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A12 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 16 OctOber 2019
Mexico: Families of slain police angry, AMLO defends policy

By MARK STEVENSON to confront hardened foes
MORELIA, Mexico (AP) — with heavier armament,
Grieving family members of without any support.
the 13 police officers killed González graduated from
in an apparent cartel am- the police academy just
bush gathered outside a nine months earlier; he
funeral home in the Mexi- left behind a 1-year-old
can state of Michoacan on son and a wife who is five
Tuesday, many of them an- months pregnant.
gry at the government and "They asked for help, rein-
police chiefs they believe forcements, and it never
sent their loved ones to a arrived," his brother said, al-
certain death. luding to recordings of des-
"The good ones are here," perate radio calls sent out
said the brother of slain as the convoy came under
officer Marco Antonio intense fire.
González, 20, gesturing at The attackers let loose with
the massive funeral hall. munitions including .50 cali-
"And those responsible for ber sniper rifles and AR-15
this, they are also here," he and AK-47 assault rifles,
said just as the state's po- and at least some were
lice chief and his top brass in armored vehicles, state
got out of cars. The man Police escort a caravan of funeral vehicles transporting the bodies of Mexican police officers prosecutors said. Some of
and other relatives refused killed in an apparent cartel ambush, in Morelia, Mexico, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. the officers' bodies were still
to give their names for fear Associated Press inside patrol trucks when
of reprisals. they were set on fire.
More than 30 suspected President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tues- ties mix with crime." Gonzalez's brother suggest-
cartel gunmen waylaid López Obrador called the day, adding he is "opti- Signs left at the scene of ed there must have been
the police officers in the attack "regrettable" but mistic" that peace can be the attack in the town of El an informant and the offi-
town of El Aguaje on Mon- said he remains committed achieved in the country. Aguaje, Aguililla municipal- cers were set up.
day as they were travel- to his security approach "This is a violent area and ity, were apparently signed "They say this is not going to
ing in a convoy to serve emphasizing underlying we are going to continue by the Jalisco New Genera- go unpunished, when we
a warrant. Nine officers social problems, which he addressing the causes that tion cartel, one of Mexico's know that in this state ev-
were also wounded in the often references as "hugs, create this social decom- most powerful gangs. erything goes unpunished,"
worst attack on Mexican not bullets," in the face of position," the president At the funeral home in the the officer's uncle said.
law enforcement in years, national homicide figures said. "For us it is very impor- state capital, Morelia, rela- El Aguaje is the reputed
in a western state where that have been setting all- tant for there to be well-be- tives of the dead described birthplace of Nemesio
violence blamed on drug time highs. ing, that peace with justice a situation in which rela- "Mencho" Oseguera, lead-
gangs has jumped in re- "We are going to con- can be achieved ... and tively young, new, lightly er of the hyper-violent Jalis-
cent months. tinue with our strategy," also avoiding that authori- armed police were sent in co New Generation.q

7-story building collapses in Brazil; 1 dead, others trapped

By MAURICIO SAVARESE operation is expected to I started coming here," Ro-
Associated Press last days. drigues told journalists.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Witnesses said they saw Rodrigues, who also does
seven-story building col- people in the building jobs at the building, said his
lapsed Tuesday in an up- shortly before it collapsed. father is alive at a local hos-
scale part of the Brazilian Daiane Moreira was work- pital.
city of Fortaleza, killing ing next to the building "Nothing ever changed in
one person and leaving when it collapsed. this building. It is the same
others trapped with some "I just heard a boom and as what I saw when my fa-
communicating with fam- the building came down ther started working here,"
ily members by cellphone at once. A man came out he said.
from under debris, officials drenched in blood and Fortaleza Mayor Roberto
said. with a broken arm; he was Claudio said it was not
Fire department com- the only one we could immediately clear what
mander Cleyton Bezerra help," Moreira told journal- caused the building to col-
said nine people were miss- ists at the scene, as rela- lapse. He promised a "rigor-
ing, though it was unclear Firefighters search for people who are trapped after a building tives and friends of building ous investigation."
collapsed in Fortaleza, Ceara state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 15,
if they were under the rub- 2019. residents wept and waited "The only information we
ble or just unreachable by Associated Press for information. have is that it was an old
relatives and friends. Ten Francineudo Rodrigues building. We don't have
survivors have been found Authorities in the city of 2.6 hear noises in the rubble. criticized the maintenance specific information on li-
along with an unidentified million inhabitants in Brazil's "For now we are trying to of the building where his fa- censes, permissions," Clau-
body. northeast said two trapped hear sounds that indicate ther Francisco has worked dio said.
"It is a difficult situation; people were communicat- where people are. There as a doorman for eight The building is located in
there are parts (of the build- ing with relatives and res- are several layers of de- years. central Fortaleza about 2
ing) that can still collapse," cuers by phone. Rescuers bris," said fire department "I've seen cracks in columns; miles (3 kilometers) south of
said Bezerra, who led the urged people at the site to spokesman Romario Fer- I've seen many problems the Iracema beach, one of
rescue operation. be silent to allow them to nandes. He said the rescue that were not solved since the city's top tourist spots.q