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NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO
University closes doors Official: Organized crime threat cited as cause for indefinite closure By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, university closed down its doors indefinitely after receiving a threat from organized crime, a school representative based in Mexico City said Monday. Universidad del Valle de México Campus Nuevo Laredo officials posted a sign on the campus’ gate informing students of the closure. Milenio Tamaulipas, a Mexican media outlet, reported the sign was put up Sunday. The message remained as of Monday morning. “To all the community, be advised that because of circumstances beyond our control, all activities are suspended until further notice,” states the message. School representatives for the Nuevo Laredo campus could not be reached for
Courtesy photo
comment. Sofia Anaya, a Mexico Citybased university spokeswoman, confirmed the Nuevo Laredo campus received a threat last week. Anaya said she could not elaborate further because of fear of retaliation against school administration. “We received a threat from organized crime,” Anaya said, declining additional comment. She said the university’s administration evaluated the situation and decided not to open the campus until security issues are solved. The Nuevo Laredo campus’ Facebook page posted a message regarding the closure Thursday. On Friday, the campus followed up with another post concerning tuition as many students turned to
A sign on the front gate of Universidad del Valle de México Campus Nuevo Laredo announces what university officials say is a temporary closure.
See UNIVERISTY PAGE 11A
INAUGURATION
Mexican governors absent at ceremony
TEXAS’ NEW GOVERNOR
Breaking tradition, Abbott did not invite neighbors By JULIÁN AGUILAR TEXAS TRIBUNE
In his inaugural address in 1995, George W. Bush called the presence in Austin of governors of Mexican states “a clear sign of the importance of the relationship between Texas and Mexico.” At his 2003 inauguration, Rick Perry called the governors of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas “special guests” and “friends,” and in his 2007 speech, he said the attendance of the governors of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Zacatecas was a sign that Texas “always proudly rolled out the welcome mat.” He also welcomed Mexican governors in 2011, according to transcripts. So did Ann Richards in 1991. But when Gov.-elect Greg Abbott took his oath of office on Tuesday, governors from Mexico were not at the event — a break in tradition during the change of the guard at the Texas Capitol. That’s according to a list of Mexican dignitaries provided by a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Nandita Berry.
See ABSENT PAGE 11A
Photo by Eric Gay | AP
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at his inauguration ceremony, Tuesday in Austin, Texas.
Abbott vows to battle Washington on spending By WILL WEISSERT AND JIM VERTUNO ASSOCIATED PRESS
A
USTIN — Greg Abbott was sworn in Tuesday as Texas’ first new governor in 14 years and promised that the state will stay as de-
fiantly conservative as ever — vowing to battle Washington on spending, regulation and any federal initiative “that uses the guise of fairness to rob us of our freedom.” Fighter jets streaked through sunny skies, cere-
monial cannons boomed, the University of Texas marching band blared and the smell of four tons of beef brisket prepared for the inaugural barbeque hung over the steps of the state Capitol, where Abbott and new Lieutenant Governor Dan Pa-
trick formally took office. Abbott, who was previously state attorney general, sued the Obama administration around 30 times, mostly for what Texas claimed was overreach on federal envi-
See ABBOTT PAGE 11A
43 MISSING STUDENTS
DNA tests can’t ID remains ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Marco Ugarte | AP
In this Dec. 28, 2014 file photo, the shadow of a demonstrator is cast on a wall with graffiti protesting the disappearance of 43 rural college students, in front of the Mexican Attorney General’s office.
MEXICO CITY — Mexican prosecutors said Tuesday that an Austrian forensics lab has been unable to find any more DNA that could be used by conventional means to identify charred remains that might be those of 42 missing college students, but said they have authorized a final, unconvention-
al effort. The Attorney General’s Office said the University of Innsbruck reported that “excessive heat” damaged the mitochondrial DNA in fragments of teeth and bones, “at least to the point that normal methods cannot be used to successfully analyze them.” Failure to positively identify the remains would be a setback for the
government, which has struggled with widespread, often violent protests demanding that the students be returned alive, and with relatives’ skepticism about the official belief they are dead. The University had previously found DNA in the remains that belonged to one of the 43 students who were detained and disappeared in the southern
state of Guerrero in September. Prosecutors say the students were turned over to a drug gang that killed them and then incinerated their bodies on a fuel-fed pyre, before crushing the charred remains and them in a river. Authorities sent only 16 sets of remains to Austria, saying the rest were so
See REMAINS PAGE 11A