The recent assassination of popular Mexican gubernatorial candidate Rodolfo Torre has proven once more that the northeast Mexican state of Tamaulipas is not only a flash point in Mexico’s drug war, but of great concern in the ongoing battle for U.S. border security. As outlined by Reuters, Torre – an opposition candidate representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) – was slain along with four of his aides within the border town of Valle Hermoso. The responsible party of 16 hooded gunmen is supposed to represent the notorious Los Zetas gang.
Article source: Rodolfo Torre slaying puts spotlight on peso, border security by Personal Money Store
Border security agents and investors are worried because of Rodolfo Torre's killing
Mexico’s drug war has claimed more than 25,000 lives since 2006, when violent gun battles began spilling into the streets, but Rodolfo Torre’s death is allegedly the largest-scale example to date of a drug cartel attempting to influence Mexico’s politics. Tourists are reportedly avoiding Tamaulipas and foreign investors have bailed on the peso in large numbers. Reuters indicates that its recent position at 12.71 per $ 1 U.S. was .46 percent weaker. Televised images of Rodolfo Torre’s body within the media don't seem to help to reverse this trend. In addition, local stocks remained flat as news out of the recent G-20 summit point toward an end to fiscal stimulus in the region.
Border security influencing the credit pictures for Mexico
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Credit Suisse has had some optimistic things to say about Mexico’s financial condition. Particularly, Credit Suisse decided to praise the nation’s “record or near-record low yields on government debt,” and pointed out that Mexico’s central bank is enjoying a level of inflation that rests within what experts consider to be a comfort zone. Lately the inflation level has ranged from 2 to 4 percent. Also, Credit Suisse believes that Mexico’s recovering growth is, “as good as it gets.”
Mexico's ongoing drug war violence has given creditors pause. ”The violence problem has worsened notably in 2010, with the number of drug-related killings making new highs, and with organized crime defying the state more openly than ever before,” Credit Suisse explained. “We are not sure this is as bad as it gets on the security front, sadly.”
Washington appears to be watching closely
The United States is no doubt taking notice of this. The death of Rodolfo Torre seems to be just a stone’s throw from American soil has the U.S. on alert. Border security against bold drug cartels is no small measure in American politics, from the president’s funding of additional forces to the huge immigration debates. When Los Zetas might not represent any of the illegal traffic that crosses the U.S. border, their actions do little to dissuade states like Arizona from abandoning their own bold stance against the hazards of illegal immigration.
A lot more info about this topic at these websites:
Reuters
reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN28512369
Wall Street Journal
online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100628-709931.html
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas
Rodolfo Torre campaign video (en Español):
youtube.com/watch?v=FqAtnZ6B5BE
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