Mexico News: Landmines and Trade

By Gregg Wendorf
Advance News Journal

Living on the border, news out of Mexico always holds some appeal for locals.

So much of it is often negative, but some of it is good, such as: According to a recent study published by DNYUZ.com, for the first time in two decades U.S. buys more from Mexico than China.

That relates to good news for our ports of entry — more cargo crossing the international bridges, meaning more jobs on both sides of the river.

Apparently, according to the DNYUZ.com story, published Feb. 7, 2024, during the pandemic, the cost to ship a container from China to the U.S. jumped nearly twentyfold (X times 20). Which opened up more manufacturing plants in Mexico, and a few more on this side of the border as well.

On top of that, entrepreneurs noticed the heightened tensions between the U.S. and the CCP (Communist Chinese Party), which exerts significant influence over all things made in China (Source: Bloomberg). Which led toward more movement of manufactured goods, new manufacturing plants into Mexico.

That’s not to say that the U.S. still doesn’t import goods worth billions from China, but according to the DNYUZ.com story: “Still, geopolitical risks are clearly pushing companies to look to other markets, particularly those with low costs and stable trading relationships with the United States, like Mexico.”

Landmines

Call it the Yin and the Yang, but it almost seems that with any good news that comes out of Mexico, or into Mexico, such as McAllen Airport and Aeromexico now offering direct daily flights to Mexico City, there is also some bad news to add to the mix.

For example, the LA Times published a story March 9, which carried this headline: “Soldiers and civilians are dying as Mexican cartels embrace a terrifying new weapon: Land mines.”

From the opening two graphs to the story: “In one moment, a column of soldiers and military pickups creeps along a dirt road in western Mexico. In the next, a massive explosion sends debris and a body flying.

“The ground where a soldier stood seconds earlier is a gaping hole, the aftermath of an improvised landmine planted by one of the region’s warring drug cartels.”

To get the inside scoop on what’s going on with the introduction of landmines south of the border, The Advance reached out to our go-to border reporter Ildefonso “Poncho” Ortiz who writes for Breitbart.com. Born in Matamoros, educated in the U.S., Ortiz covers cartel-related crime like few others.

So what’s up, Poncho?

To let him know what we wanted to find out, The Advance mentioned the LA Times story, which also included the fact that not only are the landmines killing Mexican soldiers, but they’re also killing innocent landowners. Turns out, he was way ahead of us and had already written a story about it at Breitbart.com.

“The Gulf Cartel is still having its turf war going on, and one of the factions started setting up landmines,” he said.

Lovely.

“Initially, the Tamaulipas government denied it, and then a couple of days later they admitted it, but said they posed no danger to the public.”

Ortiz said he has photos of the landmines but they’re not your typical military grade explosives, but more in the way of improvised quality. “But they work; they blow up.”

According to Ortiz, their use by the cartels originated in the southern part of Mexico.

“Other cartels have used improvised explosives before, like when they were using car bombs outside the Nuevo Laredo police station, circa 2010, but (the Jalisco cartel) made them more mainstream, more constant use. Then some Colombian (mercenaries) came in and taught them how to better use IEDs (improvised explosive devices). About a year or two ago, they started attaching them to drones, where they can just drop these things left and right. Now, they’re using mortars and landmines.”

Just when you think things can’t get any worse as it relates to cartel activity.

“Now that’s spreading out to other cartels, and we’re seeing it in Tamaulipas, where they’re using landmines (in many areas).”

The problem, said Ortiz, or at least one of them, is if the cartels kept it within their own groups, bombing each other, people might not care as much, but now it’s affecting the innocents as well.

“Now, a poor farmer heading out to his ranch could easily drive over a landmine.”

Ortiz has one final thought: “This is no way for people to live.”