new leader for the PRI or simply a return to the old guard which ruled the country for 71 years and which many allege allowed the cartels to exist in return for benefits for the government.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador: AMLO, as he is often known, represents a leftist, three-party coalition called the Progressive Movement. He is a returning candidate who narrowly lost the 2006 election to current president Calderón. López Obrador has had to change his campaign strategy for this election and distance himself from his failed attempt at the presidency, although his attitude towards the drug war has not changed hugely.

AMLO's promises include:

• A holistic strategy he has dubbed "Abrazos, no balazos," or "Hugs, not bullets," which focuses on reducing unemployment and fostering economic growth to end the drug war.
• A new federal police force to replace the army in the streets, though he has not elaborated on how this would be organized.
• He has not ruled out legalizing drugs, but will consult with experts and local governments.
• On collaboration with the U.S.: Rather than increased or continued U.S. military aid, AMLO argues that Mexico would benefit more from receiving economic credits that could be used for social programs.

Although polls present differing views of how close the election is currently, López Obrador is generally agreed to be in second place.

Josefina Vázquez Mota: Vázquez Mota is the first female presidential candidate fielded by a major political party in Mexico, representing the Partido Acción Nacional or PAN, the party of current president Calderón.

Her promises include:

• A return to law and order by establishing a well paid, well-trained police force from within the community.
• A four-pillar approach focusing on security, well-being, productivity, and a sustainable Mexico.
• On collaboration with the U.S.: "We have to continue strengthening our relationship with the United States" in an effort to move forward with the drug war.

This is markedly different from Calderón's increased use of the army in an attempt to tackle corruption within the police force. Although Vázquez Mota was second in the polls at one point, in the past month she has slipped down to third place behind López Obrador.

The election outcome

Only one of these candidates will have the opportunity to take their proposed policies forward past the July 1st election. Although polls currently suggest Peña Nieto is the favorite to win, there has been some indication that the Yarrington scandal, in which President Calderón has accused a former governor and member of the PRI for alleged links with drug cartels and corruption, has damaged the perception of Peña Nieto by association. With just under two weeks remaining, it remains to be seen if he can hold his lead.

Child actors shame Mexico's politicians with mockumentary

Read >>

Border agents discover largest drug tunnel ever

Mexico's 'super labs' send meth pouring into US

Alejandro Acosta / Reuters, file

A soldier guards boilers at an outdoor clandestine methamphetamine laboratory discovered in Chiquilistlan, Mexico, on December 7.

By F. Brinley Bruton, msnbc.com

The number of methamphetamine “super labs” seized by Mexican authorities has rocketed in the last five years but shipments of the drug across the border have also continued to grow, according to government statistics.

The increase highlights how Mexico’s cartels have diversified beyond their traditional focus of exporting cocaine, heroin and marijuana by transforming their operations to also make methamphetamines on an industrial scale.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has noted “a sustained upward trend in Mexican methamphetamine availability in U.S. markets.” Research by the U.S. government also shows that methamphetamine prices are falling and that the purity level of seizures is rising.

According to information from Mexico’s Secretariat of National Defense, 22 methamphetamine labs were seized in 2007. That number increased to 206 in 2011.

The vast majority of these were classed as super labs – in contrast to smaller operations that characterize much of the production in the United States, a secretariat official confirmed to msnbc.com.  The official asked for anonymity for security reasons.

"Methamphetamine seizure rates inside the United States and along the U.S.-Mexico border have increased markedly since 2007," according to a U.S. Department of Justice report.

'In the business of making money'
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials said they could not comment specifically on statistics released by the Mexican government, but acknowledge that the cartels have adapted and changed since President Felipe Calderon declared his war on drugs in December 2006. More >>

Mexican drug cartels recruit US kids

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

War on drugs takes to the air

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Inside the border drug tunnels

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds To Buy, Sell Weapons During 'Fast And Furious'

THE FREEDOM POST 

U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds To Buy, Sell Weapons During 'Fast And Furious,' Documents Show | Fox News: "Not only did U.S. officials approve, allow and assist in the sale of more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa cartel -- the federal government used taxpayer money to buy semi-automatic weapons, sold them to criminals and then watched as the guns disappeared.

This disclosure, revealed in documents obtained by Fox News, could undermine the Department of Justice's previous defense that Operation Fast and Furious was a "botched" operation where agents simply "lost track" of weapons as they were transferred from one illegal buyer to another. Instead, it heightens the culpability of the federal government as Mexico, according to sources, has opened two criminal investigations into the operation that flooded their country with illegal weapons. "

Centenario de Cantiflas

El hombre que expreso que "Si el trabajo fuera bueno, ya lo hubieran acaparado los ricos", pero  tambien sentencio que no quería que hubiera "menos ricos, lo que no quiero es que haya más pobres", no era partidario de las davidas sino de la creacion de oportunidades de trabajo", cumple, en tiempo presente, 100 anos.

Fallece Enrique Cáceres, vocalista de Los Panchos

El Pais.com

Enrique Cáceres Méndez, cantante y vocalista del trío Los Panchos, falleció el pasado lunes 22 de agosto, según ha anunciado el Ministerio de Cultura mexicano a través del Consejo Nacional para las Artes y la Cultura (CONACULTA).

Enrique Cáceres llegó a ser primera voz de Los Panchos, fundado en 1944 por la discográfica CBS, y fue el que popularizó el bolero: "Alimentó el romanticismo en la música mexicana" durante años, según ha expresado con pesar el gobierno mexicano.

Cáceres nació en 1934 en Mérida, capital del estado de Yucatán. Se integró en la formación en los años 60, después de haber formado parte de grupos como el Trío Monterrey, el Trío Las Sombras o Los Tecolines, del que fue fundador.

Con Los Panchos, Cáceres grabó más de doscientas canciones entre 1966 y 1971 en discos como Volví la espalda, Que no te cuenten cuentos y un albúm de canciones junto a Armando Manzanero.

El trío Los Panchos original lo formaron los mexicanos Alfredo El Güero Bojalil Gil, José de Jesús Chucho Navarro Moreno y el puertorriqueño Herminio Avilés Negrón. A lo largo de los años, la formación se fue renovando y así fue como entró Cáceres.

Los Panchos marcaron una época en la música romántica latinoamericana a mediados de siglo pasado dedicando sus letras de amores y desamores. También dejaron su impronta en el cine con grabaciones como Rayito de Luna (1949), Callejera (1952), Aventurera (1949) y Miradas que matan (1954).

Cuban intelligence nexus with Mexican narcos

by Armando F. Mastrapa

The detention of Gregorio “Greg” Sánchez Martínez (a leftist candidate for the Quintana Roo state governorship in Mexico) for money laundering and trafficking in illegal immigrants has exposed the nexus between Cuban intelligence and Mexican narcotraffickers, reports SIPSE.
El Financiero cites José Antonio Pérez Stuart, a columnist and expert on intelligence matters, who believes that the objective of the political association between Cuban intelligence and narcotraffickers is the penetration of Castro agents in Mexican territory in order to infiltrate Mexican politics, control government positions and utilize them to their benefit.
Behind the international campaign against the 2010 Arizona Immigration Law—SB1070 are bands of narco-communists, according to Pérez Stuart, in charge of infiltrating the United States from Mexico with Cuban, Chinese and Russian illegal immigrants.
Havana’s intelligence services are under suspicion for utilizing trafficking channels of illegal Cuban immigrants to infiltrate intelligence agents into the United States because their spy networks have been discovered/dismantled in recent years.
Sánchez Martínez’s wife, Niurka Alba Sáliva Benítez, is none other than the daughter of Cuban Ministry of Interior Colonel José Ángel Sáliva Pino (who works for Castro’s intelligence services and has always been close to Fidel and Raúl.)
She was involved in infiltrating Cubans, Russians and Chinese illegals.

Boris “El Boris” del Valle Alonso, linked to the Mexican criminal organization Los Zetas, worked with Niurka and kept tabs on the income generated from undocumented Cubans, Russians and Chinese.
Del Valle was Sánchez Martínez’s advisor because of his experience as a Cuban soldier in the Angolan civil war.  He is also the son of an ex-Minister of the Interior by the name Sergio del Valle, who is the brother-in-law of Sánchez Martínez because he is Niurka Sáliva’s half-brother. El Boris is also related to Fidel Castro’s wife, Dalia Soto del Valle.
A thorough reporting of this Cuban espionage and Mexican narco/illegal immigrants trafficking web of criminal intrigue can be found here and here.
(First image: Gregorio Sánchez Martínez with his wife Niurka Alba Sáliva Benítez in 2007. Novedades De Quintana Roo; Second image: Boris del Valle Alonso. Por Esto! de Quinana Roo.)

Read more...›

Hezbollah Hooks Up With Mexican Drug Cartels

Grace Wyler

Islamic terrorist groups are setting up shop in Mexico and forming alarming ties with the country's brutal drug cartels, according to a 2010 internal memo from the Tucson Police Department.
The memo, leaked by the hacker group LulzSec as part of its Arizona Department of Public Safety hack, warns that Hezbollah has established operations — and a large arms stockpile — in Mexico.
As evidence, it points to the 2010 Tijuana arrest of Hezbollah militant Jameel Nasr, who was allegedly tasked with establishing a Hezbollah network in Mexico and South America. The memo also recalls the April 2009 arrest of Jamal Yousef in New York, which exposed a huge cache of assault rifles, hand grenades, explosives and anti-tank munitions. According to Yousef, the weapons were stored in Mexico after being smuggled from Iraq by members of Hezbollah.
The memo warns that consequences of partnerships between Hezbollah and Mexico's drug partnerships could be disastrous for Mexico's drug war, given Hezbollah's advanced weapons capabilities — specifically their expertise with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). It notes that some Mexican criminal organizations have started using small IEDs and car bombs, a marked change in tactics that indicates a relationship with Islamic militants.
Partnerships between Mexican organized crime and Islamic militants are mutually beneficial — and therefore terrifying. The cartels are able to gain smuggling and weapons expertise, as well as access to cheap heroin from Afghanistan and Iran. The terrorists benefit from Mexico's drug war lawlessness and its porous border with their primary target: The United States.

DON'T MISS: Why Mexico's Cartels Are A U.S. National Security Issue

#Gunrunner - Is this why White House funded 'guns-to-drug-lords' scheme?

WND Exclusive

Project Gunrunner, the controversial government program that runs guns into Mexico, under the Obama administration has contributed to fraudulent statistics seemingly targeting U.S. gun owners.
The misleading data raise questions about the intentions of Project Gunrunner, which some believe could be a defining scandal for the White House.
In February 2008, William Hoover, assistant director for field operations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified before Congress that over 90 percent of the firearms that have been recovered in or intercepted in transport to Mexico originated from various sources within the U.S.
Nothing matters more than protecting your home and your loved one: SAFE tells you how ...
Hoover's statistics officially were released by the ATF and subsequently were cited in a flurry of news media pieces claiming the vast majority of illicit firearms in Mexico originate in the U.S.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office also used the ATF's 90 percent statistic in an official report to Congress about American firearms. The Justice Department even incorporated the data in several of its programs.
After a series of independent reports contradicted the ATF claims, however, the bureau then admitted in November 2010 that its 90 percent figure cited to Congress "could be misleading" because it applied only to the small portion of guns verified through its eTrace system, an Internet-based firearm database that Project Gunrunner was built around.
The ATF admitted its statistics were based on the guns it traced, all of which originated in the U.S., thus skewing the data

Read more: Is this why White House funded 'guns-to-drug-lords' scheme? http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=320809#ixzz1Rpp9oiMr

“Mexico Came Here”

by Trevor 

Multi-platinum selling country / pop music duo the Bellamy Brothers are fuming mad about the current illegal immigration situation in the United States. In fact, the brothers are so heated, they’ve released a new song, with a direct message to the U.S. government… “Mexico Came Here!”

“In light of Obama’s recent moat and alligators comment, we’ve got something to say,” notes David Bellamy. “If it takes a moat and some gators to keep the illegals out of the country, then we say ‘hell yeah, bring ‘em on!’ After all, just look around. ‘Mexico came here!’”