The Drug War Is Doing Just Fine

Saturday 16 April 2011 - Filed under Dumbassery + Law enforcement + LE + War on Drugs

Yep. The escalation of the drug war in Mexico is definitely doing just fine.

Even after government promises of more security following the discovery of a mass grave holding the remains of 72 Central and South American migrants last summer, also in San Fernando, Tamaulipas remains a state that experts describe as ungoverned — or simply failed.

Open war between the Gulf Cartel and its former enforcers, the Zetas, means that the roads here are still filled with gang lookouts on motorcycles, who report back to cartel leaders, residents say.

Gunmen believed to be tied to the Zetas assassinated the lead candidate for governor last year and later forced a mass exodus from a small town near the Texas border. Extortion payments have become more regular than taxes, security analysts say, while many of the authorities are either terrorized or bought off: 16 municipal police officers have been arrested so far in connection with kidnappings and killings.

“It is one of the places where clearly state, federal and local authorities are not in control,” said Eric Olson, a security expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. “It’s tragic, it’s unfortunate, but it’s a reality.”

For the Mexican government, few things are as sensitive as an American pointing out lost territory. When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton likened Mexico’s drug trafficking last year to an insurgency, “where the narco-traffickers control certain parts of the country,” Mexican lawmakers responded with fierce condemnation.

If this is what we call progress, I’d hate to see failure.

2011-04-16  »  madlibertarianguy