Ten Die on Tuesday in Continued Drug Violence

(Acapulco, JG 17 August) Ten assassinations and murders took place in Acapulco yesterday, the majority in the poor communities torn apart by drug violence. Two, however, took place in a highly-trafficked area of the tourist zone – the dividing platform between Caleta and Caletilla beaches. There, just after 10 in the morning, two workers for the state government’s “Promotora de Playas” were gunned down by automatic weapons fire. The bodies remained where they fell for two hours, under the gaze of curious tourists, including children. No reasons were given for the killings, and surely never will be, just the same as all the others.

Behind the San Diego Fort a few minutes later, on Hornos street, steps away from the town’s offices for tourism, education, culture, civil protection, ecology and human resources, a gunfight broke out between rival groups. Two vehicles were shot up by stray bullets, but no one on the sidelines was hurt. The perpetrators fled without being pursued by law enforcement. The municipal employees spent several minutes flat on the floors of their offices until they were sure that the gunfire had stopped.

While driving near the traffic circle in the middle of the Progreso district, a man was shot and killed, apparently by crossfire between two criminal groups. Andrés Ángel Rosario was part of the cast of a local television program called “Out of the Closet” a gay and lesbian show produced by Siga Tv for cable.

Several other assassinations took place in the outlying areas of Acapulco, and two more persons, a policeman and a taxi driver, were apparent victims of crossfire between more rival gangs. At 10:00 at night, the day’s last victim was shot as he entered the Maxitunnel from Renacimiento. He was driving a collective taxi.