Friday, March 7, 2014

Ed Rivera for Texas Southmost College Trustee, Place 3

7 comments:

  1. He is still too good to be true, and
    JJ DeLeon is Silvia's BF,
    so we need a write-in !!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. You are poison Bobby. If you want Ed to win, do not say that you support him....please!

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  3. Drug cartels, whether in Colombia or Mexico, cannot function without massive assistance from compromised officials at all levels. Corruption is the oxygen that keeps organized crime alive.
    I know something about corruption and organized crime. I spent more than six years in the biggest, richest syndicate in the history of crime -- the Cali cartel. And I know that Mexico, like Colombia, can't succeed against its drug gangs without choking off much of the bribery and intimidation that sustain them.
    First, some background: I used to be Jorge Salcedo. I left my name in Colombia when I entered the U.S. witness protection program 16 years ago. I also left a home, a country, friends, family, even my past. But maybe my experience will help show the importance of fighting corruption as a way to fight the cartels.
    My primary job in the Cali cartel was security for one of four godfathers, Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, the daily operations boss. Others were more directly involved in routine bribery, but I still managed to deliver nearly a million dollars in payoffs. And I witnessed many, many millions more.
    The biggest bribe I ever handled personally was a half-million-dollar payoff to a Salvadoran air force colonel. I was buying four U.S.-made bombs -- 500-pounders -- that the bosses wanted to drop on Pablo Escobar. It was a very bad idea, but they sent me anyway. The cash was disguised as a birthday present, about the size of a large shoebox, wrapped in red paper with gold trim. I'd never seen so much money. I remember that it was surprisingly heavy.
    Then there were the two checks signed by Miguel worth about $50,000. As instructed, I took those to a bank near the Cali airport and deposited one into the account of a sister and the other to the mother of a captain in the Colombian anti-narcotics task force. It was a bonus for the captain's help getting the boss away from a police raid.
    In those days, hundreds of high-ranking and lower level police were on the cartel's secret payroll -- tens of thousands of dollars paid every month for inside tips or for looking the other way. The youngest boss, Pacho Herrera, sometimes liked to use local police as sentries at his home.
    The cartel had important friends in the military, too -- from helicopter pilots to generals. One well-placed insider was the sergeant and chief of staff to the military commander of the anti-narcotics task force. He cost $20,000 a month.
    Between sources like the army sergeant, the police captain and others, my bosses and I were kept informed about dates, times and places for raids and such things as which cartel cars were being followed and what phone numbers were being tapped. On one occasion, we knew that Miguel had time for lunch and a shower before the raiding party was scheduled to arrive. Both the sergeant and the captain were among hundreds of police and military officers fired for corruption.

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  4. Too good to be true. We finally get someone with brains on the board and you question his merits. You are the one that's too ignorant to be for real.

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  5. ,Great! Another arrogant engineer, whose only money making opportunities is being a boards and kissing each other asses.

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  6. Mr. Barton would you be so kind as to replace the image with the updated version from our website? the one that you published had a typo. Thanks.

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  7. Mr Barton,
    Would you please inform us (community) what are the qualifications of each TSC Board Member, what they do for a living, do they get paid, if not, why do they fight so hard for such positions?
    Thanks!

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