World Report

Drug Cartels Tighten Grip, Mexico Becoming Narco-state

Chris Hawley of the Arizona Republic covers the declining situation in Mexico, in this must-read article.

For months, the leaders of Tancitaro had held firm against the drug lords battling for control of this central Mexican town.

Then one morning, after months of threats and violence from the traffickers, they finally surrendered.

Before dawn, gunmen kidnapped the elderly fathers of the town administrator and the secretary of the City Council. Within hours, both officials resigned along with the mayor, the entire seven-member City Council, two department heads, the police chief and all 60 police officers. Tancitaro had fallen to the enemy.

Across Mexico, the continuing ability of traffickers to topple governments like Tancitaro’s, intimidate police and keep drug shipments flowing is raising doubts about the Mexican government’s 3-year-old, U.S.-backed war on the drug cartels.

Far from eliminating the gangs, the battle has exposed criminal networks more ingrained than most Americans could imagine: Hidden economies that employ up to one-fifth of the people in some Mexican states. Business empires that include holdings as everyday as gyms and a day-care center.

And the death toll continues to mount: Mexico saw 6,587 drug-related murders in 2009, up from 5,207 in 2008 and 2,275 in 2007, according to an unofficial tally by the respected newspaper Reforma.

Cartels have multiplied, improved their armament and are perfecting simultaneous, terrorist-style attacks.

Some analysts are warning that Mexico is on the verge of becoming a “narco-state” like 1990s-era Colombia.

“We are approaching that red zone,” said Edgardo Buscaglia, an expert on organized crime at the Autonomous Technological University of Mexico. “There are pockets of ungovernability in the country, and they will expand.”

via Drug cartels tighten grip; Mexico becoming ‘narco-state’ – Read Full Article.

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5 Comments

  • This is tough, but the way I see it, the answer lies with the user, lock em up, build massive prisons, zero tolerance, give them help by all means, but in jail, am I wrong?, its illegal to buy, or use drugs, well enact the law, give them lots of jail time, and when they have done that, ship them out to quiet parts, and you have to keep on top of them, “this is a war”, it is affecting the lives of most Americans and western countries, do not forget the economy, its getting worse, and if it is not attended to now, then God help us all.
    As far as the supplier is concerned, no holds barred, kill them, execute, shoot them like the vermin they are, and I mean suppliers, pushers, in fact anyone in on the act of drugdifying the public, that include senators, politicians, judges, corrupt cops, and the rest of the shit making a buck out of ruining the lives of honest folk, but do it, stop pissing against the wind, it ain’t gonna go away on its own, “God I wish I could have a go”!!!.

  • Why don’t we just shut down the border with Mexico?? This is going to continue to expand into the southwest US, and soon we’ll be seeing the same sort of thing on our side of the border – towns will fall just like Tancitaro, if they haven’t already…

  • This begs the question, if the American Government had actually completed its War of Drugs, yes the Nancy Reagan policy, we would not be in this mess tha we are in today.

    Politicians have to understand there are consequences for thier actions, here we are in 2010 fighting terrorism, drug wars, fiscal meltdown and pretty much everything else bad that is happening in the world right now (climate change).
    t just American politicians)

    A lot of people have lost confidence n the political leaderships ability to lead (no, they bumble along from one scandal to another, do not ensure one job is done sufficiently and trade favors/money to feather their own nests….

    We need to focus regroup and tackle these serious issues in a cohesive and structured manner (not throw money at the problem), Mexico needs our help, lets do more than we are.

  • As long as there is a strong demand for illegal drugs in the U.S. there will always be trouble along the U.S.-Mexican border. You can kill all the narco traffickers & head honchos for each drug cartel but you know what? Someone will always replace them. Even if you go all-out Rambo on these guys it’s not going to be enough. For every head you chop off, two more will replace them. The billions of dollars to be made from the sale of drugs and the addiction that many have for them is too strong a force to overcome overnight. The source of the creation of these drugs needs to be destroyed, the traffickers killed or incarcerated, and the drug users need to be rehabilitated. However, it’s easier said than done. Richard Nixon first popularized the term “War on Drugs” which until now isn’t totally effective. Drug prohibition policies actually were first started in 1914. It’s been over 100 years since that time and still there is not very much improvement. The quick & dirty solution may just be to legalize these drugs. Legalizing drugs can generate $32 billion a year for the U.S. and save $44 billion from law enforcement expenses. Many people don’t believe legalizing drugs will resolve the violence along the U.S.-Mexican border and certainly nobody wants to contribute to a person’s drug addiction by legalizing it but it just may be time to consider this option. The War on Drugs program both in the U.S. & abroad is failing. It’s time for a change. It’s time to legalize.

  • We can argue many things about the war on drugs and places such as Mexico and Colombia. Having been involved with this issue for years I can only say our efforts have been half-hearted at best.

    The problem begins however, with drivel such as this article. Not so much the content, but specificly, the sub-title, “Mexico Becoming Narco-state”.

    Mexico has been “becoming a narco-state” for years. The issue is not whether or not Mexico is a narco-state, but to what degree and whether or not it can be turned around without and all out assault from the rest of the Americas.

    It is this sort of thinking that had people acting surprised at 9/11. The day I went to work and saw the planes flying into the World Trade Towers, my first thought was, “Well, it finally happened.” Anyone with half a brain and watching this (Mexico, terrorism, etc.) from the corner of their eye would know this.

    Instead, we keep our heads in the sand, and throw money and lip service at these issues. These problems cannot be addressed in a meaningful way until the extent of the problems are acknowledged. This also applies to national issues such as US deficit, health care, social security, etc. This is true, irrespective of any proposed solution, and which side of the aisle the solution comes from.

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