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Fear pervasive after Mexican prison riot that killed 49 Hammers and shivs used in Mexico prison riot that killed 49
(about 13 hours later)
MONTERREY, Mexico — A prison riot that left 49 inmates hacked, beaten or burned to death opened searing questions about gang rule, extortion and human rights violations in Mexico’s overcrowded prisons, where people merely awaiting trial are mixed in with some of the world’s most hardened killers. MONTERREY, Mexico — Mexico’s deadliest prison brawl in many years was a bloodbath in which inmates attacked each other with hammers, cudgels and makeshift blades, authorities said Friday, underlining yet again the power that drug cartels wield inside many of the country’s lockups.
Those questions were not abstract for Victoria Casas Gutierrez, a cleaning lady who had waited for hours Thursday for news of her 21-year-old son, Santiago Garza Casas, who was facing trial for allegedly acting as a lookout for a criminal gang. Jaime Rodriguez, governor of the northern state of Nuevo Leon, said 60 hammers, 86 knives and 120 shivs were used in the previous day’s fighting at the Topo Chico prison in Monterrey, where 49 inmates were hacked, beaten or burned to death, and a dozen more injured.
Santiago was sent to the Topo Chico prison in September for missing a parole appointment. He was immediately mixed in with a prison population that included murderers. At least 40 of the victims “died from wounds from stabbing and cutting weapons, blows from hammers and clubs,” Rodriguez said at a news conference.
Authorities also seized various kinds of contraband items from marijuana and cocaine to televisions and USB memory sticks.
A dispute between rival factions of the Zetas cartel was believed to be behind the violence.
“What we have to see as a reality in the entire penitentiary system is that there is self-rule” by the inmates, Rodriguez said. “All this corruption inside the prison creates the conditions we have today.”
He acknowledged that prisoners effectively lord over the facility and that there were not enough guards watching them: “Nobody wants to be a guard,” he said, because of the meager pay.
About half the inmates at Topo Chico have been sentenced for minor offenses or are suspects still awaiting trial. Nevertheless they are housed in the prison’s overcrowded general population alongside many of the country’s most hardened killers.
One of them was Raymundo Gonzalez Hernandez, a 23-year-old who is accused of kidnapping but whose trial is still pending. He was not among those listed as wounded during the riot, but his cousin said he was covered by bruises and welts when she was allowed inside to see him.
“Both his eyes were practically closed from all the hits they gave him,” Cynthia Hernandez said.
“He couldn’t even speak, he just went like this,” she added, moving her head from side to side.
The harsh conditions inside the lockup were a familiar story for Victoria Casas Gutierrez, a cleaning lady who waited for hours for news of her 21-year-old son, Santiago Garza Casas, who was facing trial for allegedly acting as a lookout for a criminal gang.
Garza was sent to Topo Chico in September for missing a parole appointment and immediately thrown in with a prison population that included convicted murderers.
With their gang ties and access to drugs and guns, many say the Zetas and Gulf cartels run the prison.With their gang ties and access to drugs and guns, many say the Zetas and Gulf cartels run the prison.
“They charge taxes, and if the relatives don’t bring a certain amount ... they beat them,” Casas Gutierrez said. The amounts charged depend on their crimes, but can be thousands of pesos. “Sometimes we have to sell our homes.” “They charge taxes, and if the relatives don’t bring a certain amount ... they beat them,” Casas Gutierrez said, adding that the payments can run into the thousands of pesos. “Sometimes we have to sell our homes.”
“There is vice inside and everything that is in there is their fault, the authorities,” she said.“There is vice inside and everything that is in there is their fault, the authorities,” she said.
Casas Gutierrez was lucky; her son was not on the list of about 40 dead released Thursday, but some bodies were so badly burned it may take days to identify them. Casas Gutierrez’s son was not on the list of the dead, but some bodies were so badly burned it may take days to identify them.
It was a Dantesque scene at the gates of the prison, as terrified relatives waited for more names to go up on the list of the dead posted in two letter-sized sheets on a wall. No escapes were reported in the clash, which took place on the eve of Pope Francis’ arrival in Mexico, a visit that is scheduled to include a trip next week to another prison in the border city of Ciudad Juarez.
“Ayyy, my son is on the list!” 63-year-old Maria Guadalupe Ramirez screamed when she saw the name of her son, Jose Guadalupe Ramirez Quintero, 26. She collapsed into the arms of her daughter and human rights workers. The fighting began around midnight with prisoners setting fire to a storage area, sending flames and smoke billowing into the sky.
Ramirez’s grief echoed the concerns of others whose loved ones were tossed into Topo Chico, despite being sentenced for minor offenses or even while still awaiting trial. The clash was initially said to be between two gangs led by a member of the infamous Zetas drug cartel, Juan Pedro Zaldivar Farias, also known as “Z-27,” and Jorge Ivan Hernandez Cantu, who has been identified by Mexican media as a Gulf cartel figure.
“He had already gotten out. They picked him up again just for drinking. ... There is injustice in this prison,” she said, shaking her fists and sobbing. But National Security Commissioner Renato Sales Heredia said later that authorities believe the fight was between two factions of the Zetas for control of the prison.
Authorities allowed hundreds of relatives to enter the prison Thursday afternoon. But even those who were able to confirm that their loved ones had survived feared for their safety. Gov. Rodriguez blamed the violence on “the old, outdated, obsolete system” under which Mexican prisons are run and suggested after having visited the United States that his country may have to move to U.S.-style, privately operated prisons.
One woman, who declined to give her name, visited her brother briefly and said she saw genuine fear on his face. He was only 10 days from his release date after serving nine months for drug possession. “They have threatened them so that they don’t talk about what happened,” she said. “Only they know, but they don’t tell us anything.” “We have to think about efforts with private initiative,” he said. “We have not been doing rehabilitation work.”
“Who is going to assure me that they aren’t going do anything else inside,” she asked. He also criticized judicial reforms that have given inmates greater ability to appeal transfer orders that could send them farther from their hometowns. Zaldivar had successfully fought to be moved to Topo Chico, while Hernandez had won a similar appeal against transferring him elsewhere.
No escapes were reported in the clash at the Topo Chico prison in Monterrey, said Nuevo Leon state Gov. Jaime Rodriguez. The riot took place on the eve of Pope Francis’ arrival in Mexico, a visit that is scheduled to include a trip next week to another prison in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. “Basically this is creating the conflicts in the prisons,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said in the morning that 52 people had died, but he lowered that by three in the late afternoon. The reason for the changed death toll was not clear.
At a news conference the governor read a list of 40 names of confirmed victims, saying five of the remaining bodies had been charred by fire and four were yet to be positively identified. One of the injured was in grave condition.
The fighting began around midnight with prisoners setting fire to a storage area, sending flames and smoke billowing into the sky. Rescue workers were seen carrying injured inmates — some with burns — from the facility.
Rodriguez said the clash was between two factions led by a member of the infamous Zetas drug cartel, Juan Pedro Zaldivar Farias, also known as “Z-27,” and Jorge Ivan Hernandez Cantu, who has been identified by Mexican media as a Gulf cartel figure.
But National Security Commissioner Renato Sales Heredia said later Thursday in a radio interview that authorities believe the fight was between two factions of the Zetas for control of the prison.
A turf war between the gangs bloodied Nuevo Leon state and neighboring Tamaulipas between 2010 and 2012. The Zetas once nearly controlled the area around Monterrey.
The situation at the prison was so out of control that even Rodriguez acknowledged to local media that the two cartel bosses “were fighting for control” of the prison.
Mario Martinez was still awaiting word on his father-in-law, who was being held at the prison pending trial. On Thursday afternoon he said the danger of violence inside was well-known long before the riot.
“This (place) was a time bomb,” Martinez said. “The authorities should not ignore what the people inside are saying.”
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.