Remember this, when you step over my door sill, you’ve been raised. You know the difference between right and wrong. Do right. Don’t let anybody else raise you and make you change. And remember this, you can always come home.’

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Recently I have been paying more attention to the plight of Mexico and it is a very serious situation. I've gone on vacation three times to Mexico and enjoyed the little bubble that tourists are in at the resorts. It's very deceiving. Vacationers are treated like Royalty and we eat like pigs and throw out what we don't finish on our plates. We come away feeling satisfied that we have contributed our part because we spent our money at a resort in Mexico. But there is so much wide spread corruption I wonder who owns and runs the resorts we are staying at and how much the employees are really paid? The drug cartel's have more money than it's own government. Here is a recent story that just happened. This is our neighboring country we should really be concerned. At the end of the story it gives details on what the president of that country is doing to fight the drug cartel. If our president had to deploy 45,000 military in our country and 10,800 people have died so far due to this corruption and violence I would want to get my family the heck out of dodge too. The Military and Police are so scared that they hide their face's when giving the media a tour of the scene because they don't want to be recognized and end up on the cartel's hit list. Which the Cartel posts around town with a list of names of who they are going to kill next. Even Journalist's.

ACAPULCO, Mexico - Mexican soldiers fought a two-hour battle with heavily armed men holed up at a house in an Acapulco hotel zone, killing 15 of the gunmen as Mexican tourists cowered in their rooms nearby.
One soldier was killed and the wounded included three soldiers and three bystanders. Several Mexican tourists were evacuated from small hotels in a faded neighborhood once frequented by Hollywood stars.
When soldiers arrived at the house on a tip, the gunmen opened fire and hurled some 50 grenades, according to an Army colonel, who wore a ski mask to protect his identity as he led reporters on a tour of the scene Sunday. He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Some gunmen tried to flee Several gunmen tried to flee, but crashed their car into a military Hummer that was blocking the gate. At one point, more armed men with grenades arrived by car to reinforce the gunmen in the house, but they died in the shooting, the colonel said.
Soldiers found four Guerrero state police officers handcuffed inside the garage of the house, the colonel said. The officers, who were still bound and sitting the floor when reporters arrived, said they'd been held captive by the gunmen, the colonel said.
Soldiers did not know the police were inside when the shootout began late Friday night, and the colonel said their claims would be investigated.
"We found them like this, handcuffed, and they say they were kidnapped. So if they were kidnapped, as they say, then we rescued them," he said.
Residents cowered inside their homes and at several low-cost hotels during the battle. When the shooting subsided, several frightened people were evacuated by ambulance, including 15 Mexican tourists from a small hotel, a family of four from another hotel, a pregnant woman with her mother from their home, and an elderly man.
Two men and a woman were caught in the gunfire and wounded, paramedics said.
The gun battle raged just blocks from a residence owned decades ago by the late "Tarzan" actor Johnny Weissmuller, and about 100 meters (yards) from Hotel Los Flamingos, owned in the 1950s by John Wayne. The hotel is still popular with older American tourists.
Not clear if gunmen belonged to cartel It was unclear whether the gunmen belonged to one of drug cartels that have been fighting for turf in Guerrero state, home to Acapulco and the resort town of Zihuatanejo, the colonel said.
The Beltran Leyva cartel, in particular, has a strong presence in Acapulco. Last month, soldiers arrested a suspected cartel lieutenant as he stepped off a private plane in the northern city of Monterrey on his way back from Acapulco, where he said he met with Arturo Beltran Leyva at a baptism party held by the most-wanted cartel leader. Soldiers confiscated 47 guns, grenades and ammunition at the large, gated house, which stood out among its more modest neighbors. Several cars were also seized from the property, including a Mercedes Benz.
President Felipe Calderon has deployed more than 45,000 soldiers across Mexico to battle drug violence. More than 10,800 people have died since the offensive began in December 2006.

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