Mexican police free 92 migrants held near U.S. border

Reuters: Mexican police freed 92 migrants from a safe house in the city of Reynosa on Mexico's northeastern border with the United States, the government said on Monday.

Federal police arrested three suspected gang members during the raid on the building where the migrants, hailing from Cuba, Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, were being held, the National Security Commission said in a statement. Read more. 

Laura's Blog: The Iceberg in the Desert

Mexican new reports state that 162 migrants were rescued from clandestine camps by the Mexican Army on April 3 and freed. During rounds, soldiers of the 45th Batallion discovered four camps in Saric, Sonora, near the U.S. border, located on the edge of the Sasabe desert, a common crossing zone that has recently become an area teeming with organized crime groups seeking to use crossers to carry contraband.

The Secretary of Defense release gave very few details, stating,

Among the persons liberated were 97 mexicanos, 60 Guatemalans, three Hondurans and 2 Salvadorans, who appeared in good health and were placed in the hands of the corresponding authorities.

The brief note leaves a lot of questions unanswered. It does not tell us who was holding the migrants (if they were kdnapped, they had to have guards), nor why, according to the information provided, not one single culprit was arrested. 

It does not tell us if drugs, arms, cash or other possible contraband was found at the scene of the alleged crime. We don't know how many are men, how many are women, what their ages are or where they were heading. We also don't know what states they are from or if they are indigenous.

The authorities have this information but the fact that it has been reserved from publication creates deep doubts regarding any subsequent investigation or judicial process.

Once again, nameless victims make ephemeral headlines under strange conditions. Then they disappear into anonymity, taking the dark secrets of what really happened with them.

For public consumption, there is only this (again, from SEDENA):

With these actions, the Mexican Army and the Air Force are working alongside the efforts of the Government of the Republic to attain a Mexico in peace, affirming its commitment to guarantee the security and tranquility of the citizenry.

The release of captive migrants is cause for celebration. And 162 is a huge number. But I, for one, don't feel tranquil.

If this represents the tip of the iceberg--and that seems to be the case given the number of similar cases in the area within the last year--then we're looking at a tremendous iceberg in the desert. Local newspapers have been reporting an increase in the use of border-crossers as "mules" to carry small quantities of prohibited drugs over the border. Scores of stories report the abduction, confrontations and murder of migrants in run-ins with alleged criminal groups. In most of the reports, the story is unclear and the migrants' themselves seldom speak publicly about what occurred.

The area is famous for flows of drugs, cash, arms and human trafficking. Inexplicably, this all happens under the nose of the 45th Battalion, police and other security agents and in spite of, or sometimes with the help of, U.S. and Mexican government agents. 

The Globalized Grapes of Wrath
In addition to forced recruitment for the drug smuggling that is the lifeblood of cartels, human trafficking for agrobusiness is growing.

Sin Embargo, a Mexican information service, notes of this recent case and others:

The victims of kidnapping are not just migrants from other countries, but also Mexicans from other states, like the case of 54 day laborers from the state of Puebla who were kidnapped in Caborca by a criminal group. The day laborers escaped to denounce that their captors had offered them a well-paid job in Sonora.

Some 57,000 farm laborers arrive in Sonora every year from the states of Puebla, Chiapas, Guerrero and others to work in the grape harvest, where 59 companies install work camps for the harvest. Companies even receive government support and subsidies to bring migrant workers in. The state of Veracruz, for example, announced this year that it will provide $42,000 pesos "to support the day laborers" being sent from the state to Sonora. 

This is not a subsidy to low-wage farmworkers--it's a subsidy to private-sector agribusiness. The government of Tlaxcala also has a program to send migrant laborers to the grape harvest. Sin Embargo and others have documented child labor and the death of several children-workers in the Sonora farmworker camps.

Dossier Político, out of Hermosillo, Sonora notes that in May of 2010 in a similar incident 66 farmworkers were rescued. The workers reported being recruited and held as virtual slaves, working 13-hour days in the vineyards without pay and prohibited from communicating with their families.

The grape industry has sprung up in Sonora since the eighties and especially since NAFTA. Tucson Business reported in 2012 that the Mexican state produces 16.3 million, 19-pound boxes that pass through at the U.S. Port of Entry at Nogales beginning in May for about nine weeks.

Sonora accounts for 90 percent of Mexico’s table grape production. The state exports almost all of its production, dispatching several dozen brands to more  than 30 countries. Some10,000 acres are under cultivation...

the recent abductions could indicate a trend toward the alliance of agrobusiness with organized crime to provide virtual slave labor in the harvest. The possibility merits at least full investigation.

The news reports on the rescue of migrants indicates that at least some were kidnapped as forced labor for the harvest.

The government of Veracruz states that the average wage for the farmworkers is $153 dollars a week, with some workers earning more. However, reports from the region say it's more like ten dollars a day, and half that for children.

So what kind of a society makes it an attractive business plan to kidnap workers as slaves rather than to pay ridiculously low wages?

A society where life is cheap. And where the criminals know they can get away with murder.

Mexico rescues 52 migrants kidnapped near U.S. border

Reuters
Jun 25, 2013

 Mexican security forces on Tuesday rescued 52 kidnapped migrants, mostly Guatemalans, who were being held in a house in the violent state of Tamaulipas near the U.S. border.

The migrants had been held for several days in a house in the city of Reynosa, where they were found by a group of federal and state police, officials said.

The group was made up of 48 men from Guatemala, two from El Salvador and two more from Mexico, a press release from the state government said.  Read more. 

Activists demand end to sex abuse of migrant children in southern Mexico

Activists march in Mexico's southern Chiapas state last week to demand an end to the sexual exploitation of migrant children, a growing and largely unaddressed problem.

Los Angeles Times 
By Tracy Wilkinson
April 23, 2013, 1:44 p.m.
Mexico City - The flow of migrants from Central America across the Suchiate River into southern Mexico is steady but the journey perilous.  Uncounted thousands end up at the mercy of drug-and-extortion gangs that hold them for ransom, force them into slave labor or kill them.

The dangers are especially acute for what officials say is a growing number of children and youths who cross into Mexico without adults. Many are kidnapped and made to work as prostitutes, with police and authorities turning a blind eye, says Ramon Verdugo, an activist based in Mexico's southernmost city, Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas.

And so, with a march and a hunger strike, Verdugo and supporters are demanding that the local government of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, put an end to the child sex trade and punish police and others who allow it to flourish.  Read more. 

Activists to take Mexico massacre case to World Court

EFE: Human rights defenders, clergymen and academics said they will petition the International Court of Justice to investigate the 2010 massacre of 72 mostly Central American migrants in San Fernando, a city in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, amid persistent impunity in the case.

More than 30 activists gathered in Mexico City Tuesday to pay tribute to the 72 Honduran, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Ecuadorian and Brazilian migrants who were killed in that municipality in August 2010 by suspected members of the Los Zetas criminal gang.

The Zetas, a gang of special forces deserters turned outlaws that is regarded as Mexico's most violent drug cartel, apparently killed the migrants after they refused to work as couriers or enforcers.

During the ceremony at the offices of the Mexican Federal District's Human Rights Commission, Mexico City's ombud's office, the participants lamented that no steps have been taken to prosecute any federal, state or municipal authorities - whether civilians, police or military - whose actions or omissions contributed to the tragedy. Read more.

A Priest Stands Up for the Migrants Who Run Mexico’s Gantlet

NY Times: OAXACA, Mexico When the Rev. Alejandro Solalinde chose to dedicate himself seven years ago to helping Central and South American migrants traveling to the United States, he was an obscure country priest and the migrants moved in the shadows.

Since then, both Father Solalinde and the plight of the people he serves have emerged into a very public light.

The crimes the migrants face — extortion, rape, kidnapping and murder — have become so brazen and brutal that Mexicans can no longer ignore them. As the horrors have multiplied, Father Solalinde’s demands for the migrants’ protection have begun to resonate. Read more.

Central Americans flood north through Mexico to US

AP: TULTITLAN, Mexico -- Deported from the United States after years working construction in New Jersey, Hector Augusto Lopez decided to rebuild his life in his hometown in eastern Honduras.

He found a steady job in a shoe store in Catacamas. Then, in March, he watched horrified as robbers shot three customers to death before his eyes. Soon after, he decided to make the hard and dangerous journey north again.

"In Honduras there is a lot of violence, a lot of robberies and a lot of poverty," Lopez, 28, said as he waited to jump a cargo train just outside Mexico City on a recent afternoon. "There is no future there." Read more.

Mexican priest who denounced abuse, kidnapping of migrants flees death threats

Washington Post: An outspoken priest who runs a shelter for migrants in southern Mexico has temporarily left his facility after receiving death threats.

The shelter run by the Rev. Alejandro Solalinde says the Roman Catholic priest is “protecting his physical safety” until state and federal prosecutors thoroughly investigate the threats.

Prosecutors in southern Oaxaca state have said they are investigating and are providing police security for Solalinde.

Solalinde has become widely known in Mexico for publicly denouncing corruption and abuse of mainly Central American migrants who cross into Mexico seeking to reach the United States. read more

Migrant Kidnappings by Criminal Organizations 'Systematic' in Mexico

InSight Crime: The kidnapping of migrants who travel through Mexico on their way to the United States has become a “systematic and generalized” practice by organized crime groups such as the Zetas, who demand ransom payments from families or recruit them into their ranks, according to a new report.

In the report titled “Notebook on the Kidnapping of Migrants: Dimensions, Context and Testimonies” Central American migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador who escaped or were released from their kidnapping recount the torture, rape and inhumane treatment they received at the hands of the Zetas. read more

Immigration - Kidnappings: Mexico army rescues 15 kidnapped Honduran migrants

Boston.com: "Mexico’s Defense Department says soldiers have rescued 15 Honduran migrants who had been kidnapped and were being held in a house in Nuevo Laredo on the border with the United States. The military says troops patroling in the Privada Esmeralda neighborhood on Monday detained a man who was watching over the migrants.

A statement Wednesday gives no other details of the rescue in Nuevo Laredo, which is across the border from Laredo, Texas."

The Drug War and Migration Collide

Witness for Peace: The Drug War and Migration Collide: "The biggest news coming out of Mexico is the violence as a consequence of the warring drug trafficking organizations and the Mexican government attempting to dismantle them.

But what does the violence of the drug war have to do with migration? There are at least three answers to this question. First, it forces people to migrate, either from being displaced because of the violence or fleeing insecurity in their communities. Second, drug trafficking organizations are also largely responsible for many of the dangers migrants encounter on their journey. ... And lastly, many of the root causes of migration – particularly lack of jobs and economic opportunities – are also causes of the rise of violence due to the lack of alternatives." read more

Undocumented Migration: It's Not the Economy, Stupid

A look at whether reduced migration from Mexico is due to an improved Mexican economy, stepped up U.S. border security and deportations or increased danger posed by criminal organizations . 

Insight Crime: "A substantial drop in undocumented immigration seems to be taking place along the U.S.-Mexico border, but is this really due to Mexicans staying home to enjoy rising prosperity, or are there other factors at play?" read more

Mexico Drug War Kidnappings: Mexico soldiers rescue 61 people held by drug gang

Sacramento Bee: "Mexico's military says soldiers freed 61 men being held captive by the Zetas drug cartel for use as forced labor. The army says the men were found guarded by three Zetas kidnappers in a safe house in the border city of Piedras Negras on Saturday." read more

Migrant Kidnappings: 17 Bus passengers missing in northern Mexico

Fox News Latino: "– Authorities in Mexico are investigating the apparent abduction of 17 young men who were riding in a bus en route to the U.S.-Mexico border, the Nuevo Leon state security council said. The bus left the central state of Guanajuato on Sept. 14 bound for the border town of Miguel Aleman.

Nuevo Leon Attorney General Adrian de la Garza (and the Guanajuato atttorney general's office) are coordinating their probe into the disappearance of the 17 men, who were forced off the bus and allegedly kidnapped by organized criminals in Nuevo Leon, the spokesperson added.

Armed men intercepted the vehicle between the Nuevo Leon towns of Cerralvo and General Treviño at a spot less than 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of the border and apparently abducted 18 men, although one of them was later released."

read more

Movement for Peace with Justice: Caravan to the South of Mexico - a Photo Album

The Caravan to the South of Mexico took place from Sept. 9 to 19, 2011. It was organized by the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, which seeks to end the Mexican government's use of Mexican armed forces to fight the drug cartels. This strategy has led to further violence and the deaths and disappearances of innocent people.

The Movement and the Caravan are led by Javier Sicila, a Mexican poet whose son was killed in Cuernavaca by a cartel in March of this year.

The Caravan features powerful testimonies of women and men who have lost family members to the war.

In June, the Caravan traveled to the northern states most affected by the war. The second Caravan's thirteen buses and many cars traveled for eleven days and 1800 miles through the southern states of Morelos, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz and Puebla.

Local citizen groups in each state, whose focuses - in addition to the drug war - are on issues such as migration, repression of indigenous communites and government corruption, joined the Caravan's marches at its numerous stops and sought its support.

The link below leads to a photo album of highlights of the Caravan.

photo album

¡No Mas Sangre!: Families, church officials search for northbound Mexicans who disappear

CNS STORY: Families, church officials search for northbound Mexicans who disappear: "Ricardo Salazar Sanchez boarded a northbound bus in the central state of Guanajuato with 22 fellow residents for a journey to the U.S.-Mexico border -- and a subsequent attempt at crossing into Texas, where potential construction jobs awaited.

The men, who left March 21, never arrived. What happened to them remains a mystery. In April, family members began suspecting the men ended up in the mass graves discovered on a ranch near the U.S. border; authorities found the remains of passengers pulled, at gunpoint, from northbound buses by the Mexican drug gang Los Zetas."

Whack-a-mole Drug War: Mexico, Guatemala Agree to Up Security Cooperation

From 'InSight Crime'

Mexico, Guatemala Agree to Up Security Cooperation: "The presidents of Mexico and Guatemala have agreed to increase cooperation to strengthen border security and combat transnational organized crime, and to improve the security of migrants in the region.

On an official state visit to Mexico, Guatemala's president, Alvaro Colom, signed an agreement with his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderon, which will see the two nations working together to increase security along the 540 mile border that they share.

According to a joint statement, the leaders also agreed to intensify the exchange of intelligence information, to conduct joint operations against drug trafficking, human trafficking and the kidnapping and extortion of migrants in their respective territories."

Central American migrants: The Long March to Justice for Migrants - IPS ipsnews.net

The second story on the Central American mirgrant caravan currently moving north through Mexico

MEXICO: The Long March to Justice for Migrants - IPS ipsnews.net: "Wilfredo, a married father of three, is one of 500 people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras who are taking part in the 'Step by Step Towards Peace Caravan', which set out Sunday Jul. 24 through south and southeast Mexico to draw attention to the many dangers faced by Central American migrants in Mexico and demand respect for their rights.

The participants are human rights defenders, family members of migrants who have gone missing in Mexico, and undocumented migrants like Wilfredo.

One group of participants in the Caravan rode atop the freight train that heads northward from Tenosique in southeastern Mexico, near the Guatemalan border, while the other portion of the march set out from Guatemala City and rode the bus and train through the southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca.

The two groups met up Thursday night in Coatzacoalcos, in the southern state of Veracruz. ...

The next stop on the Caravan's route is Tierra Blanca, Veracruz, where the participants will meet with Felipe González, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Rapporteur on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families, to tell him about cases that could fill shelves of volumes about the horrors along one of the world's most dangerous migrant routes.

González and his team are on a fact-finding mission in Mexico from Jul. 25 to Aug. 2."

Central American migration: Following the Trail of Missing Migrants

CENTRAL AMERICA-MEXICO: Following the Trail of Missing Migrants - IPS ipsnews.net: "To search for her son Juanito and protest the danger and abuses faced by hundreds of thousands of Central American migrants as they journey northwards through Mexico on their way to the U.S. border, Manuela Bran set out Monday for Mexico along with more than 100 other relatives of missing migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, in the 'Step by Step Towards Peace Caravan'. ...

The march to protest the abuses faced by migrants in Mexico, organised by some 20 human rights organisations and groups of families of missing migrants, is following the "migrant trail" that crosses Mexico from south to northeast, through the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz and Tamaulipas.

The expedition consists of two groups. One is made up of activists and the family members of Central American migrants, who set out by bus Monday from Guatemala City, crossed the border into Mexico and reached Ixtepec, in the state of Oaxaca Wednesday, after passing through Ciudad Hidalgo, Tapachula and Arriaga, in the state of Chiapas.

The second group, consisting of more than 100 migrants, human rights defenders and religious workers, is riding on top of the freight train known as "the beast" or the "train of death," which thousands of undocumented Central Americans ride northwards every month.

The train set out Tuesday from Tenosique, in the southeastern state of Tabasco, on its way to Coatzacoalcos, a city in Veracruz where the two groups plan to meet up Friday Jul. 29. "

Human Rights of Migrants: Families of Missing Migrants March to Mexico

From 'InSight Crime'

Families of Missing Migrants March to Mexico: "Human rights activists and relatives of missing Central American migrants are making their way to Mexico to protest against the killing, kidnap and abuse of migrants.

Groups of protesters came from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador as part of the “Step by Step Towards Peace” march, which aims to highlight the plight of undocumented migrants who undertake the perilous journey through Mexico towards the U.S. border.

The protesters will commence a week-long journey through Mexico, travelling on routes commonly used by Central American migrants. Along the way, they will meet activists who offer protection to migrants, as well as visiting a cemetery for undocumented migrants and holding a vigil in memory of those who are missing.

The journey will end when the group reaches Mexico City on August 1, where they will march to the Mexican Senate."