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WORLD TRADE BRIDGE
Protesters block truck traffic Group demands answers regarding missing loved ones By César G. Rodriguez L AREDO MORNING TIME S
Courtesy photo
People demanding answers regarding their missing loved ones blocked traffic on the Mexican side of World Trade Bridge on Monday.
About 200 people blocked northbound and southbound traffic on the Mexican side of World Trade Bridge on Monday, causing long lines and traffic delays in the Sister Cities. Protestors are demanding answers from the government regarding their loved ones who were allegedly kidnapped by the Mexican navy. They want troops out of Nuevo Laredo, Mexican media reported. Relatives told Mexican me-
dia they have reported 43 cases involving people whom they believe were kidnapped by the military. In Laredo, U.S. Customs and Border Protection suggested commercial traffic crossing via the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge. “Due to a protest taking place in Nuevo Laredo near the World Trade Bridge, commercial traffic is being temporarily diverted to ColombiaSolidarity Bridge,” CBP said in a statement. “CBP is working in close coordination with our counterparts with Servicio de Bridge continues on A3
SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING
GUN RESTRICTIONS UNLIKELY TO CHANGE Texas has more than 1.2M people licensed to carry handguns By Jim Vertuno A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
AUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to address school violence and safety in the wake of another mass school shooting. But Abbott’s call to do “more than just pray” for the victims comes in a state that has fully embraced its gun culture and resisted previous attempts to scale it back. Earlier this month at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Dallas, Abbott himself said, “The problem is not guns. The problem is hearts without God. It is homes without discipline and communities without values.” The killing of eight students and two teachers last week at Santa Fe High School prompted the governor to call a series of roundtable discussions on school safety, starting Tuesday in Austin. Abbott said the discussions will include lawmakers, educators, students, parents, gun-rights advocates and shooting survivors. The first one features officials from school districts that arm some teachers or contract with local police for security. “I am seeking the best solutions to make our schools more secure and to keep our communities safe,” Abbott said.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
Mourners visit a memorial in front of Santa Fe High School on Tueday. The memorial honors victims of last Friday's shooting when 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis entered the school with a shotgun and a pistol and opened fire, killing 10 people.
But few expect the meetings to result in any major push for new gun restrictions, especially in a state where more than 1.2 million people are licensed to carry handguns and are allowed to openly carry them in public if they wish. The state’s 20-year dominance by the
Republican Party all but guarantees the meetings will be dominated by calls to boost school security and “harden” campuses — an idea backed by the NRA — instead of demands for gun restrictions, said Cal Jillson, political science professor at Southern Methodist University.
That’s in sharp contrast to the response to the Feb. 14 shooting rampage at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead. Three weeks after the bloodbath, Florida politicians defied the NRA and passed a gun control package after a School continues on A3
TIJUANA, MEXICO
Trump becomes punching bag at debate Candidates demand protection for Mexican citizens By Alfredo Corchado DA LLAS MORNING NEWS
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — In a rare moment of unity, Mexico’s four presidential candidates have demanded protection for Mexican citizens whose lives have been turned upside down by President Donald Trump’s relentless crackdown on immigrants. "We will look for a relationship with the United States based on mutual respect, not subordination," said front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, head of MORENA, the
National Regeneration Movement. "We won’t be subordinate to Trump or to any other foreign government." The candidates stood up to Trump in a heated, at times awkward if not comical second presidential debate that ended near midnight Sunday in the northern border city of Tijuana. It was tagged "Mexico’s place in the world," but the vast majority of the 90-minute debate was largely limited to U.S.-Mexico issues. In between the namecalling, Trump was the punching bag for large parts of the evening.
"Before we talk about trade, or investment, we need to talk about respect," said Jose Antonio Meade, candidate of the Institutional Ruling Party, or PRI. "Every time Trump disrespects us — and he did recently again — and every time he insults us, he insults the lives, the dignity of our immigrants." But Lopez Obrador, a threetime presidential candidate, surprisingly confessed he agrees with the former TV reality show star in two areas: Yes, as Trump has said, Mexico is a corrupt nation, though Lopez Obrador said no foreign leader should
National Electoral Institute (INE) / AP
Presidential candidates, from left, Jaime Rodriguez, Ricardo Anaya, Jose Antonio Meade and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador attend the second of three debates in Tijuana, Mexico on Sunday. Mexico will hold general elections on July 1.
use such language to describe a sovereign nation. And, he said, "I agree with Trump that Mexican wages must go up." Lopez Obrador’s biggest rivals, Ricardo Anaya, who leads the "For Mexico in Front" coalition of three parties from the
right and left, and Meade of the PRI, took off their gloves and landed a few punches on the former Mexico City mayor, but perhaps not enough to alter the race in which Lopez Obrador is comfortably ahead in all polls. Debate continues on A3