Guadalajara -
In a nation which at times seems a footstep away from civil meltdown, two suspected criminals were killed by a mob this afternoon. The Mexican press headlined it a "lynching."
The events occurred in Ecatepec de Morelos, a city in the State of Mexico (Edomex). Edomex is just beyond the limits of Mexico City. Enrique Peña Nieto served as governor of Edomex from 2005 to 2011. He was elected president July 1, and assumed national office Dec. 1, 2012.
Ecatepec de Morelos, which includes a city by the same name and a larger municipality (county), has an aggregate population of about 1.7 million.
Edomex has been hard hit by organized crime violence in the 10 weeks since Mr. Peña Nieto was installed. Brutal executions are carried out almost daily by warring drug cartels. Large contingents of federal troops and state security forces have flooded the streets, but with little appreciable effect so far. Executions soar in Mexico's heart.
Today a crowd converged upon three men who were "assaulting a health clinic," according to late breaking news reports. Their motive is unclear. But the crowd pummeled the men with fists, killing two of them on the spot. A third man survived, and was carried away by police units which arrived soon after.
Lynching in Spanish means any unjustifiable extra-judicial killing, and does not necessarily imply a hanging as it would in English.
Mexicans, increasingly, are turning to vigilante justice and self-policing, as local security forces reveal their impotence against monolithic cartels and regional crime gangs. The drug war is now in its 74th month, without the slightest indication that the daily bloodshed will end anytime soon.
Feb. 6 - Gunmen ambush police patrol in war torn Guerrero state, leaving nine officers dead
Feb. 4 - Crime with "impunity" still the norm in much of Mexico
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