Unidentified assailants threw an explosive over the fence of the US consulate in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, on April 11. The blast caused some damage but no injuries. Authorities are investigating the explosion and have temporarily closed the consulate, as well as another in nearby Piedras Negras. "The Consulate General and Consular Agency will reopen when we are confident that we have adequate security to keep our visitors safe," a press release said. (Latin America News Dispatch, April 12; BBC News, April 11)

Two days before the consulate attack, armed men stormed a prison in nearby Reynosa, freeing 13. raid, but it was unclear who killed them. Thirty-one guards have been detained for questioning. The escape was the second mass jailbreak in less than two weeks in Tamaulipas state. On March 26, 40 inmates escaped from a prison in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Tex. The prison director is under investigation, and 50 employees were held for questioning. (AP, April 4)

Last month, three people connected to the US consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, were killed in a drive-by shooting in the violence-plagued border city.

See our last posts on Mexico and the narco war

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