John Burnett/NPR
November 7, 2010
Mexican military forces cornered and killed one of the country's top drug lords, Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, also known as "Tony Tormenta" or "Tony the Storm," on Friday. The hours-long gun battle in Matamoros paralyzed this border city run by the Gulf Cartel.
All day long, people come here to see the nameless, whitewashed storefront where it's believed the Mexican army and navy killed Cardenas Guillen.
The building's facade is demolished by gaping grenade blasts and bullet holes, and the parking lot is littered with broken glass and pools of blood.
"This was black Friday for Matamoros. We'll never, ever forget Nov. 5," says a woman named Rosa, a downtown professional who was afraid to give her last name, as she surveyed the aftermath of the gun battle.
Nearby, a vendor sells fresh coconut to the curious who stroll past.
"We hope that, with this incident, the violence will calm down for a little while," he says. "We hope. Because you know how fast it can return. It's a hydra with 1,000 heads. If you cut one, another grows. But we hope there's a little time before the new one grows. Matamoros needs peace and tranquility. We are so tired."
Embattled residents cowered inside bathrooms and basements for hours while the gunfire and explosions raged around this city of 400,000.
There were frantic messages on Twitter: "It's hot downtown. Stay away!" YouTube is full of homemade videos that show the mayhem.
Across the border in Brownsville, the gunfights prompted police at the University of Texas to cancel classes and move homecoming activities off campus.
The Mexican navy reported on its website that 660 troops from the navy and army took part in the assault, supported by three helicopters.
Locals witnessed pickup trucks full of camouflage-clad troops tearing through the streets, and helicopters firing on convoys of shiny SUVs, carrying gangsters in sneakers and tactical vests. A headline in one local newspaper labeled it "Eight Hours of Hell."
