Trump’s Call for War on Cartels Spurned After Massacre
President Trump said it's time to “wage war” on drug cartels after nine Mormons living in Mexico were massacred. Mexico’s president had a sharp response.
U.S. Mormon family ambushed and slain in Mexico
The LeBarón family of Chihuahua was attacked by criminal groups, leaving a death toll of 9. The LeBarón family, American nationals, have been the target of threats, attacks and kidnappings over the last 10 years for their activism against cartels, violence and invasions in the area. Some of the family members who were gunned down and burned to death in northern Mexico this week, apparently by drug cartel members who mistook them for rivals, were visiting for an upcoming wedding from their home in Williston, N.D., according to a relative.
“Obviously, it’s very painful. Obviously, we don’t want these things to happen. But we don’t think that bombarding, massacring with the use of force, blood and fire will solve the problem. Look, four of my grandchildren are burnt. Shot up. Right on the road out of La Mora. This is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth. We merely await a call from your great new president! We believe that violence - I’m going to say it again – cannot be dealt with violence. We got here because people wanted to put out fire with fire. People wanted to address the problem with coercive measures alone and we know what the result is. And although those who applied this failed strategy would want us to continue in the same way, the answer is a resounding “no”, family member Jhon LeBarón states.
The family has a ranch near the borders of the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. About 150 to 200 extended family members live there, and many others from the U.S. visit regularly, said Kenny LeBaron, 32, who owns a trucking company in Williston. LeBaron said he got updates from relatives on the scene through WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging system. In recent years, they requested protection from the authorities, but it was denied. President Donald Trump reacted, offering American intervention in the war against drugs in Mexico.
Brut.
U.S. Mormon family ambushed and slain in Mexico
The LeBarón family of Chihuahua was attacked by criminal groups, leaving a death toll of 9. The LeBarón family, American nationals, have been the target of threats, attacks and kidnappings over the last 10 years for their activism against cartels, violence and invasions in the area. Some of the family members who were gunned down and burned to death in northern Mexico this week, apparently by drug cartel members who mistook them for rivals, were visiting for an upcoming wedding from their home in Williston, N.D., according to a relative.
“Obviously, it’s very painful. Obviously, we don’t want these things to happen. But we don’t think that bombarding, massacring with the use of force, blood and fire will solve the problem. Look, four of my grandchildren are burnt. Shot up. Right on the road out of La Mora. This is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth. We merely await a call from your great new president! We believe that violence - I’m going to say it again – cannot be dealt with violence. We got here because people wanted to put out fire with fire. People wanted to address the problem with coercive measures alone and we know what the result is. And although those who applied this failed strategy would want us to continue in the same way, the answer is a resounding “no”, family member Jhon LeBarón states.
The family has a ranch near the borders of the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. About 150 to 200 extended family members live there, and many others from the U.S. visit regularly, said Kenny LeBaron, 32, who owns a trucking company in Williston. LeBaron said he got updates from relatives on the scene through WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging system. In recent years, they requested protection from the authorities, but it was denied. President Donald Trump reacted, offering American intervention in the war against drugs in Mexico.
Brut.