WORRIES AS MEXICO VIOLENCE SPILLING INTO TOURIST AREAS
courtesy ABC news
The recent violence in a resort town in Mexico has highlighted the growing problem of civilian involvement in the Mexican war on drug violence.
The drug cartels' brazen hold on the country has seen tens of thousand of victims, both innocent and rival gang members. The violence is the most brutal ever seen. Stories about the torture inflicted on the victims prior to their killing is part of growing lore that terrifies the Mexicans citizenry, and unfortunately it is all true.
Most of the pictures of the victims are never published for this very reason. The degree to which the Mexican cartels will go in instilling fear is unprecedented. Indeed it was the famous case of DEA Kiki Camarena which first brought to light what these cartels can and will do. Camarena's body was found to have been tortured to a degree that astounded even hardened drug enforcement agents.
But the war on violence in Mexico is also on a scale that has never been seen before. And with each brazen act and the realization that even the army involvement is incapable of ending the massacre, the cartels are casting an even wider net of violence over the nation.
The news of a gang rape of 6 Spanish women in the famous resort town of Acapulco in Mexico has reiterated the fact that no one is truly safe, and that the cartels seem to now feel free to pick out innocent victim for a different kind of violence. Although the victims did not seem to have been targeted by the cartels per se, they were believed to have bought drugs from local dealers, who then turned on the women.
The newly elected president, Pena Nieto, is trying to come up with different solution to the problem. One would be to institute a grid of states patrolled by a new force of gendarmes.
But the people are tired of waiting for what they see as slow and inefficient intervention by the state. In some areas the citizens are rising up and forming paramilitary groups, which would further erode the authority of the state and splinter the coordination of the offensive against the violence.
In Acapulco, where the latest incident occurred, citizens are ready to rise up and take arms to defend what they see as their beloved country, but also a vital source of income from tourist presence.
Indeed if the tourists start to choose less beleaguered locales, Mexico could see a huge monetary loss.
Adapted from an article on CNN.com
Source : CNN 2.8.13
The news of a gang rape of 6 Spanish women in the famous resort town of Acapulco in Mexico has reiterated the fact that no one is truly safe, and that the cartels seem to now feel free to pick out innocent victim for a different kind of violence. Although the victims did not seem to have been targeted by the cartels per se, they were believed to have bought drugs from local dealers, who then turned on the women.
The newly elected president, Pena Nieto, is trying to come up with different solution to the problem. One would be to institute a grid of states patrolled by a new force of gendarmes.
But the people are tired of waiting for what they see as slow and inefficient intervention by the state. In some areas the citizens are rising up and forming paramilitary groups, which would further erode the authority of the state and splinter the coordination of the offensive against the violence.
In Acapulco, where the latest incident occurred, citizens are ready to rise up and take arms to defend what they see as their beloved country, but also a vital source of income from tourist presence.
Indeed if the tourists start to choose less beleaguered locales, Mexico could see a huge monetary loss.
Adapted from an article on CNN.com
Source : CNN 2.8.13
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