PA' CERRAR CON BROCHE DE ORO...THE SATURDAY GRAND PARADE

THE PARTY NUMBERS FOR CAMERON COUNTY WRITTEN ON THE POLLS

DEMOCRAT EARLY VOTING: 22,317

REPUBLICAN EARLY VOTING: 8,651

TOTAL EARLY VOTE: 30,878 

Ed.'s Note: If Early Voting usually results in an average of 65 percent of the vote cast in any election, there are another estimated 16,726 votes to be cast on Tuesday, March 3, during Election Day which could determine the winner or runoff candidates in contested elections. 

IT'S A BIG, BEAUTIFUL, WHITE CRIMINAL COVER UP...

ON LAST DAY OF EARLY VOTING, DON'T WASTE YOUR VOTE ON GARZA

  

By Juan Montoya

"A stalking horse candidate is a person put forward in an election to mask the candidacy of another, test public support for a policy, or divide the opposition. Operating as a political decoy, this candidate rarely has a genuine chance of winning but serves to conceal a third party's true intentions until a safer time."

That, boys and girls, in a nutshell, is what the candidacy of former – and failed – Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza is all about.

Garza, whose novice management of the sheriff's department caused the feds to pull out their prisoners from county jails, cost the county $3 million, and the prisoners didn't return until new sheriff Manuel "Manny" Treviño cleaned up the mess the former sheriff left behind. 

When Garza left, he left a demoralized department, numerous lawsuits caused by his rampant mismanagement, and a trail of favoritism that divided the department's personnel. He sued the commissioners court. And veteran law enforcement officers lost all respect for the man in charge. 

Garza lost to his successor Treviño – no relation to Eddie Treviño, the incumbent county judge – during the Democratic primary in 2024, and then, in the November general election, hosted Republican nominee Jimmy Manrrique at department events and endorsed him in social media despite having run for the Democratic Party nomination.

Then, all of a sudden, he reappeared this year and filed to run as the third candidate for Cameron

County judge as a Democrat after Brownsville Navigation District  chair Steve Guerra announced. Reports by eyewitnesses indicate that both men were seen conversing at a local eatery prior to Garza making his announcement. Garza is a de facto stalking horse to cover for Guerra and get him into a runoff with incumbent Treviño. 

Documentation published by the U.S. Treasury and Mexican federal investigators indicate that Guerra owned a fuel company (Warrior Fuel Traders LLC)  which was doing extensive business with a Mexican fuel supplier Pyrodiesel Del Cento SA de CV, named by the Federal Criminal Intelligence Center of Mexico as a principal in the smuggling of fuel products into Mexico. 

That relationship came to light only after Guerra was sued by a Navasota, Texas-based fuel supplier for more than $300,000 in unpaid fuel. 

A U.S. advisory in May called huachicol schemes “the most significant non-drug illicit revenue source” for Mexico's cartels, which have become a prominent Trump administration target. But the cartels often rely on affiliated individuals and firms—including along the Texas border—to pull them off."

If by chance Garza should get the nod as the Democratic nominee for the general election, he would be in charge of determining the sheriff department's budget over sheriff Treviño, clearly an untenable situation. Ditto for getting along with the other commissioners on the court, who he sued.

"Voters should remember that Garza is a candidate running to be the Democratic Party nominee for the November general election against the Republican party candidate," said a longtime Democrat. "After he lost the primary to Treviño, he supported his Republican opponent Manrrique openly. He was a Democrat only when it suited him. 

"Good Democrats should bear that in mind when they vote either in the early voting or on election day March 3. A vote for Garza means you're voting to give Guerra a chance to get into a runoff with Eddie Treviño. It's really a wasted vote."

IT TOOK A WHILE, BUT IT'S UNARGUABLE: TEXAS IS TURNING BLUE

Which begs the question, "Since you're a minority, do you hate yourself?"

Team Gina

Republicans are scared about this election, and Greg Abbott just proved it.

Ten Republicans are on the ballot against him, and Abbott’s campaign has spent nearly $4 million dollars on ads for the primary.

That’s not something someone who’s confident in winning this election would do. He’s worried about Republicans losing this November.

Abbott is trying to change the subject because he doesn’t want the focus on what his failed leadership has actually done for Texans. Higher costs, shuttered schools, increasing cost of living, and unaffordable property taxes.

Abbott has over $105 million in the bank, and he’s already spending big to drown us out. The only way we can counter this is with people-powered pressure and unstoppable momentum.

This past week, Trump took to social media to give his “complete and total endorsement” to  Abbott.

If there were ever any doubts about what this race represents, that should make it crystal clear.

Abbott isn’t running to fix what’s broken in Texas. He’s running to keep the same status quo locked in place that protects his billionaire donors. The one that’s skyrocketed health care premiums, attacked our neighborhood schools, and left working families twisting in the wind while politicians line their pockets and find even more ways to take from hardworking Texans.

Trump’s endorsement isn’t about making this great state better for working people. It’s about keeping the same broken politics Abbott has relied on for decades.

Meanwhile, Texans across our state are asking for something simple: a governor who cares. Leadership that listens to them, not big money.

We’re running a campaign grounded in Texans’ real priorities. I don’t take corporate cash because I’m not here to score points or be the puppet that carries out the whims of billionaire donors. I’m here to fight for working people, and build our movement the Texas way: county by county, block by block, powered by teachers, nurses, small business owners, parents, and every other Texan who’s ready for something better.

The choice is clear: more of the same corrupt, billionaire-backed politics that’s left too many Texans behind, or new leadership that is rooted in accountability, integrity, and delivering real results for working families.

But let’s be real. When a sitting president throws his weight behind an incumbent, the money starts flowing. With Trump’s backing, Abbott’s already massive $106 million war chest will only grow stronger.

That means we have to fight even harder to make every grassroots dollar count. Can you pitch in $5 today to show Abbott and Trump that Texans can’t be bought, and help us win this race?

Donate $5 »

We can’t afford another four years of a governor who’s in Trump’s pocket and will prioritize his agenda over the challenges facing working people in Texas. It’s time to take back our state.

GET UP. STAND UP. STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS...JAH!

 

WELCOME TO THE SPORTSMAN, YOUR CHARRO DAYS HEADQUARTERS!

S. TEXAS DOCTORS AGREE TO PAY $5 MILLION TO SETTLE FALSE CLAIMS

U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Six South Texas doctors and their respective practices have agreed to pay $4,855,844 to resolve allegations they submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE that were not rendered or not medically necessary, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Drs. Javier Cabello, 47, San Benito, Ammar Halloum, 52, Brownsville, Jamil Madi, 54, Olmito, Jairo Rodriguez, 62, Rancho Viejo, Ricardo Schwarcz, 57, Weslaco, and Stanley Sy, 55, Pharr, owned and operated Benchmark Inpatient Services PLLC dba Beyond Inpatient Services in Harlingen. Rodriguez also owned and operated Brownsville Pulmonary Center, P.A. dba Benchmark Pulmonary Center, Brownsville.

From Jan. 1, 2020, to May 31, 2023, BIS, BPC, and its owners allegedly submitted claims for critical care, while BPC and Rodriguez also allegedly submitted claims for pulmonary function testing. Patients’ medical records allegedly did not support this care and testing, or the care was not rendered at all.

Critical care billing requires complex decision-making and at least 30 minutes of treatment for a critically ill or injured patient. BIS providers instead billed critical care for stable patients, unnecessary follow-up visits, or services they never performed, according to the allegations.

PFT services include various tests that demonstrate how well the lungs function. When medically necessary, PFT services either diagnose and evaluate new respiratory symptoms or assess a patient’s current therapeutic respiratory interventions. Medicare does not reimburse for routine PFT services. For Medicare to reimburse for medically necessary PFT services, providers must describe the indications and presentments for the order for testing in the patient’s medical record. BPC and Rodriguez instead allegedly billed PFT services for unnecessary routine testing or services they never performed.

As a result, Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE either paid significantly more for critical care claims or for PFT claims that should never have even been made to the government programs.

“This outcome emphasizes the Southern District of Texas’s commitment to vigorously investigate and disrupt civil health care fraud, wherever it may be,” said Ganjei. “Our country’s most vulnerable deserve care based on their medical need, not on a doctor’s unscrupulous desire to line their own pockets. Medical professionals have a solemn obligation to heal the sick and infirm, not to bilk the American taxpayer.”

“We remain steadfast in our mission to protect patients and safeguard federal health care programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Jason E. Meadows of the Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General. “This settlement underscores our commitment to holding providers accountable when they submit claims for services that are not medically necessary or not actually provided. We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure that taxpayer-funded programs are protected from fraud and abuse.”

“Fraud against the government will not be tolerated,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Alex Doran of the FBI San Antonio Field Office. “Submitting false claims to federal health care programs during a national emergency such as the COVID 19 pandemic steals from taxpayers and exploits vulnerable patients. The FBI, together with its federal and state partners, will hold accountable anyone who seeks to profit by defrauding the United States.”

The settlement stems from a qui tam or whistleblower complaint filed under the False Claims Act which permits a private party to file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery.

DHHS-OIG and FBI conducted the investigation with assistance from Defense Criminal Investigative Service and Texas Attorney General’s Office – Civil Medicaid Fraud Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura E. Collins handled the matter.

YOU'RE MY BLUE SKY, YOU'RE MY SUNNY DAY....

FEELING BLUE YET, DONNY?

Y SI ADELITA FUERA MI NOVIA....

REMEMBER WHEN "GAY" MEANT HAPPY? THURSDAY EVENTS SCHEDULE

• Brownsville Independent School District Children’s Charro Days Parade
  Free admission
  Features folkloric dances, Mexican music, colorful costumes, floats, and bands.
  East Elizabeth St.
  For more information, call (956) 548-8000 
• Thursday, February 26, 2026, at 2:30 p.m.
• (Tow away from Elizabeth Street at 12:30 p.m.)

• Noche Mexicana (Sponsored by the Begum Law Group)
  Admission $40 per person
  Featuring The Latin Breed and Mariachi 7 Leguas
  Texas Southmost College at Jacob Brown Auditorium
  Dinner and Folkloric dances
• Thursday, February 26, 2026, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

INSIDE THE BEAST: IF IT WALKS LIKE A DUCK, QUACKS LIKE A DUCK...IT'S NOT WADDLING ANYMORE. IT'S ALREADY HERE

Special to El Rrun-Rrun
U.S. Dept. of Justice

A cursory glance at social media regarding the race for the Democratic party nomination for Cameron County Judge reveals numerous memes generated against incumbent Eddie Treviño by supporters of his main challenger, current Brownsville Navigation District chairman Steve Guerra.

Former Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza is the other contender in the Democratic Party primary ballot.

Some of the cartoon creations charge a rattish-looking Treviño with selling Boca Chica Beach to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who is pictured holding him on a leash, holding on to bags of cash, and also of receiving money from the CDG (the Gulf Cartel). 

These are no amateurishly concocted creations, but pointed – and without confirmation – allegations. The goal, it would appear, is that if you hurl enough mud, something, anything, may stick.

But there is also something deeply disturbing that reminds one of the Q-Anon conspiracy where Trump MAGA supporters alleged that the Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, were operating a massive pedophile worldwide ring from a pizza restaurant in San Francisco that diverted public attention away from the real Jefferey Epstein pedophile ring associated with Trump and wealthy men of both parties. 

In other words, hinting that Musk and the cartel were paying off Treviño diverts attention from their candidate Guerra and his association with alleged cartel operatives. Treviño was but one of half a dozen politicians who unknowingly received contributions in Hidalgo and Cameron counties from a drug dealer, but all returned then once the contributor's identity was revealed. A slim hook, indeed.

 But some of the links between Guerra and the CDG and Juan N. Guerra have been confirmed as facts. Juan N., for example, founded the Gulf Cartel and ran it for 50 years and was Steve Guerra's grandfather, who has publicly acknowledged his familial ties. Juan N. was also the uncle of Juan Garcia Abrego, the successor of Juan N. as head of the cartel and who expanded the bootlegger beginnings and developed the organization into a drug cartel dedicated to the smuggling of cocaine and other drugs.

Juan N. died in 2001 and Garcia Abrego is currently serving 11 life sentences in a U.S. jail for his drug trafficking. (In the photo, Juan N. is wearing the white hat and Abrego Garcia is standing holding a cup.)

On the streets, the scuttlebutt is that the Cartel del Golfo manages the Port of Brownsville as a massive money laundering operation and point to Steve Guerra as the point man for the group on the U.S. side of the border. 

The Guerra family, the story goes, is the treasury arm of the Cartel and as such, delegate their power to other members of their extended family such as the Garcia, Cardenas, Guillen, and Salinas as fronts of the organization, which the public and media labels them "Capos" or ""Cartel Bosses." But they claim that this is mostly ceremonial for the Guerra family uses the cartel profits to payoff Mexican and American politicians, judges, and law enforcement to avoid any consequences whenever one of the their fronts become convicted.

Incidentally, Steve Guerra is also the cousin of Sandra Guerra, who was charged in a  federal indictment in the "Transmigrante" scandal at Los Indios Bridge with conspiracy to fix prices and allocate the market, conspiracy to monopolize, conspiracy to interfere with commerce by extortion, and international money laundering. It has been reported that she has reached a plea bargain deal with federal prosecutors. One of the conspirators - Carlos Martinez, of Mission - was  sentenced to 11 years in a federal prison for his conviction in the case.

Meanwhile, Steve Guerra, the story goes, uses his administrative power to grant contracts to his extended family and Mexican allies such as Transportes Guerra, Grupo Salinas, and other Mexican trucking companies. Of course all of this is within the excuse of United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (NAFTA light).

There are also allegations that port commissioners Tito Lopez and the Ernesto Gutierrez family have established a monopoly on the dock cargo. As other readers of this blog have commented, if you lease a property on the port but you don't pay your dues you will be eventually forced out. Just ask Beto Torres, who dared to run against Gutierrez, much to the displeasure of Guerra, who feigned supporting Torres while promoting Gutierrez. https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2026/02/at-port-of-brownsville-did-chairman.html

The Port Administration hires staff with close ties to Matamoros, most are dual citizens. These people view this arrangement as a normal way-of-life so they don't question it. A commenter to this blog stated that:

"Guerra talks about transparency. So let him explain why he, Port Director William Dietrich, and Gomez fired the Director of Engineering, Maintenance, HR, and the Deputy Director, who claims she retired but was actually fired. 

"Everyone knows that the port is Guerra's monopoly, but the problem is that if anyone speaks up, they lose their job and are even threatened. Only corrupt people use those tactics. Now he's pretending to be an angel and claiming to have done wonderful things. Como dice un dicho quieres saber quién es la persona. Empieza por su familia y te darás cuenta (Puro CDG)."

And: "The Guerra family and Gulf Cartel are doing to South Texas what they did to Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and Veracruz after the fall of Garcia-Abrego. The Gulf Cartel and the Guerras infiltrated the local PRI party and became the politicians themselves which enabled Osiel Cardenas-Guillen to maintain power for so long."

A former law enforcement employee at the port wrote that "a lot of money is being made in the Port of Brownsville, but most of it is going south to Mexico. If the Port of Brownsville were to hire Texas companies this region would indeed flourish and be richer than south of San Antonio. But the Matamoros families do not let it happen. The Guerra family has not only infiltrated the Mexican side of the city, state, and federal governments, but are now entrenching themselves on the U.S. side with the Guerra candidacy for the county judgeship in tandem with Gutierrez at the port and Pedro Cardenas as a city commissioner." 

Another commenter said: 

Steve Guerra has all the Port of Brownsville. William Dietrich was married to Alejandra Rodriguez Guerra, and is related to Jose Luis Rodriguez Guerra. Grupo GRN, his cousin. Also, Arturo Gomez currently employed at the Port of Brownsville as “Deputy Port Director of Operations” was a formal PRI administrator who is friend of Jose de Jesus Tapia Fernandez former PRI representative indicted as a transmigrante price fixer and huachicol operative for the Gulf Cartel.

Guillermo Rico, also another PRI rat who continued communication with the "Grupo Mafre" and also Ernesto Gutierrez "el pajarito" is related to Oscar Luebbert. This (sic) are only a few that operate at the Port of Brownsville. Puros juniors!!

"What's crazy is the Coast Guard and Customs are right there and they don't do anything about it," the former investigator commented. "If a former local cop came to know this this they must know, too. But, hopefully the people of Cameron County learn the history of their politicians before they get them elected.

"Well, these have been the words of a retired 30+ year detective who was entrenched in this mess, but became disillusioned when their superiors turned a blind eye. I no longer live on the region but do get whispers here and there. I bid farewell to the hardworking people of Cameron County."

HE'S GOT THE BEST WINDOW SEAT IN THE WORLD...

ATTORNEY KATYAL, SON OF IMMIGRANTS, DERAILED TRUMP TARIFFS

By Walter Einenkel

Daily Kos Staff

Neal Katyal, the attorney who successfully challenged the legality of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies before the Supreme Court, spoke with CNBC Monday morning about the victory. While he took the metaphorical high road in describing the case, he couldn’t resist a subtle poke at the famously thin-skinned president.

“The Supreme Court is the crown jewels in our democracy,” Katyal said. “It's so amazing to think what

happened on Friday can happen, that I, you know, I'm the son of immigrants, and I can walk into court and say the highest person of the land — the president —got something wrong and to do it not in some rinky-dink traffic court but in that highest court of the land, and to win,” he added, twisting the metaphorical knife ever so slightly. “That is something remarkable about this country.”

Katyal, a self-described "extremist centrist," has not shied away from the Trump administration’s attempt to justify its ill-conceived tariff policy, calling it "gravely illegal" and "fundamentally un-American.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump’s unconstitutional tariffs inspired the president to ramble through an unhinged press conference in which he lied about the success of his trade wars, threatened other countries with economic destruction, and accused the Supreme Court of bias against him.

Being reminded that immigrant stories are foundational to American excellence isn’t likely to soothe Trump’s never-ending sense of aggrievement.

GUERRA'S TIES TO CARTELS' HUACHICOL REVEALED: TEAM GUERRA VANDALIZES SIGNS

 

An offending campaign sign showing Steve Guerra's ties to Mexican cartels' huachicol smuggling of illegal fuel and his team's response: tear down the  signs.

By Juan Montoya

After months of denying any link between him and the illegal importation of petroleum products into Mexico, documentation from the Mexican government, the Texas secretary of State, and district court records have  linked Brownsville Navigation District chairman Steve Guerra directly to shipments between his Warrior Fuel Traders Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) and Pyrodiesel Del Cento SA de CV, named by the Federal Criminal Intelligence Center of Mexico as a principal in the smuggling of fuel by the Mexican cartels.

Guerra was first elected to the BND board in 2018 and appointed chair in 2022. He was reappointed to the position in May 2024. He is currently a candidate for Cameron County Judge in the Democratic Party primary.

These revelations were first published in Frankie Olivo's Facebook post https://www.facebook.com/FrankieOlivo10/posts/this-is-how-steve-guerra-is-linked-to-huachicol-he-was-buying-diesel-in-the-us-a/1221688939939605/ outlining a debt of Guerra's LLC to non-payment to Key Performance Petroleum Company of Navasota, Texas.

In that lawsuit, Key Performance president Mark Jackson filed an affidavit October 26, 2022 in support of his company's lawsuit demanding payment of an outstanding balance of $333,484.47 and attached copies of 24 invoices totaling shipments of diesel and other petroleum products they had shipped at Warrior Fuel Traders' request over a two-month period in 2020 that had not been paid. Guerra was served the next day, October 27.

In Cause No: 2022-DCL-5154-I plaintiff Key Performance lists a systematic record of transactions that make up the outstanding balance of Warrior Fuel Traders, LLC.

Government investigations revealed that Warrior Fuel Traders/Steve Guerra was in direct business with Pyrodiesel Del Cento SA de CV. Pyrodiesel has been named as a principal in fuel smuggling activities (huachicol) of petroleum by the Federal Criminal Intelligence Center of Mexico. https://es-us.noticias.yahoo.com/huachicoleros-controlaban-puertos-pa%C3%ADs-060000638.html

Invoices to Warrior Fuel Traders from Key Performance indicate the diesel and petroleum products were shipped through Eagle Pass, Texas and delivered to Pyrodiesel. The Warrior Fuel Traders LLC was registered with the Texas Secretary Of State April 13, 2020 and its certification was forfeited June 24, 2022.

"The identification of the modus operandi: First modus operandi, the fuel is purchased in the United States and then imported into Mexico, where it is sold to various companies. These companies are responsible for distributing it through marketing and transportation companies, selling the fuel at a lower price than the one established in the national market.

"To this end, they use cloned gasoline and diesel import declarations to simulate the legal origin of the hydrocarbons, allowing them to legitimize the multiple sales they make," the Federal Center for Criminal Intelligence (FGR) analysis details.

EPSTEIN FILES: JUST ABOUT EVERYONE IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

 

SUPREME COURT: HOW TO DISARM A LOOSE CANNON....

TRUMP ASKS WHEN HE CAN KILL OLYMPIANS WHO LOST...

La Cebolla

WASHINGTON—Declaring that athletes who had disgraced their country with a poor performance needed to be dealt with in the harshest manner possible, President Donald Trump asked advisors Tuesday when he would get to kill members of Team USA who lost at the Olympics. 

“If they’re not standing on that podium, they’re traitors who should be executed, so when exactly do I get to do that?” said Trump, wondering whether athletes who failed to medal would be strangled to death upon their return to the United States, discreetly poisoned at the Olympic Village, or just shot through the head the moment they fell during their short program or allowed a puck to get past them for a game-deciding goal. 

“And even if we spare athletes who won the silver or bronze, they should probably have a limb sawed off for coming up short. Can we do that right when they get their final scores on TV?” 

Trump added that even a gold medalist should be killed if they ever criticized him and that their deaths should be much slower than all the others.

ABBOTT AND THE REPUBLICANS HEARING FOOTSTEPS...

Team Gina

Everywhere we look, we see the consequences of Greg Abbott’s leadership:

Neighborhood schools are closing

Health care costs are skyrocketing while Texas ranks near the bottom in access to affordable, quality care

Property taxes are unaffordable and getting worse

People are struggling to afford the basics

That’s why I’m running for Governor. Because Texans deserve better.

But I know this race won’t be easy. Our opponent has more than $100 million in his campaign account — and he’ll spend whatever it takes to try to bring us down. Republicans are on HIGH ALERT after the latest poll showing only three points between me and Abbott. They are getting ready to spend BIG against us.

It takes real courage to meet this moment and fight for a better future for our state. And if I’ve learned anything during my career, it’s that courage is contagious. That is the secret to beating right-wing billionaires and special interests — it’s our courage to never back down, even when we’re up against fierce opposition.

I need your support now more than ever. Let’s prove we’re in this race to win it.

CHARRO DAYS WEEK IS HERE! WHO'D WANNA BE ANYWHERE ELSE?

Fire and Ice

By Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction 

Ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

DO WE EVEN NEED TO COMMENT ON THE GRAPHICS BELOW?

HALFWAY THROUGH EARLY VOTING, 14,569 VOTES HAVE BEEN CAST: 10,834 FOR DEMOCRATS, 3,735 FOR REPUBLICANS

Haven't voted early yet? Some are open Sunday. Click on link to find your nearest polling site below: 

 https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2026/02/no-excuse-not-to-vote-in-early-voting.html

AIN'T BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, MORE LIKE PLATON AT THE 9-11

(Ed.'s Note: We were pleasantly surprised when we stopped into the 9-11 Cafe at 1043 E. Washington to partake of their delicious nopales con huevo a la mexicana con dos tiritas de tocino con torillas de maiz hechas a mano when these two gents showed up and started playing traditional norteño music table to table. They worked themselves through a couple of tunes and passed the yellow cup for voluntary donations.

Aside from a dollar or two, they were also asked for their business cards for future events like birthdays, or other family events. The grouch next to us quipped that he'd rather pay them not to play, but he pitched in a dollar bill anyway. They then made their way down the road to the next downtown restaurant.

On any given day in downtown Brownsville, these troubadours ply their songs for restaurant patrons, or like below, someone hires them to play right on the sidewalk. You can give, or just ignore them. Oh, by the way, the portions at the 9-11 were generous, the hand-made corn tortillas delicious and the salsa verde is killer.)

2026 EARLY VOTING TURNOUT ALMOST DOUBLE THAT OF 2022

 

AND REPUBLICAN TURNOUT

4 DAYS EARLY VOTE 2026 PRIMARY TURNOUT COMBINED: 9,303(D)+ 3,290(R) = 12,599

4 DAYS EARLY VOTE 2022 PRIMARY TURNOUT COMBINED: 4,865(D)+1,985(R) = 6,850

A VOTE FOR "STALKING HORSE" ERIC GARZA IS A WASTED VOTE

By Juan Montoya

"A stalking horse candidate is a person put forward in an election to mask the candidacy of another, test public support for a policy, or divide the opposition. Operating as a political decoy, this candidate rarely has a genuine chance of winning but serves to conceal a third party's true intentions until a safer time."

That, boys and girls, in a nutshell, is what the candidacy of former – and failed – Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza is all about.

Garza, whose novice management of the sheriff's department caused the feds to pull out their prisoners from county jails, cost the county $3 million, and the prisoners didn't return until new sheriff Manuel "Manny" Treviño cleaned up the mess the former sheriff left behind. 

When Garza left, he left a demoralized department, numerous lawsuits caused by his rampant mismanagement, and a trail of favoritism that divided the department's personnel. He sued the commissioners court. And veteran law enforcement officers lost all respect for the man in charge. 

Garza lost to his successor Treviño – no relation to Eddie Treviño, the incumbent county judge – during the Democratic primary in 2024, and then, in the November general election, hosted Republican nominee Jimmy Manrrique at department events and endorsed him in social media despite having run for the Democratic Party nomination.

Then, all of a sudden, he reappeared this year and filed to run as the third candidate for Cameron

County judge as a Democrat after Brownsville Navigation District  chair Steve Guerra announced. Reports by eyewitnesses indicate that both men were seen conversing at a local eatery prior to Garza making his announcement. Garza is a de facto stalking horse to cover for Guerra and get him into a runoff with incumbent Treviño. 

Documentation published by the U.S. Treasury and Mexican federal investigators indicate that Guerra owned a fuel company (Warrior Fuel Traders LLC)  which was doing extensive business with a Mexican fuel supplier Pyrodiesel Del Cento SA de CV, named by the Federal Criminal Intelligence Center of Mexico as a principal in the smuggling of fuel products into Mexico. 

That relationship came to light only after Guerra was sued by a Navasota, Texas-based fuel supplier for more than $300,000 in unpaid fuel. 

A U.S. advisory in May called huachicol schemes “the most significant non-drug illicit revenue source” for Mexico's cartels, which have become a prominent Trump administration target. But the cartels often rely on affiliated individuals and firms—including along the Texas border—to pull them off."

If by chance Garza should get the nod as the Democratic nominee for the general election, he would be in charge of determining the sheriff department's budget over sheriff Treviño, clearly an untenable situation. Ditto for getting along with the other commissioners on the court, who he sued.

"Voters should remember that Garza is a candidate running to be the Democratic Party nominee for the November general election against the Republican party candidate," said a longtime Democrat. "After he lost the primary to Treviño, he supported his Republican opponent Manrrique openly. He was a Democrat only when it suited him. 

"Good Democrats should bear that in mind when they vote either in the early voting or on election day March 3. A vote for Garza means you're voting to give Guerra a chance to get into a runoff with Eddie Treviño. It's really a wasted vote."

IS THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE NOW THE TRUMP FAN CLUB?

Carl Hamblin 

(Edgar Lee Masters, The Spoon River Anthology)

The press of the Spoon River Clarion was wrecked,

And I was tarred and feathered,

For publishing this on the day the

Anarchists were hanged in Chicago:

"l saw a beautiful woman with bandaged eyes

Standing on the steps of a marble temple.

Great multitudes passed in front of her,

Lifting their faces to her imploringly.

In her left hand she held a sword.

She was brandishing the sword,

Sometimes striking a child, again a laborer,

Again a slinking woman, again a lunatic.

In her right hand she held a scale;

Into the scale pieces of gold were tossed

By those who dodged the strokes of the sword.

A man in a black gown read from a manuscript:

"She is no respecter of persons."

Then a youth wearing a red cap

Leaped to her side and snatched away the bandage.

And lo, the lashes had been eaten away

From the oozy eye-lids;

The eye-balls were seared with a milky mucus;

The madness of a dying soul

Was written on her face--

But the multitude saw why she wore the bandage."

WE'RE NOT KIDDING ABOUT GETTING YOU TO VOTE FOR BARBIE!

(Ed.'s Note: We kid you not. Cameron County Pct. 2 Commissioner Republican candidate Barbie Lopez and Ken (her goat) made their cameo at the City of Brownsville Main Library campaigning for the GOP faithful vote. The goat generally drew chuckles and positive comments for her owner. Hopefully, that will translate into votes.)