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“VIOLENCE IN THE STATE OF TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H8042 on Nov. 18, 2014.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
VIOLENCE IN THE STATE OF TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Vela) for 5 minutes.
Mr. VELA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring attention to the violence in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Last month, three of my constituents were murdered in northern Mexico. Erica Alvarado Salinas, Alex Alvarado, and Jose Angel Alvarado were visiting their father near Matamoros, Mexico, on the other side of my hometown of Brownsville, Texas. The siblings were abducted on October 13 by armed men. Their burned bodies were found on October 29 in a field in northern Mexico.
Today I call on the United States State Department to ensure that the Mexican Government thoroughly investigates these heinous crimes and that those responsible be brought to justice and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. These cold-blooded murders demonstrate the brutal violence in northern Mexico.
In a travel warning dated October of 2014, the State Department warns:
Matamoros, Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, and Ciudad Victoria have experienced numerous gun battles and attacks with explosive devices in the past year. Violent conflicts between rival criminal elements and/or the Mexican military can occur in all parts of the region and at all times of the day. The number of reported kidnappings for Tamaulipas is among the highest in Mexico, and the number of U.S. citizens reported to the consulates in Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo as being kidnapped, abducted, or disappearing involuntarily in the first half of 2014 has also increased.
For the last century and a half, residents of northern Mexico and south Texas enjoyed a bicultural experience where crossing to work, eat, shop, or visit family and friends was a part of everyday life. This way of life has been ripped apart. We should demand that those whose criminal acts have destabilized Mexico be held responsible.
Martin Luther King said, ``Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'' Our country must ensure that those who murdered Erica, Alex, and Jose be brought to justice.
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