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March 28, 2002
BC Support for Organizations that Assist Minors, Women and Migrants
On Monday, March 25, Jorge Alberto González Arenas,
the head of Desarrollo Social (Social Development) in Tijuana,
and Gabriela Navarro Peraza, the director of the Instituto Estatal
de la Mujer (State Institute for Women) presented support checks
to Tijuana NGOs.
The groups, which receive monthly support from the two organizations,
are: Instituto Madre Asunta, 17,300 pesos; Escuela Eugenio Pacelli,
10,000 pesos; Casa del Migrante, 20,493 pesos; Sinfónica
Juvenil de Tijuana (Tijuana Youth Symphony), 15,000 pesos; Hogar
de los Niños Desamparados (Home for Abandoned Children),
18,007 pesos; and the Centro de Ayuda para la Mujer (Women's
Assistance Center), 18,000 pesos. The exchange rate is currently
near 9 pesos to the dollar.
González said that the NGOs will continue to receive
support over the course of the year. There are currently 2,200,000
pesos (approximately US$243,000) that can be used to support
the groups, he said.
González also told the assembled NGOs that business start-up
loans are available from his organization. Individuals can obtain
loans from between 1,500 and 15,000 pesos. Groups can get loans
for between 15,000 and 40,000 pesos. Other sorts of larger loans
are also available.
March 19, 2002
Tijuana Cartel Continues On
While Mexico's Procuraduría General de la República
(Attorney General's Office, PGR) and the Secretaría de
la Defensa Nacional (Department of National Defense, Sedena)
have stated that the Arellano Félix/Tijuana cartel has
been dismantled with the death of Ramón Arellano Félix
and the arrest of Benjamín Arellano Félix, some
Tijuana sources believe that the cartel will evolve and continue
into the future.
Raúl Ramírez Baena, the head of Derechos Humanos
y Protección Ciudadana del Estado de Baja California (the
Baja California Office of Human Rights and Citizen Protection),
said that he is hesitant to believe that the cartel is finished.
According to Ramírez, Ramón and Benjamín
were expendable and their loss is not a mortal blow to the organization.
An article in the Ciudad Juárez newspaper El Diario,
quotes unnamed military intelligence sources as saying that Arellano
Félix cartel may split into "minicartels." One
could be led by one of the other Arellano Félix brothers,
Francisco Xavier. Another could be led by Fabián Martínez
González who authorities allege has been the Tijuana cartel's
money launderer.
Jesús Blancornelas, director of the Tijuana weekly
Zeta and an expert on drug trafficking issues, stated that cartels
are like businesses: if the president dies or is fired, a new
one is appointed the next day. "It's the same with the cartels,"
he said.
In 1997, Blancornelas survived, with serious wounds, an attack
by hitmen. His driver and one of the hitmen were killed in the
attack. Blancornelas attributes the attack to the Arellano Félix
cartel.
Source: El Diario, March 17, 2002. Article by Ricardo Ravelo.
March 12, 2002
Benjamín Arellano, Alleged Tijuana Drug Boss, Captured
Benjamín Arellano Félix, the alleged head of
the Arellano Félix drug cartel, also known as the Tijuana
cartel, was arrested at a home in Puebla, Puebla on Saturday,
March 9, 2002.
Benjamin, along with his brothers Ramón, Eduardo, Javier
and Francisco, head what the US Drug Enforcement Administration
says is one of the world's largest and most violent drug organizations.
The group allegedly imports 25% of the cocaine that arrives in
the US each year.
Benjamín Arellano has been held at the Las Palmas maximum
security facility in Mexico since March 9.
Benjamín Arellano told Mexican officials that his brother
Ramón Arellano did die in a February 10 shooting incident
in Mazatlán.
Initially, there were questions about Ramón Arellano's
death because it appeared that he had changed his identity and
carried false identification. Also, just hours after the shooting,
someone went to the morgue and claimed the body that Mexican
officials believed was Ramón Arellano's. This person then
had the body cremated.
Mexican drug officials have since confirmed Ramón Arellano's
death. However, while the DEA is comfortable with Mexico's announcement,
it is waiting for DNA testing results to come back before confirming
his death, according to DEA Spokesperson Will Glasty.
""This is a great day for law enforcement, the Mexican
Government, and citizens of the US," said Administrator
Asa Hutchinson on March 9. "I am ecstatic with the Mexican
Government's initiative and its continued cooperation with matters
of such great importance. We will continue our cooperative efforts
until all chief members of this notorious organization are brought
to justice."
The US announced quickly that it would seek to extradite Benjamín
Arellano. However, Mexico has already said that it will first
prosecute Benjamín Arellano at home. Later, Mexico will
allow for the temporary extradition of Benjamín Arellano
to the US. After he has stood trial in the US, Benjamín
Arellano will be returned to Mexico to finish his sentence in
that country, according to the Cd. Juárez newspaper El
Diario.
Also according to El Diario, Benjamín Arellano bought
a home for 2.4 million pesos (approximately US$250,000) in Puebla's
La Escondida neighborhood. The house was purchased under the
name of Manuel Treviño Arredondo. He was living there
with his wife, son and his son's wife at the time of his arrest
by a special Army unit.
In an interview, Guadalupe González, La Escondida's
administrator, said that Benjamín Arellano was a normal
person that paid his dues on time, took walks, said hello and
lived a quiet life. She also said that she never saw him carry
a weapon. However, she did say that he would travel for two or
three weeks at a time and that someone would come by to feed
his dog.
Because of fears that rival drug organizations may move in on
what was previously Arellano Félix territory, police in
three states--Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Baja California--are on
alert for the breakout of a drug war. Police officials are warning
citizens to stay away from bars, restaurants and other places
where people have been killed in drug violence in past years.
Source: El Diario, March 10 & March 12, 2002.
March 6, 2002
BC Human Rights Office Has Program to Protect Journalists
Raúl Ramírez Baena, the head of the Baja California
Human Rights Office (Procuraduría de Derechos Humanos
de Baja California, PDHBC), told the Méxicali newspaper
La Crónica that his office offers a program to protect
journalists.
Ramírez also stated that, as in other nations, journalists
in Mexico have been the object of violence and intimidation that
prevents them from working and jeopardizes their freedom of speech.
The most likely source of human rights abuses for Baja California
journalists is from drug traffickers, according to Ramírez.
This is due to the fact that the borderlands are the gateway
for drugs to enter the US, he said.
The PDHBC's program to protect journalists includes a complaint
and response system that journalists can access at any of the
PDHBC's six offices. The Human Rights Office also offers an education
program and protection program, said Ramírez.
According to the PDHBC, no journalists have yet to use the
program's resources.
Source: La Crónica (Méxicali), March 6, 2002.
February 25, 2002
Drug Rehab in BC Prisons
In the Baja California state prison known as "El Pueblito,"
128 inmates graduated from the Segunda Oportunidad (Second Chance)
drug rehabilitation program on Sunday, February 24, 2002.
According to Joy Westrum, the director of Segunda Oportunidad,
the program has been in existence for one year and has graduated
more than 2,000 people.
A prison official said that approximately 60% of incoming prisoners
are drug users and this is one reason why rehabilitation programs
are so important. The official also mentioned that prison drug
use is a real problem that allows addicts to continue with their
habit while they are incarcerated.
Within the next three to four months, Segunda Oportunidad will
be offered in the El Hongo state prison, the official said.
Source: Frontera (Tijuana), February 25, 2002. Article by Ernesto
Alvarez.
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