On Monday, the interior minister Fernando Gómez Mont held a private meeting with the governor of Nuevo León, Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz, after two Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) students, Jorge Antonio Mercado Alonso and Javier Francisco Arredondo Verdugo, were killed in crossfire between armed groups and the Mexican Army. According to El Economista, early reports of the meeting indicate that the federal officials will examine various issues with the state governor, including the prevailing problem of insecurity in Nuevo León.
In a joint press conference with the governor of Nuevo León and the rector of the university, Rafael Rangel Sostmann, the head of SEGOB (Mexico’s Secretariat of Governance) promised a thorough investigation on the death of the boys, giving his “deepest condolences to the families” of the two students. While Gómez Mont, admitted that the two ITESM students “fell in the line of fire, on the side where the soldiers were attacked,” during a confrontation last Friday outside of that university.
Meanwhile, Rangel Sostmann reiterated his regret over the tragedy and confusion generated from the beginning of the confrontation until they confirmed the identity of the two students. He also stated that security protocols within the academic institution have been proposed in order to prevent similar situation in the future.
The president of the National Human Rights Commission (INCHR), Raul Plascencia, condemned the death of innocent victims in unplanned operations by the government and found that the only explanation for the deaths of two students last Friday, in Nuevo Leon, is the lack of coordination, research, and strategies for adequate public safety.
In an interview, he called the three levels of government to coordinate and implement crime prevention tasks that allow reactive strategies ensuring the rights of society. He expressed confidence that Congress would take action on the matter, with the goal of arriving at a solution to the problem of insecurity and to prevent it affecting the population, because “if there is no serious research in this area, unfortunate events such as those in Monterrey on Friday will continue repeating.”
El Universal. “Jóvenes murieron en línea de fuego: Gómez Mont.” El Universal. 22 Marzo, 2010.
El Economista. “Gómez Mont se reunirá con gobernador de NL.” El Economista. 22 Marzo, 2010.
La Crónica de Hoy. “Pide Gómez Mont unidad ante delincuencia.” La Crónica de Hoy. 22 Marzo, 2010.
