People here ask, "Why is there all this violence since president Felipe Calderón took office in December 2006? We didn't use to have such troubles. Why can't things be like they were before?" I have to bite my tongue - hard - when I hear such comments. I tend to change the subject, rather than tell the person what sophomoric questions those are.
Do people think that perhaps there were no drug cartels before December 2006? Or that narcotics trafficking became a popular business, by coincidence, after Felipe Calderón was elected? Why doesn't it occur to them that organized crime has been spreading its influence and power to every remote corner of Mexico for the past 30, maybe 40 years? Why don't they realize that many previous administrations simply ignored the cartels, or worse still, made deals or arrived at "arrangements" with them? What's so difficult about understanding that Calderón's administration is the first in the history of modern Mexico to take on powerful organized crime forces, with nearly incalculable wealth?
Here's what the survey shows: In 2008, when the drug war was little more than a year old and the worst excesses of the cartels had not yet occurred, 52% of those questioned said that they fully supported the military offensive, even if meant that a certain degree of domestic violence would be an inevitable byproduct. Now, almost four years later - years of kidnapping, extortion, decapitation, execution of thousands of persons and atrocities usually not seen even in wars between nations - Mexican public opinion has changed significantly. The same surveyors report that 68% of those questioned recently said they'd be prepared to tolerate drug trafficking, provided the violence ends.
Those numbers will no doubt give much solace to the cartel bosses. Once you've worn down that many people, you can almost smell victory in the air. But I hope the present government, and the new one that follows it after the 2012 elections, ignores the myopia of so many here. Without the firm resolve to eradicate the Mexican drug cartels - a project which earlier this year a U.S. Army general told a congressional committee might take up to a decade - there is simply no future for Mexico. And there will be grave danger for its neighbors on all borders, especially the one just to the north. - EVB
Feb. 17, 2013 - Guatemalan ambassador warns of growing Los Zeta drug cartel presence
Oct. 16, 2011 - Back to the "Good Old Days" in Mexico
Oct. 13, 2011 - Drug cartels present greater threat to U.S. security than Iran, says State Department
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