BROWNS RELEASE MANZIEL
SATURDAY MARCH 12, 2016
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FORMER TEXAS A&M QUARTERBACK SPENT TWO SEASONS IN CLEVELAND, 1B
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ZAPATA CRIME STOPPERS
Stolen saddle Authorities are asking the public for information on the taken horse seat By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ LAREDO MORNING TIMES
County authorities are asking for the community’s assistance to identify the person who stole a saddle, according to reports. The Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office and Zapata Crime Stoppers said Friday they need the
community’s help to obtain information on the case. Authorities said the saddle was stolen from the owner’s barn. The saddle had the following lettering on the side: “BZ PRODUCTIONS,” “HIGH POINT CHAMPION” and “2013.” People with information on
the case are asked to call the Sheriff ’s Office at 765-9960 or Crime Stoppers at 765-TIPS (8477). Information leading to an arrest may be rewarded. Callers may remain anonymous. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
MEXICO CITY
Courtesy photo
Pictured is the stolen saddle from a barn. People with information on the case are asked to contact authorities.
ZAPATA COUNTY FAIR
2016 TRAIL RIDE
Photo by Nick Ut | AP file
Actress Kate Del Castillo breaks months of silence about her and Sean Penn’s meeting with Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman.
Del Castillo refutes ‘El Chapo’ story
Courtesy photo by Graphitiks Advertising Design
The Zapata County Queen and her royal court wave to the camera at this year’s trial ride. Head to page 3A for more photos of the event.
Actress breaks silence about Sean Penn’s controversial meeting By PETER ORSI ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — Kate del Castillo broke several months of silence about her and Sean Penn’s controversial meeting with then-fugitive drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, saying Penn’s account of an encounter with a Mexican military checkpoint never happened. The Mexican-born American actress spoke in three days of interviews for an article in the upcoming issue of The New Yorker that was available online Friday, after largely keeping out of the spotlight ever since Guzman’s recapture and the publication of Penn’s article about the meeting. In his January Rolling Stone piece, Penn wrote that while traveling to meet Guzman they came across a checkpoint and were allowed to continue when soldiers recognized one of the cartel capo’s sons, who was traveling with the actors. According to del Castillo, “they didn’t go through any military checkpoint, much less one where government soldiers waved
BORDERING ON INSECURITY
them on,” The New Yorker reported. It added that two Argentine film producers who were riding in another car also “have no recollection of encountering a military checkpoint.” Penn stands by his account, it said. Del Castillo told the magazine the scene was not in an early draft that had been sent to and approved by Guzman, and it appeared only after a Rolling Stone editor asked Penn to add a more detailed description of their overland journey. Penn’s lengthy Rolling Stone piece was published a day after Guzman was recaptured by Mexican authorities and several months after the meeting in fall 2015. Del Castillo had been contacted by Guzman’s lawyer the previous year and entered into an agreement for her to make a movie about the convicted drug lord’s life, and she had hoped to bring Penn on board with the project. She maintains she had no idea a magazine article was in the works.
MATAMOROS — Marcos Valencia is a stranger in the country of his birth. The stocky 19-year-old struggles with Spanish, doesn’t know a thing about Mexican history and can’t find a job. He spends his days dreaming of going home to Indiana, where he grew up from age three. But in the eyes of the law, his home is the cartel-infested state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, where he was born. Two and a half years ago, Valencia was living the life of a typical American teenager — a junior at Goshen High School in Elkhart County, Indiana, where he ran track and dreamed of joining the U.S. Marines or the local police force. Then one day in May 2013 his sister called the police after finding their stepfather, a Mexican national with a previous conviction for document fraud, physically abusing their mother, Valencia said.
See EL CHAPO PAGE 10A
See TRAPPED PAGE 10A
Immigration saga leaves teen trapped in Mexico By JAY ROOT AND JULIAN AGUILAR TEXAS TRIBUNE
Photo by Martin do Nascimento | Texas Tribune
Marcus Francisco Valencia Rodriguez, 19, in the courtyard at the Casa del Migrante migrant shelter in Matamoros, Mexico, on Nov. 2, 2015.