By Irving Leemon, Contributing Columnist

Anyone who doubts that there is a civil war going on in Mexico only has to read the newspapers and listen to the news broadcasts. In February 2012 the U.S. State Department said that 120 U.S. citizens were killed in Mexico in 2011. In addition, carjackings and robberies have resulted in U.S. citizens being robbed, injured and killed. In February of 2012 the State Department also said: “Effective July 15, 2010, the U.S. Mission in Mexico imposed restrictions on U.S. government employees’ travel. U.S. government employees and their families are not permitted to drive for personal reasons from the U.S.-Mexico border to or from the interior of Mexico or Central America.” One of the latest examples is on March 14, 20012, a shooting took place just outside a baseball park in Mexico City while a ball game was going on.

The players on the field had to take cover while their bus was shot up. Shots were fired from across the border with Mexico into El Paso’s City Hall in August of 2010. On the same day bullets also struck the university’s buildings. That same month, the Mayor of Santiago was found at the side of a road tortured, blindfolded, and killed. On May 17, 2011, Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, a leading figure in Mexico’s ruling party, disappeared and it has been assumed that he was kidnapped, and killed. On September 21, 2011, during rush hour traffic in Veracruz, two pick up trucks dumped 35 dead bodies on the street and left the scene. September 30, 2011 US News reported that “since January 2007, Mexico has had about 86,000 homicides, according to New Mexico State University librarian Molly Molloy, who totals the death count from annual reports issued by government agencies in Mexico. CNSNews has reported that there were 12,903 homicides in Mexico during the first nine months of 2011.

During that time, Acapulco (pictured above) had 795 reported murders and Baja California had 250. On February 16, 2012, two U.S. immigration and customs agents were shot while in Mexico. In addition, there have been many instances of multiple beheaded bodies found throughout Mexico. Five journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000. You can imagine the effect on the press and the reporting of crimes In addition, during the last several years the number of Mexican citizens seeking political asylum in the United States has increased dramatically. Agree? Disagree? Email: ileemon@socal.rr.com

By Iving Lemon

Contributing Columnist

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