Mexico's spreading drug violence

Pamela Starr writes in Opinion today:

In the interest of national security, the United States must aggressively police its border with Mexico. But the cause of concern is not the northward flow of migrants and drugs. Rather, our focus should be on the southward flow of arms and ammunition that is fueling an explosion of drug-related violence in Mexico and that could soon threaten U.S. interests.

Already this year, nearly 4,000 people have been killed in Mexico as warring drug cartels intensify their battle for control of drug markets and transportation routes, according to the newspaper Reforma. That's more than triple the total for 2002 and a 65% increase on the tally for all of 2007. Murder is now producing a death toll appropriate to a country in the throes of a civil war.

Meanwhile, raw brutality increases as well. In newspaper headlines, the once unthinkable is now commonplace: decapitations; the slaughter of entire families, including infants; massacres of two dozen individuals at a time; and recently, the targeting of innocents with hand grenades in Morelia, Michoacan.

Kidnapping and extortion has also skyrocketed, transforming Mexico into the abduction capital of the Americas and creating a palpable sense of insecurity in the nation. Mexicans are scared, and Americans should be too.

Pamela Starr is a senior lecturer in international relations and public diplomacy at USC, an adjunct fellow at the Pacific Council on International Policy and a senior fellow at USC's Center on Public Diplomacy.

Read the rest of Pamela Starr's column on Mexico's drug violence here.

Click here to go to our special report on the drug-related violence in Mexico, "Mexico under Siege".

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Comments

[frankie]

"But the cause of concern is not the northward flow of migrants and drugs"
Nonsense. The flow of drugs north is what drives the money south, which allows these cartels to continue this violence.
Did it ever occur to the author that sending "migrants" north is part of a deliberate strategy to undermine the US by undermining the ability of state, local, and federal governments to provide services for its people.
Enough with the author's political correctness.
Time to deal with reality Mrs. Starr.

[lupita martinez]

Hola como estan todos pues yo muy bien yo queria decirles sobre que hacen exsactamente los policias para ayudar a las persons o politicos de Juarez, Mexico a la gente mas nesesitas

[southoc]

Typical anti-social response is to blame someone else.

[lewsta]

Interesting.. this year alone, more than four thousand have died in Mexico over who controls what turf with an illegal business. The greater part of those dead have been civilians... "collateral damage". I've seen a bit of concern in the press over this, but no real call to action, nor any significant moral outrage or deep concern that we must "do something". I find this an amusing contrast to the four thousand dead resulting from the military action in Iraq, few civilians amongst them, but with a clearly stated and upright goal in view: to relieve that nation from a tyrannical and brutal regime. Speaking of a tyrannical and brutal regime, can anyone think of a more appropriate way to describe the operation of Mexicos narcotraficantes? Even their police and military fear them. And why is this happening? Because enough individual citizens in the United States insist upon having access to their narcotics, and don't care the cost to anyone else. Where is the moral outrage against THIS, the driving force behind Mexico's present "troubles"? Oh, we can't dictate to others what they oughtn't do.... they must retain their freedom of choice. Too bad that "freedom of choice" has resulted in such a freedom being forever removed from somewhere near four thousand citizens of our neighbour to the south. Time our culture rises up and stands against drug abuse in this country. WE are the indirect agent of those deaths. No market here, no narco war in Mexico. Simple equation. It would also go a long ways to end Colombia's similar war on her own people, though some hard-won progress is being made on that front. Same root problem... we Yanks have accepted the "drug problem" on our own shores.

[Southoc]

Just doing the jobs Americans won't