Labeling Mexico a ‘failed state’

More than 6,000 people were murdered in drug-related violence in Mexico last year, and at least three major Mexican cities are now policed by the army.

Mexico “finally got America’s attention,” said Gabriel Guerra Castellanos in Mexico City’s El Universal. We are on the front pages of U.S. newspapers, and Mexico is the top story on U.S. television news programs. Unfortunately, it’s all bad news: “organized crime, drug trafficking, executions, complicity, corruption.” Mexico’s drug violence has U.S. security experts spooked. The statistics are certainly frightening; they read more like war casualty reports than crime figures. More than 6,000 people were murdered in drug-related violence in Mexico last year alone. At least three major Mexican cities are now policed by the army because local law enforcement is either too corrupt or too outgunned to cope. The Pentagon actually issued a report last month lumping Mexico with Pakistan as a potential “failed state.”

Look who’s talking, said Mexico City’s Excelsior in an editorial. It takes two to make a cross-border crisis. Almost all of the drug gang violence is concentrated in cities along the U.S. border. In the words of President Felipe Calderón: “A good housecleaning is also needed on the other side of the border. To bring in the drugs, the cartels require corrupt U.S., not Mexican, authorities.” Plus, let’s not forget that the weapons the cartels use to kill Mexicans are smuggled in from America—even U.S. officials admit that. If the drugs being fought over are destined for the U.S. market, and the fighters are armed by U.S. gun dealers, then Mexico’s drug violence must be considered an American problem, as well.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us