U.S. anti-kidnap expert's vanishing spins Mexico mystery

Source: Reuters

U.S. anti-kidnap expert's vanishing spins Mexico mystery
1 hr 27 mins ago

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) – The abduction of a U.S. anti-kidnap expert in northern Mexico last month remains a mystery with no clues to the man's whereabouts and no ransom demanded by his captors, police said on Monday.

Gunmen abducted Felix Batista, a Cuban-American credited with negotiating the release of hostages held by Colombian rebels in past years, in the relatively safe industrial city of Saltillo, Coahuila state, on Dec 10.

"We have not had contact with Batista or those who took him," an official at the Coahuila attorney general's office said.

Another official said last month the attorney general suspected drug gangs who wanted to show their power were behind the abduction. The powerful Gulf cartel and its feared "Zeta" hitmen run drugs through the area into Texas.

Security analysts have speculated Batista may have been taken in retaliation for helping procure the release of captives in Mexico.

Batista, based in Miami, was invited to Coahuila by state police to give seminars on security as the death toll in Mexico's gruesome drug war soared to 5,650 people last year. Kidnappings are on the rise across Mexico.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090105/us_nm/us_mexico_kidnap

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From an earlier article:

The Web profile of Batista — later removed from ASI's site — described him as "the primary case officer for all cases throughout the Latin American region."

The site said Batista was a former U.S. Army major who is "known for conducting in-depth threat assessments, the successful resolution of nearly 100 kidnap and ransom cases (many on behalf of major insurance carriers) and investigations."

The company denied local news reports that Batista was a former FBI agent, and warned those reports could put his life at risk.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ilkJwd9Ar9inAcHvmEAfj-kVMVFwD953II2G0

Here is a sampling of articles from NarcoNews on how it works in Colombia. Mexico has been infused with Bushwhack "war on drugs" money, with similar results, it seems. Not a dent in the illicit drug traffic--but dramatic increases in weapons traffic, murder and insecurity. I think that the purpose of Bushwhack "war on drugs" money are chaos and militarization. And if Colombia is any guide, innocent parties--especially innocent leftist parties (such as union leaders, community organizers, human rights workers)--will take the biggest hit of the violence.

http://www.narconews.com/bogota/

The Bogotá Connection
Narco News Investigates DEA Corruption and Cover-Up in Colombia

Money Laundering & Murder in Colombia: Official Documents Point to DEA Complicity
Kent Memo’s Corruption Allegations Bolstered by FOIA Records, Leaked U.S. Embassy Teletype
By Bill Conroy
Special to The Narco News Bulletin

May 18, 2008

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Bogotá Connection “Informant” Files Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit Against US Government
Using the US Court System, Baruch Vega is Attempting to Force Both the Government and the Compliant Media to Confront DEA Corruption and Cover-Up in Colombia
By Bill Conroy
Via the Narcosphere

September 24, 2007

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Welcome to the Drug War ... pick a card, any card
The Narco-Trafficking Shadow Lands: Complicity and Corruption
By Bill Conroy
Via The Narcosphere

June 25, 2007

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A Muse in the State of the Drug War
“Our Own Government’s Insane Drug Policy... Seems to Reward, even Encourage, the Corruption and Death, From the Top Levels of Power Down to the Street”
By Bill Conroy
Via The Narcosphere

June 22, 2007

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Did “Bogotá Connection” Embassy Leaks Doom U.S. Spy Plane in Colombia?
Claim: The Coordinates of Flights Over the Colombian Jungles Were Being Leaked Out of the U.S. Embassy to Drug Traffickers
By Bill Conroy
Via the Narcosphere

February 16, 2007

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Mystery Man Baruch Vega Helps to Untangle More of the “Bogotá Connection”
US Intelligence “Asset” and Fashion Photographer Speaks Again with Narco News
By Bill Conroy
Via the Narcosphere
en español... El hombre misterioso Baruch Vega ayuda a desenredar más de la “Conexión Bogotá”
en français... Le mystérieux Baruch Vega aide à démêler un peu plus la « Bogota Connection »

February 16, 2007

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Colombian Narco-Trafficker's Pending Extradition Puts "Kent Memo" Back in Focus
Major Player Involved in the Bogota Connection Appears to be Headed for the United States
By Bill Conroy
Via The Narcosphere

February 9, 2007

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The Bogotá Connection on WNUR
Listen to the Interview with Narco News Journalist Bill Conroy on Corruption of U.S. Agents in Colombia from Chuck Mertz’ This Is Hell Radio Program
WNUR 89.3 Chicago

May 26, 2006

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Leaked Report: Drug Traffickers Obtained Classified DEA Documents from U.S. Embassy in Bogotá “At Will”
Informant Told Lie Detector that Corrupt U.S. Agents Helped Narcos Protect Drug Crops from Fumigation Raids
By Bill Conroy
Special to The Narco News Bulletin

May 15, 2006

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Colombia’s Secret Narco-Police
Claims of Collaboration with Drug Traffickers and Paramilitaries Sting the Country’s DAS Security Service and Support Allegations of DEA Corruption Published in Narco News
By Dan Feder
Special to The Narco News Bulletin
en español... La narco-policía secreta de Colombia

April 29, 2006

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DEA, FBI, CIA Informant Weighs In on U.S. Law Enforcement Corruption in Colombia
Baruch Vega: Narcos, Colombian Police, DEA and U.S. Customs Collaborate in a “Devil’s Cartel”: Baruch Vega
By Bill Conroy
Via The Narcosphere
en español... Informante da su perspectiva sobre la corrupción de las entidades de seguridad estadounidenses en Colombia

March 19, 2006

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Bogotá DEA Corruption Allegations Intersect with Covert FBI, CIA Activity in Colombia
New Document Unravels More Mysteries in Kent Memo; Narco-Trafficker, Informant Drop the Dime on Suspected DEA Foul Play
By Bill Conroy
Special to The Narco News Bulletin

March 6, 2006

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New Documents Shed More Light on Alleged DEA Corruption in Colombia
Names of Two of the Whistleblowers in the “Kent Memo” Are Revealed; DEA’s Former Bogotá Chief May Be Involved in Cover-Up
By Bill Conroy
Special to The Narco News Bulletin
en español... Nuevo documento deja entrever más luz sobre supuesta corrupción en la DEA en Colombia

February 22, 2006

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DEA is Caught in the Chicken Coop in Bogotá Corruption Case
Spokesman’s Letter Claiming that Internal Investigations Cleared the Agency from Allegations of Collusion with Narcos Doesn’t Add Up
By Bill Conroy
Via The Narcosphere

January 22, 2006

http://www.narconews.com/bogota/

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And here are some NarcoNews articles specifically about the Bushwhack "war on drugs" in Mexico:

Michoacan Joint Operation: Human Rights Disaster
Posted by Kristin Bricker - December 30, 2008 at 9:58 pm

Activist organizations accuse the government of using the anti-drug operation to repress indigenous communities, poor neighborhoods, and social justice organizations

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/kristin-bricker/2008/12/michoacan-joint-operation-human-rights-disaster

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EZLN Criticizes the Drug War
During the Festival of Dignified Rage in Chiapas, Subcomandante Marcos Breaks the EZLN's Silence on the Drug War
By Kristin Bricker
Via the NarcoSphere

January 3, 2009

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/kristin-bricker/2009/01/ezln-criticizes-drug-war

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Civilians Caught Up in Drug War
Tlaxcala is the Only State Without Victims of Organized Crime
By Esther Sánchez
El Universal
en español... “Narcoguerra” alcanzó a civiles

January 3, 2009

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/kristin-bricker/2009/01/civilians-caught-drug-war

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Loose Ends: Washington Subordinates Mexico Through Security Agreements
Mexico's Drug War Fits into the Rubric of the Security and Prosperity Partnership and the US Security Agenda
By Carlos Fazio
La Jornada

January 1, 2009

(Me: well worth quoting--here is the crux of the matter, re Colombia and Mexico and the "war on drugs": )

(Point) four. US intelligence agencies' deciding roll in the design of Mexican intelligence's architecture is obvious in its penetration, which results in a dependent subordination. The Merida Initiative (similar to Plan Colombia) is the counterinsurgent-style operative component established under the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), which militarizes the North American Free Trade Agreement. Under the supervision of the Pentagon's Northern Command, the SPP came about in March 2005 during the heat of George W. Bush's "war on terrorism." It puts excessive emphasis on US security, as defined by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The Partnership seeks to impose a North America without borders, dissolving national sovereignty. Towards that aim, it puts forth a discourse of fear, which claims that the primary threat that North America faces is transnational and asymmetric. That is, it doesn't advance the classic Westphalian model where there's only confrontation between two states, but rather it alludes to terrorist entities, failed states, or dishonest nations that nourish individuals or small marginal groups who can possess weapons equipped with technical sophistication.

(Point) Five. Beyond the beating of the war drums through leaks to the press by the leaders of the armed forces, the Attorney General's Office, and the Public Security Ministry who are competing for the Merida Initiative's resources and the national budget, Calderon's "war" against the bad guys fits with the script and the asymmetrical threat devised by the imperial discourse. In this context, an analysis entitled "The National Defense Department in Combat Against Drug Trafficking" defines the cartels as an "internal threat" that puts the "viability" of the nation at risk, and forsees a symbiosis between the mafias and "armed groups who are hostile to the government," as well as a substantial increase in violence. Faced with the specter of the "drug guerrilla," which was also suggested by US drug tsar John Walters, the Mexican National Defense Department's final solution is "annihilation." A long war of extermination. In other words, the Colombia-ization of the country, which is exactly where Washington wants Mexico: with an army busy with policing tasks and distracted from its task of guarding and protecting the national territory.

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/kristin-bricker/2008/12/loose-ends-washington-subordinates-mexico-through-security-agreemen

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Freedom of the Press as a Foreign Concept
A Mexican Reporter Who Wrote About Drug Violence in his Homeland is Being Held in Custody by None Other than the U.S. Government and its Immigration Service
By James Rainey
The Los Angeles Times

December 30, 2008

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rainey28-2008dec28,0,6037496.story

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“Wall of Violence” on Mexico’s Southern Border
Calderon’s “Two-Faced” Policy Combines Police, the Military, Gangs, and Los Zetas to Fulfill US Mandate to Deter Central American Migration
By Kristin Bricker
Via the NarcoSphere
en español... La doble moral de Calderón y la tragedia de los migrantes centroamericanos

December 23, 2008

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/kristin-bricker/2008/12/wall-violence-mexicos-southern-border



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You gotta wonder what this kidnapping expert out of Miami--Felix Batista--knew about Bushwhack "drug wars." The Bushwacks might be "cleaning" things up a bit, just about now--say, trails to the drug lords that have their smell on them; Calderon/Bush/drug and Uribe/Bush/drug connections, and so forth. Perhaps Mr. Batista knew too much?

They seem to have done a bit of brush clearing re their theft of the 2004 election, with the recent small plane crash of their chief computer expert, Michael Connell (--just after he was deposed in a lawsuit in Ohio that challenges the 2004 election). Their other big scandal--besides war, torture, mind-boggling theft and outing CIA agents--very likely centers on the "war on drugs."