Mexico says its troops killed US man

[harvey007]

Source: AP

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Joseph Proctor told his girlfriend he was popping out to the convenience store in the quiet Mexican beach town where the couple had just moved, intending to start a new life.

The next morning, the 32-year-old New York native was dead inside his crashed van on a road outside Acapulco. He had multiple bullet wounds. An AR-15 rifle lay in his hands.

His distraught girlfriend, Liliana Gil Vargas, was summoned to police headquarters, where she was told Proctor had died in a gunbattle with an army patrol. They claimed Proctor — whose green van had a for-sale sign and his cell phone number spray-painted on the windows — had attacked the troops. They showed her the gun.

His mother, Donna Proctor, devastated and incredulous, has been fighting through Mexico's secretive military justice system ever since to learn what really happened on the night of Aug. 22.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gArzGbiOwhFhAgcHZWx1MZy8h82Q?docId=f188a3da00a1427093d4332a026a9b47

[Bobbieo]

1. The lure of retirement in Mexico is fading - rapidly. My mon and dad safely retired near Ensenada

many years ago but the drug cartels have destroyed the quiet, easy lifestyle.

[Towlie]

2. Bad sentence structure: "...popping out to the convenience store, intending to start a new life."

A tragic story, to be sure, but that first sentence is a doozy.

[truedelphi]

3. If only there was an Emperor of the World who would legalize all the

Drugs right now, we would no longer have these problems.

Citizens in Columbia would no longer have their arms or legs amputated with chain saws when caught by troops of one side or the other.

Situation in Mexico would totally turn around.

And corruption everywhere would be trimmed back, as laundering drug cartel money is one of the things that empowers our Big Banks and keeps them wanting total secrecy as to what is really going on inside the Banking World.

[Hulk]

4. That is sad. I live in Mexico....and hate this news.

Mexico has always been plagued with corruption. They are trying to root it out, but it's going to take a long, long time.

This sort of crime needs to be dealt with quickly and forcefully....not just because he was an American, but because it is a crime, and needs to be dealt with. It's bad enough the cartels and corrupt police are inset; but if the military goes that route for it's normal routine...then there would be little hope for Calderon and Mexico.

[AlphaCentauri]

5. Nothing new, its been happening for decades

Washington, D.C., August 20, 2009 - As Mexicans debate last week’s Supreme Court ruling vacating the conviction of 20 men for the Acteal massacre, newly declassified documents from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency describe the Army’s role in backing paramilitary groups in Chiapas at the time of the killings. The secret cables confirm reporting about military support for indigenous armed groups carrying out attacks on pro-Zapatista communities in the region and add important new details.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB283/index.htm

Details of the Acteal massacre
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/mexico/ezln/1997/ccri_acteal_details_dec.html

[Rowdyboy]

6. Returned earlier today from a week in Merida Yucatan....felt safer than in New Orleans by far....

Yes, there were machine-gun armed soldiers stationed randomly and police officers every 4-5 blocks but I felt totally safe walking late at night on any street I chose. We encountered nothing but kind, polite, helpful people.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

7. I expect the Mexican govt to collapse

Corruption, lawlessness, drug money running everything...its gonna go boom soon.

Further I expect the US to waste a lot of time and money trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.