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January 28, 2002
Woman's Body Found, Shot and Burned in Méxicali
On the night of Thursday, January 24, 2002, while looking
for a stolen vehicle, Méxicali police officer Guillermo
Leyva found a woman's body approximately 300 yards from a police
station. The body had been set on fire and shot, according to
police.
Due to the position in which the body was found, officials
believe that the woman was doused in gasoline and set on fire
while still alive. A one-gallon plastic container with gasoline
residue still inside was found at the crime site along with two
.38 bullet shells. The body has yet to be identified, according
to the Méxicali newspaper, La Crónica.
In a separate story, the Mexico City newspaper La Jornada
reports that a Oaxaca human rights group has asked the state
police to intensify investigations into the rape-murders of sixteen
women in that state over the past two years.
Aline Castellanos Jurado, the Oaxaca director of the Liga Mexicana
por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Mexican League for the
Defense of Human Rights), has called upon the Oaxaca Attorney
General, Sergio Santibáñez Franco, to seriously
examine these crimes against women. The Liga has also demanded
that the Attorney General's Office make public presentations
about the progress made in each of the cases.
Sources: La Crónica (Méxicali), January 25, 2002.
Article by Juan Galvan & César Valdez.
La Jornada (Mexico City), January 25, 2002. Article by Victor
Ruiz Arrazola.
January 15, 2002
Second Young Agua Prieta Woman Found Tortured & Murdered
In less than three months, two young women have been found
murdered in Agua Prieta, Sonora. Both bodies showed signs of
torture. Agua Prieta is located across the border from Douglas,
Arizona.
The Mexico City newspaper La Jornada reported on Sunday, January
13, 2002, that the body of a young woman, between the ages of
17 and 20, was found by a sanitation worker, presumably on January
11 or 12. The unnamed woman was apparently tortured and died
from a beating. As in the previous case, it is not known if the
woman was sexually assaulted.
Local authorities worry that there may be more killings in
the future, similar to what Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua has
faced over the past decade. In that city, more than 300 women
have been murdered since 1993. Many of these were young women
and maquiladora workers that were raped and tortured before their
bodies were disposed of in vacant fields or desert areas.
Irma Villalobos de Terán, the mayor of Agua Prieta, said
that these crimes "have begun to provoke a collective psychosis
throughout the city, that make people think that there is a tie
to the murder of women in Ciudad Juárez."
Source: La Jornada, January 13, 2002.
January 11, 2002
160 Strikes, You're Out? Recidivism in Méxicali
Looking for a warm bed and a hot meal, a few people in Méxicali
regularly get themselves arrested for a petty crime, according
to a Méxicali police officer quoted in the city's La Crónica
newspaper. Police officers even have a special name for their
recidivists: "distinguished clients."
Police authorities realize that the current recidivism rate generates
high costs, creates a paperwork backlog and takes agents off
the street when they could be performing more important tasks.
Efraín Guevara Morales, the director of the city's police
force, says that a few people have been arrested more than 160
times over a period of years. Some of Guevara's officers, tired
of what they call "recycling" the same individuals,
believe that the legal system should change so as to be firmer
with recidivists.
A study done by Cetys, an area university, found that in the
year 2000, 655 people were arrested 10,913 times. This is an
average of almost 17 arrests per person per year. The study also
found that among these 655 people, 551 of them were arrested
between 10 and 20 times each. The other results were as follows:
21 to 30 arrests in one year: 53 people
31 to 40 arrests in one year: 25 people
41 to 50 arrests in one year: 8 people
51 to 60 arrests in one year: 89 people
61 to 70 arrests in one year: 5 people
71 to 80 arrests in one year: 5 people
81 to 90 arrests in one year: 1 person
90 or more arrests in one year: 2 people
Source: La Crónica, January 7, 2002. Article by José
Manuel Yépiz Ruiz.
January 9, 2002
Méxicali's Christmas Tree Recycling and Disposal Program
Méxicali residents may dispose of their Christmas
trees, for free, at any one of sixteen recycling centers throughout
the city. Begun nine years ago to keep trees from being thrown
in the city's streets, the program grinds up many of the evergreens
to use them as fertilizer in the city's parks. Any leftover trees
are disposed of in Méxicali's landfill.
Miguel Castillo, director of the one of the city's recycling
centers, states that the centers are open from 6:00 a.m. until
9:00 p.m., Monday through Sunday. Trees can be dropped off until
January 31, 2002. The service is entirely free, he said.
Salvador Ramírez, a hotel employee that works near Castillo's
center, says that it is a good idea to keep trees out of the
streets and that Méxicali residents should take a little
extra time to keep their city clean by properly disposing of
their Christmas trees.
Source: La Crónica (Méxicali), January 8, 2002.
Article by Gerardo Franco Ortiz.
January 2, 2002
Méxicali Police: Low Pay and Housing Problems
Francisco Javier León Morales, age 49, has worked for
the Méxicali city police (Dirección de Seguridad
Pública Municipal, DSPM) for 23 years. He earns 6000 pesos
a month (approximately US$650) which he considers low for the
dangerous work he does. "Some people in the maquiladoras
earn more than I," he told the Méxicali newspaper
La Crónica.
León has spent most of his career out on the streets,
in a patrol car. The work is dangerous he says because he frequently
deals with thieves and drug addicts. According to León
both of these groups regularly become violent.
The job's risks are an issue at home, León states. He
has two sons, ages 11 and 16, and he says that the family worries
when he goes to work. His youngest son always tells him to take
care of himself when he leaves the house.
Housing is another problem for police officers according to León.
Some professions in Mexico receive credits which help workers
buy homes. The Méxicali police force has no such program,
although the head of the DSPM, Julio Chee Rodríguez, says
that he is looking for ways to help officers with housing.
Roberto González Contreras, who has 17 years on the
Méxicali police force, said that he was fortunate enough
to have purchased a home before he joined the police. When he
was younger, González earned a living by boxing and working
as a singer. Even today he'll pick up an occasional singing gig
to earn a little extra money "because things are so expensive
these days."
Source: La Crónica, January 2, 2002. Article by Elvia
Solís.
December 19, 2001
Migrant Health Program, "Go Healthy, Return Healthy,"
is Underway
Initiated on October 14, 2001 in Ciudad Juárez, the
"Vete sano, regresa sano" ("Go Healthy, Return
Healthy") program has taken its first steps, said Mexican
Secretary of Health Julio Frenk Mora. Already the program is
working to establish permanent health information and vaccination
campaigns in 500 Mexican communities that serve as points of
origin for Mexican migrants to the US, he stated.
However, Frenk also noted that the program has much work ahead
of it. For example, Mexican migrants living in the US have become
a group vulnerable to the spread of HIV. Drug addiction and mental
health issues are also problems that face migrants that are separated
from their families.
Good health is a universally accepted value, said Frenk, and
it requires bilateral cooperation between the US and Mexico since
diseases do not honor political borders.
Speaking at the same Tijuana conference, President Vicente Fox
thanked the California Endowment for providing US$50 million
to initiate health programs for Mexican agricultural laborers
that work in California.
Source: Frontera (Tijuana), December 19, 2001. Article by Daniel
Salinas.
December 17, 2001
Sixteen Tons of Drugs Incinerated in Méxicali
Sixteen metric tons of drugs were incinerated on December
11, 2001, about twelve miles outside of Méxicali, in the
presence of Mexican military officers and state and federal law-enforcement
officials. The drugs were seized in the Méxicali Valley
over the preceding three months.
The destroyed drugs included approximately fourteen tons of marijuana,
588 kilos of cocaine, 112 grams of methamphetamine, 10 kilos
of ecstasy, 617 grams of ephedrine and 130 grams of heroin.
Javier Guadalupe Salas, the assistant director of the Federal
Attorney General's Office (Procuraduría General de la
República, PGR) in Méxicali, said that his office
works with the Army and state and local police to combat illegal
drugs in the area.
Arturo Guevara Valenzuela, also of the PGR, said that the
"closure" of the US-Mexico border by US authorities
since September 11 has meant that many drug shipments have stayed
in Baja California because they cannot be exported.
Source: La Crónica, December 12, 2001. Article by Carlos
Lima.
December 11, 2001
The Cocopa People and the Colorado River: Issues of Fishing and
Shrimp Farming
Mexican federal and state authorities met with the Cocopa
indigenous community to analyze problems surrounding the issue
of fishing in the Colorado River delta. Traditionally, the Cocopa
(Cucapá in Spanish) have supported themselves by fishing
in that region. However, fishing was banned in the territory
which forms the heart of the Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve.
Other area fishing permits are insufficient to meet the needs
of the Cocopa, said Mónica González, a Cocopa representative.
Raúl Ramírez Baena, the head of Baja California's
Office of Human Rights, said that the human rights of the Cocopa
are being violated. He pointed out that over the years, the Cocopa
have lost their ability to make a living due to the loss of their
lands and their fishing rights. "Indigenous rights are human
rights," said Ramírez, "and in this case the
government is violating the Cocopa's rights to develop a legal
activity like fishing the Colorado River."
As an alternative to fishing, Ivonne Mena, a representative from
the Baja California Fishing Office, said that there is a real
possibility for the Cocopa to farm shrimp in the region. Mena
also stated that the shrimp farms could be located on Cocopa
territory in the Laguna Salada and would not over-exploit the
delta's fishing resources.
Source: La Crónica (Méxicali), December 10, 2001.
Article by César Angulo.
December 3, 2001
Twelve Méxicali Police Fired
Raúl López Moreno, a Méxicali city counselor,
announced that twelve city police agents were fired and three
more suspended for various illegal or inappropriate acts. Three
agents were fired for extortion, three for injuries caused to
others, three for corruption and the rest for lack of discipline,
drug use or other infractions.
López told the Méxicali newspaper La Crónica
that two of the twelve were fired because of a July 4, 2001 case
in which they used excessive force in an arrest. The arrested
man had to go to the hospital because of his injuries.
Two other agents were caught for arresting a drunk driver
and letting him ago after he paid them a sum of money. In this
case, police officials heard a report of the arrest over police
radio but later the agents failed to bring the suspect to jail.
Another officer among those fired lost his job when he kept
stolen material that was abandoned by a thief.
Source: La Crónica, November 28, 2001. Article by José
Manuel Yépiz Ruiz.
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