Article

2010-07-27 Caribbean-Latin America

Mexican prisoners given temporary release and guns to kill at night

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Posted by Fred 2010-07-27 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 I smell BS: prisoners who murder are let out, given a gun, murder their victim, and come back.

Yah, Riiiiiiight.

Posted by Ptah 2010-07-27 10:34|| 2010-07-27 10:34|| Front Page Top

#2 Maybe BS, maybe not. It's definitely the case that at least one segment of Mexico's ruling class -- the corrupt PRI elite that dominated the nation for 70 years, losing power only recently -- has long been in cahoots with the cartels. The PRI elite probably still have many loyal cadres running the prisons.

Also, it's likely that the Mexican state, like most oligarchies, becomes progressively weaker as you get farther from the capital city. Under oligarchy you often find local fiefdoms that are run, if that's the right word, as lawless mini-states. Could well be the case in Torreon.

Posted by lex 2010-07-27 13:06|| 2010-07-27 13:06|| Front Page Top

#3 I believe it. Chances are, if they're cartel guys, they live better inside then most people outside. And, you gotta admit, it's a helluva an alibi...

Posted by tu3031 2010-07-27 13:14|| 2010-07-27 13:14|| Front Page Top

#4 Believe it or not I have been following the story since the July 18th massacre in Torreon.

If you want to hear it from the guy who told Los Zeta naming names and so on, click here: it's a snuff video that started the investigations and arrests going.

Warning, it's all in Spanish.

Posted by badanov 2010-07-27 18:23|| 2010-07-27 18:23|| Front Page Top

#5 The AP: Mexico's Catch-and-release justice system:
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico It's practically a daily ritual: Accused drug traffickers and assassins, shackled and bruised from beatings, are paraded before the news media to show that Mexico is winning its drug war. Once the television lights dim, however, about three-quarters of them are let go.

Even as President Felipe Calderon's government touts its arrest record, cases built by prosecutors and police under huge pressure to make swift captures unravel from lack of evidence. Innocent people are tortured into confessing. The guilty are set free, only to be hauled in again for other crimes. Sometimes, the drug cartels decide who gets arrested.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-07-27 18:28|| 2010-07-27 18:28|| Front Page Top

#6 Thank you Fred and Badanov. Aside from you, this is a hidden war. The silence makes one wonder who all on this side is connected how with whom on the other.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2010-07-27 19:52|| 2010-07-27 19:52|| Front Page Top

#7 Well we know one party, on this side of the vaguely enforced border, in particular has been working hard to emulate PRI. The other has been working on emulating the keystone cops.

Posted by Procopius2k 2010-07-27 19:57|| 2010-07-27 19:57|| Front Page Top

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