Duro editorial; S A Express News

Duro el editorial y una nota del periódico norteamericano San Antonio Express News sobre el conflicto en la frontera norte.

Señala el editorial que la identidad de los hombres armados con uniformes militares que cruzaron el Río Grande en Texas para apoyar una operación de contrabando de marihuana no es clara.

Los detalles de la operación, obtenidos por el reportero de Express News Mariano Castillo, sugieren que no menos de 20 hombres armados eran parte del convoy que cruzó la frontera cerca de El Paso, Texas.

El incidente se presenta cuando dos periódicos de California, The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin y el San Bernardino Sun, revelaron un documento del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional que identifica 216 incursiones militares o paramilitares desde México en 1996.

El editorial es duro ya que señala que cualquiera que sea la procedencia de los hombres armados, ninguna nación puede tolerar este tipo de incursiones armadas en su suelo. La soberanía de EE UU no puede ser transgredida. Y la naturaleza porosa de la frontera EE UU-México tiene un lado más siniestro que los inmigrantes que buscan mejores vidas. Las autoridades de EE UU y México deben llegar al fondo del misterio de estos hombres rápidamente. Más importante, deben terminar con estas transgresiones peligrosas de la frontera.

La nota de Mariano Castillo, Dane Schiller y Hernán Rozemberg, señala que el agente del Sheriff del Condado Hudspeth considera que lo que vio en la frontera fue una incursión militar mexicana, en tanto autoridades de la Patrulla Fronteriza –que llegaron después el Departamento de Seguridad Pública de Texas citó las investigaciones en curso estatales y federales y declinó decir si sus oficiales vieron lo mismo.

El embajador de EU en México, Tony Garza, emitió una fuerte nota diplomática en la que solicitó al gobierno mexicano "investigar plenamente" el incidente. Pero autoridades de EE UU no pudieron confirmar que la docena de hombres en espera del Humvee fueran miembros del ejército mexicano, lo cual es negado categóricamente por autoridades mexicanas.

El jefe de la Patrulla Fronteriza, David V. Aguilar, dijo que las incursiones de personal del gobierno mexicano no son nuevas, y que los agentes de EE UU también ocasionalmente han cruzado por accidente a México.

Este es el editorial y la nota en ingles:

Editorial: The porous border has a sinister side
San Antonio Express-News, 01/26/2006

The identities of the armed men in military fatigues who crossed the Rio Grande into Texas this week to support a marijuana smuggling operation aren't clear.

Details of the operation, obtained by Express-News reporter Mariano Castillo, suggest that as many as 20 gun-toting desperados were part of the convoy that came across the border near El Paso on Monday.

Hudspeth County sheriff's deputies, DPS troopers and Border Patrol agents who gave chase were eventually confronted on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande by a military-style Humvee armed with a heavy machine gun.

The El Paso incident comes as two California newspapers, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and the San Bernardino Sun, disclosed a Department of Homeland Security document identifying 216 military or paramilitary incursions from Mexico since 1996. One-third of them have occurred in Texas.

The Mexican government denies the drug-running escorts are Mexican soldiers. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says concern about the incursions is overblown — they might just be criminals wearing military-style uniforms.

T.J. Bonner, head of the National Border Patrol Council, disagrees. "Intrusions by the Mexican military to protect drug loads happen all the time and represent a significant threat to the agents," he told the Washington Times.

Whatever the provenance of the gunmen, no nation can tolerate these types of armed incursions on its soil. American sovereignty can't be overblown. And the porous nature of the U.S.-Mexico border has a more sinister side than immigrants looking for better lives.

U.S. and Mexican authorities need to get to the bottom of the mystery gunmen quickly. More important, they must put an end to these dangerous breaches of the border.

Cops found selves outgunned along the Rio Grande
San Antonio Express News, 01/26/2006

Mariano Castillo, Dane Schiller and Hernán Rozemberg Express-News Staff Writers

LAREDO — As soon as Hudspeth County Sheriff's Deputy Joseph Tammen rounded the corner on the edge of the Rio Grande, he knew the chase was over.

A military-style camouflaged Humvee mounted with a large gun was awaiting two fleeing SUVs carrying suspected drug smugglers.

As Tammen, another deputy and a state trooper arrived, the Humvee crossed the shallow river about 15 miles east of Fort Hancock.

A dozen heavily armed men dressed in dark olive-drab military clothes fanned out into two flanking groups, hid in the brush and aimed their weapons at the police.

Tammen and the other officers only could stop and watch.
"Basically, if we tried to do anything, it would've been suicide for us," said Tammen, noting the U.S side of the border was wide open, with no cover. "We were outgunned and outmanned."

While Tammen is confident what he saw Monday afternoon was a Mexican military incursion into the United States, officials from the Border Patrol — which arrived later — and Texas Department of Public Safety cited ongoing investigations state and federal and declined to say whether their officers saw the same thing.

Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office/Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition
Men in military-style uniforms crossed into the U.S. on a smuggling foray. These men unloaded bundles Monday from an SUV that became stuck in the Rio Grande.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza issued a strongly worded diplomatic note late Wednesday in which he asked the Mexican government to also "fully investigate" the incident, the Associated Press reported.

But U.S. officials couldn't confirm that the dozen men waiting with the Humvee were Mexican military members, which Mexican officials strongly deny.

The silence from state and federal authorities doesn't mean a lack of credibility of the local Sheriff's Department, said Rick Glancey, interim executive director of the Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition.

"They're doing their own investigations, and I respect that," he said. "But I also respect what was told to us by the Sheriff's Office."

The Sheriff's Department released photos of the alleged Mexican military incursion, though they were taken after the Humvee retreated south of the river.

The chase began when Tammen, 25, said a scout for the drug runners spotted a DPS trooper on Interstate 10 and alerted the drivers. The suspected vehicles, which were traveling west on the interstate, quickly turned around and headed back toward the river.

The chase lasted for 12 miles at speeds up to 110 mph, Tammen said. One suspect got a flat along the way and ran away. Authorities found 1,445 pounds of marijuana inside his vehicle.

At a spot known as Neely's Crossing, Tammen watched the two remaining SUVs plow into water. One made it across and the other got stuck in the river. Men dressed in civilian clothes got out, removed numerous large packages from the SUV and then set it on fire.

Whether the Mexican military was involved or not, the border incident again has focused attention on the Mexican army, an approximately 194,000-strong force, that has a high-profile role in Mexico's war on drugs.

Soldiers often patrol the Mexican side of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border as well as take up posts along roads and highways used by traffickers. They comb the countryside looking for hidden crops and labs.
They regularly stop civilian cars and trucks in the search for smuggled weapons and drugs.

It's a mission that has gained the respect in some circles in the United States.

"They (soldiers) really have stepped up to the plate in combating drugs," said Mike Vigil, a retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who served as the chief of international operations. "When you look at the gunbattles and the capture of capos, it is extraordinary."

Vigil, who was based in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, said drug traffickers often pose as military or other law-enforcement officials — echoing comments made by Mexican leaders.

"It is a common tactic, used for decades," he said of smugglers posing as soldiers. "It gives them access" to the border.

He noted it doesn't take much to make uniforms and that surplus military vehicles can be readily purchased in the United States.
In Mexico City, President Vicente Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, reiterated the smugglers weren't in the military.

After the report was publicized Tuesday, Mexican officials released a statement saying soldiers are forbidden to set up camp or establish permanent checkpoints within 2 kilometers, about 1.2 miles, of the border, but can patrol the region. It has been a long-standing order that soldiers treat the 1.2-mile area as an "alert zone," a Mexican official said, adding that no new orders have been issued with regard to this zone of operation.

U.S residents watching the immigration issue and who have called for major beefing up of the U.S. border said the possible border incursion bolstered their position.

Shannon McGauley, president of Texas Minutemen, led a team of about 50 civilian volunteers who monitored the U.S. border from El Paso to Fort Hancock in October.

At one point while stationed on the U.S. bank of the Rio Grande about 2 miles from the spot of Monday's incident, he said, heavily armed Mexican soldiers walked up to the Mexican levee of the river.

Separated by about 25 yards of shallow water, they stared at each other for a few minutes before one soldier gestured for him to cross over, McGauley said.

He instructed volunteers to stay put.

"They could have completely ripped us apart with their weapons," he said, adding that the U.S. military should be used at the border. "Believe me, you're in a bad situation if you get pinned down by the Mexican military."
Though he understands concerns over border security, Roger Rocha said he'd encourage a more moderate reaction.
Rocha, the Laredo-based director of the Texas chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said groups like the Minutemen are using Monday's incident to spin their anti-immigrant agenda in the guise of border security.
He's all for securing the border but through the established appropriate channels like the Border Patrol, he said.
"We all agree that we need better border security," said Rocha. "We just need to find the right way to do it."

Mariano Castillo and Dane Schiller reported from Laredo and Hernán Rozemberg contributed from San Antonio.