* * * * * * *
In Tecun Uman, Ciudad Hidalgo’s sister town on the Guatemalan side of the divide, media reports and rumors of Los Zetas, the armed wing of the Gulf cartel, are rampant these days. Law enforcement officers don’t deny any of it.
 
“The gangs here are more organized now, and there are more Mexicans working here, Zetas,” said Marcario Maldonaldo, a policeman in Tecun Uman, adding that just day before, a Mexican had been detained in his town for carrying weapons and drugs. “Bus drivers are being killed if they don’t pay a fee to the Zetas, and so are other business owners.”
 
Reports of exortion by Zetas have emerged nationwide, from the State of Mexico to southern Veracruz, as the group has expanded its operations this year. Everything from local drug dealing to piracy to farming is reportedly being taken over by these armed men.
 
Tecun Uman and its environs are no exception.
 
An employee at a ranch near the border that boasts a small hotel as well as many acres of fertile land, told me that his boss had recently been taken in by an extortion racket. A group of armed men had come in two weeks before, and threatened the owner. If he didn’t pay regularly, they would seize the property, the employee said. The men, he added, were not Guatemalan; they looked and sounded Mexican
 
The owner – who did not return calls for comment– isn’t the first to have been approached.
 
Last weekend, the president of Guatemala’s Chamber of Agriculture, Carlos Zúñiga, confirmed reports that landowners in the border region “are being pressured by drug trafficking.”
 
“This was already happening in Izabal and Petén, but now, Mexican drug traffickers are pressuring all along the border for the power to [produce and store] drugs,” he said.
 
Landowners have been offered handsome sums for their properties, he said, but if they refuse, they die.
 
SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Once the paramilitary wing of the Gulf cartel, rumored to have trained in the United States (the U.S. government denies any record of known Zetas having trained inside its borders) and incororated Army vets and even Guatemalan soldiers, Los Zetas have evolved into the nation’s most widely spread out organized crime group. They’ve been spreading through the south of Mexico of late.
 
Their modus operandi has evolved, too. According to Mexican and U.S. counter-drug officials, as well as security experts, Los Zetas no longer operate through a central chain of command leading all the way up to the Gulf cartel’s top capo. “Los Zetas were the the primary reason for the Gulf’s power, but reports of Zeta activity from this past year suggest that the much-feared group now operates independently,” said U.S.-based security analysts Fred Burton and Stephen Meiners of Stratfor in a recent intelligence report.
 
“When a Zeta comes to town, he doesn’t try to make a deal,” said one Ciudad Hidalgo business owner, who asked not to be named for safety reasons. “He cuts off someone’s head and says, this is mine now. It’s non-negotiable.”
  
Local vendors of pirated goods in Tapachula interviewed all denied that larger crime groups from out of state had taken over operations. They still work for the local bosses who provide them with their merchandise, they said, from which they take a nearly 50 percent cut off each item sold. The municipal police take a small cut every once in a while, they said – they only have to watch out for federal agents.
 
And who actually is a Zeta these days is up for debate. U.S., Mexican and Guatemalan authorities say the group has co-opted members of gangs like the Mara Salvatrucha, as well as small-time crooks who’ll do anything for a small amount of money and are easily controlled – and who also don’t mind going around bragging about being Zetas.
 
It’s not clear that the police know all that much either. A visit to the police station in Coatepeque, the Guatemalan city about an hour’s drive from Tecun Uman where local police said a recently-arrested Mexican was being held, proved fruitless.
 
“No Mexicans here,” one Coatepeque police officer said, checking the records and opening the door to the cells to support his claim.
 
In the station’s main office, a billboard with a checklist of recent crimes and people arrested hung on the wall.
 
Ninety-seven arrests for illegal weapons possession since January, 23 held for rape, two nabbed for lynching.
 
Three foreigners arrested. But no Mexicans.
 
“They must have been mistaken in Tecun Uman,” the cop said.
 
THE BLAME GAME
Back on the Mexican side of the border, fears are running high as clarity remains elusive.
 
Residents and law enforcement alike are pointing fingers and playing a guessing game as to who might be responsible for all the crime and violence, and how it might be quelled.
 
When a narco-manta, or banner, was posted on a Tapachula pedestrian bridge this past weekend – the first incident of its kind in the city – residents were abuzz over who had done it.
 
Some jumped to the immediate conclusion that it was Los Zetas – they and the Gulf cartel were the two major groups not mentioned on the unsigned banner – while other residents admitted they had no idea, but were nonetheless scared.
 
“This was the first narco-manta,” said Bernadet Chávez, a father of three. No one took responsibility, he said, much like most the recent killings. “No one knows which group is responsible [for the violence], or which side [of the border] is worse,” he said.
 
At the Ciudad Hidalgo border crossing, a Mexican immigration official was quicker to point the finger. “There are Zetas everywhere,” he said, asking that only his first name, Mario, be used. “It’s a mess over there [in Guatemala].”
 
Mario pulled out a series of photos he had taken two days before at his post. A man lay slumped behind the wheel of his car, riddled with bullets. Clutching his arm, his wife’s face was filled with anguish, and smeared with blood. Blood had spilled onto her shirt, too, but she was unhurt. The next photo showed the windscreen of the car, shattered by a spray of bullets. In another, the Mexican side of the border crossing was in clear view.
 
Still, Mario insisted, “It’s all happening over there.”
 
CRACKDOWN?
Amidst reports that this lawless border region is falling into the hands of organized crime, the Mexican and Guatemalan governments say they have deployed more soldiers and federal police to the area in recent months to help local police prevent an infiltration by the powerful Mexican cartels and groups like Los Zetas.
 
But in towns like Tecun Uman, military presence is scant. Standing guard at his station in the middle of a rundown settlement right near the river that separates his nation from Mexico, Private Luis Gómez insists he and the other 31 soldiers who patrol the area and conduct anti-drug operations are doing their utmost.
 
“We’re fighting here, too, just like the army is in Mexico,” he said.
 
Just a few blocks away, Maldonaldo, the Tecun Uman police officer, lamented the fact that they only have 28 cops to patrol the town, and limited other resources. He might have shiny new boots and a natty new uniform courtesy of the government, he said, grinning, but “that’s not enough.”
 
About two hundred feet away in the other direction, just across the river in Ciudad Hidalgo, municipal policeman Hector Juárez de León shared similar sentiments. He’s served for 24 years, and seen much in his time. He’s noted the increase in crime in recent months.
 
And he’s not sure his force of 40 municipal cops can handle it.
 
“There’s been much more crime, and it’s organized,” he said. “Robberies, extortion, they’re all professional now.”

Apparently, Chapo was the primary target of a raid that led to the capture of Enrique Lopez Acosta, aka El Cumbias, in the Chihuahua town of Delicias. El Cumbias was allegedly responsible for a horrendous massacre in Creel earlier this year; he allegedly worked for Chapo in the area, as a leader of la Gente Nueva, one of Chapo’s sicario groups.

The Austin-based private intelligence firm, Stratfor, cites the Diario de Chihuahua in a new security briefing; the state prosecutor and governor of Chihuahua, meanwhile, have denied the report of Chapo being anywhere near their state.

A few things spring to my mind here: first off, it’s hard to know whether Chapo was indeed there. El Diario de Chihuahua cites off the record military sources in its piece; it’s a pretty decent paper most of the time so I believe its sourcing. Whether or not the source actually knows anything is another matter altogether. Time and time again the leaks in Mexico about captures etc turn out to be sources misleading the reporters or the reporter desperately trying to make a story out of nothing.

Second, what would Chapo be doing in Delicias? The town is pretty far from his strongholds in Durango and Sinaloa (link to map in title of post); I find it unlikely that he’d be roaming around in central Chihuahua, even if the state is rapidly becoming his, thanks to la Gente Nueva’s successes against the Juarez cartel. That said, if he’s becoming more confident that his people are in charge, and that the authorities’ efforts to catch him are failing, then maybe, just maybe, he was there to check up on operations. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s reportedly visited plantations and the like in Chihuahua – who knows, maybe he’s back in leadership mode.

Or maybe Chapo was simply indulging in one of his culinary excursions? Reports of Chapo entering a restaurant to have a meal (and pay for fellow diners in return for their silence) have abounded since 2005; he’s said to have stopped in for a meal at restaurants in Culiacan, Nuevo Laredo, Mexicali, Guadalajara and a few other places. Delicias, I’ve been told, has the best burritos in Mexico; maybe Chapo made the trip for one of those. And maybe, as he said when he was in prison, he’s “just a farmer.”

Wardens lament that their facilities are not equipped to handle federal criminals (ie, organized crime). I understand this, and they’re definitely in the right. But is NOT that hard to keep these prisons well-guarded, at least temporarily.

It’s simple: use the military.

All one needs to do to secure these prisons is keep the military on constant patrol outside. You don’t need more than a few humvees and well-armed soldiers, and you will provide a serious deterrent. I’m not saying that no one will try to break out, but it will be that much harder. Meantime, one can get on with cleaning up the prisons on the inside.

I have to admit I’m a bit tired of hearing how the military “arrived” on the scene of an escape or riot, when they should have already been there. I understand that Mexico prides itself on its rather open prison system (rehabilitation rather than simply incarceration) but having the military patrol OUTSIDE will not infringe on prisoners’ rights, and would do nothing to affect activities on the inside. It would simply make waltzing out of a medium-security facility and hopping onto a convoy of awaiting buses, as happened in Nuevo Laredo, that much more difficult.

The Mexican government has pledged to improve prison facilities and security, and build more maximum security penitentiaries by next year. Yes, that’s necessary. But so is securing the god-awful prisons that exist now.

Instead, what we have is the usual: state authorities are blaming the federal gov’t, and vice versa. Get on with it, guys, stop bickering and just make things better.

But at times during my reporting, I did very much sympathize with the “bad” people. During one trip to the Sinaloan hills, I drove with a companion through the winding hills to the resting place of Ernesto “Don Neto” Fonseca, just outside of Santiago de los Caballeros.

Don Neto is one of the old school Sinaloan narcos. He is currently in prison on charges related to the killing of DEA agent Kiki Camarena. The mausoleum pictured above is where he will be buried. He’s 68 years old, so is unlikely to ever see his homeland as a free man again.

But in that homeland, he’s seen as a hero. There is no doubt that he has put more money into the community, created more jobs, and given people more hope than the government has ever tried to do. There is no doubt that he is the patron, a man who kept crime down (even if by force and brutality) and kept society (albeit one founded on illicit activity) running. The graveyard in which he will rest is sacrosanct, and villagers know not to disrespect the dead who lie there.

“Why would you want to support a guy who’s poisoning your society?” asked one US official I talked to a while back in Mexico City.

He’s got a very valid point, especially as addiction rates rise in Mexico and gringos are no longer the only consumers. But one look at Don Neto’s history, his place in a society neglected by government, and one can begin to understand just why the average Sinaloan might support a guy like that.

I’m not saying it’s right, but I do understand it.

First off: Mexico is a big country. So be specific in your research before planning a trip, and don’t heed news reports of “Mexico is falling apart.” I’d estimate that for a tourist, 99 percent of it is safe (just a blind guess)

Second: Where is it not safe? Ok, I would advise against visiting Ciudad Juarez, Matamoros, Reynosa, Tijuana and Culiacan, unless you know the cities and/or know people who live there. Along the border, the safety situation is fluid and ever-changing in every small town too, so check in with local authorities (and the authorities on the US side; maybe a local consulate if that makes you more comfortable).

Resorts? All pretty safe. There is no war being waged against tourists in Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, or Acapulco. These places suck as far as holiday locales go, and there is every chance you’ll get mugged or ripped off somehow, just as you might get mugged walking down the streets of Boston. But the chances of being caught up in drug violence are slim to none. There was a shootout on the main drag in Acapulco earlier this year; life goes on as (close to) normal in the city today.

Inland pueblos: Safe as can be… Be cautious if driving long stretches on open roads (I’d advise taking the bus, personally, but if you must drive, don’t drive at night, watch out for crazy drivers and be sure to stop at military checkpoints and not use your cellphone near them.) Steer clear of SUVs and any vehicle with tinted windows/no license plate, and do not, under any circumstance, get into an argument with another driver no matter how much he or she might piss you off.

In the towns themselves, adopt a policy of silent respect. Ie: don’t ask about narcos or drugs, and people won’t bother you, by and large. If you’re a nosy journalist like me, ask about drugs, but do so at your own risk. And know that you probably won’t find out much more than you would read in the papers.

If there is a party going on outside or near your hotel and it’s driving you crazy, put in some earplugs and just deal with it. It might be a bunch of fun-loving locals having a family affair; it might be the local narco. Let them be.

Mexico City: Take taxis from sitios, or stands, or have your hotel call a car for you. Street cabs are fine for those who have some street sense, but it’s probably not worth the risk (and it’s not all that much more expensive to just call a cab).

Absolutely forbidden: Don’t buy drugs. I don’t say this from a moral standpoint, I couldn’t care less if you do smoke weed or do coke. But in Mexico, buying drugs right now could a) conect you to the very people you should be trying to avoid or b) get you in a lot of hot water with the authorities. So best to just stay well away from all that.

Lastly: If you have a problem with some sort of crime, many cities now have tourist hotlines and/or consulates. Go to them, and skip the local cops.

This isn’t the first time a party has led to the demise of a top narco. On December 11, 2009, Arturo Beltran Leyva hosted a Christmas “posada” (holiday party) in Ahuatepec, Morelos, just outside the lovely haven of Cuernavaca. He hired musicians (Ramon Ayala among them) and escorts to entertain his guests. The Marines swooped in and tried to capture him, to no avail.

But they kept on his tail, and five days later, gunned him down in a Cuernavaca high-rise.

This time around in Michoacan, the authorities weren’t lucky enough to leave with Moreno’s corpse, which will no doubt lead to rumours that Moreno’s death has been fabricated. We’ll see. Already, the people of Apatzingan have taken to the streets to protest his death and rally around La Familia.

According to an AP report: One man held up a sign that said: “Nazario will always live in our hearts.” A boy in a checkered shirt held another saying “Mr. Nazario, for students your ideals live on.” A little girl in pigtails held a sign reading “La Familia Michoacana is more than one state.” A woman held one high over her head proclaiming: “Long live La Familia Michoacana.”

Locals have been paid off by the narcos to protest before, throughout Mexico; the fact that a little girl in pigtails was carrying a sign makes me wonder if the same hasn’t happened here.

Seriously, the Calderon administration really needs to get its message across immediately, that it truly is trying to help its people. The army has been engaged in reconstruction and heart-winning exercises in Michoacan, why not highlight those activities before the people turn once and for all to a bunch of pseudo-religious quacks who peddle meth on the side. It’d be a start.

This isn’t particularly surprising, but it does make one wonder what Mexico could turn into. What no one wants is a Blackwater-type situation there, where private security folks simply go in guns blazing and enjoy shooting up shit (not to mention, people). There’s the issue of sovereignty, of course, and no doubt some Mexicans would come out strongly against private security operatives on their turf (when Blackwater started building its training facility near the border outside of San Diego a few years back, the press in Mexico went crazy out of fear, and rightly so, in my opinion.) In addition, there are already enough vigilante-types operating in Mexico; the last thing anyone needs is a bunch of trigger-happy foreign mercenaries taking potshots at anyone who looks, talks or walks like a narco. Or just someone they don’t like the look of.

That said, if all is done by the book, then these companies could very well be welcome and should be: Pemex has had pipelines pilfered by Los Zetas and other rebel groups in the past, while most US firms insist their employees ride around with security these days. With fake military and federal police checkpoints apparently becoming increasingly common, having some serious security guys on the ground would do everyone wonders. While most foreign investment to Mexico has continued to flood in despite security concerns, a survey of 220 private U.S. companies (conducted by the State Department) showed that 15 percent of those companies have postponed investments or other plans, Reuters reported recently; nearly 80 percent of the companies saw the drug war as a long-term threat to Mexico’s political and economic stability.

“If we don’t take seriously the tension that is being created by the insecurity and work in a very deliberate and accelerated way to reduce it, then there is a very serious prospect that the spillover into the investment climate can become more significant,” U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual told the news agency.

Indeed. Perhaps it’s time to bring in the mercs. Readers, what do you think?

We sat in Col. Alkreem’s office about five hours before the raid. He was clearly overwhelmed – and had no qualms in admitting it. “We don’t have the equipment, technology, ammunition and intelligence that the Coalition has,” he said. Adhamiya was full of Al Qaeda, Baathist insurgents, criminals – “all sorts of groups, each with their own aims,” Alkreem explained. He looked flustered. “There’s too much happening here,” he said.

The Americans I talked to that night didn’t really feel that way. They admitted to being a bit tired of training – they knew they could get the job done themselves, but they’d been ordered to train, not actually fight. They were antsy, and knew that if given the green light, they’d be able to take on the insurgents.

On the roof of the compound (a Forward Operating Base, or FOB, in military parlance) I stood by while a couple of soldiers pointed their turret gun at a nearby mosque. That’s where the insurgents take cover, one said. He could blow the insurgents out from there, without even leaving the base, he said. But no, that wasn’t his directive…

A few of the soldiers were getting a little sick of the whole situation in general (bear in mind this was way back in 2006). One private grumbled about the war being purely ideological, while another joked about how long it took him to get used to “all that man-kissing.” Most of the soldiers I talked to admitted they had enjoyed learning the ways of their foreign counterparts. But sometimes the frustration was inevitable: “the word ‘hope’ doesn’t exist in the military,’” said one soldier, griping about his counterparts’ fatalistic sensibilities.

Shortly after the meeting in Alkreem’s office (which, incidentally, was inside what once was one of Uday Hussein’s whorehouses), I bunked down with Capt. Brandon. To this day, I am grateful to all the guys who offered me their spare bunk. At least three of them did so, but Brandon said that I should sleep in his quarters, which of course were more spacious and, well, given the circumstances, luxurious.

I got into my sleeping bag, and tried to imagine what was going on inside the head of my one-night roommate. With the raid about three hours away, I didn’t probe, I figured it’d be right to just let him be. (Even a reporter has to know that at times, there is nothing more annoying than a reporter.) He was watching DVD episodes of Smallville (a self-admitted addiction of his) and clearly kinda missing home. He mentioned something about ending his tour pretty soon. Then he turned back to Smallville.

I fell sound asleep, thinking, yeah, I owe these guys my life. There are hundreds of other journalists out there who I am sure think the same.

But is it actually trying? In bookstores, Glenn Beck is a big seller. Sarah Palin’s reality TV show has prompted more than a handful of people to whisper to me: “I think she’s going to win in 2012.” I see and read a lot about Obama hatred – some of it crazy rabid talk, other times it’s quiet mumbling about how he simply isn’t getting anything done. I read journalists’ columns in which they lambast other journalists’ work and think: Whatever happened to the old maxim of ‘don’t say something unless it’s worth saying’?

I also hear the same old stories: racism and sexism in the workplace abound, you can only get ahead by knowing the right people or sleeping your way to the top, hard work doesn’t get you anywhere, blah blah blah.

A lot of it is pure moaning, in my opinion, focusing on the negative instead of the positive. Some of it is simply people desperately trying to use their disadvantages as advantages, to game the system by pulling the victim card. Some of it is justified. But I’ve heard it all before.

I think something’s wrong with the system, personally. I think people are getting “enlightened” at US universities and through their therapists in order to learn how the world isn’t fair and how they’ve been treated badly, rather than how to navigate the world and make it work to their advantage and just deal with it. I look at the national conversation, and all I hear is hate, vitriol or woe-is-me talk. Did the United States not learn anything from its misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq? Did Americans not learn that in parts of the rest of the world, and even in parts of this country, some people have no opportunities? If American democracy is so bad, why do we want the rest of the world to have what we have? And why do we wonder why India and China are rising past us, when we’re so mired in our own negativity?

During a recent visit to Austin, Texas, an old guy looked at me and lamented: “Americans never learn,” he said with a sad smile.

Too true, too true.