Gunmen force Mexico mayor to cancel 'El Grito'
Source: boston
MORELIA, Mexico—Authorities in a small town in western
Mexico canceled Thursday night's "El Grito" festivities ushering in
Independence Day after 40 gunmen arrived at the main square threatening
to attack civilians.
Michoacan state police beefed up
security in the town of Querendaro because of the threat, said the state
police chief, Armando Soto la Marina.
Mayor
Filiberto Romero suspended the traditional event in which he was to cry
"Viva Mexico!" from the balcony of the town hall, drawing the same
shout in unison from hundreds of people gathered below.
But
men carrying rifles and grenades arrived and demanded they clear out or
be attacked. People fled in panic. Some took refuge inside the
government building waiting for the gunmen to leave. There were no
reports of injuries.
No
information on who the gunmen were was available late Thursday, but the
presence of high-caliber weapons indicated the incident might be drug
cartel related.
A grenade
attack on the same holiday in 2008 killed eight people and wounded
dozens in the main square of the Michoacan state capital, Morelia.
Most
Independence Day festivities have gone on as usual this year, but local
authorities have canceled patriotic events in the past in worry about
possible attacks by drug gangs. Last year, the mayor of the border city
of Ciudad Juarez, considered the epicenter of Mexico's drug war,
canceled the traditional event.
More
than 35,000 people have been killed since Mexican President Felipe
Calderon launched an armed offensive against drug cartels in December
2006, according to an official tally. Other groups say the death toll is
about 40,000
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