4 US Citizens Kidnapped in Matamoros

[chainsaw 10,007]

16 hours ago, Goredho said:

Growing up in the 70s and 80s, I lived 5 minutes from the border.  Life moved freely across that imaginary line on the map back then.  I remember the curios shops, the restaurants and the dove hunts where you might bag 100 birds and have to nurse a severely bruised shoulder the next day.  I remember when my slightly-older best friend got his drivers license, and how it was put to use taking us all across on Friday and Saturday nights where we were fast-forwarded to an age of 21.  We young Gringos had such a grand, fucked up time.

We didn’t know it then, but it was the end of an era.  Within a few years, the value of the peso collapsed, 71 years of PRI rule had ended, the Colombian cartels had fallen, the Mexican drug cartels were asserting their power and the War on Drugs had begun.

When I was a senior, the eldest son of a prominent Mexican political family from our sister city was kidnapped and subsequently murdered.  There was no news of it in the US, just chatter in the community that had its roots in both countries.  He was bludgeoned to death with a hammer.  I played football with his younger brother, and I remember expressing my condolences to him in the weight room in an awkward display of sympathy:  I’m sorry your brother was murdered with a hammer.  Gracias.

I left for UT a few months later.  My parents soon moved away, and my ties to the border dissipated.  The last time I went to the border town I grew up in was in the mid 90s.  Hardly anyone was going to Mexico anymore.  Too dangerous.  Too violent.  Not worth the risk.

I mourn the Mexico I remember.

These things happened even before the end of that era, but they were rare and would be the talk of the town. Now, it's Tuesday (and, of course, the prominent families are all picking plata over plomo).

[RDCanecutter 26,553]

6 hours ago, texasdago said:

...and what's particularly funny about all the Italian-Americans in places like Jersey who's grandparents or great grandparents or great great whatever came from Italy... when they say they are Italian, Italians say "so, American".   

My experience with Irish, as somebody whose Irish ancestors left there in the 1700s, is to not give a damn, don't budge an inch, they'll cuss you for 6 days, you cuss em right back, and on the 7th day it's all long-lost family come here let's have a drink.

It helped that I knew the port they left from, which was down the road from the main hoodlum.

So otherwise, I too could have been an angry Irishman yellng at random Americans.

[Gatorubet 30,406]

24 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

So otherwise, I too could have been an angry Irishman yelling at random Americans.

I have faith in you RD.  You can still be that angry drunk Irishman yelling at random people.   If you want it bad enough. 

[RDCanecutter 26,553]

Just now, Gatorubet said:

I have faith in you RD.  You can still be that angry drunk Irishman yelling at random people.   If you want it bad enough. 

FOOK YOU.

[Gatorubet 30,406]

5 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

FOOK YOU.

My British ancestors: “You are aware they invented the exclamation point, you ignorant Limey bastard…And another thing, the absence of the potato crop does not give your spawn the right to eat his Lordship’s grass.”

[RDCanecutter 26,553]

1 minute ago, Gatorubet said:

My British ancestors: “You are aware they invented the exclamation point, you ignorant Limey bastard…And another thing, the absence of the potato crop does not give your spawn the right to eat his Lordship’s grass.”

No worries. My Mom's side manned Hadrian's Wall so that the Picts wouldn't make you drop your tea cups.

[Mez2 4,036]

15 hours ago, YGIFS said:

^

Yep, happened all the time growing up in Chicago with so many Italians.  You don't really meet that many here in Texas, so it's not really a thing.  But I never, ever heard one person, ever growing up say "I'm a 3rd generation Illinoisan" but I can't go ten fucking minutes without "I'm a 4th generation Texan."  Okay, cool.  Glad you're here, glad to meet you.  What in the ever-living-fuck did you do to get born here?  Your dad fucked your mom in Dallas and she pushed you out of her vagina in Houston and now we're at a fundraiser having this awkward conversation.  Cool.  

Anyway, back to Matamoros.  I think about these back-to-back business trips I had in Ciudad Juarez years ago.  One trip, I was in El Paso on business and got overserved and of course wandered over the border to get more fucked up.  I speak fluent Spanish, having a mother from Mexico.  I was wise enough to take off my tie and jacket, dropped my Madrid accent, but go so fucked up---I lost my wallet (not even robbed, just lost it).  Had to trade my watch to a woman crossing to front me enough to cross and get a cab to the hotel back by the airport, but never felt a target.  Few years later, I'm traveling there under the protection of the SRE.  Armored Suburbans with masked security from one secure location to another.  And I was fucking terrified the whole time, and deadly sober because I didn't want to drop my wits---if I ever had any.  Occurred to me months later that I was trying to appear more sophisticated on the second trip so I spoke more arrogantly in Spanish, dressed better, held my head higher, etc.  Even though I was under extreme protection of the SRE, I stood out because I was trying to be a good guest.  When I was a shitfaced lowkey guy speaking Spanish like Mom taught me growing up from the Valley, even at 3am, with my dark hair and drunken Spanish, I blended in.  I was probably safer but I didn't appreciate it at the time.  

 I have spent tens of thousands of hours on the rough sides of South & West Chicago, Central America, West Africa, New York, California, and the Rio Grande Valley-Texas & Mexico.  And I have never, ever been more in fear for my life than I was in Columbus, Ohio in September of 2005.  my phone was dead so my buddy and I took turns using his.  I called my then fiance, she and I had just gotten engaged days before.  And then he called his wife and two young daughters.  We basically said, "We're going to get beat and beat badly.  We are trying to get outta here but there are no cabs or buses.  We took off all our UT gear and threw it away and are trying to make it back to the hotel but it's miles away."  Told her I loved her, listened to him tell his girls he loved them and that we were resigned to the fact that we weren't gonna die, but were probably gonna be beat within an inch of our lives.  

tl;dr----------I'll take Mexicans in  Matamoros over italians in Ohio any day of the week.

VY til I die!!! 

[closetohumping 17,547]

On 3/10/2023 at 2:22 PM, YGIFS said:

^

Yep, happened all the time growing up in Chicago with so many Italians.  You don't really meet that many here in Texas, so it's not really a thing.  But I never, ever heard one person, ever growing up say "I'm a 3rd generation Illinoisan" but I can't go ten fucking minutes without "I'm a 4th generation Texan."  Okay, cool.  Glad you're here, glad to meet you.  What in the ever-living-fuck did you do to get born here?  Your dad fucked your mom in Dallas and she pushed you out of her vagina in Houston and now we're at a fundraiser having this awkward conversation.  Cool.  

Anyway, back to Matamoros.  I think about these back-to-back business trips I had in Ciudad Juarez years ago.  One trip, I was in El Paso on business and got overserved and of course wandered over the border to get more fucked up.  I speak fluent Spanish, having a mother from Mexico.  I was wise enough to take off my tie and jacket, dropped my Madrid accent, but go so fucked up---I lost my wallet (not even robbed, just lost it).  Had to trade my watch to a woman crossing to front me enough to cross and get a cab to the hotel back by the airport, but never felt a target.  Few years later, I'm traveling there under the protection of the SRE.  Armored Suburbans with masked security from one secure location to another.  And I was fucking terrified the whole time, and deadly sober because I didn't want to drop my wits---if I ever had any.  Occurred to me months later that I was trying to appear more sophisticated on the second trip so I spoke more arrogantly in Spanish, dressed better, held my head higher, etc.  Even though I was under extreme protection of the SRE, I stood out because I was trying to be a good guest.  When I was a shitfaced lowkey guy speaking Spanish like Mom taught me growing up from the Valley, even at 3am, with my dark hair and drunken Spanish, I blended in.  I was probably safer but I didn't appreciate it at the time.  

 I have spent tens of thousands of hours on the rough sides of South & West Chicago, Central America, West Africa, New York, California, and the Rio Grande Valley-Texas & Mexico.  And I have never, ever been more in fear for my life than I was in Columbus, Ohio in September of 2005.  my phone was dead so my buddy and I took turns using his.  I called my then fiance, she and I had just gotten engaged days before.  And then he called his wife and two young daughters.  We basically said, "We're going to get beat and beat badly.  We are trying to get outta here but there are no cabs or buses.  We took off all our UT gear and threw it away and are trying to make it back to the hotel but it's miles away."  Told her I loved her, listened to him tell his girls he loved them and that we were resigned to the fact that we weren't gonna die, but were probably gonna be beat within an inch of our lives.  

tl;dr----------I'll take Mexicans in  Matamoros over italians in Ohio any day of the week.

Flipside, when I lived in Delaware, those clowns always said "everything is bigger in Delaware" and I've seen some bumper stickers that said "I wasn't born in Delaware but I got here as fast as humanly possible"

[crash_davis 23,158]

Newsflash: Don't talk shit to the Cartel about stealing $50K from them thinking you're safe just because you are on US soil

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article273913990.html

A Texas man bragged about stealing money from a Mexican cartel and believed he was safe from retribution in the United States — but now he’s missing, according to the FBI.

Erik Tadeo Ramirez was last seen trying to escape from a moving pickup truck as it crossed the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge in Laredo, Texas, according to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI.

A March 24 video recording captured a man with a bloodied face in the passenger seat of a blue Dodge Ram with several other men at 1:09 a.m. He opens the door and tries to jump out, but the men grab him and pull him back inside, officials said in the complaint.

The truck blows past the bridge attendant and heads into Mexico, leaving a blood-stained shirt and pair of pants along the road, according to the complaint.

Hours earlier, Ramirez was boastful, witnesses told investigators. They overheard him talking on the phone at 11 p.m. during a party at a home in Laredo, telling an unknown woman he’d stolen $50,000 from Cartel Del Noreste, according to documents.

He told the woman he wasn’t scared of her, that he didn’t fear retribution because he was in the United States, witnesses said.

But about two hours later, at 12:45 a.m., the blue truck arrived at the address. Masked men with guns got out, attacked Ramirez, dragged him into the cab and drove off, officials said in the documents.

 

[Brisketexan 105,576]

17 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

Newsflash: Don't talk shit to the Cartel about stealing $50K from them thinking you're safe just because you are on US soil

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article273913990.html

A Texas man bragged about stealing money from a Mexican cartel and believed he was safe from retribution in the United States — but now he’s missing, according to the FBI.

Erik Tadeo Ramirez was last seen trying to escape from a moving pickup truck as it crossed the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge in Laredo, Texas, according to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI.

A March 24 video recording captured a man with a bloodied face in the passenger seat of a blue Dodge Ram with several other men at 1:09 a.m. He opens the door and tries to jump out, but the men grab him and pull him back inside, officials said in the complaint.

The truck blows past the bridge attendant and heads into Mexico, leaving a blood-stained shirt and pair of pants along the road, according to the complaint.

Hours earlier, Ramirez was boastful, witnesses told investigators. They overheard him talking on the phone at 11 p.m. during a party at a home in Laredo, telling an unknown woman he’d stolen $50,000 from Cartel Del Noreste, according to documents.

He told the woman he wasn’t scared of her, that he didn’t fear retribution because he was in the United States, witnesses said.

But about two hours later, at 12:45 a.m., the blue truck arrived at the address. Masked men with guns got out, attacked Ramirez, dragged him into the cab and drove off, officials said in the documents.

 

I would like to go on the record as stating that I have nothing but deep and abiding respect for the cartels.  They are clever and legitimate businessmen, and we are fortunate to all benefit from their services and wise stewardship or resources.

[Trey3216 15,380]

On 3/10/2023 at 1:21 PM, RDCanecutter said:

I always thought I'd get along fine in Sicily.

For Italian dialects you may in enjoy this video by a Sicilian guy who posts as "Metatron." I think his dad is from somewhere in the semi-Germanic north, and he imitates various regions in between. The intro is annoying so I skipped it for you. The video backs up the saying that Italian is the most common foreign language in Italy.

 

Funny how a cross of his Sicilian and Naples dialects/accents are basically the New York accent.  

[ztejas 43,744]

1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

Newsflash: Don't talk shit to the Cartel about stealing $50K from them thinking you're safe just because you are on US soil

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article273913990.html

A Texas man bragged about stealing money from a Mexican cartel and believed he was safe from retribution in the United States — but now he’s missing, according to the FBI.

Erik Tadeo Ramirez was last seen trying to escape from a moving pickup truck as it crossed the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge in Laredo, Texas, according to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI.

A March 24 video recording captured a man with a bloodied face in the passenger seat of a blue Dodge Ram with several other men at 1:09 a.m. He opens the door and tries to jump out, but the men grab him and pull him back inside, officials said in the complaint.

The truck blows past the bridge attendant and heads into Mexico, leaving a blood-stained shirt and pair of pants along the road, according to the complaint.

Hours earlier, Ramirez was boastful, witnesses told investigators. They overheard him talking on the phone at 11 p.m. during a party at a home in Laredo, telling an unknown woman he’d stolen $50,000 from Cartel Del Noreste, according to documents.

He told the woman he wasn’t scared of her, that he didn’t fear retribution because he was in the United States, witnesses said.

But about two hours later, at 12:45 a.m., the blue truck arrived at the address. Masked men with guns got out, attacked Ramirez, dragged him into the cab and drove off, officials said in the documents.

 

I think Darwin wrote an essay on the cartel's role in natural selection along the US border. 

[texasdago 7,590]

On 3/10/2023 at 1:21 PM, RDCanecutter said:

I always thought I'd get along fine in Sicily.

For Italian dialects you may in enjoy this video by a Sicilian guy who posts as "Metatron." I think his dad is from somewhere in the semi-Germanic north, and he imitates various regions in between. The intro is annoying so I skipped it for you. The video backs up the saying that Italian is the most common foreign language in Italy.

 

Palermo - no clue what he is saying.  Zero.  Not an accent - straight up dialect.

Calabria (or was it Catania) / Napoli - I'll catch a bit here and there.  Have a friend from Napoli and when he falls into Napoletano, he completely loses me.  Also mostly dialect.

Rome - love it.  Could listen to it all day... Roman phrases/sayings end up in my vocabulary at times

Bologna - he kind of got it but it felt off.  I used to have that "sh" S when we came here.  

Firenze, Milano, Udine... fine... Milano is funny because it reminded me of a friend but he's from Torino so that threw it off a bit.  Have a neighbor from Udine and I could recognize the cadence.

[RDCanecutter 26,553]

2 hours ago, texasdago said:

Palermo - no clue what he is saying.  Zero.  Not an accent - straight up dialect.

Calabria (or was it Catania) / Napoli - I'll catch a bit here and there.  Have a friend from Napoli and when he falls into Napoletano, he completely loses me.  Also mostly dialect.

Rome - love it.  Could listen to it all day... Roman phrases/sayings end up in my vocabulary at times

Bologna - he kind of got it but it felt off.  I used to have that "sh" S when we came here.  

Firenze, Milano, Udine... fine... Milano is funny because it reminded me of a friend but he's from Torino so that threw it off a bit.  Have a neighbor from Udine and I could recognize the cadence.

Yeah, generally I avoid the "Watch me do 50 accents!" videos because they're cartoon representations, but this guy seemed a cut above. My own Italian consists of about 50 basic words plus guessing what things mean based on French or Spanish. Hey, it'll get you there. Also I'd buy Italian newspapers to read during train trips through Germany, because otherwise Germans think I'm German, and we can't have that.

[Armybrat 40,995]

4 hours ago, texasdago said:

Palermo - no clue what he is saying.  Zero.  Not an accent - straight up dialect.

 

We went to the Palermo Italian Pasta restaurant in downtown Round Rock the other day for a late lunch/early dinner. 
The hostess told us they just had a limited menu at that time and were out of pasta until 5pm. 
No pasta at all.

So we went across the street to the Louisiana Longhorn Cafe where I had a good cfs.

[texasdago 7,590]

12 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

We went to the Palermo Italian Pasta restaurant in downtown Round Rock the other day for a late lunch/early dinner. 
The hostess told us they just had a limited menu at that time and were out of pasta until 5pm. 
No pasta at all.

So we went across the street to the Louisiana Longhorn Cafe where I had a good cfs.

I'm going to guess 95% of Italian restaurants in Round Rock suck.  Likewise 95% of BBQ restaurants in Rome suck.

[RDCanecutter 26,553]

58 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

We went to the Palermo Italian Pasta restaurant in downtown Round Rock the other day for a late lunch/early dinner. 
The hostess told us they just had a limited menu at that time and were out of pasta until 5pm. 
No pasta at all.

So we went across the street to the Louisiana Longhorn Cafe where I had a good cfs.

tl /no severed horse head thrown through restaurant's front door/ dr

[Pods 7,594]

7 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

tl /no severed horse head thrown through restaurant's front door/ dr

That's at the Santeria restaurant down the street.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,824]

1 hour ago, Pods said:

That's at the Santeria restaurant down the street.

I don’t practice Santeria.  I ain’t got no crystal ball.

[JohnnyRage 1,617]

Should have been north of the Nueces just to be muy seguro.

[Surly Bevo 25,520]

8 hours ago, crash_davis said:

Newsflash: Don't talk shit to the Cartel about stealing $50K from them thinking you're safe just because you are on US soil

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article273913990.html

A Texas man bragged about stealing money from a Mexican cartel and believed he was safe from retribution in the United States — but now he’s missing, according to the FBI.

Erik Tadeo Ramirez was last seen trying to escape from a moving pickup truck as it crossed the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge in Laredo, Texas, according to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI.

A March 24 video recording captured a man with a bloodied face in the passenger seat of a blue Dodge Ram with several other men at 1:09 a.m. He opens the door and tries to jump out, but the men grab him and pull him back inside, officials said in the complaint.

The truck blows past the bridge attendant and heads into Mexico, leaving a blood-stained shirt and pair of pants along the road, according to the complaint.

Hours earlier, Ramirez was boastful, witnesses told investigators. They overheard him talking on the phone at 11 p.m. during a party at a home in Laredo, telling an unknown woman he’d stolen $50,000 from Cartel Del Noreste, according to documents.

He told the woman he wasn’t scared of her, that he didn’t fear retribution because he was in the United States, witnesses said.

But about two hours later, at 12:45 a.m., the blue truck arrived at the address. Masked men with guns got out, attacked Ramirez, dragged him into the cab and drove off, officials said in the documents.

 

Hell you don't have to be along the border.  In 2013 cartel popped the personal atty of the former head of the Gulf Cartel in the middle of fucking Southlake Town Square. 

[ztejas 43,744]

33 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

I don’t practice Santeria.  I ain’t got no crystal ball.

I had fifty thousand dollars and then lost it all?