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Tijuana: Sex trafficking in Zona Norte Posted: 03 Nov 2015 04:11 PM PST Sex Trafficking in Tijuana's 'tolerance zone' Reposted from the San Diego Union Tribune, by Sandra Dibble. May follow up with original piece about La Coahulia. TIJUANA — As the sun went down one night last week, Tijuana’s red light district came to life — with flashing neon signs, scantily clad women lining the sidewalk, bars filling with customers, and police pickups slowly cruising the main drag, Calle Coahuila.  +Read Caption The business of sex has for decades been conducted openly along these few blocks near the U.S. border at the edge of Tijuana’s downtown, an area of La Zona Norte known to locals as La Coahuila. But in recent days, the mere mention of its name has become a touchy political subject. The hot-button issue is a program called Tijuana Coqueta, roughly translated as “Tijuana Flirty,” described in a recent Tijuana television news report as a campaign to bring sex tourism to the city. Tijuana’s tourism chief, Miguel Angel Badiola, subsequently denied the campaign’s existence. Mayor Jorge Astiazarán said he would never stand for it. And after days of controversy, both men say they’re done talking about Tijuana Coqueta, which local bar owners say is the name they gave to their own plan to improve sidewalks and add lighting to the area. But for decades, clients from both sides of the border have brought a booming business to the bars, hotels and cantinas in one of the city’s older and grittier neighborhoods. On any given night, scores of U.S. visitors mingle with a Mexican clientele crowded inside bars named Adelita, Hong Kong, Chicago Club and other establishments that line Calle Coahuila and a series of smaller side streets. For decades, this has been Tijuana’s zona de tolerancia — a tolerance zone for the sex trade. “If one wants to understand the social, cultural and economic dynamics of the border, understanding la zona de tolerancia from an academic and anthropological perspective is fundamental,” said Victor Clark, a Tijuana human rights activist and adjunct professor at San Diego State University who regularly takes his students on tours here. “There’s nothing like it in San Diego,” said a 63-year-old East County resident, stopping for a taco on Wednesday evening. “This is freedom; you can do whatever you want,” he said, then quickly adding: “You’ve got to be very careful.” The man declined to give his name but said he is divorced, has no children, and works as a government clerk and has been coming down for 17 years. “It’s called living,” he said. “I’ve had many problems, I’ve had 1,000 problems, but the good far outweighs the bad.” He avoids the tonier clubs, more closely monitored by the owners, where prostitutes ask for $70 for a half-hour in a hotel room. He said he prefers selecting from las paraditas, the women standing on the streets, who ask for $20 for their services.  Prostitution is prohibited in most of the United States, permitted only in a handful of counties in Nevada. But, as in other parts of the world, it is a tolerated activity in Mexico — neither formally endorsed nor expressly forbidden. In Tijuana, the activity is regulated under the city’s health laws. Juan Manuel Salazar Pimentel, a former Baja California attorney general, said the state’s first governor imposed regulations in the early 1950s requiring prostitutes to pay a daily fee of $3. Josué Beltrán, an anthropological historian who researched the roots of the city’s sex trade, said during the same period, the city’s first mayor ordered prostitutes confined to a hotel on the outskirts of town. The sex trade “is a topic that has always scandalized Tijuana society,” Beltrán said. “They know of its existence, but they have not wanted to acknowledge it.” Still, the city adopted new rules in 2005 requiring sex workers to register, carry an electronic card and submit to regular checkups, including testing for HIV. The rules stipulate that establishments must maintain rooms that “are perfectly clean and hygienic,” and that mattresses be protected with a plastic cover to make cleaning easier. City officials did not reply to requests for the number of registered card-carriers, but Clark, the human rights activist, said there are approximately 1,700 signed up with municipal health authorities — a fraction of the 5,000 to 6,000 sex workers that business owners have told him operate in La Cohuila and other parts of the city. As the city has grown, he said, a few smaller tolerance zones have sprung up. Tolerance zones have existed on Mexico’s northern border since at least the U.S. prohibition era, from 1918 to 1933, and peaking in the years following World War II, said Daniel Arreola, a geographer from Arizona State University. In some cities, like Tijuana, they grew on the margins of traditional tourist areas. The years after 1945 saw the emergence of enclosed compounds such as Boystown in Nuevo Laredo on the Texas border, he said. La Coahuila didn’t become a center for the city’s sex trade until the late 1950s, longtime residents say. Jack Doron remembers the days when topless bars proliferated on the city’s tourist strip, Avenida Revolución — until a mayor ordered them removed in 1966. Doron now owns one of the oldest shops on the street, Hand Art, which sells embroidered dresses and blouses. He heads a merchants group called Ceturmex.  “We want family tourism, people who want to know Mexican culture, gastronomy, that’s what we’re promoting,” Doron said. Asked about the bars and cantinas just blocks away, he shrugged: “We’re not going to be able to say it will disappear because we close our eyes,” he said. “They have their area, we have our area, we don’t mix.”While apart from the mainstream of the city’s economic activities, La Cohuila has been the subject of much academic investigation. One field study involved interviews at public health clinics with 220 women who worked in the city’s sex industry — from escort services to strip bars to brothels to street walkers. Sheldon Zhang, a San Diego State University professor and the lead investigator, said about 12 percent of the women reported being deceived or forced into sex work, but “the vast majority were in that business on their own terms,” he said. Another researcher, who studied Tijuana’s sex trade as a graduate student, said that in spite of the regulations, she saw many continue to work illegally, risking fines and jail. “You have minors, people that do not have a birth certificate to register. There are a lot of barriers to working legally,” said Yasmina Katsulis, now a professor in the Women and Gender Studies Department of Arizona State University. Those in Tijuana’s sex trade vary widely, Katsulis said. “There is an assumption that there is no violence, that everyone is healthy,” she said. “That’s a misperception, it’s an illusion. No matter what the laws, we aren’t doing enough to address poverty, and the reason that drives people into commercial sex.”  | ||||
Posted: 03 Nov 2015 12:46 PM PST Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Milenio article with additional photos from Google images [ Subject Matter: The Casarrubias Brothers, Guerreros Unidos Cartel Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required] Three of the four brothers are accused of participating in the disappearance of 43 normalistas of Ayotzinapa; this past week Federal Forces detained one of them with arms and drugs. Sidronio is now implicating Carlos Ahumada of links with him, La Familia and selling uranium to China, and of helping escape in his helicopter, a leader of a criminal group in Tierra Caliente, Johnny Hurtado, "El Pescado", alleged leader of La Familia Michoacana.
Reporter: Milenio Digital Mexico City, The Casarrubias Salgado brothers, forged their leadership of the criminal group Guerrors Unidos, which operates in Guerrero, Morelos and Mexico State, and among other activities transported heroin to Chicago, United States. Three of the four brothers are accused of participating in the disappearance of the 43 normalistas of Ayotzinapa in the Iguala municipality, where the ex municipal president, Jose Luis Abarca, and his wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, were working with the criminal group according to the PGR. Mario and Sidronio are detained, Jose Angel is sought by the authorities who have offered a 1.5 million pesos reward for information leading to his capture. Adan was detained last week with guns and drugs. Mario, "El Sapo Guapo"  He was leader of Guerreros Unidos until Federal Forces detained him in Toluca on 29th of April last year. The criminal group operate in Guerrero, Morelos and Mexico State, informed the National Commissioner for Security, Monte Alejandro Rubido one day after his detention. "El Sapo Guapo" is accused by the PGR of being the principal trafficker of drugs to Chicago, United States, hidden in trailers of fruit and passenger coaches, crimes against health, being a member of a criminal organization, possession of fire arms, murder, kidnapping and extortion. Before being part of Guerreros Unidos, "El Sapo Guapo worked as a security element of the Beltran Leyva Organization, Mario Casarrubias founded his own criminal group with ex members of various groups in Michoacan and Guerrero. Sidronio Inherited the leadership of Guerreros Unidos after his brother Mario was captured and continued the strategy of violence to control his drug routes. The then prosecutor Jesus Murillo Karam said on the 17th of October that Sidronio is linked with the disappearance of the 43 normalistas of Ayotzinapa. "He said no, that he was informed, that he didn't order it, and that he opposed it, he remembers in his testimony, he said that he didn't order it and that it was a situation unforeseen", said Murillo Karam. Sidronio was imprisoned in the maximum security Cefereso no.1 "Altiplano", in State of Mexico, and a Federal Judge initiated a penal process against him for the crimes of being a member of a criminal organization and possession of fire arms for exclusive use of the armed forces. Adan Zenen, "El Tomate" The authorities had designated him as possible successor to his brother Sidronio. On the 29th of October, military and federal police detained him in Cuernavaca, Morelos, with the municipal president of Cocula, Guerrero, Eric Ulises Ramirez Crespo. Federal functionaries commented to Milenio that day that at the moment of his capture "El Tomate" was in possession of fire arms and a package of drugs. The PGR consigned "El Tomate" to Cefereso no.11 in Hermosillo, Sonora while waiting for a Judge to resolve his jurisdictional situation. Jose Angel, "El Mochomo" The PGR are offering a reward of 1.5 million pesos for information leading to his capture, and is allegedly one of those responsible for the disappearance of the 43 normalistas. The allegations Sidronio, also known as "El Chino", didn't only confess to the PGR that Maria de los Angeles Pineda Villa is whom "was really in charge in Iguala", but also about the alleged links that Mayors had with his and other criminal organizations, and businesses with empresarios like Carlos Ahumada Kurtz. Persons who had access to the initial investigations and testified in the Iguala case permitted Milenio to know the details of his declaration of made on 18th of October of 2014 before agents of the Federal Public Ministry, where he affirmed that Ahumada is an acquaintance of Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga, "El Pescado", leader of "La Familia Michoacana".
In all, functionaries of the Federal Government revealed that the PGR investigated Ahumada for his probable links to criminal organizations in Guerrero. An investigator, signalled that SEIDO started the investigation based in part, on the declarations given by Jose Maria Chavez Magana, "El Pony", alleged boss of "La Familia", and Sidronio Casarrubias Salgado. El Chino affirmed that Ahumada is an acquaintance of El Pescado, leader of La Familia Michoacana in Tierra Caliente, with whom he traffics uranium. According to information given by consultants both State and Federal, "El Pescado" or "El Pez" assumed the leadership of this criminal group after the detention of "El Pony" in July of 2014 in Guanajuato. "El Pony" operated in the Mexican Municipalities of Tejupilco, Luvianos, Tlatlaya, Otzolotepec, Amatepec, Zacualpa and Zacazonapan, localities that adjoin Guerrero. In the investigation opened for the disappearance of the 43 normalistas of Ayotzinapa, that he was not questioned, and that Sidronio declared that Carlos Ahumada is the owner of two mines in Guerrero, where they are digging uranium. "One of the mines is in Campo Morado, Tierra Caliente, Guerrero. The cargo was transported by boat, but Ahumada hid the uranium ore among other combined ores, and transported them to Lazaro Cardenas, but the majority of the cargo went to Port of Colima, where it was loaded directly onto Chinese ships with which they dealt. This mine is also exploited by a Canadian business", said the Federal Public Ministry agent. Sidronio mentioned that when "El Pescado" was in danger of being arrested and detained, Ahumada facilitated on several occasions an aircraft to use in escaping Federal agents. "I add that when "El Pescado" was in danger of being detained by any Governmental authority, Carlos Ahumada helped him with a helicopter that he owned, it was also used to help "El Fresa", who is the cousin of Jose Alfredo Hurtado, who in reality is the brother of Johnny Hurtado". "In the same way "El Pescado" is an aficionado of Soccer, and utilised the helicopter to access part of Mexico City or Toluca. Ahumada when digging uranium has to pay 20 thousand pesos per boat to "El Pescado", who is the top leader of "La Familia", said the Boss of Guerreros Unidos. Arrangements with Mayors Guerreros Unidos, referred Sidronio, was founded by Cleotilde Toribio Renteria, "El Tilde", who was detained in the Santa Fe zone in Mexico City, on the 9th of July 2012. "El Tilde", added Sidronio, is the brother of Sostenes, Federico and Serefino; and points out that this family evades capture particularly the brothers Federico and Moises. Sidronio and his brother Mario Casarrubias, "El Sapo Guapo", took administrative control of Guerreros Unidos at the start of 2014; however, Mario was captured in Toluca, State of Mexico, during April of this year in an Army operation. El Chino also detailed the conflicts that there are between the criminal organizations which operate in Guerrero. "... there exists a war between the different Cartels, they are Los Rojos, led by Omar Cuenca Marino and Santiago Mazario Hernandez, "El Carrete", also a member of La Familia Michoacana, led by Johnny Hurtado and Alfredo Hurtado, "La Fresa".  "The simple kinship with Mario was the objective of these groups, during which they only tried to move in municipalities that had a presence of Guerreros Unidos; among them I could mention Iguala, Taxco, Cocula, Buenavista de Cuellar, Tepecua, where there exist arrangements with the Municipal Presidents, and principally with the Directors of Public Security, arrangements that had already been made between them and Gil (Gildardo Lopez Astudillo)". In Iguala there were arrangements directly with Jose Luis Abarca Velazquez and his cousin Felipe Flores Velazquez, ex Secretary of Security for this locality, who is sought for the disappearance of the 43 normalistas. "The arrangements were held with Senora Maria de los Angeles Pineda Villa, sister of Borrado ( Alberto) and "El MP" (Mario) who were close collaborators of Arturo Beltran Leyva and that they were assassinated on orders of the capo, this woman Maria de los Angeles is who sent all the money to El MP, and is who is really in charge in Iguala, and the money collected from the municipal presidency pays for the protection of the narcos", he said. Guerrero Unidos received the money from Iguala and took it to Raul Salgado Hernandez, "La Camperra", and "El Gil", who were in charge of distributing it to their members located in other municipal presidencies. In the municipality of Huitzuco, they had "El Gualter", but he betrayed and went to the side of "El Carrete", leader of Los Rojos. "on the part of Teloloapan was "El May", who is also chief of sicarios in Iguala, in State of Mexico, Ixtapan de la Sal; there didn't exist a Captain, as we called plaza jefes, but we appointed the Police Director, who was known as "El Chaparrito", real name of Efrain Pedroza". "On the side of the state of Morelos is El Carrete, who I already referred to as being against Guerreros Unidos". Kidnappings in Valle de Bravo "In the town of Acapetlahuaya ( Guerrero ), we have against us already the Municipal President Eleuterio Aranda Salgado known as "El Solitario del sur", he represents the armed wing of Johnny Hurtado; including Eleuterio the can search the Internet and leave singing narco corridos of La Familia Michoacana; in this zone has the presence of a subject nicknamed "El Chainis", whose name is Jose Mendez Lopez, and he controls Palmar Chico and Palmar Grande, Guerrero this group includes those persons who carried out the kidnappings in 2014 in Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico. "He also gives support to the people of Amatepec, Edomex, and Ixcapuzalco, Guerrero, and who is equal to Rogaciano Mecino, President of Cuetzala, above all they give social support to the sicarios of the organization. Additionally they have that take care of poppy planting in a place they call "Rio Chiquito", he added. In the town of Arcelia, Guerrero, added Sidronio, they hide "El Pescado", who is the owner of a gas station in this location. Original article in Spanish at Milenio |
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