International
Mexico town hall massacre leaves at least 20 dead
AFP | Yussel Gonzalez
Gunmen attacked a town hall and murdered at least 20 people, including a mayor, in a southern Mexican state riven by turf wars between rival drug cartels, authorities said Thursday.
Soldiers guarded the bullet-riddled building in San Miguel Totolapan following Wednesday’s massacre, in which Mayor Conrado Mendoza and his father, who held the job before him, were killed in broad daylight.
The mayor was in a work meeting when he was shot dead, municipal official Freddy Vazquez told reporters.
“At first we couldn’t believe it. Our municipality is peaceful. We thought they were fireworks… but little by little we listened more closely and realized that they were gunshots,” he said.
Police officers and city council workers were reported to be among the victims.
The attack came amid disputes between criminal groups operating in Guerrero state, including one known as Los Tequileros and another called La Familia Michoacana, Deputy Security Minister Ricardo Mejia said.
Located in the violence-wracked Tierra Caliente region, San Miguel Totolapan sits along a drug trafficking route disputed by different cartels.
“It’s possible that the murders were due to a dispute between Los Tequileros and La Familia Michoacana for control of the municipality,” security analyst David Saucedo told AFP.
Los Tequileros were previously active in San Miguel Totolapan for several years, mainly staging kidnappings for ransom.
But the group’s influence dwindled after the death of one of its leaders in 2018 in a gunfight with police.
Just days before Wednesday’s attack, alleged members of Los Tequileros had made threats to return to the town, local press reported.
‘Cowardly murder’
Guerrero, one of Mexico’s poorest states, has endured years of violence linked to turf wars between drug cartels fighting for control of marijuana and opium production and drug trafficking.
“These are organizations that have been around for a long time. They did not emerge during this government, and we are trying to address the causes,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters.
Guerrero state attorney general Sandra Luz Valdovinos said that nobody had yet been arrested for the attack.
“There isn’t yet enough evidence to determine who’s likely responsible,” she told local television.
Criminal gangs have cultivated close links to regional politicians, complicating efforts to pacify Guerrero despite the deployment of federal forces.
“Drug traffickers control various areas of the state and, instead of fighting them, the political parties have relied on them to win elections,” Saucedo said.
More than 340,000 people have been killed across Mexico in a spiral of bloodshed since the government deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006.
Local-level politicians frequently fall victim to violence connected to corruption and the multibillion-dollar narcotics trade.
Mendoza is one of 94 mayors who have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, according to data from consulting firm Etellekt.
His party, the left-wing opposition PRD, condemned the “cowardly murder.”
“We demand justice, enough of impunity,” it wrote on Twitter.
Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado, of the ruling Morena party, said she had ordered a swift investigation into the massacre.
“There will be no impunity for the vicious aggression,” she tweeted.
-
A member of the Mexican Army stands guard in front of the bullet-ridden building of the Municipality of San Miguel Totolapan, state of Guerrero, Mexico, on October 6, 2022. - Mexican authorities said Thursday that at least 20 people had been killed, including the mayor, when gunmen stormed a town hall in the southern part of the country Wednesday in a broad daylight attack. (Photo by FRANCISCO ROBLES / AFP)
International
Mexican authorities bust Meth Lab and seize tons of drugs and chemicals in multiple states
Mexican authorities dismantled a clandestine laboratory containing 2.5 tons of methamphetamine in the southeastern state of Chiapas, seized a warehouse with more than four tons of chemical precursors in Guerrero (south), and intercepted a trailer in Tijuana attempting to cross into the United States with 2.7 tons of drugs.
Omar García Harfuch, head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), reported on Saturday via social media that agents from the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), along with representatives from the Defense Secretariat, Navy (Semar), National Guard (GN), and SSPC, disabled the methamphetamine production lab in Chiapas and confiscated 2.5 tons of the drug.
A statement specified that the agents secured 2.5 tons of methamphetamine, barrels containing substances used to manufacture synthetic drugs, a firearm, and four trucks. In another operation in Guerrero, authorities located over four tons of chemical substances.
The discovery took place on a property in the community of Margarita Maza, Juárez, used to store materials for synthetic drug production. Sufficient evidence was collected and presented to a control judge who authorized the intervention of the property.
In Chiapas, authorities also seized more than 300 barrels and containers with chemicals for making synthetic drugs, as well as various metal containers and devices.
International
Maduro gains support from Venezuelan Assembly amid U.S. drug trafficking accusations
The National Assembly of Venezuela expressed its support this Saturday for President Nicolás Maduro, condemning the United States’ increase in the reward offered for his capture as an “act of aggression.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Thursday that Washington had doubled the reward to $50 million for Maduro’s capture, labeling him as one of the “world’s largest drug traffickers.”
“We reject the absurd and desperate actions announced by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, which are clearly illegal and lack any real basis, beyond being a delirious attempt of aggression against the president (…) and against our rebellious and brave people,” said the Assembly leader, Jorge Rodríguez, while reading a letter he said was unanimously approved by the deputies.
“It is precisely President Nicolás Maduro (…) the protector of the strong democracy that shelters us and the leader who firmly upholds the rule of law and justice,” Rodríguez continued. He is also Venezuela’s chief negotiator in talks with Washington.
Bondi accused Maduro of using “terrorist organizations like the Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa cartel, and the Cartel of the Suns to introduce lethal drugs and violence” into the United States.
“In 25 years of revolution, we have resisted and advanced despite constant imperialist aggressions. They have not succeeded, and will not succeed, with crude sanctions, criminal blockades, or senseless threats in diverting the noble path the Venezuelan people charted in the free elections of July 28, 2024, in which Nicolás Maduro was elected President of the Republic,” the statement read.
The Venezuelan opposition alleges fraud in those elections and claims victory, and as a result, has boycotted the 2025 legislative, regional, and municipal elections.
International
U.S. doubles bounty on Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro to $50 million
In February, the United States designated eight Latin American criminal organizations as “global terrorist” groups, including Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, and the MS-13 gang. In July, it added the Cartel of the Suns to the list — a group Washington claims is led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Last Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, raising it from $25 million to $50 million, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on social media platform X.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that labeling the Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization allows for a strategic shift in dealing with the Venezuelan regime, as it is now also considered a direct threat to U.S. national security, according to El Espectador.
In an interview with The World Over on EWTN, Rubio said the designation enables the U.S. to “use intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, or any other element of American power to go after them.” He stressed this is no longer just a law enforcement matter, but a national security operation.
When asked at the White House whether he believes it is worth sending the military to combat Latin American drug cartels, Trump responded:
“Latin America has many cartels, a lot of drug trafficking, so, you know, we want to protect our country. We have to protect it.”
Mexican authorities bust Meth Lab and seize tons of drugs and chemicals in multiple states
Maduro gains support from Venezuelan Assembly amid U.S. drug trafficking accusations
U.S. doubles bounty on Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro to $50 million
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
Central America3 days agoNicaragua’s Telica volcano erupts four times, no damages reported
-
International3 days agoOver 240 guatemalans detained at Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz await deportation
-
International2 days agoThree injured in early-morning New York City shooting
-
International3 days agoColombian President Gustavo Petro announces talks with clan del Golfo outside country
-
International3 days agoMaría Corina Machado thanks OAS allies for condemning Venezuela’s growing repression
-
International1 day agoMaduro gains support from Venezuelan Assembly amid U.S. drug trafficking accusations
-
International1 day agoMexican authorities bust Meth Lab and seize tons of drugs and chemicals in multiple states
-
International2 days agoU.S. doubles bounty on Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro to $50 million