The Longstanding Drug Concern and President Nieto's Position to Stop it:
June 30, 2012
The instances of gang violence in major parts of Mexico have been a continual danger among the feuding clans and civilians for several years. The origin of the problem lies with the drug cartels that have been in operation through various capacities since the mid twentieth century. Smuggling had been the primary function for substances like cocaine which are derived mostly from Columbia and depend on traffickers to transport the product through Central America and then across the US border.
Domestic production of marijuana, heroin processing and more recently meth have made the drug trade extremely lucrative to the narcos in Mexico. The business is estimated to take in $25 billion a year and employ five hundered thousand workers throughout the country. For a nation where a large proportion lives in poverty, the incentives for involvement in this life of criminal work is seen by many as favorable. Thus members and those closely associated with narcotic operations often have ties to local police, government officials, military and other parts of society.
The largest network is known as the Sinaloa gang who has been a dominate force in the trade since the seventies when production of heroin was rampant for supplying the US demand. Cultivation was a remnant from the introduction of the poppy fields from the Chinese in the 19th century along the region known as the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the North of Mexico. This was the birthplace of Joaquin Guzman in 1957, whose father grew up working these fields, and compelled his son to a harsh upbringing that made for a disciplined understanding in all aspects of the business. Joaquin, more famously known as El Chapo, developed relationships with scrupulous, influential people that effectively grew his operation to make his Sinaloa cartel the most prominent in the country. A penchant for violence asserted the control that he was able to influence against would be aggressors such as rival gangs and authorities.
A bargaining system has long been known to exist between government and the cartels whereby the government has often turned a blind eye to much of the illegal activities. The Sinaloa maintains an order of peace with civilians that offers measures of protection and moderate prosperity for areas where the gangs are based. Guadalajara is the capital of the western state of Jalisco which has been under Sinaloa control for decades. Their is a coexistence forged between the normalcy of the region that is considered a bustling economic center where electronics and software are big business and the university which has over two hundred thousand students. But the harsh reality has long been recognized that the cartel carries a assertive authority to ensure that conditions are suitable to it's needs.
Amicable relations in Guadalajara have nonetheless mostly prevailed and the former PRI, Institutional Radicalized Party, that held exclusive presidential control over the country until 2000 intervened to ensure a semblance of order. In 1993 though an assassination was carried out against the archbishop at the Guadalajara airport which was seen as beyond the boundary of what the government would tolerate and El Chapo was arrested in Guatemala. The verdict sentenced him to 20 years but an elaborate escape involving millions of dollars in bribes to guards after eight years of incarceration put him back out on the street to resume the same role as leader of Sinaloa.
Dedicated efforts are said to have been carried out by enforcement agencies in recent years to bring about his capture. Most recently in March of 2012 with tracking intel from the US DEA, members of the AFI, Federal Intelligence Agency, swarmed into a district of Guadalajara to capture several high ranking members of the cartel including El Chapo, Erik Valencia Salazar and the gangster El Mencho. The operation erupted into a tremendous standoff against agents and the narcos where trucks and buses were set afire as an intended diversion that would allow top members to flee. The result was hardly a success for the Mexican agency as they only captured the affiliate Salazar. Concern of the outcome by the people of Guadalajara was that if El Chapo is captured, that the town quickly errupted in violence and confilict then ensued beyond repair. whose leaders include Carlos Fuentes and Jose Ledezma against
The past president Calderon began his term in 2008, showing less action against the Sinoloa cartel whereas efforts seemed targeted more forcefully against the escalating brutality in Ciudad Juarez. The highest incidents of violence in this border town within miles of El Paso result from a disruption of the once partnered alliances among the Juarez cartel and the Sinaloa smugglers. Purportedly after a 2004 assassination of Juarez's Rodolfo Fuentes at the behest of an operative close to El Chapo, relations spiraled and territorial dominance for this valuable border access escalated. The Gulf Cartel, whose presence once had a controlling stake along the country's eastern frontier had been a powerful force for decades infiltrating ports such as Reynosa, Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo. In the late nineties though an insurgence of ex-paramilitary members who were lured into the trade by sizeable salaries largely overtook the Gulf Cartel and instilled their own position of power. Given the broken accord between Sinaloa and Juarez, a broadened allegiance with the once Gulf Cartel helped to strengthen the newly formed Zeta organizatin and intensify their encroachment into Juarez and Sinaloa territory.
The Zeta Cartel demonstrate the most brutal acts of aggression, initiating mass murders that have recurringly filled news headlines depicting severe violence near the US Mexican border. The responses to these tactics have been equally as brutal by rival gangs such as Sinaloa that have extended larger parts of the country into destructive battle zones. The softened approach by Calderon towards Sinaloa was seen largely as a focus in pursuing top personnel of the Zeta and Juarez cartels. However as demonstrated from the March 212 raid of Guadalajara for El Chapo and his commanders, efforts have become unbiased in the president's work to cull the illegal drug activity.
Periods of increased violence then followed by tapered incidents of activity seem to be a recurring pattern. Wealthy cities such as Monterrey have become infected by repeated mass killings of not only those involved in the drug trade but civilians that are meant to cast a symbol of one gang's retaliation against the other. The people of Mexico have grown impatient with the violence and a forward approach is likely to be made by the president who is elected into office following the July 2012 presidential campaign. The outcome appears most favorable for the PRI candidate Enrique Nieto, the recent governor of Mexico State located near the country's Capital City. Yet his appeal had seemed somewhat lacking not because of any convincing political ideology that he intends to enact but more so due to the frustration of his incumbent National Action Party's loose grip on the situation plaguing the nation. The candidate for PAN, Josefina Mata has fallen back to third in the polls only to be recently surpassed by the nearly elected 2006 candidate Jose Obrador. Obrador's campaign attacks though against the opposition, primarily Nieto has only served to cast a black mark on his electability. The country's campaigning laws forbid certain forms of hostility against other candidates and Obrador's tactics like his refusal to concede defeat to Francisco Calderon in the 2006 race has tainted his appeal for many.
Restoring the official party to the long time rule of PRI though, whose political integrity was sometimes criticized but tolerated for it's ability to balance the interests of the people is sure to be tested should Enrique Nieto take office next week. Combating the ongoing drug activity must be a foremost objective that shall not be allow to persist. Working to stop government corruption and the violence that exists is an obstacle that must be attended to but likely may not show significant improvement for along time.