MEXICAN DRUG WARS TOUCH HOME

By Juan Montoya

Just minutes after the world learned that Rodolfo Torre was gunned down outside of Victoria, Tamaulipas, we found out that local political mover and shaker Juan Carlos Torre – and owner of Cariño Adult Day Care – was his cousin.
Rodolfo Torre, as the Partido Revolucionario Institucional's (PRI) candidate, was virtually assured to be the next governor of the neighboring state to the south of the Rio Grande. His death means that the PRI's governing board will probably appoint his successor after the election this Sunday (July 4).
"My mother was going to vote for him on Sunday," said Alejandra, a dejected waiter at a downtown Brownsville restaurant. "Everyone at the colonia was going to support him."
The Notimex news agency reported that Torre was gunned down outside of Soto La Marina – about 40 miles east of Ciudad Victoria and about three hours south of Brownsville – as he headed toward the Victoria, Tamps., airport for a campaign appreance in Valle Hermoso.
In Brownsville, his cousin Juan Carlos Torre is known as an entrepreneur who delves into local politics and has been known to use the access to his elderly charges to leverage political clout from candidates for public office.
However, insiders say that the gunning down of his cousin was not a random act committed by unknown assailants. They say that the deceased's older brother was a linchpin within the Mexican government's thrust to eradicate the armed resistance to the military forces sent to wipe drug gangs like the Zetas and the diverse cartels vying for control of the border corridors.
"The dead man's brother is one of the major figures in the government whose mission is to wipe out the Zetas and the armed groups of the cartels," said a source knowledgeable in issues inside of Mexico and on the north side of the river. "This was a message sent to the government that these people mean business."
Adding to the woes of the adult-day-care owner was the news that a younger brother who was awaiting a lung transplant died today when a donor did not appear in time.
A close friend to Juan Carlos said that the death of his cousin, and then of his younger brother, were taking a toll on him.
"Everything just kind of bunched up on him and the family," he said. "I wouldn't wish this on anyone, no matter what. Politics means nothing right now."