REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — Mexican politicians continue to claim that security conditions in this border state are improving and that the almost daily shootouts, kidnappings, murders and other violent crimes are “isolated incidents.”
On Tuesday morning, Tamaulipas Social Development Secretary Jose Antonio Meade went on Mexican mainstream TV to state that the recent violence in Reynosa was an isolated incident and “kept to one part of the city”. So far this year, authorities have confirmed 20 shootouts involving authorities. The real figure is likely higher.
As Breitbart Texas previously reported, last Sunday, Mexican authorities attempted to arrest Gulf Cartel boss Juan Manuel “Comandante Toro” Loisa Salinas. The attempted arrest resulted in a three-hour firefight that killed nine cartel gunmen. Authorities had initially reported that 10 died. Contrary to Meade’s statements, in addition to the firefight, cartel gunmen hijacked cars and buses throughout the city. The stolen vehicles were then parked in order to block main roadways and then set on fire in order to slow down responding military and police personnel.
According information released by the Tamaulipas government, from January 1 to March 13, Mexican authorities confirmed that police and military personnel have been involved in 20 shootouts where they have killed 38 gunmen.
On Sunday, after the that bloody shootout ended, Egidio Torre Cantu, the state governor, visited Reynosa along with Meade for a public event where they announced several aid programs. Under a massive security detail, both government officials minimized the violence in the city and instead spoke about how “Tamaulipas is moving forward.”
Mexican government officials minimizing violence appears to be a common trend. Just last week, Mexico’s Federal Police Commissioner Enrique Galindo Ceballos visited a local high school in McAllen, Texas, where he claimed that Mexico had seen a large decrease in violent crimes in recent years, Breitbart Texas recently reported.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.6
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