MEXICAN PRESIDENT VOWS TO COMBAT THE CARTELS WITH NEW STRATEGIES

MEXICAN PRESIDENT VOWS TO COMBAT THE CARTELS WITH NEW STRATEGIES

courtesy: Der Spiegel

President Enrique Pena Nieto has just recently been elected president of Mexico.  With him are born new hopes that the cartels will be defeated or at least their violence brought under control.

For his part Pena Nieto has not made the problem the central theme of his election, as his predecessor did.  This however, does not mean that he is wishes to come across as being soft on crime.  

In an interview with Der Spiegel, Pena Nieto has now tried to give the world hints on what his strategy might be.  

One of the things he stresses, is that tackling poverty might bring about the change that could stem the cartel's power.  Indeed, it is the poor people who are the first recruits and the first victims.  

He has however acknowledged that the cartels must be also combated through the use of deadly force and the institution of special task forces to monitor the hot spots where the cartels thrive and flex their muscle. 

What he is in fact proposing, is the institution of a paramilitary force that will be able to work without the strict parameters of police rule, and be able to contrast the cartels on their own turf with their own tactics.   

When pressed over which priority is foremost in Pena Nieto's agenda, reducing murders or quashing the cartels, the President answered that violence is the most pressing concern, although he reminded his interlocutor that the violence often is borne from territorial clashes among the different cartels. 

However, one of the challenges of new government is that many regions are forming their own militias, which could complicate the police efforts to exercise control.  Such new forces, outside of government control, could lead to a spiraling series of vendettas and more violence. 

In fact the President's party was in the past seen as colluding with the cartels because of the high level of corruption and bribe taking by the officials of the party and its affiliates.  Pena Nieto asserts that his party has nothing to do with the past, and that the economic stability of Mexico and the increasing amount of foreign investment will aid in combating the scourge of the cartels.

He also has promised to curtail money laundering, the lifeblood of the cartels.

Source; Der Spiegel. 2.11.13