Fidel Sanchez, spokesperson for the Jornaleros noted that the Jornaleros deserve a living wage and improved working conditions which will enable them to provide an education, health care and good nutrition for their children. Later after the meeting, the Jornaleros held a rally at the Zocalo. Only one comment after this article saying that we all hope that real help will be forthcoming for the Jornaleros and that this wasn't just a photo opportunity. Last week after the fire in Colonet Zeta published the locations of the CDI in Ensenada and San Quintin and their phone numbers in case you missed it and want to help out.
If the Leaders of the Jornaleros are not addressed personally while they are in Mexico City by Osorio Chong, 200 of them plan to march today when Pena Nieto visits San Felipe.
Update @ 4:18pm: No word on if Osorio Chong actually met with the Leaders of the Jornaleros and so far, no jornalero march - although the maestros tried to block the road to San Felipe and marched down in San Quintin.
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So...what's happening with the drug war?
While I was away Zeta describes this last past week in Tijuana as being somewhat reminiscent of the days of the drug war during the 2008-2010 period with the spike in executions and attacks on authorities (including one last night in colonia Simon Bolivar where an off duty police officer is shot in his arm and his wife is also injured by gunfire - the full report is not in yet. Quick edit: add to this another assault on an officer at 3:00am this morning in the Zona Centro at the bridge between Avenida Internacional and calle Adrele where two men beat up an officer on foot patrol and take his weapon.). The authorities deny the similarities to the earlier drug war period and do not believe that society is at risk. Regarding the narcomantas, there were thirteen over a 72 hour period throughout Tijuana. I will come back to this and the beefed up security in Tijuana including the Army is back on the streets.
(Really late here, if you get a chance check out the article on the National Guardsmen busted for selling weapons, ammo and other articles in a sting operation in San Diego.)
Update @ 4:21pm: Let's take a look at the narcomantas and the responses from the authorities with summaries of recent reports. Zeta reported that all total from Sunday 04/05 through Wednesday 04/08 there were thirteen narcomantas with threatening messages hung from various bridges in Tijuana: four in La Presa, four in La Mesa and Centennial, two in the Zona Rio and two in Otay Mesa. All of these were signed by the CTNG and the CJNG. The thirteenth message differed radically in appearance - no misspellings, neatly printed out and identified the senders as an operative group of the CAF which basically threatened anyone and everyone who is not with them.
However, the State Security Council is not entirely convinced that the CJNG has succeeded in introducing the manpower and enough weapons into Baja California to initiate a confrontation with the Sinaloa Cartel. Regarding the narcomantas the Grupo Coordinacion offered several hypotheses as to their intent and origination. One is that the local cell groups want the authorities to recognize that the CJNG is operating in Baja California in order to take the heat off of them and direct it towards the "Jaliscienses."
Another is that these are a reaction to the kidnapping of a narco leader in colonia Ruby which was performed without permission. Another is that possibly local cell groups received orders from "Atlante" who is in prison to support the CJNG.
Under consideration is that the narcomantas are a reflection of the ongoing internal struggle for territorial dominance within the Sinaloa Cartel since the arrest of El Chapo Guzman back in 02/14. In Tijuana,
this would be the operators of Guzman fighting the operators of "El Mayo" Zambala.
And there is the possibility that local cell groups are attempting to destabilize the narco groups which actually have control.
Secretario de Seguridad Publica Estatal, Daniel de la Rosa Anaya emphatically denies that this recent violence is anything like the violence experienced in 2008 and does not believe that society is at risk nor does he believe that there is a new cartel or criminal group taking hold in Baja California. He denies that he is minimizing the situation and confirmed that the security forces have the upper hand If you have been watching the local news reports, the numbers of arrests are huge for both low and high impact crimes. What I noticed was almost immediate arrests after assassinations - not all, but a good percentage.
Prior to the statements by the Secretario de Seguridad Publica Estatal and following the assassination of Luis Manuel Toscano Morales (aka "El Mono") the high level jefe of the CAF in charge of narcotic distribution in the Zona Norte, Miguel Angel Guerrero Castro, Coordinator de la Subprocuraduria Contra Delincuencia Organizada (PGJE) noted that although El Mono's name appeared on some of the narcomantas there is not sufficient evidence to confirm that the CJNG is operating in Tijuana. At this point, ballistic tests have indicated that weapons used in the city have not been linked to the State of Jalisco nor is there the presence of new narco-groups.
Four days ago there was an intense mobilization of both SEDENA and the Municipal forces in Lomas de Refugio involved in a chase and house to house search, no arrests - and it was not clear who exactly the authorities were looking for. That same day there was a shoot out in colonia Emiliano Zapata which left one person injured.
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| Courtesy El Mexicano |
Due to the rash of violent episodes with burnt bodies, encobijados, public and daytime assassinations, etc. and in an effort to reaffirm the tranquility and safety of citizens, the Joint Base Operations (BOM) has been reinstated in Tijuana. This is the coordinated approach of the Ejercito and the Municipals involved in random vehicle searches. Zeta added the state police as part of the security triage. The policy has only been in effect for a couple of days, but authorities are confident that a strong presence will undermind and subvert the narcos.
I'll be back over the next few days and we'll look at the events which prompted the intervention of the authorities.
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Here's something to hold you over til I come back.....sorta calm things down a bit....
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