Mexican Mayor Warns Residents About Cartel Shootouts near Texas Border

Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas and Coahuila to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities.  The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.A. Espinoza” from Matamoros. 

MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas — Once again violence has erupted in this border city as cartel gunmen and Mexican authorities continue to fight for control during fierce gun-battles in broad daylight.

The cartel violence has reached the point where Matamoros Mayor Lety Salazar has again taken to issuing warnings to her citizens about the dangers in the streets.

“Given the situation I ask that all necessary precautions are taken to guarantee the safety of you and your loved ones,” Salazar said in a prepared statement that ended with the message “God bless you.”

The violence in this city has been building up for the past few days as Mexican military and police forces continue to clash with heavily armed cartel members. Mexican news outlets in the northern border have been largely silent about the raging violence resulting in average citizens having to use social media to stay informed about the security conditions in their city.

In one of the shootouts cartel gunmen clashed with Mexican authorities in the rural town of Valle Hermoso about 20 miles south of the Texas border. Just one day later, the city of Matamoros saw multiple shootouts in various areas of the city. In one of those clashes, an innocent bystander was killed by a stray bullet near the Colonia Popular neighborhood, however the true scope of the casualties remains unclear.

Another victim was injured by the shootouts on Tuesday afternoon when a stray bullet hit her in the eye; however according to Matamoros Mayor Lety Salazar, emergency responders were able to assist her.

The citizen journalist group Matamoros Zona de Peligro posted the following video where citizens recorded the sound of gunfire form the nearby shootouts.

As the Mexican military continues to fight cartel members, General Emeterio Vazquez Vazquez said that citizen complaints are their greatest tool in their fight against cartels. Sadly about 80 percent of the calls reporting gunfire have turned out to be fake, the Mexican Army confirmed to Breitbart Texas.

Breitbart Texas previously about the recent death of a 13-year-old girl who was gunned down when she and her parents were caught if the crossfire of another cartel firefight in Matamoros that left as many as 18 dead even though the government only confirmed 7 dead gunmen.