The Minuteman Project and the Mexican military

Lupita Murillo:

Later this week, the spotlight will be on Southeastern Arizona. Starting Friday, the month-long Minuteman Project will have volunteers, some armed, watching and waiting for illegal border crossers.

It's gaining international attention. Tuesday, Mexican officials met with the Mayor of Douglas to discus how they will handle potential violence.

Angela Castillo Lopez and her 10-year-old granddaughter live in Agua Prieta Sonora. They cross daily into Douglas to visit family and to buy groceries.

But with word of the Minuteman Project, Lopez says she won't be crossing after April 1st. She feels its too dangerous.

That concerns Agua Prieta Mayor David Figueroa and Douglas Mayor Ray Borane. They met privately to discuss the situations.

Mayor Borane showed fugueroa a flyer distributed over the weekend by a group calling themselves National Alliance.

Borane says, "I think they are concerned, maybe a little bit more, because its going to be dealing with their compatriots."

That's why the Agua Prieta Mayor called a meeting with 50 other local and national officials.

It was one of those officials who bought another flyer to distribute to Mexican citizens. It warns people about crossing the desert in April.

The flyer states, "vigilantes" will be patrolling 24 hours and might be armed.

Mayor Figueroa says his plan is to be cautions and to maintain a low profile. The last thing he want is to provoke violence.

David Morales, a spokesman for Agua Prieta says, "We understand it can become a volitale situation and we don't want to contribute to that in any form."

The Mexican military is on stand-by. One unit has about a thousand soldiers. They're located just across the border.

They're united with the Mayor of Agua Prieta and they're saying they're hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

Why is the Mexican military on "stand-by"? The Minuteman volunteers are going to be on the U.S. side of the border. Does the Mexican military intend to cross the border in order to stop the Minuteman volunteers?