HAS MR. AMIGO ASS. BECOME AN EXTORTION MACHINE?

By Juan Montoya

What started out as whispered concerns among some Mr. Amigo Association members that tribute money had been paid to Matamoros hoodlums to keep them from kidnapping their annual choice for Mr. Amigo during Charro Days and Fiestas Mexicanas in our neighbor city has now become a matter of public knowledge.

The organization, which prides itself in inviting a prominent Mexican citizen who has demonstrated a willingness to unite the people of both countries, is now said to have broken its policies of not paying the invitees, is said to have shelled out $16,000 of MAA  funds to get Pedrito Fernandez to come  to the bi-national celebration.

And now people close to the executive committee say that the organization has paid tribute money to the Matamoros "maña" to keep them from kidnapping this year's Mr Amigo, Arturo Elias Ayub. 

This lends credence to the reports in social media that in 2013, Mr. Amigo Eduardo Yanez was kidnapped by that hoodlum group and taken by the group to perform for the wife of one of their chieftains when he should have been in the parade route escorted by MAA officers .

Yanez, famous for his Mexican Soap Operas and his dilemmas in and out of court rooms with his ex-wife actress Francesca Cruz, was reported to have been kidnapped at gunpoint in Matamoros  just as the Charros Days festivities where coming to an end.

A report on social media (Papers and Trash) stated that on March 2, at about 3:20 p.m. Eduardo Yanez was kidnapped at gunpoint amidst a fiery display of gun shots and eyewitness then exclaimed he was taken away from the Jeep where he was traveling by a commando of 3 heavily armed SUV and seven to 12 men heavily armed and wearing masks.

In the picture above, no one knew who the driver was.

What is known is that right before the end of the parade they got into the driver's seat, climbed on and took Yanez to an undisclosed location. Cries of a kidnap was all over the news. For 3 hours no one knew of the whereabouts.

His family stated in the Televisa Website that they hope this was a hoax because when they called the actor, his cell phone goes directly to voice mail. Matamoros Chief of Police, Miguel Aleman was been in contact Brownsville mayor Tony Martinez and tried to contact the kidnappers to deliver the actor safely to his family. A ransom was said to have been paid by the MAA.

Now rumors have circulated widely that a preemptive tribute to this criminal gang was arranged to prevent the same thing from happening to Ayub.

But that never happened because Ayub left the  city in his private jet to attend the Mexico Tennis Cup in Acapulco with his wife and billionaire father- in-law Carlos Slim and never participated in the cities' international parades.

The Charro Day parade and festival unites the Cities of Brownsville and Matamoros annually from the week of February 28 through March 12 and it includes the voting and selection of a famed Mexican personality - usually an actor or artist - to participate in the parades and concerts and ultimately, cross the International Bridge to Mexico to exchange a warm handshake with Matamoros mayor followed by another parade and showcase in that town.

The choice of Ayub for Mr. Amigo was roundly criticized by local residents to begin with. His snubbing of the parade goers only added fuel to the fire.

The group has the support of the city of Brownsville which provides the venues (Events Center), police security and escorts, free of charge to the MAA.

But in the past few years, criminal mobs have overtaken that Matamoros as Reynosa and the rest of their county that has led to heavily armed surveillance by the Mexican Marines and Federales that  battle the gangs on the highways and city streets.

Has the Mr. Amigo allowed their organization to become  an extortion well for gangs of Matamoros criminals? Or is there something else working here?