One Week's Headlines in Mexico's Drug War

Wasn't really sure where to put this, move it if not.

Although the title mentions drugs, I'm hoping this wont be removed as it is not discussing the legality of drugs, or drugs in general

I'm sure everyone is aware of the drug related violence in Mexico, but just looking at this is a joke. It lists the number of murders in some of the cities in Mexico. Bearing in mind that these headlines were only taken from one blog and that if newspaper headlines were included, the list would have been many times larger.

I'm not going to copy and paste all of the deaths here, I'll insert the 'worst' from each day

Monday, June 13
Acapulco: Man tortured and beheaded

Sunday, June 12
Canatlan: Father and 2 sons executed

Saturday, June 11
Guerrero: Warning to Police. Two men skinned. One videotaped before death

Friday, June 10
Michoacan: 21 executed

Thursday, June 9
Monterrey: Young man executed on busy street

Wednesday, June 8
Victoria: Remains of 30 people found in fuel drums

Tuesday, June 7
Chihuahua: Bodies of two beheaded women discovered

It's estimated that since 2006 when this drug war ramped up between 30,000 and 40,000 people have died in narco related violence. This is roughly double the total number of estimated deaths (civilian and military) in Afghanistan since 2001.

One Week's Headlines in Mexico's Drug War

These killings in mexico may sound incredible, but they're not. Have you ever heard of the missing women of Juarez? I'm not sure of the exact number now, but I'm sure it's over 5,000 women at this point. That's not counting the body count which I'm sure by now, is in the thousands. These women were tortured, raped and brutally murdered and dumped on the side of a dirt road. A movie called "backyard" or "traspatio" is the closest a movie will ever get to the truth on the story of the missing women of Juarez. Another case of brutal killing in mexico that actually happened was the case of Mark Kilroy. In 1989 the american student from Texas went to the border town of Matamoros, Mexico. I'm not sure of the details but what I do know is that he went missing and was found tortured and murdered and it was by a ritualistic cult. There is also a movie about this case called "Borderland" and if you want the real facts just look up killings of Matamoros, there are pictures of the leader of the cult. I'm a Spanish major and an international relations minor and the point I'm trying to make is that these drug murders, as horrible as they are, are a reality in mexico right now as they have been for awhile. And they're worse in the border towns like El Paso, Juarez, Tijuana, etc. And the biggest problem and reason why they are still going on is because the police are just as corrupt as the drug dealers and sometimes, even work together. Here's a link to an article on how much truth is to the movie "Backyard".

news.newamericamedia.org...

I think most people are aware of this but I'm not sure why so few care

reply to post by isitjustme


I know right?? I mean the Mexican political system and law enforcement need serious help and reform. I mean, maybe people don't realize it because it's not happening here, but this is one of our neighboring countries! And yes the down-side to trying to help mexico is that it would cost, and I'm sure plenty of people would be mad if there was money being spent on mexico seeing as the economy is bad enough. When I see everything that's going on in Mexico it makes me really glad that I don't live there.

I imagine that if drugs were legalised this "war" and all others like it would stop.

ALS

You know, as bad as it sounds, I kind of agree. I mean, in theory, it would take a lot of the crime rate down I think.

Originally posted by victim8904

 

I know right?? I mean the Mexican political system and law enforcement need serious help and reform. I mean, maybe people don't realize it because it's not happening here, but this is one of our neighboring countries! And yes the down-side to trying to help mexico is that it would cost, and I'm sure plenty of people would be mad if there was money being spent on mexico seeing as the economy is bad enough. When I see everything that's going on in Mexico it makes me really glad that I don't live there.

Serious help and reform?? Do you mean like money to fight the Drug War? US Special Forces troops in Mexico to aid and oversee Drug War operations (particularly in seeing that President Calderón is fighting the "good fight" with gusto)? Or more efforts like the ATF's ill-conceived sting operation that sold thousands of automatic weapons to Mexican gun runners so they could track where they go (or so they claim to be their reasoning behind this fiasco)? www.abovetopsecret.com... Your tax dollars are already spending billions here for that kind of thing. Please stop. That kind of help is the reason for these problems we have to deal with here.

Do you have any ideas what the Drug War is really about? It is not about stopping illegal drugs from getting into the US, it is about controlling the drug flow. It is an economic game that takes a desireable but otherwise low-value commodityand inflates the prices in an illicit market then controls who gets to traffic these commodities. Drugs in a free market are dirt-cheap but in an illicit market they are worth more than their weight in gold.

And don't kid yourself about Mexico's economy, it is the 11th largest in the world and also home to the world's richest man, Carlos Slim. In recent years the Peso has been much more stable than the Dollar. The US's inflated prices and wages make it very desireable to work and earn money in the US as many Mexicans have, but surprise! Many, many of those "Mexicans" working in the US are not Mexican at all but from various of the Central American countries that are dirt poor. They claim to be Mexican because Mexico has much preferred immigration status in the US.

Many of the Mexicans in the US come from the farms and ranchos, and come from the vast desert area in the norther part of the country that borders the US. Those people generally do make out well being employed in the US, and the US welcomes their low labor costs so lets them in the back door, so to speak. Mexico uses state-of-the-art information technology to keep track of their immigrations and does not permit those who are not authorized to be able to work or receive government programs, so those Central Americans that enter Mexico must continue north to the US in order to work. The US could easily do that too if it felt so inclined. Instead you have politicians that promise immigrations crack-downs while their corporate constituency want their cheap labor. So as a result your immigrations policies make it like bailing water with a sieve.

Don't worry, you are about as well-informed of the realities of this as most any American, which is to say you are operating under many misconceptions that have been carefully planted into your understanding. I was born in the US and worked my career there. I was in a job that allowed me to retire young and have lived in Mexico for a number of years. I could entertain the notion of living in another country but I would never consider living again in the US, not after experiencing what it is like living in a country with true personal liberty. You may wish to ponder why the freedom-loving United States has the highest number of prisoners than any other country in the world, along with the highest number of parolees and probationers that can have their freedoms taken away on a whim.

All the "aid" sent to Mexico is being spent and put into programs and policies that are meant to destabilize our communities and create problems of violence in order to get the people to demand more police action and intrusion on their liberties and privacy. That is not as effective here as it has been in the US. You have barely even noticed your rights and freedoms dissolving away. You still think you're free! And you still have some very backwards notions that your standard-of-living and quality-of-life is better in the US than anywhere in the world. That is another well-crafted delusion being fed to you. ¡Provecho!

As strongly as Americans feel their politicians and institutions are above corruption Mexicans know better about theirs. Any economic opportunity always attracts criminal-minded scoundrels of all types who will do unimaginably unthinkable things (for Americans) in pursuit of gains. Your government offers our leaders money to carry-out under-handed policies, and our political leaders accept it. Please stop.

Ending Prohibition is the only thing that will end Drug War violence.

Originally posted by Griffo
Wasn't really sure where to put this, move it if not.

Although the title mentions drugs, I'm hoping this wont be removed as it is not discussing the legality of drugs, or drugs in general

I'm not going to copy and paste all of the deaths here, I'll insert the 'worst' from each day

Monday, June 13
Acapulco: Man tortured and beheaded

Sunday, June 12
Canatlan: Father and 2 sons executed

Saturday, June 11
Guerrero: Warning to Police. Two men skinned. One videotaped before death

Friday, June 10
Michoacan: 21 executed

(list edited short)

One Week's Headlines in Mexico's Drug War

You are safe with that topic here.

Too bad you didn't wait another week for your stats. Michoacán has seen a huge bit of violence this past week. But the difference here than in the US is this is not random violence perpetrated against innocent folks going about their daily routines, these are Drug War soldiers battling out a turf war that happens when one faction is weakened and other factions attempt to muscle in. I could explain the politics of these events here in my home state but it would take too long to give all the background to make it understandable.

Just captured in the past couple days was "El Chango" who was the leader of la Familia Michoacán that has been faltering since the end of last year when its original leader was taken out. The instability and violence that occurs when a faction is weakened and other factions muscle-in, along with the lieutenants that battle to lead a group after its top leader falls, these are factors that play into government's hands. The resulting violence is widely pubicized to create a scare so that the peole will be clamoring for more police and protection along with more intrusions by the authorities. It is a self-feeding monster whose goal is never to win the War but to ramp-it-up and perpetuate it. There are HUGE profits being made by both sides of the Drug War. Both sides profit from the proceeds of the drug traffic and the authorities receive a mandate from the people to provide more police, harsher laws, and build more prisons. Both sided profit and the uninvolved middle picks up the tab for it.

Welcome to the party. Thanks for contributing so generously to the festivities.

"El Chango" (The Monkey) was captured by police at a highway checkpoint outside Aguascalientes while on the way to meet with The Zetas cartel to negotiate an alliance to help him maintain control over his faltering group and their assets while struggling with the Caballeros Templarios(Knights Templars) who had splintered off from La Familia and formed in March of this year. The Templarios remain committed to keeping other factions outside of Michoacán and providing general protection to the "civilian" population living in the state.

El Chango was apparently seeking to bring in Las Zetas to help hold his group together and had reportedly increased robbery, extortion, and kidnapping activities against the populace while his group, that he took-over after the fall of their leader last year, was struggling to stay afloat. The high body-count seen recently in Michoacán was apparently retaliation against the henchmen that were carrying-out those crimes against civilians. Notes were left with the bodies found stating such reasons for their deaths.

Ending Prohibition seems the only solution to stopping the self-feeding monster. the "cure" has proven to be many-fold worse than the problem the drugs themselves would cause in an open market. Those who argue to prolong prohibition or step-up the effort are either brain-washed by the propoganda, ignorant as to the actual facts, or are themselves corrupted by the Drug War profits.