Juarez Femicides Lawyer Murdered

All lawyers involved in the defense of two Juarez bus drivers falsely accused of femicide have been executed; state police shot one in the head

Two unidentified gunmen executed Mario Escobedo Salazar and his son Edgar Escobedo Anaya, also a lawyer, in their Juarez office on Tuesday, January 6.

The double homicide comes nearly seven years after Chihuahua State Judicial Police killed Escobedo Salazar's other son, Mario Escobedo Anaya, during a chase. The police originally stated that Mario Escobedo Anaya died when his vehicle crashed during the chase. It was later revealed that he died of a gunshot wound to the head fired by state police.

Prior to Mario Escobedo Anaya's 2002 execution, he, his father, and a third lawyer, the late Sergio Dante Almaraz Mora, represented the two Juarez public transportation bus drivers accused of murdering eight women whose bodies were found dumped in an area of Juarez known as "the Cotton Field." Escobedo Salazar's recent execution means that the entire defense team is now dead; all were executed. One of the bus drivers also died under suspicious circumstances while in police custody.

Bus Drivers Railroaded

On Monday, November 5, 2001, the bodies of eight women were discovered in the Cotton Field. El Paso Times reporter Diana Washington cites a police source who says the Chihuahua governor's office issued the following order after the discovery of bodies: "Resolve the case before Monday. No excuses."

On Friday, November 9, three days after the first cadaver was discovered, police reportedly wearing Halloween masks arrested bus drivers Víctor Javier "El Cerillo" García Uribe and Gustavo "La Foca" González Meza. The Chihuahua State Attorney General's Office charged the men with the murders of Guadalupe Luna de la Rosa, Verónica Martínez Hernández, Bárbara Araceli Martínez Ramos, María de los Ángeles Acosta Ramírez, Mayra Juliana Reyes Solís, Laura Berenice Ramos Monárrez, Claudia Iveth González, and Esmeralda Herrera Monreal.

Following their arrest, the accused said the police who detained them did not present identification. Gonzalez testified to the Chihuahua State Human Rights Commission, "They blindfolded me and tied up my hands and my feet...they kicked me hard in the testicles and I lied down and they began to beat me. They told me that me and 'El Cerillo' had killed eight gals and if we didn't take the blame, it was going to get worse for us, they were going to kill us... They made us sign a statement that we never read."

The men's claims of torture are backed up by photographs released by their lawyers following their arrests. The accused appear in the photos with bruises and cigarette and electrical burns all over their bodies, including their genitals. During the men's trial, the judge stated that it was possible that the men's wounds were self-inflicted. The judge sentenced them to 50 years in prison.

Lawyer Executed by Police

On February 5 or 6, 2002, Mario Escobedo Anaya, Gonzalez's defense attorney, noticed two unmarked vehicles following him as he drove away from his family's law office. Because Escobedo had repeatedly received anonymous threats due to his defense of Gonzalez, he attempted to evade the cars. He called his father, also an attorney working on Gonzalez's defense, and begged for help. Mario Escobedo Salazar jumped in his car an attempted to reach his son. He was too late.

When Escobedo Salazar arrived on the scene, his son's car had already crashed. The police present told him that his son had died from the crash. It was later revealed that he died from a gunshot wound to the head.

It turns out that the two cars following Escobedo Anaya were full of police. One, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, was not an official police vehicle; it was State Police Commander Roberto Alejandro Castro Valles' personal vehicle. The police say they mistook Escobedo Anaya for one of his clients, an escaped prisoner.

A judge later ruled that the police acted in self defense because Escobedo Anaya had fired upon them. However, Frontera NorteSur correspondent Greg Bloom points out that accident scene photos taken by a photographer from the local paper El Norte show an unmarked Jeep Grand Cherokee without bullet holes. A few hours later, a photographer from the same paper photographed the same Jeep Cherokee outside the Attorney General's Office. The hood was full of bullet holes. Bloom writes, "El Norte contends that state police agents shot the Jeep themselves to strengthen their case against Escobedo Anaya. "

Escobedo Salazar began work on his son's case, compiling witnesses, experts, and evidence that would prove the police's guilt in Escobedo Anaya's death. One witness says s/he saw State Police Commander Roberto Alejandro Castro Valles get out of his car after the crash and shoot at the lawyer.

Escobedo Salazar also found an expert that was ready to testify that some of the shots that hit his son's truck could only have been fired after the vehicle crashed.

Escobedo Salazar was never able to bring the police responsible for his son's death to justice. He and his surviving son were executed by unidentified gunmen in their family's law office on January 6, 2009--the same law office where state police waited for Escobedo Anaya before they shot him in the head.

Suspicious Death in Prison

On February 8, 2003, Gonzalez was found dead in his cell while serving his 50-year sentence. Police reported that he died of complications from a hernia surgery that Gonzalez underwent while he and his co-defendent were illegally transferred to different Chihuahua prison. Gonzalez's widow says she did not consent to the surgery. Dante Almaraz, a member of the accused men's defense team, said the authorization for the surgery had a forged signature.

On July 14, 2005, Mexico's Supreme Court exonerated and released Gonzalez's co-defendant Víctor Javier "El Cerillo" García Uribe. Had he survived, Gonzalez would have also been freed.

Another Defense Lawyer Executed

In December 2005, Dante Almaraz wrote a letter to the editor of El Norte, accusing former Chihuahua governor Patricio Martinez's appointments to the state attorney general's office of trying to destroy his professional reputation, and, more alarmingly, of forming groups "so scary that they even assassinate their own commanders." Almaraz told El Norte and other local media that he had received threats due to his defense of the two bus drivers.

The threats against Almaraz where so severe and credible that in 2003 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recommended that the local government provide him with protection and guards. The government provided the recommended protection, but did not find it necessary to assign bodyguards to Almaraz permanently.

Even though Almaraz's surviving client was exonerated in July 2005, the lawyer refused to allow the injustice to go quietly into the dark. In October 2005, Almaraz appeared in a French documentary about the Juarez femicides, where he stated: "I am convinced that these young ladies were murdered by people involved in drug trafficking, with connections to the mafias, but tolerated by the state government. I place the terrible responsibility on the shoulders of the President of the Republic [at that time Vicente Fox] and the ex-governor [of Chihuahua] Patricio Martinez. They know perfectly well who the people are who committed the murders."

On January 25, 2006, multiple unidentified armed gunmen executed Almaraz while he waited in his truck at a traffic light in downtown Juarez.

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Mexican Defense Department is Silent About the Case of a Pregnant Woman Murdered at a Military Checkpoint

The Federal Attorney General's Office didn't take on the case even though it involves the death of a civilian, which is a violation of Plan Mexico's "human rights conditions"

published in La Jornada, January 8, 2009
translated by Kristin Bricker

Translator's note: The case of the pregnant woman murdered by soldiers is being investigated by the military's attorney general, not a civilian one. 15% of US military and police aid to Mexico under the Merida Iniciative is conditioned on Mexico sending cases regarding military abuse of civilians to civilian courts. The 15% has yet to be released due to Mexico's continued failure to comply with even these minimal conditions.

The Military Attorney General's Office is investigating soldiers in the 11th Military Region, the 5th Military Zone, and the 23rd infantry batalion regarding the death of civilian Sayra Guadalupe Arzate Contreras, who this past December 12 was shot in a military checkpoint located in Aldama, Chihuahua, while she was four months pregnant.

According to official information, in mid-December the [government-funded but theoretically independent human rights ombudsman] National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) received information from the National Defense Department's Human Rights General Management office* about the complaint registered with the national ombudsman regarding the incident, in which a soldier is accused of having murdered a woman when, accompanied by her mother and an aunt, she headed towards the checkpoint in search of help because they were being chased by criminals.

Following the incident, the military attorney general began the criminal investigation 5ZM/47/2008, but it is still unknown how many soldiers have been interrogated, or if any soldiers have already been indicted in the case.

The National Defense Department (Sedena in its Spanish abbreviation) has limited itself to stating that because the investigation is in progress, information regarding the case is "confidential," and it cannot provide more details.

Beyond the complaint filed with the CNDH and the Commission's request to Sedena for information, neither the Chihuahua State Attorney General's Office nor the Federal Attorney General's Office have made public any intention to look into the case.

This is the case despite the fact that, because it involves the murder of a civilian at the hands of soldiers, it should investigated by civilian officials. It's worth mentioning that since 2003, the UN's Torture Committee has been very clear in continuously recommending restricting the military's jurisdiction to crimes that are related to military discipline and that those that involve civilians be sent to civilian courts.

It's also worth point out that, according to Sedena, the incident was the result of an attack on soldiers by men who were traveling in multiple vehicles, and that after firing towards the checkpoint they fled when faced with the soldiers' response.

Translator's Notes:

* The National Defense Department's Human Rights General Management office is slated to receive zero funding in the 2009 budget. The military's Human Rights General Management office reviews human rights complaints against the military and the CNDH's recommendations regarding these complaints. Even with funding, the military's human rights department rarely acts upon CNDH recommendations.

First published in Narco News: http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/kristin-bricker/2009/01/mexican-defense-department-silent-about-case-pregnant-woman-murdere

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Of sowing and harvests: Subcomandante Marcos' speech on Gaza

Two days ago, the same day we discussed violence, the ineffable Condoleezza Rice, a US official, declared that what was happening in Gaza was the Palestinians' fault, due to their violent nature.

The underground rivers that crisscross the world can change their geography, but they sing the same song.

And the one we hear now is one of war and pain.

Not far from here, in a place called Gaza, in Palestine, in the Middle East, right here next to us, the Israeli government's heavily trained and armed military continues its march of death and destruction.

The steps it has taken are those of a classic military war of conquest: first an intense mass bombing in order to destroy "strategic" military points (that's how the military manuals put it) and to "soften" the resistance's reinforcements; next a fierce control over information: everything that is heard and seen "in the outside world," that is, outside the theater of operations, must be selected with military criteria; now intense artillery fire against the enemy infantry to protect the advance of troop to new positions; then there will be a siege to weaken the enemy garrison; then the assault that conquers the position and annihilates the enemy, then the "cleaning out" of the probable "nests of resistance."

The military manual of modern war, with a few variations and additions, is being followed step-by-step by the invading military forces.

We don't know a lot about this, and there are surely specialists in the so-called "conflict in the Middle East," but from this corner we have something to say:

According to the news photos, the "strategic" points destroyed by the Israeli government's air force are houses, shacks, civilian buildings. We haven't seen a single bunker, nor a barracks, nor a military airport, nor cannons, amongst the rubble. So--and please excuse our ignorance--we think that either the planes' guns have bad aim, or in Gaza such "strategic" military points don't exist.

We have never had the honor of visiting Palestine, but we suppose that people, men, women, children, and the elderly--not soldiers--lived in those houses, shacks, and buildings.

We also haven't seen the resistance's reinforcements, just rubble.

We have seen, however, the futile efforts of the information siege, and the world governments trying to decide between ignoring or applauding the invasion, and the UN, which has been useless for quite some time, sending out tepid press releases.

But wait. It just occurred to us that perhaps to the Israeli government those men, women, children, and elderly people are enemy soldiers, and as such, the shacks, houses, and buildings that they inhabited are barracks that need to be destroyed.

So surely the hail of bullets that fell on Gaza this morning were in order to protect the Israeli infantry's advance from those men, women, children, and elderly people.

And the enemy garrison that they want to weaken with the siege that is spread out all over Gaza is the Palestinian population that lives there. And the assault will seek to annihilate that population. And whichever man, woman, child, or elderly person that manages to escape or hide from the predictably bloody assault will later be "hunted" so that the cleansing is complete and the commanders in charge of the operation can report to their superiors: "We've completed the mission."

Again, pardon our ignorance, maybe what we're saying is beside the point. And instead of condemning the ongoing crime, being the indigenous and warriors that we are, we should be discussing and taking a position in the discussion about if it's "zionism" or "antisemitism," or if Hamas' bombs started it.

Maybe our thinking is very simple, and we're lacking the nuances and annotations that are always so necessary in analyses, but to the Zapatistas it looks like there's a professional army murdering a defenseless population.

Who from below and to the left can remain silent?

Is it useful to say something? Do our cries stop even one bomb? Does our word save the life of even one Palestinian?

We think that yes, it is useful. Maybe we don't stop a bomb and our word won't turn into an armored shield so that that 5.56 mm or 9 mm caliber bullet with the letters "IMI" or "Israeli Military Industry" etched into the base of the cartridge won't hit the chest of a girl or boy, but perhaps our word can manage to join forces with others in Mexico and the world and perhaps first it's heard as a murmur, then out loud, and then a scream that they hear in Gaza.

We don't know about you, but we Zapatistas from the EZLN, we know how important it is, in the middle of destruction and death, to hear some words of encouragement.

I don't know how to explain it, but it turns out that yes, words from afar might not stop a bomb, but it's as if a crack were opened in the black room of death and a tiny ray of light slips in.

As for everything else, what will happen will happen. The Israeli government will declare that it dealt a severe blow to terrorism, it will hide the magnitude of the massacre from its people, the large weapons manufacturers will have obtained economic support to face the crisis, and "the global public opinion," that malleable entity that is always in fashion, will turn away.

But that's not all. The Palestinian people will also resist and survive and continue struggling and will continue to have sympathy from below for their cause.

And perhaps a boy or girl from Gaza will survive, too. Perhaps they'll grow, and with them, their nerve, indignation, and rage. Perhaps they'll become soldiers or militiamen for one of the groups that struggle in Palestine. Perhaps they'll find themselves in combat with Israel. Perhaps they'll do it firing a gun. Perhaps sacrificing themselves with a belt of dynamite around their waists.

And then, from up there above, they will write about the Palestinians' violent nature and they'll make declarations condemning that violence and they'll get back to discussing if it's zionism or anti-semitism.

And no one will ask who planted that which is being harvested.

For the men, women, children, and elderly of the Zapatista National Liberation Army,

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos
Mexico, January 4, 2009.

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Mexican Rebels Stand in Solidarity with Gaza

While the APPO marches on the US Consulate in Oaxaca, Subcomandante Marcos declares from Chiapas, “to the Zapatistas it looks like there's a professional army murdering a defenseless population” in Palestine

Your silence hurts me. –Mahumud Darwish, Palestinian poet

When the Zapatistas rose up in arms on January 1, 1994, most of them thought they were going to die. Many did. Their rag-tag Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) set out to reverse 500 years of conquest, and it had a formidable enemy: the US-equipped Mexican military. Indigenous communities were under a constant state of siege and occupation for the next two years. However, the EZLN’s rifles and sticks weren’t its only defense: Mexicans and the international community mobilized to demand peace in Chiapas.

Now, on the fifteenth anniversary of their uprising, the EZLN is calling for the same solidarity for Palestinians in Gaza. In a speech during the Festival of Dignified Rage in Chiapas, Subcomandante Marcos told the crowd gathered there, “We don't know about you, but we Zapatistas from the EZLN, we know how important it is, in the middle of destruction and death, to hear some words of encouragement…. [W]ords from afar might not stop a bomb, but it's as if a crack were opened in the black room of death and a tiny ray of light slips in.” So, said Marcos, even though global protests “won't turn into an armored shield so that a 5.56 mm or 9 mm caliber bullet with the letters ‘IMI’ or ‘Israeli Military Industry’ etched into the base of the cartridge won't hit the chest of a girl or boy, but perhaps our word can manage to join forces with others in Mexico and the world, and perhaps first it's heard as a murmur, then out loud, and then a scream that they hear in Gaza.”

Marcos condemned the Israeli attack on Gaza as a “classic military war of conquest,” with one exception: Israel’s target is not an opposing military force; its targets are civilians. Speaking on behalf of the EZLN, he said, “According to the news photos, the ‘strategic’ points destroyed by the Israeli government's air force are houses, shacks, civilian buildings. We haven't seen a single bunker, nor a barracks, nor a military airport, nor cannons, amongst the rubble. So—and please excuse our ignorance—we think that either the planes' guns have bad aim, or in Gaza such ‘strategic’ military points don't exist.”

Marcos lamented the deaths of “men, women, children, and the elderly” in the attacks and commented sarcastically, “surely the hail of bullets that fell on Gaza this morning were in order to protect the Israeli infantry's advance from those men, women, children, and elderly people.”

Without specifically mentioning the word “genocide,” Marco accused the Israeli government of that crime: “The assault will seek to annihilate that population. And whichever man, woman, child, or elderly person that manages to escape or hide from the predictably bloody assault will later be ‘hunted’ so that the cleansing is complete and the commanders in charge of the operation can report to their superiors: ‘We've completed the mission.’”

Rather than getting caught up in arguments “about if it's "zionism" or "antisemitism," or if Hamas' bombs started it,” the EZLN says, “Maybe our thinking is very simple, and we're lacking the nuances and annotations that are always so necessary in analyses, but to the Zapatistas it looks like there's a professional army murdering a defenseless population.”

Faced with “the Israeli government’s heavily trained and armed” military’s “march of death and destruction,” Marcos asked those gathered at the Festival of Dignified Rage, “Who from below and to the left can remain silent?”

As fellow insurgents and communities in resistance, the EZLN criticized the demonization of Palestinians and their struggle:

The Palestinian people will also resist and survive and continue struggling and will continue to have sympathy from below for their cause.

And perhaps a boy or girl from Gaza will survive, too. Perhaps they'll grow, and with them, their nerve, indignation, and rage. Perhaps they'll become soldiers or militiamen for one of the groups that struggle in Palestine. Perhaps they'll find themselves in combat with Israel. Perhaps they'll do it firing a gun. Perhaps sacrificing themselves with a belt of dynamite around their waists.

And then, from up there above, they will write about the Palestinians' violent nature and they'll make declarations condemning that violence and they'll get back to discussing if it's zionism or anti-semitism.

And no one will ask who planted that which is being harvested.

The Other Campaign Manifests its “Dignified Rage Against This Genocidal Attack”

The EZLN’s call for solidarity with Palestine was precluded by a statement issued by the Zapatista-initiated Other Campaign condemning “biggest Israeli air attack in the past 40 years.” Writing from the Festival of Dignified Rage in Mexico City (the Festival took place in two locations in Mexico), participants there wrote, “This crime represents a dangerous increase in the permanent holocaust that is committed against the Palestinian people with United States financing and the world's enabling, hypocritical, and disgraceful silence.”

The statement continues:

As always, Israel presents itself as the victim that demands the right of self-defense against terrorism, and the corporate media promotes the lie that the slaughter was in response to the Hamas party's launching of Qassam missiles. In reality these missiles are symbolic and almost never cause Israeli victims. In fact, during the recent truce from June 19 to December 19, the Palestinians in Gaza didn't kill a single Israeli civilian, while Israel killed 49 Palestinians. The argument of self-defense against terrorism is also used to justify the merciless blockade which began in January 2006 immediately after Hamas won the legislative elections.

Their goal? Punish the Palestinians in Gaza for having elected a government that is unacceptable for Israel. Thanks to this effort to starve to death Gaza inhabitants, the hospitals don't have the necessary medicine, medical supplies, electricity, potable water, or food to care for the wounded.

The Other Campaign adherents criticize the global community’s response—or lack thereof: “While the world leaders criticize Hamas' provocations, they limit themselves to criticizing Israel's ‘disproportional use of force.’”

The Festival participants “call upon the international community to resist the military offensive and exercise continual pressure on the Israeli government in order to stop the crimes against the Palestinian people.”

Solidarity in Oaxaca

When federal police invaded Oaxaca City on November 25, 2006, Mexicans compared Oaxacans’ plight to that of Palestinians: their land was under siege and later occupied by invading government forces; the invaders wanted to force an undemocratic system of governance on them (that is, the status quo); human rights had been thrown out the window long ago; and the people’s resistance wouldn’t “be drowned, not even in a pool of blood.”

Two years later, those same Oaxacans are standing with their Palestinian compañeros. Nancy Davies wrote in Narco News that various collectives and organizations that are members of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO)—the coalition that drove out the corrupt state government and held Oaxaca City and many other cities and villages around the state for six months in 2006—organized a protest at the US Consulate in Oaxaca City on January 3. Police doused the protestors with tear gas. The protest, which demanded an “end to the genocide against the Palestinian people,” resulted in 19 arrests, including David Venegas, who is an APPO advisor and one of its more famous political prisoners. His legal case related to the 2006 uprising is still pending; he is out on bail for those charges.

Section 22, the democratic teachers union whose strike sparked the uprising, negotiated the prisoners’ release. Upon release, those arrested complained that they were beaten while in custody and that police had stolen their belongings.

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EZLN Criticizes the Drug War

During the Festival of Dignified Rage in Chiapas, Subcomandante Marcos breaks the EZLN's silence on the drug war

On the first day of the Zapatista National Liberation Army's participation in the Festival of Dignified Rage, its spokesperson Subcomandante Marcos discussed the drug violence that has increasingly plagued Mexico. Marcos' speech marks the first time the EZLN has addressed the drug war in any sort of depth.

Marcos couldn't avoid addressing drug violence in his discussion of violence against social movements. He says Mexican President Felipe Calderon and the corporate media "use and abuse the word 'violence'" for their own means. "They say they condemn violence, but in reality they condemn action." Marcos accuses Calderon of using the drug war to pacify discontent with his government. "Mr. Calderon decided that, instead of bread and circuses, he would give the people blood."

Referencing the lack of confidence in Calderon's government, which is ridden with corruption scandals and has failed to meet its own economic benchmarks, Marcos continued, "The professional politicians are the circus and bread is very expensive.... Perhaps...[Calderon's] goal is to distract people. The public is so busy with the drug war's bloody failure, it could be that it doesn't even notice Calderon's failure in political economy."

In his speech to Festival participants, Marcos verbalized what many Mexicans have long suspected: "Everyone who isn't in his Cabinet knows that he's losing this war, and that the death of his significant other was an assassination, which is also well-known but not ever published." The "significant other" Marcos refers to is Juan Camilo Mouriño, Calderon's long-time friend and Minister of the Interior until he was killed in a plane crash along with other officials. The Mexican government, which received assistance from US experts during the investigation, has ruled the crash an accident due to pilot error, but many Mexicans believe a drug cartel took down the plane. José Vasconcelos, Mexico's former top drug prosecutor, was also killed in the crash.

Marcos also verbalized the common suspicion that Calderon is using the military he's deployed around the country to support his preferred cartel while squashing the competition. Without mentioning specific cartels (Marcos always kept his drug violence criticism aimed squarely at the government), Marcos said, "Calderon decided, supported by one group of drug traffickers, to wage war on the opposing group of drug traffickers. Violating the Constitution, he deployed the military to carry out the duties of the police, the district attorney, the judge, the jailer, and executer."

Having accused the government of being on the side of at least one of the drug trafficking cartels, Marcos went one step further: "It becomes more and more clear that it's organized crime that directs the state's forces."

Marcos then went on to criticize the savage violence that Mexico is experiencing, which has taken the lives of pregnant women and children. Marcos compared this violence to other wars around the globe: "With Calderon at the front, the Mexican government goes a step beyond the US and Israeli governments: the Mexican government kills [civilians] beginning from when they're in their mothers' wombs."

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Civilians Caught Up in Drug War

Tlaxcala is the only state without victims of organized crime

by Esther Sanchez, El Universal

In 2008, the war between the drug trafficking cartels left a record-breaking 5,630 people executed in the country. According to El Universal's count, in the past four years 12,061 people have died from organized crime; 46.5% of these murders occurred within the past year.

The daily average of victims in 2008 was 15, and the most violent day was November 3, when 58 homicides with the narcos' mark were reported. Of the fifteen, 19 were in Sinaloa and 12 in Durango.

In 2005 1,537 murders were recorded, 2,221 the following year, and 2,673 in 2007.

The federal government's operations have not inhibited the criminals, who shot up public security buildings and ambushed police with high-powered firearms and fragmentation grenades. Moreover, on multiple occasions they hung banners with with stories of intimidation and denunciations against government agents with links to drug trafficking.

That said, of 2008's victims, at least 429 were government officials or agents.

In this context, on May 27 in Culiacan, Sinaloa, hitmen from the Sinaloa cartel had a confrontation with federal agents where the hitmen threw grenades that killed seven agents. In September, another seven were ambushed and assasinated in Tancitaro, Michoacan.

Soldiers were also targeted; 20 were kidnapped and decapitated: 11 in Nuevo Leon, 8 in Guerrero, and one in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca.

2,006 cases in Chihuahua

This year, only Tlaxcala avoided the bloodshed, and Chihuahua heads the number of drug murders with 2,006, 1,633 of which occurred in Ciuada Juarez.

In Chihuahua, the drug traffickers are in dispute over the cocaine routes to the United States. According to experts, the battle is between the Juarez and Gulf cartels.

Chihuahua is followed by Sinaloa with 950 executions, Baja California with 689, Durango with 273, and Guerrero with 241.

Mass Executions

2008 was also characterized by mass executions. One of the most significant cases occurred on September 12, when the bodies of 24 executed men were found in the vicinity of La Marquesa, State of Mexico. All of them had been shot in the head with .38 caliber, 9 mm, and .45 caliber weapons.

On August 28, a dozen decapitated bodies with signs of torture were recovered from two Yucatan municipalities.

Moreover, the war between narcos has infringed upon civilians' daily lives.

The most striking episode occurred on September 15 in Morelia, Michoacan, when two fragmentation grenades were detonated amidst a crowd that was celebrating Independence Day in the town square. The attack left eight dead and over 100 wounded.

Translated from Spanish by Kristin Bricker.

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Festival of Dignified Rage Condemns Israeli Attack on Gaza

Español sigue abajo.

From the Festival of Dignified Rage, the organizations, collectives, and individual participants strongly condemn the horrendous massacre perpetrated by the Israeli military against the civilian population of the Gaza Strip on December 27th of this year, resulting in hundreds of injured and dead people, the majority civilians. This crime represents a dangerous increase in the permanent holocaust that is committed against the Palestinian people with United States financing and the world's enabling, hypocritical, and disgraceful silence.

The biggest Israeli air attack in the past 40 years, carried out with F-16 planes and Apache helicopters supplied by the United States, was announced beforehand by the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni, who stated on December 9 that the Israeli army should carry out a large-scale military offensive in Gaza in retaliation for that which she described as "the violation of the truce."

The operation against Hamas "is just beginning," said Avi Benayahu, one of the Israeli military's spokespersons, while Israel's Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, declared that the attacks would continue for "as long as necessary," and alluded to an imminent land invasion carried out by the military.

As always, Israel presents itself as the victim that demands the right of self-defense against terrorism, and the corporate media promotes the lie that the slaughter was in response to the Hamas party's launching of Qassam missiles. In reality these missiles are symbolic and almost never cause Israeli victims. In fact, during the recent truce from June 19 to December 19, the Palestinians in Gaza didn't kill a single Israeli civilian, while Israel killed 49 Palestinians. The argument of self-defense against terrorism is also used to justify the merciless blockade which began in January 2006 immediately after Hamas won the legislative elections.

Their goal? Punish the Palestinians in Gaza for having elected a government that is unacceptable for Israel. Thanks to this effort to starve to death Gaza inhabitants, the hospitals don't have the necessary medicine, medical supplies, electricity, potable water, or food to care for the wounded. While the world leaders criticize Hamas' provocations, they limit themselves to criticizing Israel's "disproportional use of force." However, the ferocity of this latest slaughter has provoked the rage of hundreds of thousands of people who are holding marches and rallies in many parts of the world.

Due to all of the above, we manifest our dignified rage against this genocidal attack against Gaza and we call upon the international community to resist the military offensive and exercise continual pressure on the Israeli government in order to stop the crimes against the Palestinian people.

NO TO THE MILITARY ATTACKS AGAINST GAZA!
NO TO THE STARVATION BLOCKADE!
NO TO POLITICAL AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO ISRAEL!
LONG LIVE THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND THEIR DIGNIFIED RESISTANCE!

Translation from Spanish by Kristin Bricker.

Festival de la Digna Rabia Condena el Ataque Israeli Contra Gaza

Desde el Festival de la Digna Rabia, las organizaciones, colectivos e individuos participantes condenamos enérgicamente la horrenda masacre perpetrada por el ejército israelí contra la población civil de la Franja de Gaza el 27 de diciembre de este año, resultando en cientos de personas muertas y heridas, la mayoría civiles. Este crimen representa un aumento peligroso del holocausto permanente que se comete contra el pueblo palestino con el financiamiento de Estados Unidos y el silencio cómplice, hipócrita e indigno del mundo

El mayor ataque aéreo israelí de los últimos 40 años, llevado a cabo con aviones F-16 y helicópteros Apache suministrados por Estados Unidos, fue anunciado de antemano por la ministra israelí de Asuntos Exteriores Tzipi Livni, quien afirmó el 9 de diciembre que el ejército israelí debería llevar a cabo una ofensiva militar a gran escala en Gaza como represalia por lo que ella describió como ?la violación de la tregua?.

La operación contra Hamas ?está tan sólo empezando?, dijo Avi Benayahu, uno de los portavoces del ejército israelí, mientras el ministro de Defensa de Israel, Ehud Barak, declaró que los ataques proseguirán mientras ?sea necesario? y aludió a una invasión terrestre inminente por parte del ejército.

Como siempre, Israel se presenta como la víctima que reclama el derecho a la auto-defensa contra el terrorismo, y los medios de comunicación principales promueven la mentira de que la matanza era en respuesta al lanzamiento por parte del partido Hamas de proyectiles caseros tipo Qassam. En realidad estos proyectiles son más bien simbólicos y casi nunca causan víctimas entre los israelíes. De hecho, durante el periodo de la reciente tregua desde el 19 de junio al 19 de diciembre, los palestinos de Gaza no mataron a un solo civil israelí mientras Israel mató a 49 palestinos.El argumento de la auto-defensa contra el terrorismo también se usa para justificar el despiadado bloqueo iniciado en enero de 2006
inmediatamente después de que Hamas ganara las elecciones legislativas.

¿Su propósito? Castigar a los palestinos de Gaza por haber elegido un gobierno inaceptable para Israel. Gracias a este esfuerzo para matar de hambre a los habitantes de Gaza, no hay medicamentos, ni insumos en los hospitales, ni energía eléctrica, agua potable o alimentos necesarios para atender a los heridos. Mientras los líderes mundiales critican a las provocaciones de Hamas, se limitan a criticar el ?uso desproporcionado de la fuerza? de Israel. Sin embargo, la ferocidad de esta última matanza ha provocadola ira de cientos de miles de personas que están celebrando marchas y mítines en muchas partes del mundo.

Por todo lo anterior, nosotras y nosotros manifestamos nuestra digna rabia contra este ataque genocida contra Gaza y llamamos a la comunidad internacional a resistir la ofensiva militar y ejercer presión sostenida contra el gobierno israelí para detener los crímenes contra el pueblo palestino.

¡NO A LOS ATAQUES MILITARES CONTRA GAZA!
¡NO AL BLOQUEO DE HAMBRE!
¡NO AL APOYO FINANCIERO Y POLÍTICO A ISRAEL!
¡VIVA EL PUEBLO PALESTINO Y SU DIGNA RESISTENCIA!

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