MEXICO: War on Drug Cartels Expected to Trigger Further Backlash

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Adrián Reyes

MEXICO CITY, Aug 8 2005 (IPS) - The Mexican government’s decision to step up its crackdown on drug-related violence is certain to unleash a bloody backlash from traffickers, which is why Mexico wants more cooperation from the United States in controlling the movement of both drugs and weapons across their shared border.

After meeting with President Vicente Fox on Aug. 3, Public Safety Secretary Ramón Martín Huerta announced plans to expand and reinforce the "México Seguro" or Safe Mexico programme, launched in June to confront the drastic rise in killings among rival drug cartels.

The fight for control over the main smuggling routes into the United States claimed more than 600 lives in the first half of this year alone.

Some of the victims were riddled with machine gun bullets, while others were slain by a single bullet fired at close range, execution style. Some showed signs of being tortured, or their bodies were dumped in deserted locations, wrapped in blankets.

The Safe Mexico initiative is being jointly implemented by all of Mexico’s federal law enforcement and security agencies under the direction of the armed forces. It includes the deployment of federal agents and soldiers to critical areas in at least eight of the country’s 31 states.

Huerta acknowledged that the increased pressure exerted by the security forces could likely lead to a violent response from the drug cartels.

"The criminals are watching us, they’re keeping a close eye on us to decide when to strike back with a surprise," he said.

The operation "will enter into new phases in different parts of the country, and we will announce the changes once they have been made; we are not going to announce what we are planning to do beforehand, no matter how many incidents take place," he added.

The decision to beef up these efforts came after the United States temporarily closed its consulate in Nuevo Laredo, in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas following a particularly explosive outbreak of violence.

On Jul. 29, a gang of 30 men used grenade launchers, machine guns and high-powered rifles to attack a private ranch estate on the outskirts of Nuevo Laredo, reportedly used as a weapons warehouse by drug smugglers.

The next day, in the western state of Jalisco, several individuals tossed grenades into the crowd watching a cockfight, causing six deaths. The police stated that the attack was a settling of scores between rival drug trafficking rings.

In the face of these incidents, the Mexican Attorney General’s office recognised that the drug cartels are now equipped with the same high-powered weaponry as the army, adding that most of these weapons are smuggled in from the United States.

The Mexican authorities also believe that the cartels have recruited former Colombian combatants and members of the Central American youth gangs known as "maras".

In the meantime, the trafficking ring headed up by Osiel Cárdenas includes Mexican army deserters who are former members of an elite battalion known as the Special Air Mobile Force Group, originally sent to Tamaulipas to combat drug trafficking, who are believed responsible for numerous killings.

U.S. ambassador to Mexico Antonio Garza issued a statement commenting on the "continued violence along the border" and announcing the temporary closure of the Nuevo Laredo consulate, which reopened Aug. 3 following intense negotiations with the Mexican authorities.

"We have to change the way we fight drug trafficking and approach it from a global perspective that involves other countries in the search for solutions," lawmaker Rafael García of the opposition leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) told IPS.

Senate speaker Diego Fernández of the ruling conservative National Action Party (PAN) maintained that the public has not perceived any progress in the government’s efforts to combat organised crime, and called for stepping up the battle but without resorting to "brutality" or "barbaric repression."

For his part, PRD Senate caucus leader Jesús Ortega believes that the government needs to pursue this goal with greater efficiency and develop an effective intelligence system to fight drug smuggling.

"If the government needs more resources to upgrade its weaponry or intelligence systems in order to make greater advances in combating the drug cartels, they just need to ask, because Congress is fully prepared to help in this struggle," added Ortega.

Roberto Madrazo, the former national leader of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and now a contender for the 2006 presidential elections, advocated the creation of a "national front" against drug trafficking.

Madrazo said that the country is facing an unprecedented wave of violence at the hands of the drug cartels, which appear to be "winning the battle."

In order to confront this growing threat, "we have to work together, regardless of political differences or which party we belong to," stressed Madrazo.

"The public has lost freedoms while the criminals have gained power, and the state and federal authorities have not succeeded in getting crime under control," said Elena Morera, president of the non-governmental organisation Mexico United Against Crime.

Morera commented to IPS that she welcomed the federal government’s announcement of more vigorous action against drug traffickers, who are practically holding the country hostage and basically do as they wish.

The Attorney General’s Office reports that there are at least seven drug trafficking cartels operating in Mexico, caught up in an escalating war for control of the main routes into the United States, the world’s largest market for illegal drugs.

In addition, as the United States has tightened controls along the border shared by the two countries, larger amounts of drugs are staying in Mexico, leading to violent competition among rival cartels over domestic distribution.

President Fox has called for the new measures to be evaluated by his security advisory committee, made up of officials from the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministries of Defence, Public Safety, the Armed Forces and the Interior, and the Centre for Investigation and National Security.