Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Mar 08 - 01:08 AM

I worked a couple of winters (1982 & 1984) in an idyllic National Monument in Arizona at the Mexican border, south of Gila Bend and Ajo, and adjacent to the Sonoran town of Sonoyta. Used to cross over several times a week to eat and shop. Used to go on long solitary hikes up into the mountains. No more. Now Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is considered the most dangerous national park to work in. We used to have visitors who came back to the campground every year looking for their favorite ranger naturalists for hikes and evening programs. Now the park just hires law enforcement rangers. You go out into the park away from the main highway at your own risk.

Too bad. It all got pushed east because of the blocking of traffic across the border in California. It didn't go away. It's like trying to clear out the pimps and prostitution in Times Square in New York City. Touristas go there and think it's cleaned up. It just moved a few avenues west and down to places like the Meatpacking District.

Crime rearrangement, not crime prevention.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: Sorcha
Date: 07 Mar 08 - 10:03 PM

Not worth responding to. Go away, I'm hiding my head.

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 07 Mar 08 - 09:51 PM

HOLY GUACAMOLE - Bat Man - Things are getting worse.

BALBOA PARK - San Diego - Think Twice and don't take "The Antique Martin"

No "Spring Fling" this year - trust the Gypsies they are safer.

FRIDAY, March 07, 2007

Mexico Kidnappings - Danger in San Diego

From the UK Telegraph March 07, 2008

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/06/wmexico106.xml

A wave of kidnappings in Mexico has halved the number of tourists visiting the country's most famous popular destination and left foreigners working in the country terrified for their families.

In January, US officials warned travellers to Mexico to exercise extra caution given a recent spike in kidnappings of American residents. According to the FBI, the number of abductions involving US citizens and legal residents along the California part of the border alone more than doubled during 2007 and, since November, has been at the rate of around six per month.

"It is a business to them," said Darrell Foxworth, an FBI special agent in San Diego division. "They are involved in a number of criminal activities and one is kidnapping....

About 90 per cent of the cases involve a middle-class family with no criminal ties living in San Diego and neighbouring communities.

Hostages are held "for a period of time to exact a ransom" and frequently subjected to "acts of brutality, torture, beatings," Mr Foxworth said.

"They are also starved - we had one report where a person was held for two weeks during which time they were handcuffed with their hands behind them the entire time, chained to the floor and fed only three tortillas and water. It's just unconscionable what's happened to some of these people."

In 2007, according to the FBI, at least 26 San Diego County residents were kidnapped and held for ransom in Tijuana and the Baja California communities of Rosarito Beach or Ensenada.

San Diego State University warned students to "consider the recent violence" before traveling south for this month's spring break.

MORE -
http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=083e397f-82ba-47d4-8330-0ead3458633f

"They plan the execution of the abduction quite well and it's done very quickly and in a very surprising manner," says FBI Special Agent in Charge, Keith Slotter.

Agents say some of the people are abducted from this side of the border in South Bay in public places.

Agents say many of the victims are brutally beaten and some women have been raped repeatedly.

MORE -
I Will Never Return to Mexico� Amid a surge of American kidnappings at the U.S.-Mexico border, a survivor�s story.

Newsweek

February 25, 2008

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 08 Dec 07 - 02:39 PM

Alice Re: Sergio Gomez - he was tortured then strangled to death. He sang love songs.

Associated Press - Saturday 12/08/07 - by Jessica Bernstein-Wax

(excerpts)

Mexican Musician is Third in String of Deaths.

MEXICO CITY - A trumpet
player was found dead with his
hands and feet found and a plastic
bag over his head in southern Mex-
ico, in what authorities said was
apparently the country's third mur-
der of a musician in less than a week.

Jose Luis Aquino, 33, was married and
had two children. He had been with
the band Los Conde for 14 years.
He was slain by being repeatedly hit on
the head.

The group Le Conde has toured the
United States and is mostly made up of brothers
and cousins. A group member said, "Jose Aquino
was a good person and never fought with anyone.
He didn't smoke or do drugs.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 08 Dec 07 - 11:53 AM

Newsweek indicates 15 musicians in the past two years. (Noted above: ABC reported 8 in past year. Seems to be a stable industry?)

But it's Not just Musicians? Journalists?

And it's not just "prominent people." A Washington Post article back in July (link dead) reported:

Guadalupe Ivonne, who was raped and strangled, was one of the first victims in Mexico's grisliest modern-day crime mystery -- the murders of more than 400 women in the past 14 years in Ciudad Juarez, many of the bodies dumped in the desert, horribly mutilated. The killings, mostly of poor young factory workers

Mexico's statute of limitations for murder is 12 years, so most of these probably will not continued to be investigated.

Across the Border

John

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: Alice
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 11:39 PM

My 2 cents, the problems are not just from the drug demand in the US, they are also because of the corruption and bribery in the "legal system" in Mexico. If Mexico could provide well paying jobs for its workers, they would not risk their lives to come here. They would be happy to stay home and make a living wage. I have lived in Central America and traveled extensively in Mexico. Those who live there would tell you the same thing.

Alice

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: Alice
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 11:34 PM

I was wondering about Sergio Gomez, as I was watching Spanish language tv news this week and could only make out half of what was being said.

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: haddocker
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 09:54 PM

Tijuana? I'm in.

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 05:29 PM

Gargoyle sounds like any number of folks I know from Coronado. What a history! Nick Reynolds (a Coronado boy - still around) and the Kingstons did "Tijuana Jail," when it was still fairly innocuous. Parties at the Long Bar and bad nights at the Nelson come to mind for a lot of fifties and sixties folks. We won't even mention the Blue Fox!
The really sad thing is, all of the narco-economy is based on demand from OUR side. Get rid of that and.... And yes, we do need some sort of guest worker program and we need to pay decent wages to those who labor in the fields, restaurants and hotels, etc. We also need to know who is coming and going, and why. Now, I'll throw in some local color, in the form of Mariachi music, just to justify this rather non-musical note.

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 04:44 PM

Good article from ABC news, titled "Who is Murdering Mexico's Musicians?"

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=3949485

According to ABC at least eight musicans have been murdered THIS YEAR in Mexico.

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 09:43 PM

Mr. SanDiego/TJ

I grew up with TJ as a playground for underage white-kids with money.

A chapter is booked. Switch-blades tested with lighter-flames to determine "real bone" and not celulite plastic (virtual nitros napalm with heat.) Bar dancers, backrooms and beer pissed into schooners near the head of comatose patrons whose dollar had been exhausted. It was dirty, disgusting and we loved its fireworks.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Last trip 2002, took four hours to return, WALKING at the border crossing. Never again. India, China, Phillipines are easier.

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: Effsee
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 09:07 PM

Can we start by changing the flippant thread title please?

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: artbrooks
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 08:06 PM

I have an old friend who lives in Cabo San Lucas, and he says that Mexico is as nice as it ever was, away from the border. BTW, he is in the States for some extended medical treatments (don't believe everything you read about the superiority and relative cheapness of medical care outside of the US), and his (Mexican-born) wife complained the other day that the Salt Lake school their son is in is about 1 1/2 years behind his old school in Cabo.

It is always easy to point a finger - and I will yield to temptation. The single principal cause of the crime on the Mexican side of the border - and there are parallel, but much smaller, problems on the US side - is the immigration issue, and specifically the failure of the US government to establish a rational guest-worker program. Would-be line crossers must deal with the guides (coyotes) who feed on the desire of Mexicans (and others) to come north and make money to feed their families back home. Everyone knows what is going on and who to send people to who wish to evade the Border Patrol. This has created a general disregard for the law in northwestern Mexico. Bigger and badder bandits feed on the coyotes and their supporters, the honest police and journalists are murdered and the dishonest ones thrive, and so forth. The solution? Well, I guess I know where to start.

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 07:33 PM

Not just demanding drugs, Q. They also want cheap labour.

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: Leadfingers
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 07:03 PM

Sad !!!

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 06:20 PM

It's sad, remembering old days along the border. Living a day's drive from El Paso, which was a beeg town compared to ours in New Mexico, my family went there to shop and find entertainment and cheap liquor in Juarez. Sports teams who went to El Paso to play always seemed to get across the border and get drunk. The police head there was a sometime drinking buddy of my father. The kids would be picked up and dumped in the old jail, full of rats and the plumbing long out of action. One night there and they would swear never to get drunk again. Not far away was the new jail, modern and comfortable, where the thieves, etc. were put. The old jail was for gringos who got out of line, and for a while it was a pretty good deterrent.

I got lost a couple of times (I was a little brat), but someone returned me to the border crossing, where my parents would pick me up. My favorite candy was a soft caramel that came in a little wooden box with a tiny wooden spoon, I think it was the cause of my running away when my parents wouldn't find a vendor fast enough.
I remember one morning when a truck unloaded a bag of money outside a bank near where we were staying. It was there for a couple of hours, unattended, until a bank employee dislodged the drunk who was using it for a pillow and dragged it in. I also remember my father had his wallet lifted in a saloon. He told a policeman, and the cop came into the bar, spotted a likely culprit, and demanded the wallet. It was quickly restored to my father and the thief told to get out. Now, the poorly paid police and the (now) probably drug-crazed crook are part of the problem.
I also remember that El Paso was the dirty side of the border; a Juarez square I remember because a shop there had good ice cream was spotless and trashless. Now things have deteriorated, because citizens are careful about going out except at midday and leave the streets to trash and the unwary.

No better people than the average Mexican, regardless of class. Buskers? Unless the busker sang a good corrido, he might end up in the old jail.

How much of the problem in Mexico had developed because of stupid, drug-demanding Americans?

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: alanabit
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 05:46 PM

I would say that there is a death penalty in Mexico, but only the hoods enforce it. I wouild not like to get into a Dutch auction with criminals.

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 05:19 PM

The USA's State Department has a very sobering view on everything Mexican. It is worth a good read.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_970.html

Subject: RE: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 05:09 PM

Living next door to Tijuana and Tecate, and a long stretch of border, we have our own issues. Surfers who have been fond of going down the Baja peninsula for years have recently become victims of paramilitary banditti. In the most recent case, an experienced surfer was assaulted and robbed and his companion raped while he was forced to watch. This morning's paper has a story of the Deputy Police Chief of Tecate being assassinated in his bed while his wife and children were in the home. This happened one day after authorities discovered a drug smuggling tunnel under the border. Shakedowns by local police are commonplace. My son's band has played at several venues in Tijuana, with no ill effect. But they are escorted to and from the border under guard. It's hard to find much humor in this situation, either for our side of the border, or for the huge majority of Mexican citizens who have to endure this. Most of the crime is drug driven, the worst of it by narco "families" who want control. My recommendation? Stay away until Mexico can clean up its act.

Subject: Obit: Let's Go Busking in MEXICO!!!
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 04:58 PM

Murdered Singer In Michoacan, Mexico

Both singers had no drug connections. Their music dealt with love.

Tuesday - Sergio Gomez, leader and singer of the famous group K-Paz de la Sierra Gomez died of strangulation and his body showed signs of torture. He was traveling with bodyguards before being kidnapped by a convoy of 10 Chevrolet Suburbans. There is no motive. His remains will be returned to family in Indiana

Two days previous singer Zayda Pena from "Zayda and Los Culpables," as she lay in the hospitol recovering from a bullet wound to the neck was shot in the head by an alleged hired assassin who came into her hospitol room.

Trigo Figueroa, son of singer-song writer Joao Sebastian, was shot dead in the neck after his father's show in Texas 2006.

Valentin Elizalde "El gallo de Oro" was also shot dead in 2006, his songs then climbed to the top of the charts

That feat has been accomplished by only three other artists: Grupo Bryndis in 2001 and the late Celia Cruz and Selena, 1994 who both climbed those heights after their deaths as well. (Selena actually had the top four titles after she was killed; shot in the back by the president of her fan club.)

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

BTW there is no death penalty in Mexico

Anyone want to start a thread of Narccocorido Lyrics?