“Violence in the vicinity of the U.S.-Mexico border continues to increase at an alarming rate. We believe that this violence represents a serious threat to the national security of the United States as well as a serious threat to U.S. citizens that live along the 1,969-mile long border,” a dozen bipartisan members of Congress from border states wrote President Obama.

“The federal government currently does not know who is entering our country and when, which obviously creates tremendous security concerns,” said Brewer’s spokesman Paul Senseman.

And in Texas, “we respond to threats based on risk, not occurrence,” said Gov. Rick Perry’s spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger. Thus Perry has activated a secret state border protection emergency plan.

“With the safety of Texans on the line, we can’t afford to wait,” he said.

But the Huffington Post assures us we can all relax:

“It’s one of the safest parts of America, and it’s getting safer. It’s the U.S.-Mexico border, and even as politicians say more federal troops are needed to fight rising violence, government data obtained by The Associated Press show it actually isn’t so dangerous after all.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/03/us-mexico-border-safety-a_n_598825.html

Hitman's home state of Durango

“Everybody is a cartel killer these days, he said. Drug dealers, addicts, low-level cops, teenagers. “They kill women and children, they’re very careless,” he said, insisting he was a professional since his first execution at age 17.

“I killed, cut off heads,” he said coldly.

Now in this late 30s, he worked for years along the U.S. border, in the states of Baja California, Sinaloa and Sonora.

He says at first he was nervous, shaking. He did it drugged, but he knew how to handle a handgun because he had been well-trained as a police officer in his home state of Durango, northwestern Mexico.”

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/I_killed,_cut_off_heads_says_repentant_Mexico_hitman.html?cid=9130640

“Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona… said he pressed Obama to secure the border against illegal immigrants.

“The problem is, he [Obama] said, ‘If we secure the border, then you all won’t have any reason to support comprehensive immigration reform.'”

“They want to get something in return for doing their duty,” Kyl told the group [in North Phoenix, Ariz.].

The White House denied the account..Kyl spokesman Ryan Patmintra said the senator stands by his remarks.”

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jun/21/white-house-disputes-kyls-account-of-border-talk/

TAXCO, Mexico — At least 55 bodies have been recovered from an abandoned silver mine that became a dumping ground for apparent victims of Mexico’s drug violence, authorities said Monday.

In the northern state of Durango, police reported the discovery of six decapitated men along with two heads.

Three more victims with severed heads were found by police in the central state of Morelos.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/08/mass-grave-found-in-mexic_n_604105.html

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Felipe Calderon is launching a global public relations campaign to try to improve his country’s image and neutralise coverage of the violent drug war scaring away tourists and foreign investors.

Calderon declared all-out war on drug cartels on taking office in late 2006…
The strategy has so far failed to curb violence and more than 23,000 people have died in drug violence over the past 3-1/2 years. Daily images of gruesome decapitations, charred and tortured bodies hung from bridges and brazen daytime shootouts are commonplace…”

“…we are hiring the best agencies in the world promote Mexico’s image.”  – Calderon

http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE65F74S20100616?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — “A U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a 15-year-old Mexican boy after a group trying to illegally enter Texas threw rocks at officers near downtown El Paso, U.S. authorities said Tuesday.

It was the second death of a Mexican at the hands of Border Patrol officers in less than two weeks, and the case threatened to swell into a full-blown international incident when U.S. and Mexican officials traded suggestions of misconduct.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/08/border-patrol-agent-shoot_n_604358.html

Mexican federal police arrest hit men of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel

“Two large and important states bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse: Pakistan and Mexico.” Joint Operating Environment 2008″ by the Virginia-based United States Joint Forces Command

While potentially alarming, the study has to be taken in context. Its scenarios are pure projections and they go through to 2034… the Pentagon report does offer concerning food for thought.

Last year, there were 5,300 killings in Mexico that appeared to be from drug gangs — or police and military fighting these gangs — a level of bloodshed that many on both sides of the border say can be understood as a low-intensity civil war.

It is not outrageous to fear that this violence could combine with political conflict to cause more widespread bloody turmoil and force the government to fully withdraw from parts of the country.”

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/mexico/090212/analysis-mexico-failing-state