The Mexican drug cartels strike again and this time only a few miles away from United States soil. A death toll that recalls war zones such as Syria, Libya or even Somalia in the 1990s, but this time it’s a small Mexican town just 35 miles from the US border that is the scene of a major armed clash that left 23 dead and six injured.

It all started on Saturday morning when a group of heavily armed men riding in pickup trucks and belonging to the “Northeast Cartel” (CDN) attacked the town of Villa Union (3,000) aiming at local government offices, including the town’s city hall which was riddled with bullets. The military-style raid forced federal forces to intervene in a battle that lasted for more than an hour and which left on the ground 17 cartel members, four law enforcers and two civilians.

The reason behind the assault is still unclear as the state of Coahuila, which indeed has a violent history, has been far from the peaks of violence that have been involving other cartel-infested states such as Tamaulipas and Sinaloa.

However, the assault is likely to be related to the struggle for the control of drug smuggling routes in the Mexican-US border areas. On November 4th, killers belonging to a drug cartel slaughtered nine people (three women and six children) of US-Mexican origin, belonging to a Mormon community in the state of Sonora, approximately 70 miles south of the US border. According to some analysts, the victims’ vehicle might have been mistaken for the one belonging to rival cartel members.

In October, a massive operation by the Sinaloa cartel prompted the federal government to release the captured son of drug lord “Chapo” Guzman and withdraw the army, which found itself outmanoeuvred on the streets of Culiacan and which led to the so-called “Culiacan Fiasco”.

The Culiacan fiasco

On October 17th, a gruesome battle erupted in the Sinaloa capital city of Culiacan as the federal security forces arrested Ovidio Guzman Lopez, the son of drug kingpin “Chapo” Guzman, currently detained in the United States, with a final death-toll of 13 including seven cartel men and one member of the federal forces.

Ovidio Guzmán (28) and his brother Joaquin (34) were both charged last February by the US Department of Justice with conspiracy to distribute drugs to be imported into the country and they are both wanted for extradition. The two are believed to be leading a faction of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel.

The battle went on for several hours as the cartel-gunmen indiscriminately fired their assault rifles, threw hand-grenades, torched vehicles, blocked roads and forced civilians into hiding. As the security forces were outnumbered they were forced to release Ovidio Guzman and to withdraw. Some of the scenes were even caught on video.

Neo-elected Mexican president Andres Manuel López Obrador, belonging to the left-wing party “Morena”, backed Mexico’s Security Cabinet’s decision to suspend operations and release the drug kingpin to save lives: “The capture of a criminal cannot be worth more than the lives of the people … many citizens, people, human beings were at risk,” Obrador said during a press briefing in Oaxaca.

However, the “Culiacan fiasco” raised a series of questions regarding strategical and operational dynamics that are worth pondering on. Firstly, how is it possible that the Mexican security forces did not expect such a furious and massive response to the arrest attempt of Ovidio Guzman while operating in a notorious stronghold of the Cartel? Secondly, why did the security forces decide to operate in full daylight and attempt to detain the kingpin in an urban area packed with cars, hotels, shops, bars and restaurants? Was the operation planned or was it the result of a semi-improvised action with very limited planning?

Mexican president, Obrador, is correct when he claims that saving human lives is far more important than “capturing a criminal”, however, such complex and delicate operations should not be performed in highly populated urban areas and the middle of the day, something which Mexican security forces and the Security Cabinet should have known.

L'articolo The Mexican Drug Cartels Defeat the State: The “Culiacan Fiasco” proviene da InsideOver.

Abrazos, no balazos – so goes Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s political mantra. Hugs, not bullets. There’s been plenty of both in Mexico’s blood-soaked month of murder. The newly elected president has pledged to end his nation’s violence epidemic, but the butchery shows no sign of abating. In recent weeks, narco militants have shot government troops into submission, forced the release of key cartel figureheads, and – most sickening of all – massacred an innocent family. President Obrador says he’ll stand by his soft-touch approach, but the mounting anguish – and anger – is hard to ignore. 

When hundreds of heavily armed gangsters overran the streets of Culiacán last month, the world awoke to Mexico’s murderous meltdown. Ovidio Guzmán – son of imprisoned narco kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán – was briefly held by the authorities, but his Sinaloa Cartel subordinates soon exploded onto the scene. They erected roadblocks, attacked the homes of military families, and slew 14 security personnel. Notified of the disastrous operation, President Obrador – or AMLO, as he’s widely known – capitulated and ordered Guzmán’s release. 

Then, scarcely a fortnight later, more abject misery. Nine Mormon worshippers, women and children, were slaughtered during a roadside ambush. Details are still emerging, but officials believe it may have been a case of mistaken identity – narco thugs seeking retribution on a rival’s family.    

Such blood-curdling chaos would end on his watch, AMLO promised upon taking office late last year. 2018 had been particularly painful for Mexicans – a record 29,000 were killed. Most were victims of the country’s deepening drugs struggle, either directly, or as innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. Alarmingly, 2019 is set to be bloodier still. 

But AMLO intends not to change tact, repeating in recent weeks his belief that only a systematic approach can address the burgeoning bloodbath. “This is about thinking how to save lives and achieve peace and tranquility in the country using other methods,” he said after the Culiacán killings, refusing to advocate a more muscular response. Instead, the president hopes to tackle the unrest’s root causes: social deprivation, poverty, and widespread corruption.   

AMLO’s approach isn’t without merit. In 2006, President Felipe Calderón pledged to fight fire with fire, cracking down on cartels with a series of high profile arrests. But the scheme backfired badly. With the kingpins incarcerated, drug gangs fragmented, spawning scores of new murderous outfits. Six cartels became 37, each locked in unending internecine warfare. In the thirteen years since Calderón launched his ill-fated policy, 250,000 Mexicans have died.    

But AMLO’s more gradual methodology seems equally ineffectual. While socioeconomic factors undoubtedly play a role in the violence, there’s a glaring reality the president refuses to grasp: far poorer countries than Mexico have a better handle on organised crime. 

Bolstering the nation’s pitiful public institutions must be a priority, most experts agree. Mexico’s justice system is marred by sky-high impunity rates, above 99%. This has a knock-on effect for public trust in the courts – fearing no good will come of complaints, fewer than 10% of crimes are reported.   

Likewise, Mexico’s police forces are in parlous condition. An over-reliance on military tactics has left officers ill-equipped to carry out their civilian duties, analysts argue. “Soldiers are trained to use the maximum force necessary to combat enemies, not to deter or investigate crimes and interact with the population,” said Maureen Meyer, director of the Washington Office On Latin America (WOLA)’s Mexico programme. Just last month, 27 members of the La Union Tepito gang – caught with drugs and high-powered weaponry – walked free on a police-error technicality. 

And the Culiacán catastrophe has plumbed new depths of distrust in the authorities. A litany of operational errors occurred: inadequate intelligence, sub-par protection for soldiers’ families, attempting the arrest during the day. Recognising these failings (and realising that they can strong-arm the government into submission), many fear the cartels will be newly emboldened.   

Among those worried is President Trump, who has offered AMLO assistance with his worsening narco nightmare. It’s a quandary for the Mexican – he has railed against foreign intervention, but is – for better or worse – financially beholden to the US. When, earlier this year, Trump threatened tariffs amid surging illegal immigration, AMLO duly agreed to bolster his border guard, stretching already strained security forces. 

Mexico simply can’t afford for its US relationship to flounder. American lawmakers are yet to ratify the nations’ free trade deal, leaving Mexican businesses – who sell 80% of their products to US buyers – in limbo. That’s bad news for AMLO’s anti-violence strategy, which hinges on job creation and rising wages. There’s been little movement in either since he took office – GDP growth is sluggish, climbing a paltry 0.1% in the most recent quarter. 

To break Mexico’s interminable cycle of bloodshed, that needs to improve. But so too does the effectiveness of its police forces, which won’t come easily. And even if AMLO’s stumbling security services find their feet, chronic distrust in the country’s courts will put a block on real progress. It’s an unenviable position for the Mexican, but one he must persevere with. Fail like his predecessors, and the cost will be unfathomably high. 

L'articolo Mexico Gripped By Sickening Narco Violence proviene da InsideOver.

The brutal murder of three women and six children by Mexican drug cartels marks a new low in US-Mexico relations. Those killed were part of a Mormon religious community which has sought to build a life in the rural areas of northern Mexico. Mexico’s leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called the killings “regrettable,” and said Mexico would do what it can to find the killers. One suspect has now been arrested. Obrador has pursued a policy that considers the cartels and Mexico’s massive drug-fueled violence to be a product of poverty and has said that cartel criminals need “hugs, not bullets.” In contrast, US President Donald Trump has called for a war on the cartels that will “wipe them off the face of the earth.” Mexico says it does not want US troops or any outside help to take on the cartels. Unnamed Mexican officials being cited in various reports say that the area where the Americans were killed is part of a drug turf war between cartels, and that they may have been mistaken for rivals.

Serious Doubts That The Killings Were A Mistake

The claim being floated in many American media reports stating that the women and children were killed by accident is highly questionable. The area of Sonora that they were killed in is being contested by La Línea, which has links to the Juárez cartel, and “Los Chapos”, part of the Sinaloa cartel. Nonetheless, their Mormon community of Colonia LeBaron has faced cartel threats in the past including the 2009 kidnapping of Erick LeBaron, who was held for ransom. The community refused to pay and he was eventually let out, but his brother Benjamin was beaten to death, as was Benjamin’s brother in law. The LeBarons were significantly concerned about organized crime in Mexico and one family member Julian LeBaron even wrote a piece in a Dallas newspaper saying it was time for Mexico to put a stop to the thugs ruining their country. Colonia LeBaron has also had strong disagreements with neighbours over their water usage levels. Furthermore, reports of the killings detail that one of the women killed stepped out of the vehicle and waved her hands to indicate there were children in the vehicle and they were not a threat, but was mowed down regardless.

How Bad Is Cartel Violence In Mexico?

The short answer: very bad. Over one-quarter of a million people have been murdered in Mexico since 2007, the majority cartel and drug-related. In the first half of 2019 alone, the number of murders in Mexico spiked to the highest amount ever recorded with 14,603 murders from January to June, with the nation likely to exceed 2018’s total murder count of 29,111, which also set a record. Many of these are cartel-related killings, with the government seems unable to stop the carnage. Cartels like Sinaloa are often more accurately referred to as well-funded terrorist armies, with high-powered weapons, guerilla tactics and no regard for human life.

Mexico’s Ineffective Response To The Cartels

Mexico’s police do not have the firepower or tactics to defeat the cartels, which behave with ferocious impunity and callus violence. Obrador’s militarized National Guard police force are often targeted and unable to sap the power and determination of the vicious cartels. In particularly alarming killings, 14 individuals were mowed down at a family gathering in Veracruz province this past April, and 26 were murdered at another bar in Veracruz province in August. More recently, thirteen police officers were killed and nine injured in El Aguaje in Mexico’s western state of Michoacán in mid-October, and the Sinaloa cartel recently attacked the city of Culiacán in a coordinated assault with 400 militants in order to get Ovidio Guzmá—the son of the infamous drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán—out of jail. Meth, fentanyl and synthetic opioids have grown in popularity over the past few years as cartels battle for turf, including in areas near the Latter-day Saints communities where the three American women and their six children lived.

Mexico-US Relations To Hit New Low

This horrific slaughter merits a strong response, particularly as there is a good chance it was not a mistake. The American Right, in particular, is outraged over this murder, with US Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, for example, saying that a “full-scale offensive” must be launched against the cartels and saying Mexico is close to collapsing as a viable country. Various conservative voices are decrying the miasma of violence that is destroying Mexico and making the Southern border a hell-world of trafficking and murder, with Sean Davis writing in the New York Post that Mexico is “failed narcostate run by paramilitary cartels” that brings “death, drugs and terror” to America.

Bring The Troops Home–To Mexico

Non-interventionist American conservatives are increasingly asking why American troops are being involved in the problems of the Middle East. Ryan Girdusky, for example, tweeting that the US should pull the troops out of Syria and send them to Mexico. The killings, especially if deliberate, were indeed an act of war, and merit a strong and devastating response. The cartels have gained far too much power and are causing too much damage to Mexico and the United States. Their mountains of cash built on addiction and violence are making the world a worse place.

As overdose deaths in America from illegally-obtained synthetic opioids continue to increase sharply, Mexico’s position as a hub of production for this and similar drugs marks its internal problems as a uniquely potent threat to American security and well-being. For all the talk and controversy over Trump’s proposed border wall, the real problems of Mexico or at the US-Mexico border will not be solved by a wall, as they extend much further into the heart of the Mexican drug war and the government’s inability to tackle it, as well as the addiction crisis in American society. American-Mexican relations are at a new low, and this will only worsen until serious and decisive action is taken against cartel dominance. Trump has shown his willingness to put military on the border with his the deployment of National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in the operation formerly known as Faithful Patriot and there is no reason to think he will not push harder for an increased American security assistance component or military involvement to taking down the cartels.

L'articolo Mexican Cartel Killings of Americans Brings US-Mexico Relations To Boiling Point proviene da InsideOver.