Mexico

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Border Crackdown Can't Weed Out Mexican Cartels

Marijuana smugglers get creative, or turn to growing dope inside US

(Newser) - The Mexican marijuana trade is flourishing, and border-protection efforts do little to deter powerful cartels from working in the US, the New York Times reports. Smugglers drop ramps over border fences and drive across, or use a new tactic: planting the pot in the US. Cartels now function in 195...

Kid Matador Kills Record 6 Bulls

Bloody spectacle gets last-minute go-ahead despite controversy

(Newser) - An 11-year-old Mexican bullfighter has broken a world record by killing six young bulls in a single bloody spectacle, reports the BBC. "I'm happy to have achieved this great victory," boasted the boy as he left the ring in Merida yesterday. The controversial bullfight exhibition won a last-minute...

'Stew Maker' Dissolved 300 Corpses in Mexico Drug War

Cartel branch paid $600 a week for disposal

(Newser) - A Mexican man has confessed to chemically dissolving 300 bodies produced by Mexico’s drug war, Reuters reports. A breakaway cartel faction paid Santiago “the Stew Maker” Meza $600 a week to dispose of bodies they brought him, he said. He dumped the bodies in industrial drums filled with...

Mexicans Eye Death Penalty to Stem Drug Murders

Politicians consider reinstating capital punishment to stave off tide of violence

(Newser) - Mexican lawmakers are considering bringing back the death penalty in the wake of an overwhelming tide of murders and kidnappings linked to drug cartels, reports the BBC. The Green Party, usually a staunch foe of capital punishment, is leading the campaign to reinstate it. Surveys show 70% of Mexicans want...

Marines Warned Tijuana Too Dangerous for R&R

Drug war prompts new rules to stop marines heading south of the border

(Newser) - The US military has warned their battle-hardened Marines that Tijuana is too dangerous a place for them to visit, USA Today reports. A surge in Mexican drug violence has resulted in military orders effectively placing the popular party town off limits to 44,000 leathernecks—including many who have done...

Mayor Embraces Kissing in Public, Denies Ban

Mexican official starts ad campaign to prove that Guanajuato welcomes PDA, despite what people say

(Newser) - Planning a trip to Guanajuato, Mexico? You’d better bust out the lip balm, AP reports. Mayor Eduardo Romero has proclaimed his city “the kissing capital” to counter claims he’s against public displays of affection. Apparently, the wording of a local anti-obscenity law caused some people to believe...

Crime-Plagued Mexico Pushes Toy Gun Ban

Politicians take aim at plastic weapons in war on violence

(Newser) - A bill proposed in Mexico takes aim at the production, sale and use of toy guns to reduce aggression among kids inundated by news of burgeoning drug-violence, the Guardian reports. Despite an earlier ban on realistic replicas, plastic weapons are still easy to find on the streets and used in...

Mexico's Drug Lords Target Reporters

Station attack comes with clear message to drop coverage

(Newser) - The epidemic of violence related to Mexico's drug trade has spilled over into media coverage of the situation, with drug lords attempting to scare journalists out of doing their jobs. Mexico is one of the most dangerous places in the world for reporters, reports the Christian Science Monitor: Eleven died...

Final Chapter for Mystery Writer Westlake

Donald E. Westlake dies of heart attack

(Newser) - Prolific mystery writer Donald E. Westlake, who wrote hundreds of novels, stories and screenplays under his own name and a posse of pseudonyms, died from a heart attack on New Year's Eve while vacationing in Mexico. He was 75. One of his characters, downsized executive turned killer Burke Devore, stands...

In Mexico, Corruption Is Rampant and Pervasive

(Newser) - During his two years in office, Mexican President Felipe Calderón has made a valiant attempt to expel corruption from his government, but many think his efforts are quixotic at best, the Christian Science Monitor reports. “I don't think there is ever a point that Calderón can claim...

Mexican Border Arrests Hit 30-Year Low

Recession, enforcement keep Mexicans at home

(Newser) - The number of people trying to sneak into the US appears to be plummeting, thanks to tougher enforcement and the beleaguered US economy, USA Today reports. Just 705,000 people were caught trying to sneak in from Mexico in fiscal 2008, the lowest total since 1976. “We're definitely making...

Drug Arrest Knocks Crown Off Beauty Queen

Some fear pageant's drug ties run deep

(Newser) - A Mexican beauty pageant winner lost her title yesterday after being arrested with a top drug trafficker, the New York Daily News reports. Authorities said Miss Sinaloa, Laura Zúñiga Huizar, was collared along with leaders of the Juarez drug cartel, an arsenal of weapons, and $55,000 in...

Mexico Halts Shipments From Top US Meat Plants

Move is seen as retaliation for country-of-origin labeling initiative

(Newser) - Mexico has temporarily banned meat from 30 US plants run by some of the largest American meat companies, Reuters reports. The Mexican government says violations in standards of packaging, labeling, and transport conditions occasioned the ban, but many US analysts suspect Mexico is registering its dissatisfaction with an American law...

No PDA, Cheating in Muslim Nations, UK Warns Travelers

Booze, drugs are also no-nos, Foreign Office reminds would-be vacationers

(Newser) - Extra-marital sex and public displays of affection might be OK in France or Spain, but it’s a big no-no in Dubai and other Muslim nations, the British government is reminding citizens. The Foreign Office has released a list of do’s and don’ts for Britons planning a trip...

Santa Gets Help From Cousin Pancho

Barrio folk hero sports a lowrider, elf entourage

(Newser) - Santa's been getting a little help from his South Pole cousin, Pancho Claus, the lowrider-driving barrio folk hero who doles out gifts on both sides of the Texas border. Pancho takes different forms—sporting a red zoot suit in Houston and a sombrero and black beard in San Antonio—but...

Mexican Beauty Queen Busted With Drug Mobsters

Miss Hispanic America found traveling with cartel's Mr. Big in gun-filled truck

(Newser) - Miss Hispanic America 2008 will be finishing this year in jail after cops busted her traveling with seven alleged drug cartel mobsters, the Houston Chronicle reports. Laura Zuniga, from the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa, was stopped at a military checkpoint near Guadalajara in a truck full of guns, ammunition and...

12 Headless Crimefighters Found Near Acapulco

Remains believed to be retribution for earlier shootout

(Newser) - Mexican police have found 12 headless bodies an hour away from Acapulco in the capital of Guerrero, a popular destination for Americans on holiday. The dead apparently included soldiers and a high-ranking police officer, reports the Los Angeles Times. Nine heads were bundled in plastic bags and dumped at a...

Savage Figure Lurks Behind Tijuana Killings

Mexican officials fear even posting Garcia Simental's photo

(Newser) - Many of the charred and maimed victims of Tijuana’s recent drug violence bear one similarity: the three-letter marker of Teo Garcia Simental, a shadowy crime boss authorities fear too much to hunt, the Los Angeles Times reports. A kidnapper and extortionist, Garcia operates a network that keeps victims caged...

Did Volcanoes Drive Dinos to Extinction?

Scientists question 30-year-old crater theory

(Newser) - Colossal, repeated volcanic eruptions in India 65 million years ago released sulfuric gases that sent the dinosaurs, well, the way of the dinosaurs, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. A group of scientists at a Bay Area conference this week is questioning the decades-held theory that a meteor killed off dinosaurs....

Top Kidnap Negotiator Kidnapped in Mexico

Officials believe brazen kidnapping a show of force by Mexican crime gang

(Newser) - Masked gunmen have seized a top kidnapping negotiator in Mexico, Reuters reports. Cuban-American Felix Batista, who helped secure the release of dozens of kidnap victims in Colombia, was grabbed outside a restaurant in the northern Mexican city of Saltillo. Authorities suspect the abduction of Batista, who was in the country...

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