The Mexican Drug Problem

You may have been reading about the recent issues in Mexico surrounding the drug war. International governments have posted warnings about spring break travel and flights to the Yucatan are plumeting in price. The United States has even gone as far as to declare it a "failed state", a country with a shattered social and political structure, putting it in the ranks with Pakistan, Myanmar, and North Korea.

In the past, the bulk of the violence happened in the border towns. Many people travel to try to cross into the States, but are rejected by officials and end up living a life of poverty and crime near the border. More recently though, the Mexican army has infiltrated cities across the country in an attempt to restore order - last year over 6000 people were killed in drug related murders. One mother commented on how her son was killed with several others in a giant vat of acid. Local police forces, already culturally corrupt, are under the complete control of the cartels and cannot be trusted. Locals, however, are angry, saying that the soldiers are raping civilians and stealing from their houses without offering any protection from the cartels. Protesters have taken to the streets, but have later been exposed as employees of the cartels.

On taxi driver said that there are two rival cartels. Right now the drug war is a huge problem, but if the two rivals join forces all hell will break loose. Between the two of them they have an army of 100,000 men. The actual Mexican army has 130,000 with an unknown number of those soldiers who have already been bought out by the cartels. With the culture of corruption and bribery finally catching up with the population, honest citizens are thinking about leaving for the States. The peso is at an all time low and people are beginning to get frustrated.

The problem is, its hard to fight back. The new president is running a campaign to clean up the cartels, but with their widespread infiltration, controlling them is next to impossible. Just today there are reports of two upper level police executives being kidnapped. In January, they bombed a tv station where a reporter was investigating their operation.

For the time being, all we can do is wait, and get ready to head south...