Raging drug violence and rampant corruption have posed serious perils for Mexicans and Americans alike. Understandably, steady intimidation of police, politicians and journalists has caused many to hold back and not press the drug lords.
More than 15,000 people have been killed in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched a military-led offensive against better armed drug cartels almost three years ago. Murders and attacks cut so deeply at the heart of the population that it is hard to see any real action to stop the drug wars any time soon.
Some cities in Mexico, like Durango, have become so violent and drug gunmen known as the Zetas, challenge the long-dominant cartel, which controls the so-called Golden Triangle that grafts together parts of Durango, Sinaloa and Chihuahua states.
Durango is only one of the most serious dangers confronting the government and particularly journalists in Mexico.
Last month in Michoacan, Calderon’s home state, under siege by a ruthless drug-gang, which has infiltrated most local government and police forces, a veteran crime reporter and mother of two, left home and hasn’t been seen since. Her news reports helped push a drug connected police chief to be removed.
We hear much about the drug wars with the police and the military. However, the Mexican news media has been a special target of the drug lords.
According to the Mexican Human Rights Commission, 57 journalists have been killed in Mexico in the last decade, and many are missing. Another went missing this week
Out of 320 complaints filed in the courts since 2006 with a special prosecutor for crimes against journalists, which include murder, bombings of newspaper offices, threats and other acts of intimidation, only four cases have ever made it to court.
In America we have long heard of the drug war fights with Border Patrol Agents, local police and political leaders. We are beginning to hear reports that Mexican drug lords are pressing their intimidations on journalist and independent writers in Mexico and the U.S.
Maybe the drug wars are as much a threat as any form of terrorism
Until the U.S. can curtail its insatiable desire for drugs, marijuana, cocaine, etc., we will continue to be faced with as much a national security threat as all of the Al Qaeda affiliates and franchises.
