Rodolfo Torre slaying puts many spotlight on peso, border security

The recent assassination of popular Mexican gubernatorial candidate Rodolfo Torre has proven the northeast Mexican state of Tamaulipas is not just a flash point in Mexico’s drug war, but of great concern in the ongoing battle for U.S. border security. As outlined by Reuters, Torre – an opposition candidate representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) – was slain along with four of his aides within the border town of Valle Hermoso. The responsible party of 16 hooded gunmen is believed to represent the notorious Los Zetas gang.

Source of article: Rodolfo Torre slaying puts spotlight on peso, border security by Personal Money Store

Rodolfo Terre's killing keeps border security agents and the investors worried

Since it started in 2006, Mexico’s drug war has claimed more than 25,000 lives, when violent gun battles started spilling to the streets, but Rodolfo Torre’s death is allegedly the largest-scale example to date of a drug cartel attempting to influence Mexico’s politics. Tourists are reportedly avoiding Tamaulipas and numerous of the foreign investors have bailed on the peso in large numbers. Reuters says that its recent position at 12.71 per $ 1 U.S. was .46 percent weaker. Televised images of Rodolfo Torre’s body within the media have done nothing to reverse this trend. In addition, local stocks remained flat as news out of the recent G-20 summit point toward an end to fiscal stimulus in the region.

Border security influencing the credit pictures for Mexico

According to the Wall Street Journal, Credit Suisse has had some good things to say about Mexico’s financial condition. Particularly, Credit Suisse praised the nation’s “record or near-record low yields on government debt,” and pointed out to numerous that Mexico’s central bank is enjoying a nice level of inflation that rests within what experts consider to be a comfort zone. The inflation level ranged just lately from 2 to 4 percent recently. Furthermore, Credit Suisse believes that Mexico’s recovering growth is, “as good as it gets.”

Creditors have been given pause by Mexico's ongoing drug war. “The violence problem seems to have worsened notably in 2010, with the number of drug-related killings making new highs, and with organized crime defying the state a lot more openly than ever before,” added Credit Suisse. “We are not certain this is as bad as it gets on the security front, unfortunately.”

Washington is watching closely

The United States is apparently noticing. The death of Rodolfo Torre just a stone’s throw from American soil has the U.S. on alert. Border security against bold drug cartels just a small measure in American politics, from the president’s funding of additional forces to the ongoing immigration debates. While Los Zetas may not represent any of the illegal traffic that crosses the U.S. border, their actions do little to dissuade states like Arizona from abandoning their own bold stance against the dangers of illegal immigration.

Citations:

Reuters

reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN28512369

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100628-709931.html

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Zetas

Rodolfo Torre campaign video (en Español):

youtube.com/watch?v=FqAtnZ6B5BE