| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | October 2008 
Violence Continues Unabated in Baja
 Sandra Dibble - San Diego Union-Tribune
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| | Police investigate a crime scene following a shootout at a store in Rosarito, south of Tijuana, Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008. According to the police, four men were shot dead and one injured in the shootout. Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez have both seen nearly daily killings as Mexico is swept up in a wave of drug-related bloodshed. Officials blame the violence on cartels fighting over lucrative smuggling routes. (AP/Guillermo Arias) | | |
Rosarito Beach – A day after eight people were shot to death in Rosarito Beach, dozens of municipal police officers yesterday demanded better weapons and reinforcements from other agencies, saying they felt powerless against criminal groups operating in their city of 120,000 residents.
In Tijuana, the violence continued as gunmen ambushed a man, woman and child inside a vehicle on a busy highway shortly after 2 p.m. The man and woman died, and the 18-month-old girl was severely injured, the Baja California Attorney General's Office said. A 20-month-old boy was killed in a traffic accident Wednesday when his panicked father crashed after being caught in a shootout.
In Rosarito Beach, a convoy of Mexican marines and a group of heavily armed federal police could be seen driving through downtown yesterday afternoon. Mayor Hugo Torres said he had been promised help from the military and state police to help gain control over crime in the city.
But from police headquarters to local schools, the fear was palpable following Thursday's three shooting incidents in less than five hours.
The victims included a 15-year-old student, one of four killed in an attack on a veterinary supply store on Bulevar Benito Juarez, the city's main avenue. Earlier, two municipal police officers were shot to death, bringing to seven the number of officers killed in the past month.
Rumors of further attacks caused some students to stay away from school, with unusually high absentee rates at two dozen of the city's schools, said Oscar Vega, Baja California's education secretary.
“We're living through a difficult period, as citizens, and we must pay attention,” Vega said. “But we don't have any cause for special concern as far as the educational system.”
The anxiety also affected workers in the city's transit department. Fearing for his employees' safety, the director moved his dozen employees to the main city offices after being alerted to two suspicious vehicles parked outside.
At City Hall yesterday, four dozen police officers confronted Mayor Torres and Capt. Jorge Eduardo Montero, the city's secretary of public safety, saying they fear for their lives.
A major complaint is that they are required to turn in their weapons, bulletproof vests and radios when their shifts are over; several of the recent police killings occurred after work hours, when the officers had no weapons. Several said they resented the mistrust with which they are treated.
More than a dozen officers have resigned in recent days, according to the department. One officer, David Rivera, said he came prepared to submit his resignation yesterday, but decided to stay at least through the end of the year.
“We will give our vote of confidence to the president and secretary, but we ask that they give us theirs,” said Rivera, 27.
The Mexican military yesterday announced a key detention in Rosarito Beach, a top member of the Arellano Félix cartel, Ricardo Estrada Pérez who was wanted by the U.S. FBI. |
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