SEATTLE - The head of business chambers' federation in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas was killed just hours after giving television interviews complaining about drug cartel extortion. Julio Almanza was shot to death outside his offices in the city of Matamoros, just across the border city of Brownsville, Texas.
"We are hostages to extortion demands, we are hostages to criminal groups," Almanza said in one of his last interviews. "Charging extortion payments has practically become the national sport in Tamaulipas," he added, in reference to money demanded by criminal groups in exchange for "protection."
