12 April 2011

MEXICO: 13 April UPDATE: 32 More Bodies Found; New Total Of 120 Discovered In San Fernando, Tamaulipas...A Deserted "City of Death"...From Narco Violence.

WSJ/ N. Casey/

"Almost eight months ago, residents in the rural Mexican county of San Fernando received startling news: The bodies of 72 immigrants traveling to the U.S. had been discovered on a secluded ranch after the group had been lined up, blindfolded and shot dead.
   Now, the sense of horror has returned. Last week, officials said they had discovered mass graves on another secluded ranch there. Some 88 dead have been unearthed so far as forensics teams continue to dig for others.
    That history has repeated itself in San Fernando may be no surprise. It fits the profile of a lawless county:  Fewer than 60,000 people live in an expanse of hundreds of square miles..."

FOR NEW BBC coverage on San Fernando:
    Residents only found out about the massacres by chance.
   "It starts to smell bad because there is a funeral house close to where we walk every day,"said  one citizen.

   The state of Tamaulipas is the size of the Czech Republic and virtually paralyzed by violence.
   "Neither the regional nor federal government have control over the territory of Tamaulipas," says  D.F. security analyst Alberto Islas.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13061452