Mexican government officials publicly rejected a recent travel warning issued by the U.S. Department of State in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The warning advised U.S. citizens not to travel by bus, citing targeted kidnappings of American citizens and residents in the neighboring border city of Reynosa. Mexican officials continue to claim the border region is safe, even though the region is under the control of the Gulf Cartel and continues to go through a hyperviolent turf war.
Over the weekend, Jorge Cuellar, the Public Safety Spokesman for Tamaulipas, said the travel warning does not match the government’s statistics. The official falsely claimed his state is one of the safest in the nation.
As Breitbart Texas reported, the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros issued a Security Alert specifically pointing out a series of kidnapping cases centered around the border city of Reynosa. The alert claimed the kidnappings focused on intercity buses leaving Reynosa. The alert stated that the kidnappers demanded thousands of dollars for each victim. The U.S. Department of State labels Tamaulipas as a level 4 region, the same level used for active warzones.
In his response, Cuellar claimed that U.S. diplomats likely acted on “the opinion of some people and not statistical data.” According to Cuellar, in the last five months, Tamaulipas has not had any bus kidnappings, and the state has the second-highest crime deterrence rate in northern Mexico.
In late December, the Gulf Cartel kidnapped 32 migrants from a passenger bus in Reynosa. It wasn’t until the incident drew national attention that the Gulf Cartel released the kidnapped migrants — a fact admitted to by Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Breitbart Texas reported. However, in his recent comments, Cuellar falsely claimed that the migrants had been rescued by a large-scale operation by state police forces.
As Breitbart Texas reported, Cuellar is the same public official who has actively tried to downplay the raging cartel violence in Tamaulipas and has publicly lied in the past by denying various high-impact incidents or shootouts.
The region where the kidnappings have been taking place is undergoing a fierce turf war between two rival factions of the Gulf Cartel for control of lucrative drug and human smuggling routes. Despite the claims by Cuellar, the Gulf Cartel has been able to not only fight the hyperviolent turf war using armored vehicles, explosives, and land mines, but the criminal organization has been able to operate with almost complete impunity while carrying out kidnappings, targeted murders and forced disappearances throughout the state.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.