San Fernando, Tamaulipas

San Fernando Municipality
Municipio de San Fernando
Municipality
Founded March 19, 1749
Government
 • Presidente Municipal José Rios Silva
Area
 • Total 6,091.36 km2 (2,351.89 sq mi)
Elevation 40 m (130 ft)
Population (2010 census)
 • Total 57,220
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CST (UTC-5)
Codigo Postal 87600
Area code(s) 841
Website http://www.sanfernando.gob.mx/
San Fernando
San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

San Fernando is a municipality and city located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is about 85 miles (137 km) away from Brownsville, Texas.[1] The municipality has a population of 57,220, while the city itself has a population of 29,665.

Cherokee syllabary founder Sequoyah fell ill and died here in August 1843 while searching for a band of tribal members who migrated to Mexico prior to the American Revolution. [2] His resting place is in Zaragoza, but its exact location is unknown.

Massacres

San Fernando, Tamaulipas is notorious for experiencing two of the largest recorded massacres of the Mexican Drug War. The first massacre, known as the 2010 San Fernando massacre, occurred following a gunfight in the state of Tamaulipas between drug cartel gunmen and Mexican authorities, in which three gunmen and a marine were killed.[3] After the authorities patrolled the nearby area, they found a horrifying surprise—72 bodies were found in a remote ranch in the state of Tamaulipas.[4] It was "the biggest single discovery of its kind" in the ongoing drug war.[3] The 58 men and 14 women were believed to be undocumented migrants from South and Central America trying to cross the border to the United States.[5] A surviving migrant claims that the migrants were kidnapped by the Los Zetas cartel and killed for refusing to do work for them.[6] Twenty one rifles, 101 ammunition clips, four bullet-proof vests, camouflage uniforms and four vehicles were seized by officials.[7] The bodies were found in a room, some of which were piled up on top of each other.[5]

The second massacre, the 2011 San Fernando massacre, was after Mexican authorities exhumed more than 40 mass graves, leaving the final body count to 193 corpses.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Schiller, Dane. "Zeta captives have to fight or die." Houston Chronicle at the San Antonio Express-News. Updated Wednesday June 15, 2011. Retrieved on January 4, 2012.
  2. ↑
  3. 1 2 Robin Emmott; Patrick Rucker; Miguel Angel Gutierrez (25 August 2010). "Drug hitmen dump 72 bodies at Mexican ranch". Reuters. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "72 bodies found on ranch in Mexico". RTÉ News. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Murdered bodies found in Mexico 'were migrants'". BBC News. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  6. ↑ William Booth (25 August 2010). "Survivor: Drug gang massacred 72 migrants in northern Mexico". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  7. ↑ "72 bodies found in Mexico ranch". Hindustan Times. 26 August 2010. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  8. ↑ "Hallan 7 nuevas narcofosas en San Fernando Tamaulipas suman 193 cadáveres". Milenio TV. Jun 7, 2011.

Coordinates: 24°50′N 98°09′W / 24.833°N 98.150°W / 24.833; -98.150

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