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ZAPATA COUNTY FAIR ASSOCIATION
MEXICO’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Fair repayment
Congressman to be in Mexico
No charges since missing money repaid By JJ VELASQUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
The former board president of the Zapata County Fair Association wrote unauthorized checks totaling more than $9,000 of association funds, said Paco Mendoza, the incoming president. Carmen Paredes, who oversaw the 2012 fair, has since paid the money back. The board decided not to pursue charges
against her. “In this town, when something like this is done by an individual, the people here don’t forget,” said Mendoza, who is also president of the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce. “I believe that to be punishment in itself.” Mendoza said Paredes did not elaborate on what she used the money for but admitted before the board in a June 18 meeting that she indeed cashed unau-
thorized checks using the fair association’s account. The fair association is a nonprofit that uses the proceeds from the event, in beer sales and admission, to fund its operations. It received $15,000 this year from the county hotel-motel tax fund to promote the fair. “The Commissioners Court is upset,” County Judge Joe Rath-
See FAIR PAGE 9A
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sunday, Mexico will hold its second presidential election since the 2000 vote that unseated the Institutional Revolutionary Party after more than seven decades in power. The candidate of the former ruling party, or PRI, is widely expected to win the presidency, opening a new chapter in the story of Mexico’s young democracy. Former Mexico state governor Enrique Peña Nieto has said his party has abandoned
its legacy of corruption and repression of dissent, and will govern in an open and pluralistic manner. The argument appears to be working among Mexicans looking for a change after nearly six years of a bloody militarized offensive against drug cartels and generally lackluster economic performance. But many Mexicans fear a return of the PRI, a sentiment that has spawned a vocal student-led movement against Peña Nieto and his par-
See ELECTION PAGE 10A
Authorities say car bomb was parked in front of mayor’s office THE ZAPATA TIMES
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UEVO LAREDO, Mexico — A car bomb exploded Friday morning in front of the mayor’s office at city hall. Seven people were injured, authorities said. The Tamaulipas Public Security agency and Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that a Ford Ranger pickup with Coahuila license plates was used in the bombing. The vehicle was placed in the parking spot of Mayor Benjamin Galvan Gomez, about 33 feet from his second floor office, which faces Heroe de Nacataz Street. The pickup blew up at 11:15 a.m. “The Tamaulipas state government condemns this lamentable deed, and will redouble its efforts to help provide safety to the city,” the statement read. The blast damaged 11 vehicles and the City Hall building, authorities said. Debris from the bombing was scattered throughout several blocks of downtown. Galvan Gomez was not in his office at the time of the explosion. He told reporters by phone that federal and state authorities are investigating the bombing. A federal spokesman, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the debris from the blast was scattered through a 2,800-foot area, or about 15 blocks. Authorities said some who were injured in the blast were covered with blood, and that one of the victims was partially burned. All were treated at the scene by the Red Cross and Civil Protection agency. Five were taken to General Hospital and two to Social Security Hospital for further treatment. After firefighters put out fires caused by the blast, authorities evacuated the site surrounding the blast and cordoned off a two-block area around City Hall. “We don’t have any leads yet on who is responsible, but we’re working to determine (who could be responsible),” the federal spokesman said. Authorities in the United States took steps to keep violence from crossing over into the country.
Courtesy photo
A Ford Ranger pick-up burns in front of city hall in Nuevo Laredo, on Friday after a bomb placed inside blew up, just 33 feet from the mayor’s office.
See BOMBING PAGE 10A
US GOVERNMENT
Agents’ families want answers By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
BROWNSVILLE — The families of two U.S. immigration agents shot more than a year ago on a Mexican highway renewed their demand Friday that the U.S. government explain the decisions that put them there and answer questions about how guns purchased in the U.S. fell into the hands of their attackers. The parents of slain Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata joined with the sister of agent Victor Avila to press the government on whether an operation similar to one in Arizona that allowed illegally purchased guns to be smuggled
into Mexico in hopes of tracking them to higher-ranking criminal figures was responsible for the guns used in the attack. Two of the weapons have been traced to illegal purchases in Texas. The families spoke in Zapata’s hometown of Brownsville, one day after the U.S. House voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for not providing documents relevant to an investigation of so-called Operation Fast and Furious in Arizona. In that case, agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lost track of hundreds of weapons they had hoped to trace higher in criminal organizations. Justice Department policy had long
forbid such “gun walking” and two guns from that operation were found at the scene of the slaying of U.S. border agent Brian Terry. “I feel that I owe my son justice and I still haven’t gotten it,” said Mary Zapata, the slain agent’s mother, wearing a lapel pin with her son’s picture. Earlier this month, Zapata’s family filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against the U.S. government. Avila is seeking $12.5 million, claiming negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The claims are an initial step toward lawsuits. They note that at least two
See AGENTS PAGE 9A
Photo by Yvette Vela/The Brownsville Herald | AP
Mary and Amador Zapata, the parents of slain Immigration Customs and Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata, appear during a news conference Friday, in Brownsville. They demanded the U.S. government answer questions about how guns purchased in the U.S. fell into the hands of their son’s attackers.