Mexico Tallies 69 Murders in Single Day

Mexicans live in fear of grotesque killings
By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 12, 2010 6:45 AM CST
Mexico Tallies 69 Murders in Single Day
A soldier guards next to a crime scene where a man was murdered in downtown Ciudad Juarez, northern Mexico, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009. The troubled border town was the site of 26 killings Monday.   (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)

Mexico kicked off 2010 with a grim record: On Saturday the violence-plagued country tallied 69 murders in a single day. As drug cartels stepped up retaliation against the government's war on trafficking, Saturday's count included 26 murders in the border city of Ciudad Juarez and 13 in Mexico City. Murders are also becoming increasingly grotesque: Last week one victim's face was peeled off and sewn to a soccer ball, and yesterday the remains of a slain police officer were found in two separate ice chests.

The escalating violence has many Mexicans living in fear. "I'm afraid to take to the streets every day because of the violence, and I no longer want to excel economically because it could make me an easy target for a kidnapping," a Monterrey woman told the AP. Observers say the killings are jeopardizing Mexico's international reputation, but some expect the tide of violence to recede within six months as one cartel emerges as dominant, reducing power struggles.
(More Mexico stories.)

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