Local TV Broadcast of a Drug War Shoot-out Across the Border from McAllen, Texas

Gary North

Dec. 1, 2010

I want to share this. A bi-lingual subscriber has provided a translation.

Note: the YouTube video has had almost two million hits. Obviously, Mexicans know what is going on. Most people on the U.S. side of the border don't.

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Mexico is falling apart because of narcotics trafficking. There is a literal war going on there right now and since 2006. Just be aware of this.

How bad is it? Here's a video from the city of Reynosa across from McAllen, TX. It's in Spanish. I've translated the dialogue below. The sounds speak for themselves.

[Voice-over]: ...armed civilians and federal forces this Tuesday morning. According to unofficial statistics, at least 8 people lost their lives in an incident full of confusion and fear, given that events in this setting arose in diverse locations of the city. The shooting intensified at the shopping centers in the Las Fuentes Plaza Real suburb, where a contingency of federal police clashed with a group of strongly armed civilians.

The high-powered weapons and rifle blasts didn't wait long.

Reporter: A few moments ago the shooting started in this place, in this section of Reynosa, where high-caliber weapons were heard, and also where traffic was stopped before noon. There are blockades at the International Airport, and also there are other cases developing...developing in our city. [He squats]

[To the cameraman]: You're recording...you're recording, right?

Cameraman: I'm recording.

Reporter: Continuing... What you hear are shots from firearms -- assault rifle caliber. And also there is a stronger sound of what is happening at this border city of Reynosa.