"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

[anonymous_coward]

"were yelling in the streets that they were going to kill everybody who remained in the town,"

That is the point where the men in the neighborhood should have picked up their shotguns and ended the problem. It is a tough situation but fleeing will only encourage it.

[Sylvia Longmire]

@anonymous_coward - If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, it's next to impossible for private citizens in Mexico to own pistols, let alone shotguns. And even if every man in town had a shotgun, I'd be willing to bet they'd be outgunned at least 3 to 1 by Los Zetas.

[Beltonwall]

@anon-
Unorganized untrained citizens can be brave, but they do not have a chance against organized trained opponents. For example compare Iraq insurgent fighters' combat results against the US Armed Forces.

[anonymous_coward]

"@anonymous_coward - If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, it's next to impossible for private citizens in Mexico to own pistols, let alone shotguns. And even if every man in town had a shotgun, I'd be willing to bet they'd be outgunned at least 3 to 1 by Los Zetas."

Yes, I know. That was my point. The citizens have allowed a government (since gov power comes only from the citizens) that has enslaved them. As to your ratio they would be out gunned but the Zetas would be out manned by 10-1. Mexico is a poster child for why every free citizen needs 2nd amendment freedoms.

"@anon-
Unorganized untrained citizens can be brave, but they do not have a chance against organized trained opponents. For example compare Iraq insurgent fighters' combat results against the US Armed Forces."

Yes, the US mopped up that insurgency very quickly didn't, as well as the one in Afghanistan.

We are not talking about a nation state on par with the USA. We are talking about a relatively small group of individuals with some special training/weapons. They would be easily out numbered if the citizens actually fulfilled their duty to protect themselves. Just as the Taliban would be easily defeated if the Afghans fought back as well (aka Petraeus doctrine). The problem is that the Mexican citizens have embraced and glorified the narcos so there is no will to fight back (http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/11/reynosa-night-we-removed-our-masks.html). That is why no amount of aid to Mexico will solve this problem. You cannot free slave who glorify their slave masters and the culture of slavery.

The insurgency in western Iraq was not defeated because of extraordinary weapons or training (the US had tried that). It was defeated by the people standing up, noticing who the bad actors were and enforcing justice.

Perhaps they need to hire this dude:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068699/

[D]

First of all,Mexicans need not fight toe to toe con los carteles, that would be suicide. You would need a trained force to do that-no one has that except for other cartels. What Mexicans need to do is start demanding some real security from Calderon and their state governments. At almost all levels of government, cartels have some influence. Calderon protects sinaloa, elements of the pfp are influenced by zetas/sinaloa, state governments influenced by whatever cartels are functioning in their states. Mexicans need to force the government to take responsibility for this drug war. I'm sick and tired of reading American press that wont even question whether the Mexican federal government is in line with the cartels. How is the FBI/DEA supposed to conduct investigations with Mexican authorities when they themselves are in for the take?

-D

[Guest User]

The Cartels have already told people to clear out of some towns before. Crazy, Terrorism possibly but that sounds a bit like something you might hear going on during the 1910 Mexican Revolution as well.

Per one of the comments above, though the states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua, especially the Copper Canyon area would make a big area, How hard would it be for Governments to burn up fields where heroin, marijuana, etc. is being grown? Is this not even an option?

[duke_nukkem]

Time for Mexican authorities to declare martial law...shut the town down w/ roadblocks.....bring in some Stryker or Bradley fighting vehicles....tanks.....whatever it takes....and run these thugs to jail or to their grave.

[P]

Sylvia

These statements by the local Mexican army are just complete and utter BS ...

"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"

Take a look at the following article written by Tracey Wilkinson from the LA Times (dated 6 November of this year). These towns controlled by the Zeta's are going through sheer hell. And it's never reported by any of the local Mexican media - so the truth never reaches the outside world.

latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-cartel-rule-20101106,0,7042267,story

[Sylvia Longmire]

@P - That's the same army that sent 200 troops into Ciudad Mier and Ciudad Miguel Alemán today :).

[Porter M. Corn]

Hi Sylvia,

I routinely travel Mx 2 between Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa, perhaps three times a month.

They are correct. Where Cd Mier used to be a sleepy little historic town (Cd Mier was the site in 1842 of General Santa Ana's "Black Bean Espisode"). It's now pretty much deserted. Burned out hulks of pickups in the streets and on the highway leading into town. The archway to the city has been shot all to hell with AK rounds. Sheer stupidity.

Does the military and federal police know what's happening there? Sure they do.

On the route from Nuevo Laredo to Reynosa, you pass through a half dozen or so small towns. Beginning with the turnoff to Viejo Guerrero (a dirt road), the Mexican army has a five vehilce roving checkpoint established in the area. All the rest of the towns along Mx2 also have check points set up at the main turnoff into the towns. Checkpoints consisting of local police and transito, State Police and Federal Police. Also, about 30 miles north of Reynosa, the name of the small town escapes me, there is a permanent Army checkpoint, with towers and sandbagged machine gun emplacements.

Cd. Mier? Nothing! The towns dead and from the looks of things, it will stay that way. During my travels, I've never seen sicarios or other punks in the street yelling or raising hell.

Sylvia, many of the so called Zetitas, or baby Zetas, are punks with guns. No training, and no education, the latter which makes them more dangerous. I believe it is safe to say, the founders of Los Zetas, the renegade GAFE soldiers are pretty much dead or in prison.