Campaigning in Veracruz yesterday, PRI candidate Enrique Peña Nieto promised that he would leave Mexican marines and naval forces in charge of local policing in the city if he's elected president. In December, just before Christmas, the entire thousand-strong police force was dismissed due to concerns about corruption and infiltration by drug cartels. Los Zetas and Cartel Golfo have been involved in a bitter struggle for narcotics routes north in recent months, and Veracruz was the scene of some of the worst excesses of the drug war in 2011. In September dozens of brutalized bodies were thrown out of cattle trucks on a public street in broad daylight while horrified citizens watched. By the end of the year the state's PRI run government and the Calderón administration had arrived at an arrangement to turn over policing duties in the area to federal troops.
Although Peña Nieto has agreed not to change things in Veracruz, he still hasn't clarified whether he'd continue to follow the Calderón militarization policy, known as the National Security Strategy, in other regions where the drug cartels remain powerful.
Apr. 13, 2013 - Fifty-three weeks to the day after this post was first published by MGR, Enrique Peña Nieto happened to be back in Veracruz today. Recognizing that the city remains a very dangerous place, he repeated his promise: the armed forces will remain in the streets "until the peace is won." Where is the world press - especially the U.S. press - on this issue? So many harshly condemned former president Felipe Calderon for using Mexico's military in the drug war. Now they say not a word.
Federal troops take over police functions in Veracruz - 1,000 local cops fired: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2011/12/federal-troops-take-over-police.html.
Peña Nieto avoids key drug war issue: will Mexican armed forces participate?: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/03/pena-nieto-still-avoids-key-drug-war.html.
López Obrado repeats promise to pull Mexican military forces from drug war: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/02/lopez-obrado-repeats-promise-to-pull.html.
Weeding out corruption is daunting task in Mexico - polygraphs for 500,000 cops: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2011/10/weeding-out-corrupt-local-cops-remains.html.
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