Explosive device thrown at U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo..?

Has anyone heard any more on this?

Saw some in the morning news and Im quite surprised that the narcos(well, "IF its them"... hmm.) would make such a move, after reading statements that the goal is to attract MINIMUM attention from the U.S.

 

Well... when I hear.. "small explosive device" I think.... firecracker.... which could easily just be some kids fooling around... but when the American "media" hears that they think... nuclear dirty bomb attempt made on US! and run with it...


If the "narcos' wanted to attack someone they wouldn't throw a "small explosive device" over the fence and hope to get lucky...

It was more than likely either kids or someone who just got deported letting off some steam....

My 2 cents...

 

There are plenty of other factions, groups or individual people who are pissed enough at the US to throw a glorified firecracker at a US Consulate. Blaming it on the narcos makes for a good headline though, and it could be true.

Here's a story:
Small Bomb Is Thrown at U.S. Post in Mexico - NYTimes.com

And here's message from the Consulate:
April 10, 2010 - U.S. Consulate General Nuevo Laredo, Mexico

 

Hehe, I only asked since I didnt hear the interview (was in the shower..)

Also, note my "IF its them"

Thats why I doubted it to be narcos.... Im sure they dont want more attention from the U.S. than they already have.

Thanks for the links RG, will have a look.

 

U.S. Consulate Bombing in Mexico Ignored by White House

 

So what was the White House supposed to do? A couple of windows got broken. I mean symbolically maybe this was important, or maybe it was just some guy who'd been denied a visa and was pissy.

 

Here is a new(?) article: Drug violence scares off tourists to Mexico | Reuters

Here is a quote: "So far this year, 24-hour beach parties and wet T-shirt contests in Cancun have been toned down and its all-day bars such as Mango Tango and Coco Bongo are more subdued. "I'm afraid to go out at night and we prefer to stay in the hotel," said 42-year-old tourist Ralph O'Donnell from North Carolina."

 

I wonder what level of media firestorm it would create if I grabbed a can of spray paint and scribbled something threatening on the side of the US consulate office.... or mailed them en envelope full of baking soda.. I mean, thanks to the media now days, that's really all it takes to scare people to death isn't it...? God forbid I throw a firecracker over the fence...

On the other hand.. if I were someone who had an interest in getting more Americans to stay in country for their vacations, it wouldn't be a bad idea to see what kind of panic I could stir up about Mexico...

Much like Iran is meddling in Iraq and Afghanistan, I wonder if some "pro-American" groups aren't stirring the pot here for their own purposes...

 

That could be, but it seems a bit far-fetched to me; or rather it's more complicated than the idea that some Mexican with a beef against the US (whether a narco or just some poor schmuck who was denied a visa) threw that homemade grenade. Mexico is full of people who are pissy toward the US, so it seems more likely it was one of them.

For someone who wants to keep US tourists at home to cross the border into Mexico and then make a handmade grenade and then throw it (in front of cameras) seems unlikely. Not to mention stupid.

And trust me, that Consulate is covered in cameras, the US is paranoid about its Consulates.

Remember Occam's Razor: "the simplest solution or answer is usually the correct one."

If I wanted to keep US tourists at home I would manipulate statistics and write lots of BS about Mexico and email that BS to Bill O'Reilly. It's cheaper and less risky than coming here and trying to make things look worse than they are.

The reality is that Mexico has a violent drug war going on. Now we can keep on reassuring tourists that they are not the target of this war, we can even prove that to them, because they are not. But at some point it's simply terrible PR for Mexico's tourism industry that Mexico cannot stop the violence.

If I didn't have experience with Mexico and didn't understand so much about this drug war I would not come here on vacation! I feel, relatively, safe here (usually) because of the knowledge I have. But lots and lots and LOTS of people who go on vacation do not want to do a bunch of research on the relative safety of their intended destination, and they should not have to. It's simply more relaxing to just go somewhere about which there are no significant safety concerns.

Mexico seems to have two major industries, tourism and smuggling, and the two are not compatible.

I have been toying with the idea of making a joke tourism web site that promises tours of places where beheaded bodies were found, and drive-bys of homes seized by SIEDO for the owner's involvement in org crime. It could have maps showing spots all over the area that had org crime incidents. It could promise tours to beaches where drug runners do their drops. There could be seminars on how to spot a Zeta and how to tell if a restaurant is washing money. (I'll duck now.)