Pubdate: Sun, 25 Apr 2010
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2010 El Paso Times
Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/formnewsroom
Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829
Authors: Armando V. Durazo and Aileen B. Flores
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Juarez
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico

FEDERALES VOW TO FIGHT BACK AFTER DEADLY ATTACK

The ambush Friday in Juarez in which eight people were killed -- 
including six federal agents and a police officer -- may signal a new 
wave of intimidation against authorities, officials and experts said Saturday.

The attack, carried out in broad daylight by a group of hit men, 
solidified the resolve of Mexican federal police to fight back even 
though it was one of the deadliest attacks on authorities in the city 
since President Felipe Calderon launched the war on drug cartels.

Juarez officials said that the ambush will not deter them and that 
they will not be intimidated by the calculated and ruthless attack.

"They want to intimidate us. But now we are going to double our 
efforts to fight them," said Jose Salinas, spokesman for the federal 
police in Mexico City.

As a result of the ambush, he said, a new strategy will be used to 
"avoid similar ambushes."

"We will fight them," he said.

He did not elaborate on the new strategy.

Salinas said the attack on the agents was an act of desperation 
because authorities are winning the overall war. He also said the 
contingent of about 5,000 federal police agents will remain in the 
city indefinitely and will continue to pressure the criminals.

The agents were gunned down when they stopped to assist a vendor who 
had flagged them down about noon Friday. When they stopped, a group 
of gunmen arrived and opened fire with AK-47s, high-powered rifles 
and handguns. The agents tried to repel the attackers, but fell 
victim in the shootout.

Officials said more than 300 shots were fired.

No arrests have been made, but police said they found a sign 
scribbled on a wall in which La Linea, the Juarez drug cartel, takes 
responsibility for the slayings and warns of further attacks.

The Juarez drug cartel has been entangled in a violent and vicious 
war with the Sinaloa drug cartel, which is trying to muscle in to 
take over the lucrative drug corridor into the United States.

Since the drug war began in 2008, nearly 5,000 people have been 
killed in Juarez alone. More than 20,000 have been slain nationwide. 
In Juarez, several police officers and at least one commander have 
been killed in ambushes.

Friday's was the worst.

"An attack on federal police is a serious attack," said Dick Schwein, 
a retired FBI special agent in charge in El Paso.

"It's an attack on government agents. But who did it?" he asked. "We 
don't know it was a cartel shooting."

In response to the attack, Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said police 
will be more cautious and will increase the number of officers and 
agents working together to protect themselves.

He, too, said the attack will not stop officers and agents from doing 
their jobs.

Saturday, the agents killed in the attack were honored in a memorial 
in which they were remembered for their commitment to the agency.

The federal public safety secretary, Genaro Garcia Luna, described 
the fallen agents as "heroes who gave their lives for an ideal: to 
build a better country for everyone, for our children, our families 
and the residents of Juarez."

Authorities on Friday speculated that the ambush was in retaliation 
for Thursday's arrests of several people on drug and weapons charges.

The Juarez ambush was not the only attack on authorities in Mexico.

Saturday, in the Michoacan state capital of Morelia, gunmen armed 
with assault rifles and grenades attacked a convoy carrying the top 
security official of Michoacan, killing four and wounding 10.

Michoacan Public Safety Secretary Minerva Bautista was among the 
wounded but was recovering from non-life-threatening injuries, 
according to the state attorney general's office. She was traveling 
in a bullet-resistant sport utility vehicle.

State Attorney General Jesus Montejano told the local Milenio 
television station that the attackers used assault rifles, grenades, 
a grenade launcher and a powerful .50-caliber sniper rifle whose 
rounds are capable of penetrating bullet-resistant materials.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake