In class we talked about how many people wanted a 'deal cut' so things could go back to the way they were two years ago. In every conflict there comes a point where such deals can no longer be cut. With the esclation of violence in Juarez I wonder just how close we are to the point where deals could not longer but cut with the drug cartels to resolve the issue.
But whatever happens it needs to happen fast, if Juarez loses its skilled workforce that will only drive the poverty and poverty will provide power to the very people who are creating such an unstable city.
Your thoughts on the topic?
Mexicans march against drug killings in border city
Sun, Feb 14, 2010
Reuters
By Julian Cardona
CIUDAD JUAREZ - Residents of this border city caught in Mexico's bloody drug war staged a protest march on Saturday against President Felipe Calderon and an army crackdown that has failed to curb rampant killings.
Several hundred people chanted for the military to leave Ciudad Juarez, which has suffered more than 4,300 drug gang murders since troops were deployed in the city two years ago in a clampdown that has fanned turf wars between rival cartels.
Tempers flared in this manufacturing city on the U.S. border after gunmen burst into a teenage birthday party last month and killed 13 high school students and two adults.
"Go away, Calderon, resign," shouted Luz Davila, who lost both her sons in the shooting. Davila broke through security during a visit by the president this week to attack him verbally over the incident.
Calderon was in Ciudad Juarez on Thursday to pledge money for social programs as a way to stem a culture of violence that goes back years in the city. Critics see him looking increasingly weak against the ruthless trafficking cartels.
Students dressed in army-style garb holding mock cardboard rifles were among black-clad protesters at Saturday's march.
"We are not going to let them continue killing our sons, our youth, our daughters," said Paula Flores, whose son was abducted and murdered a decade ago.
Midway into his six-year term, Calderon is still popular in Mexico but opinion polls show that a drug war death toll of more than 18,000 since he took power in late 2006 is undermining confidence in his vow to beat the cartels.
As well as frightening local residents, Mexico's drug violence is worrying the U.S. government, tourists and foreign investors.
At a tense meeting with activists and church leaders on Thursday, Calderon promised more schools, parks, clinics and welfare in the city, surrounded by shantytowns and garbage dumps, where residents often witness open-air shootouts and murder victims hung from bridges.
Some U.S. companies are holding off increasing investment in Ciudad Juarez because of the violence, and middle-class residents are fleeing, threatening to leave the city of 1.2 million people without the skilled workforce it needs to operate its factories.
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Wish we had the answers! I am not going to pretend that it's not hard for me to understand how a city could just spiral out of control like this. Obviously, your average law enforcement theories do not cover things like this (used to be a criminal justice major). I understand the desire people have to cut a deal, I definitely do. Eventually, maybe Juarez can do something drastic in the way of their law enforcement policy. If I were part of the local government, I would suggest we train an entire militia-like unit that would replace the Mexican military but use alternative tactics, and to try and avoid corruption. They need their very own, very large version of Eliot Ness and "The Untouchables". They need to be paid extremely well, get the right intel, and focus only on organized drug cartels. Is this a good idea?
ReplyDeleteI believe that even though if we get a super good trained militia for this, there will always be corruption inside. By the time we can get someone to focus on the drug cartels, someone inside the function would of already advised these and they would be trying to save their own cover. It is very hard to explain the law enforcement in Mexico specially in Cd. Juarez since many of these jobs are not taken for granted. Many of these people get into these jobs because they know that they will be getting more out of the "mordidas" than the actual pay. Sadly, I've experienced the mexican military ask me for a "mordida" to let me go. They will just say, "pues para que tanto problema, mejor como de cuanto nos arreglamos?". At first, the military would not take any money from people but as time passed by, they learned that they could make more money out of doing this than actually doing their job. It might be a good idea to put this militia suggestion out but, I still believe that the corruption will be there.
ReplyDeleteSorry I forgot to put my name on the post for April 20. Wendy R. De la Torre
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