"Ciudad Mier evacuates after Zetas threaten to kill residents."

Here is an excerpt from this story in The Monitor:

"Hundreds of families have fled thisPueblo Magico amid reported death threats from drug cartel thugs. About 300 people are seeking shelter in nearby Miguel Alemán, the nearest city to this town across the border from western Starr County. Sources said after [Antonio Ezequiel 'Tony Tormenta] Cárdenas’ slaying Friday, members of Los Zetas, the drug cartel controlling Mier, were yelling in the streets that they were going to kill  everybody who remained in the town, sparking the exodus from town. Mexican Army officials in Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo denied knowing of any recent violence in Ciudad Mier. The military sources denied any knowledge about the threats. And today, authorities said they will need to open another shelter... Authorities in Miguel Aleman are helping the people, but nothing is being done to solve the situation in Ciudad Mier." Link to Full Article

And here is an excerpt from a separate but related story by Melissa Del Bosque in The Texas Observer:

"Residents in Mexican border cities including Ciudad Mier and Nuevo Guerrero have been living unde siege-like conditions for the past year. They are living without electricity, water. Their gas stations have been incinerated in a scorched earth campaign to take over the area as a prime drug smuggling route. One resident of Ciudad Mier, said cartel members have threatened to dynamite her town of 6,000 inhabitants, which neighbors Roma, Texas.  With the death of Gulf Cartel capo Tony Tormenta in Matamoros last week, the bloody fighting over territory with the Zeta cartel has escalated  to the point that Ciudad Mier residents started fleeing their town last Friday to take refuge in the neighboring city of Miguel Aleman... A resident of Ciudad Mier in the Monitor article described his city as a ghost town: 'The authorities do not go there. There are no soldiers there. There is nobody,' the former Mier resident said. 'The mayor is not there anymore, there is no police, no traffic authority — nobody. It’s a ghost town. All the businesses are closed. If you want an aspirin, you have to travel to Miguel Alemán, and by bus, because if you drive they take away your car.'" Link to Full Article

Analysis: I'll be the first to admit that I've never heard of Ciudad Mier prior to reading these stories, let alone know about the extent of the violence going on there. This isn't the first time something this extreme has happened there, either. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed there this year, although there's no official body count. In nearby Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, the town's only gas station has been blown up by narcos, food is in short supply, and federal police forces have moved out - essentially ceding control to the DTOs. On the other side of Ciudad Mier in Ciudad Miguel Alemán, the commander of the state police there had his severed head recently delivered to a nearby military post.

Here's a map image of the area so you can get a better idea of where this is going on. Also, I need to show you something interesting:

You see that large lake in the northwest corner of the map? That's Falcon Lake, where David Hartley was reportedly shot and killed by junior members of Los Zetas last month in a possible case of mistaken identity. So the violent activity in these towns comes as no surprise because we know it's a hotbed of DTO activity.

What does blow my mind is the threats by Los Zetas to kill everyone in the town of Ciudad Mier. The immediate, dramatic, and desperate response by the town tells me these threats were not overestimated, misunderstood, or mistranslated. The threats to kill hundreds of innocent men, women, and children also goes well beyond any traditional definition of activity carried out by mere organized crime.

Here's some raw video of what Ciudad Mier looks like now (i.e. a ghost town), and how its residents are waiting things out in Ciudad Miguel Alemán:

I welcome any civil, logical, and intelligent attempts to convince me that this is just criminal activity and not some form of terrorism. And before you respond, do a little bit of research on the history of the AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) and their methods. Just a hint: The AUC had no ideology and no desire to take over the government; they were paramilitaries acting as enforcers for Colombian drug lords. They were also designated a terrorist group by the US government in 2001.

Comments

[Ed Stock]

I have to wonder whether the Mexican government has considered hiring the type of mercenary forces we've used in Iraq. I believe at one point there were as many as 50,000 non-military private "security" forces in Iraq, many of whom were merely soldiers for hire. I would think hiring a couple thousand of them and giving them a "don't ask don't tell" license to systematically engage and eliminate cartel thugs, town by town, might prove more effective. They'd also likely be considered less corruptible than the police and military.

Just a thought.

[Sylvia Longmire]

@Ed - I'm sure they have, but knowing how Mexico feels/thinks about asking for help, I think that would be too much of an admission of failure to bring in Xe or someone like that. Sure, it would take care of business more effectively, but I think Mexico wants to (at least try) to handle this on its own. Accepting piecemeal assistance from the US is one thing, because they view the drug war as partly our fault and we're just helping clean up our part of the mess. But bringing in mercs would hurt national pride too much, I think.

[SHIRLEY BELL]

PLEASE BE INFORMED THAT DAVID HARTLEY WAS REPORTEDLY KILLED NEARLY 7 MILES BY WATER [IN MEXICO] UP THE SALADO RIVER WHICH DUMPS INTO FALCON LAKE AT THE RIO GRANDE RIVER.[NOT ON FALCON LAKE]!!! FALCON LAKE IS GETTING TOO MUCH BAD PUBLICITY AS A RESULT OF THE IGNORANCE OF THE HARTLEY COUPLE.
I HAVE LIVED ON THE LAKE FOR 23 YEARS.

[Sylvia Longmire]

@Shirley - Why do you think the news reports have all gotten the location so wrong? That's an important detail to miss.

[NCEZ]

First of all, mexican citizens are not allowed to have guns, or shotguns, The zetas are not only well trained, they also have high caliber, and better weapons. Its is practically impossible for them to fight them, even the militia has a hard time in combat against them.

I believe that the people need to rise, and fight back, but the odds are against them. We all hear about ALL the drugs coming in from mexico, but we hear nothing about ALL the weapons and guns that are going into Mexico from the US. Weapons that ONLY the US military forces should have access to. Drug violence in Mexico is an issue that affects not only Mex. but the US as well. you can hear from Isolated incidents as far up as dallas where zetas have committed murder in US soil.

[Brian Gould]

There are volumes of doctrine written on insurgencies, irregular warfare and unconventional warfare, the tactics used by DTO’s. These tactics used by the Zeta or any of the DTO’s are neither new nor imaginative. US Army Special Forces studies how to use this tactic, and how to combat against it as part of thier entry level training. The knowledge needed to combat this threat is there. Ground surveillance radar, Satellite reconnaissance, and UAV’s with mounted thermal imagery and GPS tracking have been around for over 20 years. The equipment is available and in the US governments inventory. So what stops us?

I believe that in the US not only has drug trafficking become a billion dollar industry but also fighting drugs is a billion dollar as well. What is the difference between being paid by a lobbyist to vote for or against a bill that indirectly helps DTO’s produce Methamphetamines and being paid by the Cartels themselves? How can the head of Homeland Security tell US law enforcement officials to stop exaggerating about the threat on the border when families have been run from their homes on the US side of the border? How, it was politically necessary to do so. How do you combat a problem when so many on each side of the hierarchy profit from it existence? You do not. Those in the middle, on both sides of the border, can only mitigate damage and risk and bury thier dead, until money and politic is taken out of the decision making process and those in charge are held accountable.

[ron mcconnauhghay]

taking a cargo van with tag along trailer from larado to monterey and will take the toll road
are there any problems

[Sylvia Longmire]

@Ron - I think that's a bad idea. You'll be traveling through prime Zetas territory, and a van with a trailer - especially if you have US plates - is just begging for someone to pull you over and either ask for a large passage fee, or go through and take your stuff.