Puerto Rico News

Friday, July 12, 2013

Puerto Rico involucrado en el espionaje denunciado por Snowden

Puerto Rico involucrado en el espionaje denunciado por Snowden
Friday July 12th, 2013 at 3:17 PM

Algunos de los documentos filtrados por el ex empleado de la Agencia de Seguridad Nacional (NSA) y la Agencia Central de Inteligencia (CIA) Edward J. Snowden mencionan a Puerto Rico como centro de espionaje clandestino para varios países de Latinoamérica.

Según reportajes publicados en las versiones cibernéticas de los periódicos O Globo de Brasil, El País de España y The Guardian de Inglaterra, sobre los documentos hechos públicos por Snowden, ambas -la NSA y la CIA- mantuvieron una operación conjunta desde la base Naval en el barrio Sabana Seca de Toa Baja.

Esta operación en Puerto Rico servía para coordinar con otras oficinas en Brasilia, Bogotá, Caracas, Ciudad de México y Ciudad de Panamá mediante un programa llamado Fornsat, con el que la NSA y la CIA interceptaron miles de millones de llamadas telefónicas, mensajes electrónicos y de texto y comunicaciones por Internet privadas.

A raíz de las nuevas denuncias de Snowden divulgadas desde el pasado fin de semana, los Gobiernos de Brasil y Colombia han exigido oficialmente explicaciones al de los Estados Unidos sobre el aparente espionaje de telecomunicaciones de ciudadanos ajenos a su jurisdicción.

Uno de los artículos publicados por O Globo menciona que el mayor número de interceptaciones telefónicas y cibernéticas ocurrió en Brasil, seguido por Colombia, con quien los Estados Unidos mantienen acuerdos estratégicos para combatir el narcotráfico.

El artículo añade que la NSA intensificó las interceptaciones en Colombia y Venezuela, donde usaba el programa Boundless Informant, mientras el presidente Hugo Chávez agonizaba de un cáncer incurable en meses recientes.

Otro artículo publicado por el periódico El País menciona que las interceptaciones de comunicaciones cibernéticas se hicieron bajo el programa PRISM con la colaboración de portales tales como Facebook y Google, compañías que han negado las denuncias. Otros medios electrónicos han señalado a gigantes como Microsoft y YouTube como colaboradores de la NSA y la CIA.

El artículo de El País menciona que algunas de las interceptaciones se hicieron con el sistema X-Keystroke, en el cual se identifican los mensajes y las llamadas por el idioma de la conversación, implantado en Brasil, Colombia, Perú, Venezuela y la mayoría de los países de Centroamérica.

Otro artículo publicado por el periodista Glenn Greenwald de The Guardian el pasado sábado, y en el cual provee un enlace al publicado por O Globo bajo su firma, indica que los miles de millones de llamadas y correos electrónicos interceptados por la NSA y una gran compañía de telecomunicaciones se hicieron utilizando el programa Fairview.

Según Greenwald, con este programa prácticamente se elimina la posibilidad de que un usuario ajeno a los Estados Unidos navegue por el internet con alguna expectativa de privacidad o seguridad personal.

Peor aún, argumenta Greenwald, es que les permite a los aliados de Estados Unidos -incluyendo a los que son agresivamente opresivos – beneficiarse del espionaje indiscriminado de las comunicaciones de sus ciudadanos.

La traducción del artículo del pasado domingo de O Globo menciona que, aunque el presupuesto de la NSA es secreto, la Federación de Científicos Americanos (FAS) estima que la agencia gasta $75,000 millones anualmente. También se dice que cuenta con 32,000 empleados y tiene acuerdos estratégicos con más de 80 de las corporaciones principales mundiales de telecomunicaciones, internet, infraestructura, equipos, sistemas operativos y aplicaciones de computadoras.

The Guardian publicó el pasado sábado que el programa PRISM le permite a la NSA acceso a los correos de voz y áreas de charlas (chats) de los usuarios de portales tales como Facebook, Google, Microsoft y YouTube.

Algunos de los artículos consultados hacen referencia al programa de naciones aliadas a los Estados Unidos conocido como Echelon y que tenía su base de operaciones en el municipio de Toa Baja bajo la jurisdicción de la Marina de Guerra de los Estados Unidos.

Un artículo publicado por el periódico El Mundo de España en enero del 2000 menciona que Echelon puede identificar las palabras pronunciadas en conversaciones telefónicas y envíos de fax y texto y mensajes de textos cibernéticos y telefónicos. Otros portales del internet alegan que la capacidad de Echelon para reconocer las palabras pronunciadas es superior a la del oído humano.

Aunque la Base de Comunicaciones del Grupo de Operaciones de la Marina de Guerra en Sabana Seca cerró, aún queda el gigantesco cercado circular del Barrio Ingenio de este municipio que forman la espina dorsal de Echelon.

Según datos obtenidos en la internet, Australia, Canadá, Nueva Zelanda, el Reino Unido y los Estados Unidos formaron Echelon en la década del 60 en medio de la Guerra Fría para interceptar las troncales de las comunicaciones vía satélites.

O Globo menciona que la NSA y la CIA han dirigido la Primary Fornsat Collection Operations desde Sabana Seca, en referencia a Toa Baja, como parte de una red de 16 unidades de recolección de información a través de satélites de otros países.

Un documento desclasificado sobre la Historia de la Agencia de Inteligencia de Aviación de mediados de la década del 90 hace referencia a que empleados de la Corporación Raytheon operaban uno de los sensores bajo un contrato con el Centro de Sistemas Electrónicos del Grupo de Seguridad Naval y la NSA.

Moisés Quiñones, portavoz del Negociado Federal de Investigaciones (FBI) en Puerto Rico, informó al Centro de Periodismo Investigativo que estaba impedido de comentar sobre las denuncias de Snowden sobre Echelon o las interceptaciones telefónicas.

Quiñones agregó que el FBI nunca confirma ni deniega sobre investigaciones en curso ni puede divulgar sus técnicas investigativas.

Snowden, quien trabajó en seguridad de tecnología informática para la NSA en Japón y para la CIA y luego para los contratistas de éstas Dell y Booz Allen Hamilton fue despedido por esta última y acusado de espionaje por el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos a mediados del mes pasado.

Desde que sus denuncias fueron publicadas por The Guardian, Snowden escapó de su último lugar de residencia en Hawaii a Hong Kong, donde estuvo oculto varias semanas, y hace varios días se alega que permanece en el aeropuerto de Moscú aguardando por asilo político en alguno de los 20 países a los que se lo solicitó.

Los Presidentes de Bolivia, Nicaragua y Venezuela le han ofrecido asilo político a Snowden y el principal obstáculo que enfrenta es el de llegar a estos países desde Moscú luego de que su pasaporte fuera revocado a raíz de su acusación de espionaje en los Estados Unidos.

Tahani Shayeb Barakat y Ezequiel Rodríguez Andino colaboraron en esta historia.

Aunque la Base de Comunicaciones del Grupo de Operaciones de la Marina de Guerra en Sabana Seca cerró, aún pueden verse los enormes globos blancos en el Balneario de Punta Salinas en Toa Baja y el gigantesco cercado circular del Barrio Ingenio de este municipio que forman la espina dorsal de Echelon.

Quiñones agregó que el FBI nunca confirma ni deniega sobre investigaciones en curso ni puede divulgar sus técnicas investigativas.

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Snowden pedirá asilo en Rusia al no poder volar a América Latina

Evo Morales' Plane Grounding Causes Uproar Throughout Latin America

Evo Morales' Plane Grounding Causes Uproar Throughout Latin America
Friday July 12th, 2013 at 2:57 PM

The grounding of Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane last week in Vienna continues to cause an uproar throughout the international community and has created a backlash over allegations that the United States ordered the move amid suspicions that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden was on board.

The Organization of American States adopted a resolution Tuesday that condemned the incident and declared solidarity with Morales, who blamed Washington for pressuring European countries to refuse to allow his plane to fly through their airspace. Bolivia asked the OAS for the measure along with both Venezuela and Nicaragua, two nations that have offered Snowden asylum.

"It is very clear that this is an event that goes beyond the explanations that have been given here," said OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza in a press release. "With all due respect to my European Observer friends, with all the affection that we have for them, there is a serious matter here that has not been clarified."

Spain, France, Portugal and Italy all closed their airspace to Morales’ plane, which was on its way back from Moscow where the Bolivian leader was meeting with Russian officials.

While Spain said it gave Morales’ plane the go-ahead to fly over the Iberian peninsula after receiving assurance that the NSA leaker was not on board, the European nation’s foreign minister did admit that a U.S. request had led it to delay approving the over flight. Spain also issued a curt apology to Bolivia for the international gaff.

“If any misunderstanding has taken place, I don't have any objection to saying sorry to President Morales," said Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo, according to Al Jazeera

The OAS resolution came on the same day that the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke out against the incident, saying it was important to prevent them in the future and that a head of state should enjoy immunity and inviolability in such instances.

The UN and OAS statements are only the latest in a series of angry comments against the rerouting of the flight, which has soured relations between the United States and many Latin American nations. Along with the UN and OAS declarations, leaders from Ecuador, Uruguay, Bolivia, Venezuela and Suriname held a special meeting of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) last week in Cochabamba, Bolivia to discuss the situation.

“The international community is justifiably outraged,” said Eric Hershberg, the director of Latin American studies at American University. “Time and time again the United States has bullied the region with the attitude that ‘it’s my way or the highway.’”

Some experts, however, argue that Latin America’s irritation over the grounding is absurd, given that Morales openly stated while in Russia that he would grant asylum to the NSA whistle-blower.

Morales told Russian television last week that Bolivia “is ready to give political asylum to the people who expose spying activities” and was willing to “enter into discussions” with Snowden.

“It’s unfortunate what happened to Morales, but he very flippantly said he would give Snowden asylum,” said Chris Sabatini, the senior policy director at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. “A more polished leader or delegation wouldn’t do something like that.”

Sabatini called the whole incident “a huge waste of time” as there are a number of other issues more important to Latin American nations, such as the peace negotiations in Colombia and the NSA spying scandal that erupted over the weekend in Brazil.

Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that information released by Snowden showed Brazil and Colombia are top targets in Latin America for the NSA's massive intelligence-gathering effort aimed at monitoring communications around the world.

“Brazil and Colombia are responding to this situation in a much better way than other countries by approaching a much more serious problem,” Sabatini added.

Both Morales’ grounding and the NSA spying revelations have worsened relations between the U.S. and Latin America, which despite promises of improvement under the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has remained stagnant.

“While the protests against the grounding are largely for domestic opinion, there will be no long term problems between these countries and the U.S. over the issue,” Hershberg said. “The big question is, Does the region see the U.S. as a partner who wants to work with Latin America on equal terms? From what is going on now, the evidence seems to indicate otherwise.”

Follow Andrew O'Reilly on Twitter @aoreilly84.

Puerto Rico police to receive raises, health increase increases, other benefits

Puerto Rico police to receive raises, health increase increases, other benefits
Friday July 12th, 2013 at 2:54 PM

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico's governor is increasing the salary of all police officers by $75 a month following recent protests and sickouts.

Alejandro Garcia Padilla also announced Thursday that the government will increase health insurance contributions by $25 for a total of $125 a month. In addition, Padilla said that overtime pay will no longer be taxed.

The announcement comes after officers objected to cuts in retirement benefits and demanded higher wages and overtime pay.

Nearly 2,000 officers had protested with a sickout in April.

Puerto Rico has the second-largest police force in the U.S. with roughly 17,000 officers.

Corruption Rampant From U.S. to Venezuela, Study Finds

Corruption Rampant From U.S. to Venezuela, Study Finds
Friday July 12th, 2013 at 2:46 PM

From Washington D.C. to Caracas, people throughout the Americas feel that corruption in sectors of society is on the rise, according to a survey from a watchdog group.

Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer 2013 found that 58 percent of people in the Americas believe that corruption has gotten worse the last two years throughout the region, with political parties, law enforcement and judicial systems all ranking among the least trustworthy areas.

In the United States, mistrust and feelings of rampant corruption were mostly placed on the country’s political parties and the legislative system. A particularly harsh presidential race last year, the powerful emergence of the so-called Super PACS and a number of recent scandals surrounding the administration of President Barack Obama have been cited as the main reasons that 76 percent of those polled found political parties corrupt. About 61 percent said they believed there is rampant corruption in Congress and the White House.

“There has been a lot of issues out there in the news that cast a bad light on political parties and the country’s legislature,” Alejandro Salas, Transparency International’s regional director for the Americas, told Fox News Latino. “While maybe corruption hasn’t gotten any higher in the U.S., the stories emerging now have made this perception appear higher.”

Salas added that while the U.S. touts itself internationally as a bastion for democracy, these numbers and the recent scandals have challenged that assertion.

“The U.S. is a paradox,” he said. “It’s trying to find out what its democracy means.”

While the U.S. is struggling with perceptions of corruption in its political sphere, the country’s southern neighbor is dealing with alleged rampant corruption within its police forces.

About 90 percent of Mexicans surveyed said that there was an extreme degree of corruption in law enforcement and 80 percent in its judicial system. Even more shocking, about 61 percent of Mexicans said they had been fleeced for a bribe when they contacted the police and 55 percent when they got in touch with the judiciary.

Much attention has recently been put on the violence related to Mexico’s ongoing drug war and the ties between military and police with drug cartels. This level of corruption, however, goes back decades in Mexico and has become an ingrained part of the law enforcement and judicial system in the country, Salas said.

“It’s cultural because of decades that it has been like that and that’s just the way it works,” he added.

But rampant corruption seems to be a more recent problem in Venezuela. Citizens seem to be concerned over the perceived corruption among the country’s public officials and civil servants – in large part to the country’s consolidation of power under former President Hugo Chávez and current leader Nicolás Maduro.

“The intensity of corruption in Chávez’s Venezuela has had a strong political and social component, in addition to the purely financial,” wrote Gustavo Coronel of the Cato Institute

. “The conversion of democratic Venezuela into a rogue state has been based in systematic violations of the constitution and the laws and in the progressive elimination of administrative and institutional checks and balances.”

Salas reiterated this sentiment, saying that under Maduro the same subsystem of cronyism and corruption has been able to be sustained.

“It’s mostly weakness of the institution,” he said. “When the leader is a demanding force, all the other public offices don’t function the way they’re supposed to.”

The Transparency International survey questioned 114,000 respondents from 107 countries.

Follow Andrew O'Reilly on Twitter @aoreilly84.

US to send more resources, federal agents to help fight crime in Puerto Rico

US to send more resources, federal agents to help fight crime in Puerto Rico
Friday July 12th, 2013 at 9:51 AM

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is increasing the number of agents and resources assigned to fight crime in Puerto Rico as part of a federal operation launched last year.

The agency said Thursday it would send 30 new agents to the U.S. territory to crack down on illegal weapons, drugs and money, as well as migrants living there illegally.

Federal agencies established Operation Caribbean Resilience in January 2012 in the north coastal town of Loiza, long considered a high crime area. Officials say that killings, assaults and robberies there dropped by 50 per cent or more.

The operation was later expanded to the San Juan metropolitan area.

Officials said the program will be expanded through September but did not provide further details.

Edward Snowden Meets Rights Groups In Moscow

Monday, July 8, 2013

Puerto Rican Tech Startup ‘Blimp’ is Changing the Project Management Game · Global Voices

Puerto Rican Tech Startup ‘Blimp’ is Changing the Project Management Game · Global Voices
Monday July 8th, 2013 at 2:42 PM

Global Voices

Nowadays, it's difficult to imagine an entrepreneur not using some kind of project management software on a daily basis, no matter how simple the tool. It's even harder to consider this scenario when a team is spread out through various offices, perhaps in different parts of the world. In these cases, project management tools are as essential – if not more so – than a business card.

Among the numerous software and cloud-based solutions that have cropped up to meet this demand, platforms such as Basecamp – designed by the renowned development team at 37Signals – have become synonymous with increased efficiency and organization in the modern workspace.

But there is always room for improvement, no matter how polished the competition – and that opportunity to innovate motivated a team of young, Puerto Rican entrepreneurs to develop Blimp, a new and surprising contender in the highly contested software niche of project management.

Launched late last year, Blimp has quickly won over a loyal group of supporters. Co-creators Giovanni Collazo (@gcollazo), José Padilla (@jpadilla_), and Elving Rodríguez (@Elving) have developed a company culture that values accessibility and openness towards its clients, also contributing to Blimp's rapid growth...

'The Terrorist-Criminal Nexus: An Alliance of International Drug Cartels, Organized Crime, and Terror Groups'

Monday, July 8, 2013

'The Terrorist-Criminal Nexus: An Alliance of International Drug Cartels, Organized Crime, and Terror Groups'

By Jennifer L. Hesterman

(A chapter excerpt from a newly published book on terrorism links to cartels)
Chapter 5
Drug Trafficking Organizations Go Global
This is the most alarming situation I've seen in Mexico in 15 years. Our own interests are at stake. We must stand with these people; they're literally fighting for their lives. - Former U.S. Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey_^[1]
This statement by General McCaffrey set off a firestorm of debate inside D.C. policymaking circles. Are the Mexican cartels a U.S. national security risk, or have we overblown the threat? Is their activity in the U.S. terroristic, or merely criminal in nature? The answers to these pressing, complex questions will certainly determine our course of action as a nation. The challenges posed by Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) are escalating in Mexico, as well as in the United States and other countries. Further, the dangerous liaisons between DTOs, international terrorist groups and transnational gangs such as MS-13 are worrisome to law enforcement not only at the border, but in our country.
The Battle in Mexico
Just south of our border, Mexican forces are fighting an insurgency against multiple DTOs, which threaten their country's economy and security. This conflict is a perfect example of what some call 5th Generation Warfare: shadowy organizations using asymmetric tactics against the State. What many find inexplicable, the inability of large governments to easily put down rising and persistent threats such as DTOs and small terrorist groups, is perfectly explainable and quite predictable when viewed through the 5^_th Gen lens which will be covered in chapter nine while covering tactic sharing and replicating by dissimilar groups.
In 2009, the previous director of the CIA, General Michael Hayden, surprised many when he stated: ‘‘Escalating violence along the U.S.-Mexico border will pose the second greatest threat to U.S. security this year, second only to al Qaeda."_^[2]Furthermore, according to the Justice Department, Mexican DTOs represent the greatest organized crime threat to the United States._^[3] Our government has responded in part by placing thousands of National Guard troops on the border as part of "Operation Jump Start," assisting U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Also, hundreds of federal agents have been pulled from other duties and sent to robust DEA, ATF and FBI offices in major cities in Border States. And despite economic woes, the U.S. is aiding Mexico's fight against the DTOs under the provisions of the Merida Initiative, a multiyear one and one half billion dollar anti-narcotics package increasing law enforcement cooperation and intelligence sharing between our countries, and supplies training and equipment to the fight. Finally, the six billion dollar "virtual fence" project, SBInet and deployment of expensive aerial drones to monitor the border, certainly indicates the government's concern regarding border issues.
Mexican authorities are attempting to contain DTO (cartel) activity to certain geographical regions and keep it from spilling over into their major cities, lucrative vacation areas, and our shared border. Mexico's military is heavily engaged, with 45,000 soldiers augmenting more than 5,000 federal police, and this combined force is engaging in small-scale combat with the cartels. This is particularly true with the paramilitary Los Zetas, who have the exact same weapons, training and tactics as the government force, therefore are able to meet the confrontation head on.
Several leaders of the major Mexican DTOs have been indicted on charges within the U.S., and are fugitives with $5 million reward offered for capture, the same amount offered for the apprehension of "most wanted" terrorists, indicating the serious nature of the threat against our citizens and communities. The players, tactics, alliances and leaders of the DTOs morph, but the threat to our country persists...and is growing.
Ideology: Money
It is important to understand prior to U.S. engagement in the so called "drug war" beginning in the 1980s, the primary drug trafficking route into the U.S. was from Colombia, through the Caribbean and into Florida. As we closed off these avenues, and failed to lower user demand in our country, Mexico became the primary conduit for the drug pipeline. As criminal elements exacted their "fee" for moving the product through the country, we witnessed the rise of alliances, or cartels. In addition to moving Colombian drugs, cartels now oversee the cultivation of marijuana and large labs producing methamphetamines. The money at stake is exorbitant; a Justice Department report estimates Mexican and Colombian DTOs generate, remove, and launder between $18 and $39 billion in wholesale drug proceeds annually.
Consider this important fact, which serves to frame the discussion of drugs and the existing or potential nexus with other nefarious groups: dealers and users in the U.S. do not care who supplies their drugs. It could be a cartel or al Qaeda; all that matters is the product, and getting it into the hands of the 35 million users in our country, most of whom will give their last dollar or possession to get high. Cocaine is leading drug threat in the U.S., followed by methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin, pharmaceutical drugs, and MDMA (ecstasy). The DTOs have responded to the demand and with crackdowns at the border, they have moved inside the U.S. and now oversee the planting of marijuana fields in national parks in the U.S. Although surprising, the National Park Service (NPS) reports marijuana has been grown on our public lands for over 25 years. Furthermore, in 2010 and 2011, their internal reports documented the vast amount of marijuana eradicated on NPS land during the period. Between standing plants, or plants harvested and packaged for distribution at the time of interdiction, they estimated a total street value of over $405 million. Nearly all these cases of marijuana grown in national parks were identified as transnational organized crime related operations._^[4]
Tactic: Brutal Violence
Protecting this vast drug enterprise is critical for the DTOs. In Mexico, the areas of operation for the cartels are called plazas. Pipelines are the supply corridors into, through and out of Mexico, safely passing through the plazas in which the cartels have the upper hand by bribing or intimidating officials and citizens. Some of these formerly vibrant areas have turned into ghost towns due to the persistent, escalating violence unleashed by the DTOs to maintain control of the plazas.
DTO violence is like none ever. The perpetrators have no respect for the rule of law, and employ no moral restraint, willfully (and exuberantly) killing innocent people every day. Kidnapping, rape, human trafficking, extortion, larceny, arson, and weapons offenses: nothing is off the table for DTOs in the name of making money, widening their sphere of influence and controlling plazas and pipelines. DTOs are transnational organizations; the U.S. National Drug Intelligence Center reports that not only are they operating in the U.S. and nineteen Latin American countries, but are also present in unexpected regions, such as Australia. This indicates their global reach, and ability to transport their products worldwide.
Prior to December, 2006, DTO violence was sporadic and contained by the government. During the election that year, Mexican president Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa's stated his primary goals were to grow his country's economy by creating jobs and to reduce poverty. However, once in office in late 2006, President Calderon opened a strategic front against the DTOs, declaring "war" against the cartels. Interestingly, this action was not unilaterally supported by the citizens of the country, whose small towns benefit financially from the movement of drugs through the area. Also, as they feared, innocent civilians inadvertently ended up on the front lines of the battle. Mexican authorities reported 47,515 people killed in the violence between the start of President Calderon's offensive and December, 2011, or one every hour.
According to Mexico's National Human Rights Commission, these numbers do not include the 5,000 kidnapped and missing citizens, suspected to have suffered brutal deaths at the hands of the cartels, with their bodies unceremoniously dumped in the desert.
The battle between cartels for control has led to the preponderance of these deaths, as Figure 2 below illustrates. Bombs regularly explode in front of police stations and at city halls. Shootouts in the street happen daily, as thousands of videos taken by civilians and posted on the Internet attest. Innocent men, women and children caught in the crossfire are seen by DTOs as collateral damage, and are now the very targets of the rampant violence by groups sending "messages" to towns and each other. Many murders are premeditated and gruesome such as beheadings, death by gasoline-induced fire, dismemberment and acid baths. Politicians and policemen are often hung in effigy from bridges in major cities with signs threatening those who are battling the cartels to back off. In January 2010, 36-year-old Hugo Hernandez kidnapped in the state of Sonora by Sinaloa cartel members who carved his body into seven pieces, dropping them at separate locations. Finally, his face was sliced off and stitched to a football, which was the delivered with a warning to the Juárez cartel to Los Mochis city hall in Sinaloa._^[5] Cartel violence often begets violence; a few days later, masked gunman attacked teenagers in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, children who were enjoying a combination birthday and high school soccer victory party: sixteen dead, fourteen wounded. The very same evening in Torreon, in the border state of Coahuila, gunman ambushed students in a college bar: ten dead, eleven wounded. In the case of the children and college student massacres, the shootings were simply meant to send a message to rival cartels, law enforcement and government leadership, with a byproduct of terrorizing the public._^[6]
Many of these activities are carried out by the "enforcement arms" of the cartels, which are paramilitary groups possessing the training knowledge and sophisticated equipment of small armies. Street gang spinoffs of the main organization will also accomplish some of this dirty work, so if they are apprehended by authorities, the main leadership of the cartel and its business activity remain unaffected.
There is great debate about the actual scale of violence in Mexico as related to their population of 113 million, and the vast area of the country. Comparisons are regularly drawn to the U.S. murder rate, with pundits saying it is not as bad in Mexico as depicted by the press. However, this "rates per thousand" discussion is irrelevant considering the unique factors at play such as the large and powerful groups involved; the gruesome nature of the violence; the deliberate targeting of public officials; the undaunted confrontations with Mexican forces; the strong, deep leadership structure in the DTOs and their operational planning to achieve goals; and the persistence and willingness to escalate the bloodshed as required. There is no group or groups in the United States engaged in this type of activity against the State and fellow citizens. Comparisons between violence south and north of the border distract from the issue at hand and marginalize the danger to our country. If the murder statistics and the fact the Mexican Army is engaged in conflict with its own citizens isn't shocking enough, consider fifty-three percent of Mexicans believing the drug cartels are winning the ongoing battle.
Goals: Money, Power, Control
The primary goal of cartels is to gain power, territory and control so they can move drugs, money, guns and human cargo unopposed. They seek to create a void in leadership and rule of law in cities so they can step in and take control. Corruption of police, military and government leadership is a tool used to create instability, ruin the government's reputation with citizens and cause them to turn to others for protection. Instilling fear in the populace is a primary goal, compelling citizens to assist the DTOs, or at the very least, not resist their land grabs and activity in the community. Anything and anyone standing in the way of their progress is seen as a threat that must be eliminated. Conversely, anything and anyone helping attain their goals is an ally.

[1] Mark Potter, "Mexican drug war 'alarming' U.S. officials," http://worldblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2008/06/25/4376042-mexican-drug-war-alarming-us-officials?lite.
[2] Armed Services Committee, Confirmation Hearing, May 12, 2009.
[3] U.S. Department of Justice, "National Drug Threat Assessment," (National Drug Intelligence Center, 2011).
[4] Robert R. Martin, "The National Park Service And Transnational Criminal Organizations- Is A Crisis Looming?" (American Military University, 2012).
[5] Olga R. Rodriguez, "Mexico cartel stitches rival's face on soccer ball," 2010.
[6] William F. Jasper, "Escalating Chaos on Our Border," The New American 2010.
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"The Terrorist-Criminal Nexus: An Alliance of International Drug Cartels, Organized Crime, and Terror Groups," published Apr. 17, 2013 by CRC Press - 351 Pages; Author:Jennifer L. Hesterman, Retired Colonel, USAF; Senior Analyst, The MASY Groupe, Arlington, Virginia, USA