Some Mexicans complain about abuse at hands of their army
Calderon, in an attempt to gain control of his country, deployer 20,000 troops into drug cartel infested areas. The locals aren't happy about some of their tactics.
Pliers? OUCH
This hardscrabble Mexican border town welcomed 400 soldiers when they arrived four months ago to stop a wave of drug violence that brought daytime gunbattles to its main street.
But then the soldiers themselves turned violent, townspeople say, ransacking homes and even torturing people.
The frustration boiled over this week. More than 1,000 people marched through the streets carrying signs begging President Felipe Calderon for protection from his own troops.
Ojinaga, across the Rio Grande from Presidio, Texas, is not alone. People in cities on the front lines of Mexico's battle against trafficking say they are increasingly frustrated with military tactics — a shift in opinion that threatens to undermine Calderon's nationwide crackdown.
"I'm not against what they do. I'm against how they do it," said Martha Leyva, 44. She said her family was awakened one night in May when soldiers with machine guns but no warrant broke down her door. They said an anonymous call had directed them to her house.
Janeth Lopez, a 28-year-old hairdresser, said she came home last month to find eight masked soldiers rifling through her belongings.
"If they come and knock on the door of your house and you have nothing to fear, you're going to open the door and tell them, 'Come in and look around,'" Lopez said. "But if you're up to no good, you're going to run away."
Roberto, a 25-year-old man who didn't want his last name used for fear of retribution, said he, five other men and a teenage boy were returning from a nearby town recently when they were stopped by soldiers.
Roberto said they were beaten, bound, blindfolded and taken to a military camp.
He said soldiers wrapped their heads in plastic bags, beat and kicked them, and hung some of the members of the group upside down. Soldiers also forced some of them — including Roberto's 20-year-old cousin — to drop their pants, and then applied pliers to one man's testicles, Roberto said.
Pliers? OUCH
This hardscrabble Mexican border town welcomed 400 soldiers when they arrived four months ago to stop a wave of drug violence that brought daytime gunbattles to its main street.
But then the soldiers themselves turned violent, townspeople say, ransacking homes and even torturing people.
The frustration boiled over this week. More than 1,000 people marched through the streets carrying signs begging President Felipe Calderon for protection from his own troops.
Ojinaga, across the Rio Grande from Presidio, Texas, is not alone. People in cities on the front lines of Mexico's battle against trafficking say they are increasingly frustrated with military tactics — a shift in opinion that threatens to undermine Calderon's nationwide crackdown.
"I'm not against what they do. I'm against how they do it," said Martha Leyva, 44. She said her family was awakened one night in May when soldiers with machine guns but no warrant broke down her door. They said an anonymous call had directed them to her house.
Janeth Lopez, a 28-year-old hairdresser, said she came home last month to find eight masked soldiers rifling through her belongings.
"If they come and knock on the door of your house and you have nothing to fear, you're going to open the door and tell them, 'Come in and look around,'" Lopez said. "But if you're up to no good, you're going to run away."
Roberto, a 25-year-old man who didn't want his last name used for fear of retribution, said he, five other men and a teenage boy were returning from a nearby town recently when they were stopped by soldiers.
Roberto said they were beaten, bound, blindfolded and taken to a military camp.
He said soldiers wrapped their heads in plastic bags, beat and kicked them, and hung some of the members of the group upside down. Soldiers also forced some of them — including Roberto's 20-year-old cousin — to drop their pants, and then applied pliers to one man's testicles, Roberto said.
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Comment by riffran— 2008/07/26 @ 02:56 AM — (Reply)