United States Closes Consulate in Mexico
After months of drug wars and after three people from the consulate died in these wars, the US decides to close the consulate from Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city at the borders. The US announced that the consulate is closed because of a security review and that it will stay close until this is over, the visa requests will be revised after this period. The embassy of the US didn’t state the motive of the security review and a representative said that it will not be revealed.
A drug lord died in an exchange of fire between the drug cartel and the soldiers of the Mexican military force. The leader was on of the most powerful drug lord in Mexico, he established the massive trade of methamphetamine in the country. The killing of Ignacio Coronel also known as “Nacho” near Guadalajara is a breakthrough for the military offensive ordered by President Felipe Calderon in 2006. The military is fighting for a long time against the well know powerful drug cartel Sinaloa which is headed by Joaquin Guzman also known as “El Chapo”, the biggest drug lord in Mexico.
Two of the victims were close related to the consulate and one of them was working there. They were killed on March 13 by the drug cartel that shot the cars that they were in. The shooters were coming back from a child’s birthday in El Paso, Texas.
The US took some security measures to protect the employees of the consulate and their relatives against the violence of the cartels at the border with the US.
The US government allowed the evacuation of the relatives of the employees in six northern city of Mexico. The employees working for the government of the US that are far deep in Mexico were not allowed to cross the border to Texas for their safety.
The consulate in Nuevo Laredo advised the US citizens to stay indoors because of the drug cartels fighting. Read more about the cartel fighting here.
Since the beginning of 2009, 4,000 people were killed in the fight of the Juarez cartel and Sinaloa making the city of Ciudad Juarez the most dangerous city in the world.
A car bomb killed a federal policeman and other two civilians in Ciudad Juarez on July 15. The attack was made by the cartels.
The closing of the consulate affects the Mexican because is the only place that they can go and apply for visa for the US, it is interpreted as being the most drastic act made by the US.
The medical clinics where the applicants take their medical exams will also close in a short period of time, announced the US government. The call centers of the clinics will reschedule the visits and would give a telephone number to the citizens of the US for the services related to the travel outside the country or passport renewal.
The Mexican police stated at the beginning of the month that a member of the drug cartels said that the employee working for the consulate, Lesley Enriquez, was gunned down because she helped a rival gang member to get into the US.
A federal official from the US government who has the details about the investigation declared that there were no evidence of the involvement of the employee in those actions. The official was not allowed to speak to the press and he divulged this information in anonymity. He says that the reason of her death is still uncertain, he also said that she was investigated on the terms of corruption and there was no evidence.
The Embassy of the US said that she was not allowed to provide visas and that she worked in the services department for the US citizens in Mexico.
Lesley Enriquez was pregnant when she was killed along with she’s husband while driving toward Texas. Their daughter that was only 7 months old was found on the back seat of the car.
The husband of a Mexican employee working at the consulate, Jorge Alberto Salciado, was gunned down because of an error. The suspect, Jesus Ernesto Chavez, when interrogated he said that the man was driving the same car as Enriquez and the shooter didn’t know in which was she.
How do you think should react the US to the drug wars in Mexico?
