The shootout at Rio Bravo

Houston Chronicle:

Mexican soldiers killed at least three suspected gangland gunmen in a shootout Monday in the border town of Rio Bravo, across the Rio Grande near the South Texas town of Weslaco.

The shootout, which erupted on a highway on the edge of the town about noon, also left three federal agents and five soldiers wounded, a Mexican government source said. An unknown number of other gunmen were reported captured after hundreds of Mexican troops and police swarmed into the town.

Several thousand troops and federal police were dispatched to Rio Bravo and the nearby city of Reynosa five weeks ago following the daytime slayings of six men on a downtown street. The dead included Juan Guajardo, a twice-elected former Rio Bravo mayor and federal legislator, and four federal agents acting as his bodyguards.

Guajardo, 49, had lost a bid to reclaim city hall in November elections, following a campaign in which he accused local politicians of protecting drug traffickers and other criminals.

Details of Monday's shooting remain vague, with the press offices of the Mexican Defense Department, Attorney General's Office and the Public Security Ministry, which controls the federal police, all promising information that was never released. But one spokesman, on condition of anonymity, confirmed the deaths and injuries.

Federal agents also prevented local reporters from accessing the scene of Monday's shooting, reportedly roughing up a few photographers and threatening others with arrest.

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The Valley Morning Star had more details on the shootout.

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By Monday night, Mexican officials released the names of 10 suspects who had been arrested, including three U.S. citizens: Esteban Valdez de los Santos of Texas, and Ricardo Zamora Lopez and Jose Raul Gonzalez Sanchez, both of Detroit.

Authorities said they had seized 40 weapons and related equipment, including AK-47s and AR-15s, as well as three vehicles: a white 2005 Chevy Suburban, blue 2001 GMC Yukon and 1995 maroon Dodge Neon.

Witnesses, who asked that their names not be used because they feared retaliation from the gunmen not arrested, say suspected cartel members stormed homes for refuge and soldiers took up positions on street corners.

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Rio Bravo is a storied place. Howard Hawks did a western movie with the town's name as the title in 1959. John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson were among the stars in the movie. What is interesting about the "stars" of the latest drama there is how many heavily armed Americans were involved. Rio Bravo has become another turf battle on the border by the drug insurgents and their American organized crime allies.