5 dead in Reynosa street violence; Hidalgo bridge finally reopens

REYNOSA -- Widespread protests throughout the city turned violent this morning, with reports of several dead and at least one blood-spattered vehicle shot out along a major thoroughfare and nearby neighborhoods on lockdown.

The demonstrations are the third such incident in the past month in Reynosa, but are the first to result in bloodshed.

Mexican Federal Police confirmed that five people were killed in an attack near Plaza Real that broke out about 10 a.m. Tuesday, west of downtown Reynosa. Two civilians and three suspected drug cartel members accounted for those slain.

Four Mexican federal agents were injured in Tuesday morning's attack, which appears to not be related to a massive protest near Reynosa's two international bridges. Federal police awaited instruction from its headquarters in Mexico City on how to proceed with restoring security to the city.

"Right now, we are in the preliminary stages we don't have any final counts on bodies," Pedro Sosa Lopez, regional coordinator for the Tamaulipas State Police, told The Monitor.

Monitor reporters have observed at least one body in the street of a residential neighborhood on the city's southwest side.

Mexican and U.S. authorities shut down the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge about 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday after protesters gathered near the point of entry in Reynosa. The Monitor reports that the bridge reopened by 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Similar reports of bridge shutdowns have occurred at international crossings from Los Indios to Roma.

Mexican authorities are reporting that most of the violence is centered in the city's southwest sector near Plaza Real, where machine gun fire and grenade blasts have been reported, U.S. law enforcement officials said. Information about casualties is not immediately available.

Monitor reporters near the scene said they saw a black SUV in the middle of Boulevard Hidalgo near the H-E-B grocery store that had its windows shot out with blood inside. Authorities continue to investigate and the situation appeared to have calmed at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Mexican military soldiers are patrolling the area with armored vehicles and pointing their weapons at any vehicles that are moving.

Many streets are blocked throughout the city, causing major traffic delays from protesters throughout Reynosa. The H-E-B store and Home Depot at Plaza Real appear to be sheltering bystanders caught amid the street violence.

Parents of students of a nearby primary school are picking up their children while scores of Mexican military and law enforcement personnel attempt to secure the area.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño has sent a mobile substation to the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge along with a dozen additional units to provide support to Hidalgo police officers patrolling the area near the U.S. side of the border crossing.

The Web site for El Mañana, the primary newspaper in Reynosa, appeared to be shut down about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday.

PROTESTS

The protests closed vehicular traffic at international bridges in Pharr, Progreso and Hidalgo earlier this morning.

CBP spokesman Eddie Perez told The Brownsville Herald that at no time were any of the bridges in Brownsville -- including Veterans International, Gateway International and B&M Bridge -- ever closed.

Perez did say The Los Indios International Bridge closed for about an hour this morning, but has since repopened.

In Matamoros, the regional administrator for Mexico's bridges, Sergio Arturo Degadillo Montano, told The Brownsville Herald that there were no protests reported around any of the Matamoros bridges, although there was a peaceful protest the TLC Bridge across from Los Indios.

Traffic also has reopened at the Progreso and Pharr international bridges.

The closures came at 8:45 a.m., when officials learned of protests near both bridges in Reynosa, said Felix Garza, local U.S. Customs and Border Protection Spokesman.

Bridges from Brownsville to Roma have closed throughout the morning due to protests in Mexican border cities across from the Rio Grande Valley, but Garza said he could not confirm whether the bridges have reopened.

The Los Indios International Bridge closed for about an hour this morning, but has since repopened, according to The Brownsville Herald.

Protesters assembled twice before in the past month on Reynosa's international bridges to urge the Mexican government to withdraw the military forces deployed across the city. Alleging abuses by the military and urging an end to an increase in vehicle import fees, they thronged the entrances to both the Hidalgo-Reynosa and the Pharr-Reynosa bridges.

Gonzalo Perez, 55, who drives a bus in Reynosa, said he heard about the protest today and decided to come out and voice his disgust of the Mexican military presence inside the city.

"There is a lot of unfairness from the military," Perez said in Spanish. "They're always coming into the bus trying to find things."

Maria Isabel Rodriguez, 32, held a sign that said Afuera Soldados, or "Out Soldiers!" during the protest Tuesday morning. Rodriguez said she was just running some errands when someone put the sign in her daughter's hands.

"I don't really know what's going on," Rodriguez said during the demonstration. "We are just standing here."

Mexican media are reporting that every major highway in and out of Reynosa has been shut down.

Vehicles are not allowed to cross from the U.S. into Mexico, as well as from Mexico into the United States. Motorists are advised to avoid the area.

The Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge remains open to pedestrian traffic.

Tuesday's closure of the Hidalgo bridge from street demonstrations and violence in Reynosa marks the longest time in recent memory that the crossing has closed, Ramon said. Other border cities such as Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo that have seen heightened border violence have felt negative economic impacts as a result, he said.

"I really think this obviously is going to affect trade and commerce," Ramon said. "I would hope that it's just for today, but history has taught us otherwise."

Monitor reporters Ana Ley, Sean Gaffney, Jared Taylor and Jeremy Roebuck, and La Frontera reporter Martha Leticia Hernandez contributed to this report.

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