Monday, September 30, 2019

High ABQ Murder Rate Sparks Talk Of Mexican Cartel Presence, Torres Small Squeezed Again And Names Circulating For Seat Of Late Senator Cisneros

The new normal in ABQ is the high murder rate. After four years of it the narrative over the causes is focusing more on the presumed presence of the Mexican drug cartels. It's been a subject discussed in hushed tones but with the blood continuing to flow the talk is growing louder.

The newspaper came with important stories about the notorious Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico prison gang and it's drug-dealing ways (here and here). Retired APD Seargent and crime watchdog Dan Klein goes a step further:

Alex Marentes is a retired Albuquerque police officer and founder of the website Borderlandbeat.com that gathers information on the drug wars in Mexico. Marentes states that most of the drugs in Albuquerque are being distributed by the Sinaloa Cartel. Albuquerque has become a drug distribution center for the rest of the nation. He believes that there are safe houses full of illegal drugs, smuggled people and guns. He says the drug murders here are not like those happening in Mexico. Here you have low-level drug dealers killing each other. In Mexico you have murder on a large scale. In Albuquerque Sinaloa keeps a low profile. Very rarely do sicarios (cartel assassins) come to ABQ to knock off someone who has crossed the cartel. But it has happened.

 With the murder rate continuing to soar--in large part due to the drug trade--the calls for more law enforcement will continue. That's why Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales has taken the unprecedented step of conducting raids in crime-ridden city neighborhoods. Depending on how deep the cartel roots are, it may or may not have lasting effect.

The revelation that the Las Vegas, NM police department has been compromised by drug dealers raises the question whether other departments are suffering the same fate?

XOCHITL'S VISE

It's like being caught in a vise. On the right southern Dem Rep. Xochitl Torres Small gets squeezed by Trump Republicans while the district's Dems clamp down from the left. Now that she is one of only a dozen House Dems to not endorse the impeachment inquiry of Trump, it's the Dems turning the handle on the vise. Here's reader Kathryn Carroll:

It is time for Rep. Torres Small to stop skirting the issue. If her decision is to vote against impeachment, then she will have to explain to her constituents why she feels she deserves another term because a vote against impeachment is a signal that it is alright with her to keep a president in office who has violated his oath of office to "...preserve, protect and defend the Constitution." Now is not the time for fence-sitting and indecisiveness. Torres-Small was elected to make tough decisions, and voting not to impeach this president is ignoring the obligations of her oath of office as well. 

 Trunp won the southern district by 10 points in 2016 so the reluctance of Torres Small to go all in on impeachment is predictable. That she faces no Dem primary opposition makes it easier. 

Impeachment could lighten the load for the GOP nominee (three R's are running). Turning the southern race into a referendum on impeachment is a uniting theme for the R's.

SENATOR WHO?

Fernandez
Will Darien Fernandez be the next state senator from the northern district left vacant by the death of Carlos Cisneros? It's a good bet. Fernandez is a Taos town councilor who was already running against Cisneros in next June's primary. His more liberal positions could be to the liking of Dem Governor MLG. She will make the decision on who gets the appointment to fill out the Cisneros term from a list of candidates named by the four county commissions in the district.

Over 60 percent of SD 6 is in Taos County. That points to Fernandez. Still, you never know. One of our Alligators has some others being mentioned.

--Caroline Buerkle, a Taos County resident and political consultant and top aide to MLG
--Elias Coriz ​(former Rio Arriba County Commissioner)
--Jim Fambro​ (Taos County Commissioner)
--Mark Gallegos​ (Taos County Commissioner, Mayor of Questa)
--Tammy Jaramillo​ (Legislative Aide to Sen. Carlos Cisneros)
--William “Billy” Knight​ (former Chairman of Taos Democratic Party)
--Jennifer Manzanares​ (Deputy Santa Fe County Assessor)
--Candyce O’Donnell​ (Taos County Commissioner)
--Eric Vasquez ​(Government Affairs Consultant; husband of Land Commissioner Garcia Richard)

THE BOTTOM LINES

If you're free at 5 p.m today join T.J.Trout and yours truly on KKOB radio as we look at the latest waves being made in La Politica.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019

Posted by: Joe Monahan / Monday, September 30, 2019



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