Thursday, December 22, 2011

"We have learned to live in a war. But it's like no one is on our side."

The press silenced, Nuevo Laredo tries to find voice.

By Mike O'Connor
CPJ Mexico Representat﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ive
Javier Soto plays his accordion as he searches for tourists in a
 vacant downtown market in Nuevo Laredo (AP/Gregory Bull)


U.S. tourists who used to be so important to business don't come because it is too dangerous. A saleswoman in a nearly empty jewelry shop said, "We have learned to live in a war. But it's like no one is on our side." She would only give her first name: Amalia. She was scared to be interviewed because the cartel could be watching. It has lookouts everywhere, she said. So when she spoke about something as dangerous as whether she felt safe she looked down at the floor. People said the police used to work for the cartel, but in June the mayor disbanded the police on the grounds that they were hopelessly corrupted by the Zeta cartel. Last month state officials said one quarter of the state police--2,500 officers--had been fired for failing or refusing to take evaluation tests.

The army came into Nuevo Laredo, and the federal police, to replace city officers. But residents said there aren't many of them and they only do patrols and don't investigate crimes. "If someone kills my mother or robs my store maybe there will be a report taken, but it will stop there," Amalia said.



It's a world under a Zeta dome, residents said. The cartel ships narcotics north across the border--Texas is across four bridges over the Rio Grande, three in the city and one nearby. This city is at the northern end of one of the most important highways in Mexico and the southern end of one of the main U.S. entry points to Mexico.

A Mexican Federal officer dispays a newspaper with the headline "Ex-Police!" over pictures froma recent murder in Nuevo Laredo.  (AP/Gregory Bull)


It seems that all information about the war against them belongs to the Zetas also. Journalists said they cannot report a thing that might upset the Zetas without the serious risk of being killed. And, they say, since the Zetas don't want anything reported, nothing about them is reported. Not in the papers, or on TV or radio.

So, for the most part, there are no stories about what most affects the people in Nuevo Laredo. There are no stories about the war or the Zetas or the army or the police. There are also no stories about the Zetas' businesses of retail drug sales in town or their kidnapping and extortion of residents, according to journalists.



The motive for the attack on Orozco's newspaper, El Mañana, was never clear, he said. That left the matter all the more sinister and the impact greater because one ever knew how to guard against another attack. He said, "If you don't know what you can't do then you don't do anything."

(At rightJaime Orozco is carried away on a stretcher after the attack on El Mañana on February 6, 2006. AP/Sandra Jasso - El Mañana)



But the press almost always was forced by the two cartels to not report the battles, reporters have told me. There's a lull now, or maybe the fight's over. Nuevo Laredo is under Zeta control, and the Zetas always had a reputation for more violence and less tolerance for the press than the Gulf cartel, according to reporters here. That meant that as bad as it had been, things got much worse, journalists said. Now there's no room for movement or mistakes.


Then, a little over a year ago, according to journalists, a website appeared to which residents began posting their warnings. It is Nuevo Laredo en Vivo (Nuevo Laredo Live). At some point -- when is a matter of discussion, but probably in the last few months -- its content evolved from the usual warnings to also being the place where residents would anonymously post complaints about criminal activity.

That's when everything changed, because, journalists told me, it became a threat to the Zeta cartel. For instance, people were afraid to reveal themselves by telling the authorities about suspected Zeta safe houses--where they might be holding kidnapping victims-- or places where Zeta gunmen were living or where Zetas were selling drugs, but an anonymous post on the Nuevo Laredo Live website seemed safe. In a city where the police had all been fired, and where the press could not do its job, the website became the way citizens could report the Zetas to the Army and the federal police, which, however ineptly, may be trying to replace the local police.






Normally homicides are investigated by the state, but the spokesman for the Tamauplipas state Attorney General's office, Rubén Darío Ríos López, said he had no information on these four cases because they had been taken over by the regional office of the federal attorney general. López said he didn't know why. A spokesman for the regional attorney general's office, who would not give his name, said there was never federal involvement in the investigations. So, it seems there is no investigation at all.

The test now is whether the killings have scared away anonymous posts. Will people in Nuevo Laredo once again be without any voice at all? For the moment it doesn't seem so. Several journalists said they thought the army might be beginning to do better against the Zetas and that tips from Nuevo Laredo Live could be helping. But then since reporters don't dare investigate even something as basic as whether a tip led to an arrest, they can't be sure - it's only an opinion. Today, there are still reports of crimes or suspicious events going up on Nuevo Laredo Live. We'll never know if there are fewer reports than there would have been without the deaths.

CPJ  (slightly edited from original)﻿﻿﻿﻿ ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿


  1. Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens from U.S. Consulate General Monterrey - Bus Attacks in northern Veracruz


    The U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey reminds American citizens to exercise caution and remain vigilant when traveling in the State of
    also reminds American citizens to avoid intercity road travel at night.


    For any emergencies involving U.S. citizens in Mexico, please contact the U.S. Embassy or the closest U.S. Consulate. For those emergencies
    involving U.S. citizens in the Monterrey Consular District (including the states of Durango, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, and the southern portion of Coahuila), please contact the U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey. The U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey is located at 411
    Avenida Constitucion Poniente, Monterrey, Mexico. The telephone number
    is (81) 8047-3100. For after hours emergencies, please call (81) 8362-9126 (from Mexico) or 011-52-1-81-8362-9126 (from the United States). The Consulate General's ACS Unit can also be reached via fax at
    (81) 8342-5433 and by e-mail at

    U.S. citizens in other areas of Mexico should seek the assistance of the U.S. Embassy or the appropriate Consulates or Consular agencies located throughout the country. Click on the following to find a directory of Consulates and Consular Agencies .

    This email is UNCLASSIFIED

  2. You have to send the marine to nuevo laredo. En stop buying el mañaña newspaper because its paid by the zetas

  3. I was born in nuevo laredo in 1977 know the city like the back of my hand neen in laredo tx for 30 years went to elementary middle n highschool in laredo I used to club in firenzis senor frogs plaza san miguel it was the bomb great night life that is all gone n.laredo is a ghost town everone knows if u go for medecines or other things go in the morning make it back before sundown and ull possibibly make it bak alive had many friends kidnapped killed missing its a real modern day seiged town total zeta control and no end in sight unbelievable wat a great town ruined by zetas they are everywhere n.aredo residents under zeta law and no one is helping if there is a god out there please help the people of nuevo laredo from saddened citizen concerned bout a town with no hope next to the greatest country usa god help us!

  4. In order for a parasite to survive it can not kill it's host. The most successful parasites form a symbolic relationship Mexico is dying from a tapeworm infestation. When the host dies where do the parasites go.

  5. L E G A L I Z E I T ! ! !
    L E G A L I Z E ALL OF I T ! ! !

  6. Thank you borderland beat for the information of nuevo laredo if it wasnt for you no one tell nothing there scared of the zetas

  7. sad that these criminals have gone so far they are blind for money, they have lost there souls and are walking dead, materialism is total destruction and an illusion of evil what can i say. the cause and effect will be explosive for these areas listen there is no excuse for the abuse against your fellow kind.

  8. NL might not be packed like it use to be but there is still a night life there it just moved away from down town. And by the way that first picture must be like ten years old because the tables by circus circus bar are all metal now and green.

  9. There has been such a dramatic change in reporting Mexico Violence. Who would have thought last year that in one short year you would see a blog like BDN posting stories on the polar bears and global warming? It is very troubling to me that the only source of what exists has been silenced by fear.

    I thought this was a very well written piece that put it all together as even the story of silence has been silenced itself. Paz, Chivis

    Thanks to the person who posted the info from the state department. always be informed and check often for changes, the consulate offices can be contacted directly and will give you info you can not find other places...

  10. 1:51am is very correct por people i also remember the night clubs and restaurants they were the bomb. I remember the tejas and the chachos each control half of nuevo laredo and they didnt mess with the people if you werent in there buisness

  11. This is exactly why the military needs to cordon off the entire city and brutally eliminate anyone who even knows the letter Z. You may have to kill 20 or 30 thousand people. You may have to bulldoze Nuevo Laredo and force the non-Zeta population out as refugees but it would break the back of Zeta control and send a ruthless message to other Zeta controlled cities - WE ARE COMING FOR YOU AND WE ARE GOING TO KILL YOU!

  12. @ December 23, 2011 4:21 PM
    Yup Agree with you ! End them scum bag terrorist. those muthafuckers aint no cartel nor special forces. They are special assholes!! Exterminate them.

  13. As usual some very good comments to a very good article. I like the parasite comment, these zetas and others are parasites and they will turn NL into a rotting carcass of what it once was.

    The shopping, dinning and oh so thrilling night life was legendary, enjoyed by people on both sides of the border.

    On our side people would travel hundreds of miles to visit NL, and not just the party animals looking for that oh so thrilling night life but family's looking to enjoy the experience that was Nuevo Laredo [ I attended the big parade and Expo-Mex in September 06, it was great ].

    I haven't been there since 08 and then it was scary. Over the years I met a lot of good people there, I think about them and pray for them.

  14. @L E G A L I Z E ALL OF I T ! ! !

    Legalize what? Extortions? Kidnappings? Murder?
    Corrupution? What????






  16. @2.37pm exactly wat the zetas want hello they moved everything from downtown deeper in the city where u can get kidnapped tortured etc etc close to downtown people felt safe at least a quik run for the border if there's trouble go deeper in nuevo laredo good luck with that u go to those places no thx!!


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