Chihuahua

• The municipal police commander for the downtown district of Ciudad Juárez was killed by unidentified gunmen. An officer accompanying him as his bodyguard was seriously injured.

Distrito Federal

• Police arrested Oscar Osvaldo Garcia Montoya, leader of a criminal gang nicknamed "The Hand with Eyes." García Montoya, a former Guatemalan soldier, is linked to 900 murders.

Entire Country

• In a sign of the United States' widening role in Mexico's drug war, a small team of C.I.A. operatives and American military employees has been posted at a military base in Mexico in the past few weeks. The United States aims to provide technical support and to work together with Mexican law enforcement and justice officials to gather intelligence on the cartels.
• The Mexican government suspended over $100 million in federal law enforcement grants to 172 of the country’s most violent municipalities because they haven't "[demonstrated] advances" in areas such as police salaries.
• According to a new report from the Mexican government, kidnappings have increased 300% over the past five years. On average 3.72 kidnappings are reported every day throughout the country.

Sinaloa

• Four teenagers and a 24-year-old were gunned down while at a roadside food stand in Culiacán.

Veracruz

• Five presumed criminals were killed during two confrontations between gangs and the Armed Forces.

Zacatecas

• The Army repelled an attack and confiscated two grenades, 13 cartridges, and a vehicle in Guadelupe.

This blog was written by CIP intern Claire O'Neill McCleskey

Antioquía

• A key leader of the criminal gang "Los Rastrojos," Angel de Jesus Pacheco, better known by his alias "Sebastian, was killed by his own bodyguards. His killers later turned themselves in, confessing to the killings and providing information that links public figures to "Los Rastrojos." Authorities say that Pacheco, a former member of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), was likely directly responsible for around 300 deaths. Elyssa Pachico at InSight Crime reports that Pacheco's death will be a "game changer" in Colombia.
• The army killed two guerrillas from the FARC's 36th front who were installing anti-personnel mines in the district of Santa María.
• Police rescued a merchant who had been kidnapped by gang members west of Medellín.
• A firefight between gang members and police in La Ceja left one person dead and four injured, including a child.

Arauca

• Five oil workers were freed after being kidnapped two days earlier by FARC guerrillas.

Caquetá

• The vice president condemned a deadly mine attack in Puerto Rico. One person was killed and five peopled injured when a bus passed over a minefield.

Chocó

• The minister of defense announced the creation of a "zone of intervention" against criminal bands in the south of Chocó. This is the third such zone created in Colombia, with the goal of protecting the populating, capturing gang members, and disrupting drug trafficking.

Entire Country

• Last week Colombia's Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) announced that 20 candidates in the local elections to be held in October have been killed so far in 2011. Seven have survived assassination attempts, four have been abducted, and at least 32 have received deaths threats or experienced some form of intimidation. The department of Antioquía is by far the worst affected.

Norte de Santander

• Police captured the FARC medic who attended to guerrillas leaders Iván Marquez and 'Conrado' in Venezuela. Authorities report that Miguel Ángel Aríñez Troche, who was captured in an internet cafe in Cucutá, is very close to many guerrilla leaders and has been a member of the FARC for more than 15 years.

This blog was written by CIP intern Claire O'Neill McCleskey

Map of homicides per 100,000 people in Mexico, by state (Map made by Adam Isacson).

Chihuahua

• Following numerous attacks of police officers, law enforcement officials in Ciudad Juárez have begun receiving training from police from San Diego, California. The Mexican officers will receive training from their American counterparts in evading and defending against attacks and ambushes by organized crime.

• More than 1,000 people were arrested in Ciudad Juárez in a massive crackdown on human trafficking. Authorities reported that they also rescued a number of underage girls.
• 17 people were killed when fighting broke out in a prison in Ciudad Juárez. State prosecutors are investigating allegations that prisoners smuggled in weapons and women into the prison and that jail guards attended a party held by the inmates prior to the riot. According to the Chihuahua state Attorney General's office, both the killers and the victims were inmates, not prison officials. In addition to shedding light on the corruption inside prisons in Mexico, the incident highlighted the tensions between local and federal authorities in Ciudad Juárez. Juárez Police Chief Julian Leyzaola said that at least 20 federal police officers fired on his vehicle when he and his bodyguards arrived at the scene of the prison riot. Federal police insist that Leyzaola breached the security perimeter they had established without identifying himself.

Coahuila

• A group of unidentified assailants, armed with automatic weapons and bulletproof vests and vehicles, attacked the Municipal Director of Public Security's convoy in Torreón. The authorities managed to repel the attack, killing two assailants and capturing three trucks.

Distrito Federal

• InSight Crime reports that the narcoviolence terrorizing the north of Mexico could soon spread to Mexico City. While local authorities maintain that there are no major cartel operations in the capital city, federal officials worry that the enormous, uncontrolled market and the ease of money laundering in Mexico City may tempt the cartels to move in and establish more organized networks.

Entire Country

• According to a study by Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography, homicides in Mexico rose 23% in 2010. Last year there were 22 homicides per every 100,000 people in Mexico. The states of Chihuahua and Sinaloa had the highest murder rates in the country, with 4,747 and 2,505 killings last year respectively.

• According to an Excelsior poll, around two-thirds of the Mexican public believe that the military's record with respect to human rights is satisfactory. Although the Mexican Supreme Court ruled last week that members of the military accused of human rights violations must be tried in the civilian courts, only 22% of poll respondents say that they consider civilian courts better than military courts.

Nuevo León

• 10 people were killed in two firefights between armed men and members of the Army.

• The municipality of Guadalupe announced that it has fired more than 570 police officers in the past two years and that it will substitute them with former members of the military. The mayor reported that while the town suffers from a deficit of around 250 police officers, 120 ex-soldiers are currently being trained to work in law enforcement.

Veracruz

• A video appeared online announcing the formation of a new group called the "Matazetas." In the video, 30 masked men, presumed to be members of the New Generation Jalisco Cartel, appear brandishing automatic weapons while a voice is heard naming members of the Zetas who were allegedly involved in the recent assassination of two journalists in Veracruz. The unidentified speaker also praised the governor of Veracruz for fighting the Zetas.

• The body of Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz, a police reporter for Veracruz's largest newspaper, Notiver, was found decapitated, two days after the journalist was abducted from her home. Only a month earlier another Notiver reporter, Miguel Angel López Velasco, was killed along with his wife and son. A note left on Ordaz's body allegedly connects the two murders. Veracruz state Attorney General Reynaldo Escobar denied that Ordaz was killed because of her work and alleged that the reporter had connections with organized crime. The editors of Notiver vigorously defended their slain colleague, calling the accusations "unjust, irresponsible and foolish" and demanding Escobar's resignation. Paris-based NGO Reporters without Borders has urged Mexican authorities to do more to protect journalists in Veracruz, where 77 reporters have been killed since 2000.

This blog was written by CIP Intern Claire O'Neill McCleskey

Arauca

• The air force bombed a FARC arms factory near the border with Venezuela. Four rebels were killed in the attack and two were captured.

Caqueta

• President Santos has offered a reward of up to 500 million pesos for information regarding FARC leaders in the province where Chinese oil workers and their translator were kidnapped in June 8.

• The FARC set off a "donkey bomb" in San Vicente del Caguán. The bomb exploded near an army outpost, although the animal's intended final destination was the town square.

Cauca

• The towns of Toribio and Corinto have declared a state of emergency following multiple FARC attacks in the past few months. Along with police stations, churches, and schools, almost 500 houses have been destroyed by FARC bombings. The cost of rebuilding both towns is well over 1000 million pesos.

• The FARC released a communique blaming the government for the death and destruction caused by the guerrilla attacks in Toribío, Corinto y Caldon. The FARC claims that the state is at fault for placing military and police buildings and personnel among the civilian population.

Cordoba

• Four people, including a 13-year-old, were shot to death by unidentified gunmen during an attack on a hair salon in Cereté. The attack brings the total number of violent deaths in Cordoba for the month of July up to 28.

• A joint operation of the Army, the National Police, and the DAS led to the capture of one leader and eight members of the criminal gang "Urabeños." The leader, known only under the alias "28," is reportedly responsible for coordinating the attacks against the "Paisas" criminal gang that led to the displacement of farmers in Tierralta y Valencia.

Huila

• Two FARC guerrillas from the "Marquetalia" column were killed and one injured during a confrontation with the armed forces in the north of Huila. Intelligence sources have reported that the column's mission is to open a corridor for weapons and supply trafficking through Tolima, Huila y Meta.

Magdalena

• One person was killed and two were injured in a bomb attack in Santa Marta. According to authorities, the attack was directed at the house of two lawyers.

Meta

• Protestors blocked oil production in the Llanos Basin following the firing of 1,100 oil contractors by Cepcolsa. At least 10,000 oil workers went on strike in solidarity with the fired workers.

Narino

• Two Liberal politicians were freed from captivity after being kidnapped as they traveled from Tumaco to Salahonda 5 days earlier. According to an official, the two men were abducted by mistake.

Santander

• Authorities apprehended FARC leader Hugo Alberto Campo Moreno, known as "Diomedes" or "el Gato," in Bucaramanga.

This blog entry was written by CIP Intern Claire O'Neill McCleskey.

Chihuahua

• 3 young people were gunned down in Chihuahua by a gang of unidentified armed men. The city is currently hosting the National Convention on Public Security (CONAGO). The 19 participating governors are ensconced in the Governor's Palace, which has been converted into a "bunker" for the duration of the event.
• 21 people were killed in Ciudad Juarez on Tuesday, July 12, making it the city's deadliest day on record this year. Juarez is trapped in an ongoing battle between the Jaurez and the Sinaloa cartels for control of the entrypoint into the U.S. market for drugs.
• Four men were convicted in the January 2010 massacre of 15 young people at a birthday party in Ciudad Juarez. The attack horrified the nation and sparked a national outcry when President Calderon referred to the slain teenagers as cartel members. Prosecutors are seeking sentences of more than 100 years for each convicted man.

Distrito Federal

• Federal police detained four men in connection with the murder of the son of poet and civil society leader Javier Sicilia. The federal prosecutor's office reported that they are now holding 23 suspects in the abduction and murder of 7 young people at a bar in Cuernavaca.
• Federal police also captured U.S.-born Armando Villareal Heredia, member of the Tijuana cartel who is wanted on both sides of the border for drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, racketeering, and other crimes. The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Villareal's U.S. citizenship, but declined to comment on the possibility of an extradition request.

Entire Country

• Mexican NGO the Council for Law and Human Rights (CLDH) reported that 45 people are kidnapped every day in Mexico. This rate is up from last year's average of 37 per day. CLDH also reported that even as kidnapping gets worse in Mexico, Mexicans are increasingly unlikely to file an official complaint with the police. In 2008 2 out of every 10 kidnappings were reported to the police, but in 2011 only 1 out of 10 abductions resulted in the filing of an official complaint.

Michoacan

• Federal police captured the Knights Templar gang's top hitman, Javier Beltran Arco. Beltran, known as "El Chivo," allegedly oversaw murders for the cult-like meth-trafficking cartel.

Nuevo Leon

• The armed forces arrested a man suspected of participating in the 2010 killing of Edelmiro Cavazo Leal, the Mayor of Santiago.
• Soldiers freed 20 kidnapping victims in Monterrey. The hostages reported that they had been held for over a week and asked to pay up to $50,000 pesos in ransom.
• 41 police from the municipalities of Zuazua and Pesqueria are being investigated for ties with organized crime and in connection with various kidnappings and homicides.
• 11 people were killed in a series of incidents on Tuesday, July 12 in Monterrey. Narcoviolence has claimed the lives of more than 900 people this year alone in Mexico's second richest city. The violence is the result of an ongoing territorial dispute between the Gulf Cartel and their former enforcers the Zetas.

This post was written by CIP Intern Claire O'Neill McCleskey

Antioquía

• Five members of two indigenous communities in Bajo Cauca, including several minors, were killed by criminal gangs. Neither the police nor indigenous groups in the communities of El 18 and La Unión-El Pato have yet reported any definite leads on who is behind the killings.
• At least three people were injured in an attack by the FARC's 36th front. The guerrillas incinerated a truck and two buses on the highway that connects Medellín and Caucasía Antioquía.
• Senior police officer Maj Jaimes was killed by a FARC explosive while on his way to help evacuate victims of the FARC highway attack. Two officers accompanying him were also injured.
• Luis Eduardo Gómez , investigative journalist and witness in the "para-politics" investigation, was shot and killed by unknown assailants in the town of Arboletes. He is the latest witness involved in the case to be murdered or forcibly disappeared, although it is still unclear whether was he was killed for his involvement in the case or for his work as a journalist investigating the murder of his son.

Cauca

• Two civilians were injured and multiple house were destroyed by explosive devices in what was descibed as FARC "harassment" of the village of Jambaló. The village is located about 50 miles from Popayan, where the Armed Forces have launched a new phase of their offensive against FARC leader Alfonso Cano.
• The massacre of 8 people in a pool hall in Nariño on June 25 has led authorities in Nariño and Cauca to believe that the ELN is rearming in the region. While authorities have not confirmed that the guerrilla group was behind the attacks, an official from Nariño said that increasingly the evidence points to the ELN.
• Police captured eight men who served as bodyguards for the bosses of the Rastrojos criminal gang. The men reportedly provided security for the gang leaders known as "El Zarco", "El Sobrino, and "Bray."
• One soldier was killed and three more injured in a FARC ambush in the Vereda district.

Choco

• An intelligence officer for the National Police who spent years working undercover among the FARC released a tape that shows FARC guerrillas training minors, including some young adolescents, how to shoot weapons.

La Guajira

• The father of the Town Councillor of Uribia was kidnapped on his way home by three unidentified armed men. This is the third kidnapping in as many months in La Guajira.

Tolima

• Head of the National Police Oscar Naranjo has assured the public that FARC leader Alfonso Cano's "weeks are numbered." The Armed Forces recently embarked on an aggressive new operation to capture Cano.

This blog was written by CIP Intern Claire O'Neill McCleskey

Distrito Federal

• Journalist and women's rights activist Lydia Cacho has reported receiving death threats for her work in exposing sex trafficking, child pornography and prostitution. Cacho has previously been the victim of torture and police abuse for revealing the names of public officials and well-known businessmen involved in illicit activities.

Nuevo Leon

• The police chief of Santa Catarina was murdered inside his office by armed men wearing police-style badges. Authorities are currently investigating 7 police officers, including the chief's bodyguards, for allegedly doing nothing to stop the attack.
• 11 people were killed over the weekend in Ciudad Juárez. The victims include two transit police officers, who were shot while issuing a traffic citation.

Oaxaca

• Alejandro Solalinde, a priest who aids migrants passing through Oaxaca, reported that anywhere from 60 to 80 migrants, including women and children, were kidnapped while aboard a train bound for the U.S. border. According to Solalinde, armed men stopped the train and forced the migrants into trucks. Authorities have attributed the kidnappings to the Zeta cartel, which has executed similar mass abductions of migrants in the past. Solalinde and other human rights defenders fear that the victims will meet the same fate as other abducted migrants: held for random, forced to serve as drug mules, or killed. Last month President Calderon introduced a new law to protect Central American migrants coming to or passing through Mexico, but undocumented migrants remain vulnerable to abuse by organized crime. On Thursday, June 30, an official reported that the government has been unable to find evidence to confirm Solalinde's testimony.

Sinaloa

• A confrontation between the Army and several armed men left one gunman dead and two soldiers wounded.

Veracruz

• Federal Police captured Albert González Peña in Veracruz on Monday, June 27. Peña, known as "The Tiger," was the Zetas' plaza boss for the state of Veracruz. He is known for selecting his own friends and acquaintances as kidnapping victims to make collecting ransom easier.

Tamaulipas

• A captured Zeta member has revealed why the Zetas pulled dozens of men off of buses in Tamaulipas before killing them and leaving their bodies in mass graves. The Zetas reportedly stopped the men because they suspected them of working for the rival Gulf Cartel.

This blog was written by CIP Intern Claire O'Neill McCleskey

Arauca

• The indigenous organization Ascatidar is suing the Armed Forces for the death of Humberto Peroza, a student who was killed during a fight between the Army and FARC guerillas in a rural zone in Arauca. A lawyer for the group has stated that the group considers Peroza's death to be a "false positive," or an extrajudicial execution in which the victim is falsely presented as a guerrilla fighter or paramilitary.

Bogotá

• The Centro de Recursos para el Análisis de Conflictos (Cerac) reported that 36% of the 644 murders committed in Bogotá between January and May were vengeance killings by criminal gangs.

Caquetá

• A FARC attack on an army checkpoint in Puerto Rico left 2 civilians dead and 7 people gravely injured. According to General Fabricio Cabrera, the attack was an attempt on behalf of the FARC to regain control of the Guayas River, a strategic point for trafficking arms and supplies. Authorities believe the attack was orchestrated by the same FARC commander that kidnapped three Chinese oil workers earlier this month. Authorities also report that the attacks indicate a change in strategy for the FARC, who since the launch of PLAN 2010 have expanded their use of landmines and engaged in more hit and run attacks.

Huila

• FARC guerrillas attacked a dwelling in Huila, firing upon a house inhabited by both children and adults. A 12-year-old child was injured and had to be airlifted to a hospital in Neiva.

Meta

• Edward Castellanos Benjumea, a mayoral candidate in San Juan de Arama, was kidnapped by FARC guerrilas while campaigning in a rural area. Five people who had been accompanying Castellanos were also taken kidnapped, but were released soon after. The Santos administration has struggled to provide protection for the estimated 170,000 candidates currently running for local or national office in Colombia. Colombia's Mission of Electoral Observation (MOE) reported that 14 candidates have been assassinated this year.

Nariño

• A bomb attack on a police station Iscaundé left one child dead and 10 people injured.
• 15 people were injured when unknown assailants threw a fragmentation grenade at the mayor of El Charco. The attach occurred nearly simultaneously with the attack in Iscaundé. While the mayor escaped unarmed, the grenade hit a church in the main square.

Norte de Santander

• A firefight between the Army's 30th Bridage and the "Hector Collective" front of the ELN left three soldiers and four guerillas dead. According to the Armed Forces, the guerrillas were planting land mines when the soldiers found them.

Valle del Cauca

• Authorities stopped a car loaded with explosives that was bound for Popayan's main square. The bomb detonated, killing one and wounding 16, but police officers reported that if the car had reached its intended destination, it would have killed dozens of people. The driver of the car told police he was a member of the ELN. This is the first car bomb attack in Colombia since August.
• Two police officers were killed by FARC snipers while driving on the department's main highway.

This blog was written by CIP Intern Claire McCleskey

Chihuahua

• Federal Police announced the arrest of Juarez cartel leader Marco Guzman, known as “El Brad Pitt.” In reference to the bizarre nickname, a spokeswoman for the police explained, "it's a name given to the man by his associates. I guess they think he looks like him."

Districto Federal

• 11 police officers were injured in Mexico City when an angry mob demanded that the police hand over four alleged thieves. When officers tried to remove the suspects, the crowd grew violent and attacked the patrol cars with rocks.
• Mexico's attorneys general have teamed up with their counterparts in Guatemala to fight the Zetas. The Attorney General’s Office released a statement saying that both governments have agreed "to create concrete mechanisms for quickly exchanging timely information for the fight against the Zetas organization and others.”
• The Mexican government has initiated a new public relations campaign to correct 10 “myths” about the drug war. InSight Crime’s Elyssa Pachico questions the data used by the Calderon administration to defend its claim that killing or capturing drug kingpins does not lead to increased violence.

Nuevo Leon

• At least 33 people were killed in Monterrey on Wednesday, making June 15 the city’s
  bloodiest day on record. Jorge Domene Zambrano, spokesman for the Nuevo Leon Security Council, attributed the killings to the battle for territorial control among drug trafficking organizations.
• Among the victims on Wednesday were two bodyguards of the governor of Nuevo Leon. The bodies were dumped near a supermarket along with a note saying that the two men had taken money from the Zetas drug cartel. The killers also left a message for the governor, Rodrigo Medina, warning him, “let’s see where the hell you can hide.” Despite these attempts to intimidate him, Governor Medina remained defiant and promised that "the threats won't stop me from fighting for a safe Nuevo Leon.”
• After receiving an anonymous tip, the military rescued seven kidnapping victims from a minivan in Nuevo Leon on Monday, June 13. Five of the victims were abducted from a party three days earlier, while two were university students from Monterrey.
• Unidentified gunmen killed five members of a family in Ciudad Juarez. According to witnesses, five men went to the family’s house in search of a person. When the family said they didn’t know the person’s location, the men shot and killed everyone in the house. The victims included two women, one teenager, and two young children.
• A cartel member spoke with the Houston chronicle about the Zetas’ gruesome tactics. According to the man, known only as “Juan,” the Zetas have begun kidnapping bus passengers and forcing them to fight for their lives in gladiator-style death matches. Juan says they kill for nothing more than “amusement.”

Tabasco

• Two men were killed after refusing to stop at a checkpoint on a federal highway. Federal security forces fired on the fleeing truck, resulting in the deaths of both occupants.

This blog was written by CIP Intern Claire O'Neill McCleskey.