Mexico is still battling the biggest fire in their history. The Coahuila fire has burned more than 400,000 acres (180,000 hectares). It started in mid-March, probably by lighting.
The fires have come within 62 miles (100 kilometers) of the Texas border. The fires are surrounding the cities of Acuña, Arteaga, Muzquiz, and Ocampo.
About 30 USAF reservists, from Colorado, headed to Texas on April 16. They will be using their C-130 Hercules transports to drop fire retardant on the Coahuila fire in Mexico. That fire is the largest fire in Mexico’s history, as of April 16 it was within 96.5km (60 miles) of the Texas border.
The USAF is also using C-130s to fight the largest fires in Texas’ history as well.
NASA photos show, as of April 11, the Coahuila fire has burned at least 300 square miles. The photo also shows the smoke blowing northeast, towards the Rio Grande (called Rio Bravo in Mexico). This is contrary to some Mexican reports that say it’s blowing to the southwest (maybe they meant it’s bowing OUT of the southwest). But, the winds have been the main cause of the big fire, and could be changing directions.
“We could have the area under control in about two to two and a half weeks.”-Juan Elvira, Mexican Environment Minister
This has turned into Mexico’s biggest wild fire. Fire fighting helicopters, and a Boeing 747 water tanker, from the United States are helping. Mexico is asking Canada for help, as well.
So far nearly 43 thousand hectares (106,255 acres) of Coahuila, Mexico has burned. The fire still rages.
“This is an unprecedented display. Surely we have not had so much equipment and so many people working in a fire.”-Juan Manuel Torres Rojo, CEO of the National Forestry Commission (Conafor)
Rojo says wildlife is being killed by the fire. They found a black bear that died from smoke inhalation. So far mostly wild grasses and similar plants have burned, but now the fire is getting close to Arizona Pine forest.
“We urgently need to restore dignity to this nation and fight violence with education, culture, poetry and employment.”-Javier Sicilia, son was killed last week
In Mexico City at least 40,000 people protested the drugs war, pointing out that most deaths make no sense as they are mainly innocent bystanders, or people who have no proven connection to drug dealing, or the government.
Recently mass graves were found. They did not contain the bodies of drug gang members, or the Mexican military or police, but of migrant workers. A similar mass grave was found last year, again migrant workers were the victims. The Mexican government said a drug gang was responsible. Why would drug gangs want to massacre migrant workers in Mexico? Are they afraid they’ll take their jobs?
To the people of Mexico, this so called drugs war launched by a pro-Bush President, is looking more and more like a war on everyday civilians.
According to Human Rights groups, and the United Nations, thousands of people in Mexico have been disappeared since the Drug War began, and the Mexican government is one of the suspects.
Those people being disappeared are not drug dealers, or drug runners, but human rights activists, oil workers, journalists and even migrant workers. The traditional ‘right’ leaning Mexican government has always viewed human rights activists as left wing commies, and more of a threat than illegal drug dealers.
To put the current situation in perspective, Mexico’s own National Commission on Human Rights, documented the disappearance of 532 people (disappeared by the government) thought to be rights activist in the 1960s-1970s (during the Cold War). Since 2006 more than 3,000 people have been disappeared.
In 2006, right wing President Felipe Calderón, went on the war path, officially against the drug lords. Is it a coincidence that the Mexican government’s so called war on drugs is actually killing and disappearing civilians?
The facts are that since the Mexican Drugs War began, the people being targeted are civilians, including U.S. citizens. Far more civilians have been killed than drug dealers. Keep in mind these killings are not from aerial bombing, but from shootings and beatings, and other means, by police, soldiers and drug gangs. That means the killers had to specifically target the victims.
To put it in perspective: In all of Afghanistan, in 2010, there were 2,421 civilian deaths (Congressional Research Service). In just one Mexican city, Ciudad Juarez, there were 3,111 civilian deaths. That’s one Mexican city compared to all of Afghanistan.
Total deaths in the Drugs War, according to Mexico’s Federal Attorney General’s office, just for 2010, is 12,456 people by the end of November. And that does not count people disappeared.
In the city of Saltillo, there are 118 documented cases of disappearances since 2007. The government security forces are believed to be involved in at least 25 of those. Human Rights Watch documented 12 cases of disappearances in the state of Nuevo León, in which government military personnel and police are believed to be involved.
Hypocritically the Mexican government signed the UN International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, in 2008. To be fair, not all disappearances are linked to the Mexican government, but it sure is strange that there should be skyrocketing numbers of civilian killed and disappeared, since the Drugs War started in 2006. Are both the Mexican military and police, and the drug gangs, that bad at finding their targets?
A nuclear plant in Mexico, with a bad history might be leaking radiation, including cesium-137. Laguna Verde nuclear power plant is 290 kilometers southeast of Mexico City, and residents in a near by town have been dying of cancers and tumors since the plant became operational.
Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) runs the plant, and has a long list of complaints, including deaths of employees, and a whistle blower that was fired. Laguna Verde has been in operation since 1990.
Vega de Alatorre, a town with about 18,500 residents, has reported unusual amounts of deaths from rare cancers. Just since 2008, 33 people have died of various kinds of cancers and tumors; brain cancer, renal cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, tuberous sclerosis. Most of the people in the area have no family history of cancer. Two of the deaths include workers at the nuke plant.
In 1999 the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) found there had been a high number of shutdowns that weakened the operating systems. Also, inadequate training, lack of proper management and obsolete equipment.
Bernardo Salas was fired from CFE recently, after he went public with information about Laguna Verde. He reported that reactor 2 almost experienced melt down, because of an electrical fault in 2006. Also, Salas reported that he found cesium-137 and cobalt-60 at three locations outside the plant, between 2006-2009.
The ongoing disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, in Japan, is forcing officials in Mexico to finally listen to complaints about Laguna Verde. A group of Mexican Senators will visit the plant on April 6.
WikiLeaks reveal documents that showed U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Carlos Pascual, had criticized Mexico’s handling of the Drug War.
Mexico’s President, Felipe Calderon, retaliated by pointing out that the various U.S. security forces, in Mexico, repeatedly fail to coordinate with each other and actually view each other as competitors. This makes them useless to Mexican security forces fighting the drug gangs.
President Calderon also said, in a newspaper interview, that U.S. Ambassador Pascual is ignorant and continually distorts the facts. Calderon says weapons being used by Mexican drug gangs are still coming from the United States. He has repeatedly asked the Obama administration to remove Pascual.
Hillary Clinton admitted that Pascual’s resignation is meant to keep attention away from Calderon’s accusations; “…to avert issues raised by President Calderon that could distract from the important business of advancing our bilateral interests”.