Mexico Kidnapping Death Stokes Outrage

Washington Post, 12/14/2008
Her mother asked that mourners wear white, so the memorial service Saturday for Silvia Vargas Escalera seemed less grim than the circumstances surrounding one of Mexico’s most notorious kidnappings. The body of the wealthy and vivacious Mexico City teenager was found last weekend buried under a patio in a house south of the [...]

Mexican schools close as children are threatened

Associated Press, 12/14/2008
Fourth-grader Ricardo Ivan Ortega knows he is a target in this violent city. His school closed temporarily last month after an anonymous note demanded teachers hand over their year-end bonuses — or students would be kidnapped. Ricardo has a plan.
“I will just hide,” the shy 9-year-old said in late November, waiting in the [...]

Texas arms Mexico’s violent drug cartels

Associated Press, 12/14/2008
Texas is serving as the armory of Mexico’s bloody drug cartels that are ruthlessly killing the guilty and innocent in their battles for dominance of the drug trade routes from Mexico into the United States.
After a massacre of four police officers in the Mexican city of Aguascalientes, guns were found that had been [...]

Death penalty advertisements in Mexico

Los Angeles Times Blog, La Plaza, 12/14/2008
You see some strong stuff on the streets of Mexico City. Women begging with babies in their arms, young kids, high on glue, washing car windshields and children no older than 5 trying to sell chewing gum and lollipops to people eating at sidewalk restaurant tables. This month, there [...]