Wave Of Violence Leaves Dozens Dead Across Mexico

By Eyder Peralta

Published August 10, 2012 at 12:15 PM CDT

Police officers and soldiers stand around a white van containing the dead bodies of several man while it is being hauled onto a tow truck in San Luis Potosi on Thursday.

While the exact number of dead seems to be in flux, there is no question that the last few days have been incredibly bloody across Mexico.

Proceso, a respected magazine that leans left, reports today that 43 people are dead in what the government says are executions related to organized crime. The Los Angeles Times, which tallied at least 29, says that the latest carnage has reminded people that the violence is unabated as the sixth anniversary of the government's war on the drug cartels approaches.

The Associated Press reported on the scene in San Luis Potosi where police found the bodies of 14 men stuffed in an SUV. The men, the AP reports, appeared to have been executed.

If you look at El Blog Del Narco, which keeps close track on the drug war in Mexico, the headlines from yesterday seem endless. Be careful, El Blog does not censor its photographs:

-- "Human Remains Are Found Outside Super Market In Chihuahua"

-- "The Violence In Mexico Speeds Up: 25 Dead In Less Than 24 Hours"

-- "In Broad Daylight, Two Are Hanged In Monterrey"

-- "Three Are Executed Outside 'Table Dance' In Moterrey"

-- "Three Zetas Are Executed In Zacatecas"

-- "A Woman Is Executed In Monterrey"

-- "A Woman Is Executed In Chihuahua"

As all of this was unfolding, the incoming president Enrique Peña Nieto finds himself in a bit of controversy.

El Universal reports that Rafael Celaya Valenzuela posted a picture on his Facebook page in which he is posing with Peña Nieto. Celaya Valenzuela was just arrested in Spain for what the government alleges are connections with the Sinaloa Cartel.