 |
|
|
 News Around the Republic of Mexico | February 2007 
Mexican Attacks Raise Drug-War Stakes
 Jo Tuckman - Boston Globe
| | A policemen takes part in an operation to search for drugs and weapons in the Alvaro Obregon district in Mexico City January 30, 2007. (Reuters/Daniel Aguilar) |
Deadly assaults on two police stations by criminals wearing soldiers' uniforms have raised the pressure on Mexico's new president, Felipe Calderon, to demonstrate that his vaunted military-led crackdown on organized crime can stand up to the nation's powerful drug cartels.
The attacks in the resort city of Acapulco on Tuesday, killing five police investigators and two secretaries, also stirred fears that drug-related violence will chase away tourists.
Since taking office Dec. 1, Calderon has sent around 25,000 troops to hot spots in Mexico, including Acapulco, promising to "recover authority in territories challenged by crime." The cartels in these areas killed more than 2,000 people last year in their struggle to control cocaine trafficking routes, domestic production of marijuana, heroin and synthetic drugs, as well as the local consumer market.
Calderon called an emergency meeting with his security Cabinet immediately after the Acapulco killings, which both defied and mocked his efforts to show the gangs that they are not in control. A brief statement insisted "the government will not retreat or give up in the face of the attacks by organized crime." It described the attacks as a reaction to the crackdown, which is beginning to look like the defining issue of the new president's administration.
"Calderon had to do something," said Bruce Bagley, an expert on drug trafficking in Latin America and a professor at Miami University. "Public perception is that it had spiraled beyond control."
The first stage of the operation kicked off Dec. 12 in the central state of Michoacan, the site of some of the most shocking recent violence, including five severed heads rolled onto a dance floor.
Next came the rowdy city of Tijuana, just over the border from San Diego, and after that the southern state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is. Then the government's focus shifted to the so-called Golden Triangle where the northern states of Durango, Chihuahua and Sinaloa meet, and where Joaquin Guzman, the leader of one of the two drug cartels, is thought to be hiding.
Last month, the authorities flew journalists over Acapulco's legendary bay, ignoring the beaches and the cruise ships but circling down for closer looks at the roadblocks.
The local tourism industry was worried about Acapulco's reputation as a drug trafficking center even before the events of the past week, among them an incident in which two Canadian tourists were slightly injured by bullets fired in a hotel lobby.
Speaking Wednesday of Tuesday's attacks on the police, Mayor Felix Salgado told business leaders, "I hope this does not affect the tourist image." It sounded like wishful thinking for an official who has received dozens of death threats from the gangs competing for control of the city. He is protected by a dozen bodyguards.
Meanwhile, federal forces were busy following the trail of the commandos. Raids on a safe house and dumped cars allegedly used by the assassins yielded a small arsenal of assault rifles, pistols and grenades, along with military and federal police uniforms.
Calderon's offensive against the cartels is less significant for its size than for having reduced the participation of entirely civilian police to the "symbolic," according to Bagley. The vast majority of the operatives involved are either soldiers or come from the largely army-trained federal police. Strategy is being drawn up in the Ministry of Defense.
Analysts agree that Calderon was pushed into the arms of the generals because of the military's relatively clean reputation and better training. Corruption and lack of professionalism have pervaded local and state police, making them as likely to aid a jailbreak or guard a kingpin's wedding party as to bring a trafficker to justice.
As part of the government clampdown, soldiers have been investigating local police for connections with the cartels. In Tijuana, the army confiscated all the city police officers' guns.
Bagley said that while he recognizes Calderon had little choice in shaping his offensive, the army is "corruptible too." Some analysts go further to warn of an unprecedented disaster if underpaid, unhappy, or simply greedy soldiers decide to go over to the traffickers. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us