Mica from Borderland Beat
Note from Chivis: Reminiscent of the big holiday give-aways during the years when CDG and Zetas were together, the CDN faction of Zetas, conducted a holiday toy give out that included blankets in several areas of the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. In 2009, on children’s day, Zetas and CDG together held a celebration in Acuna, Coahuila, that included food, entertainment and gifts (foto below) . It was the last of the holiday parties with the two cartels who split shortly after. Three years ago CDN picked up the practice once again.
Having used trucks of similar size to distribute donations in Tamps, I would estimate the gifts amount to around 30K USD.
Many mainstream charities stay away from Tamaulipas because of the on going violence, giving a path way for cartels to use the tactic in attempting to gain the hearts and minds of residents, the poorest of the poor, mostly ignored by the government…..Article below
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| Acuna Dia del Nino |
The Tamaulipas prosecutor's office said in a statement that it has opened an investigation regarding the alleged distribution of gifts to families of limited resources in Nuevo Laredo by members of the CDN cartel.
"The Attorney General's Office took notice of the event after they were disclosed by: El Gráfico, El Líder, the radio station Stereo 91 and the news portals magazinesinfronteras.net, corporativoradionet.com and news. Com.mx, all of them from Nuevo Laredo, "said the press release dated December 28.
According to the report published by the newspaper El Lider, "hundreds of families with limited economic resources, living in two of the most unprotected colonies on the border, received gifts, blankets and Christmas dinner from members of the Northeast Cartel (CDN). "
The newspaper accompanied by photos showing a truck filled with gifts and dozens of people receiving them, indicates that recipients were "mainly children from the Union of Remembrance, La Joya and Blanca Navidad.
The newspaper quotes a couple of interviews with those who received the gifts: "We are grateful for these gifts, my children were not going to receive any gifts this year, but now each one carries two toys and we can have turkey dinner with family", said a mother, a resident of a colonia (Blanca Navidad) to the west of this border where the poverty is extreme.
"We did not have any money for dinner, now we can celebrate Christmas Eve, they brought us gifts for the children, blankets to withstand the cold and even a turkey, ready to eat," said Juan Pablo Garcia."