Policing In Mexico

Elections, violence and the (near) future of Mexico

2012-07-25T17:36:00.000-05:00

The elections have now come and gone with the not surprising caterwauling of AMLO that he was cheated (again) of his right to rule. Peña Nieto, the president elect, has promised changes in the pattern of violence that has enveloped Mexico during this past sexenio with his pledge to reduce the violence (rather than the current emphasis on taking down narco leaders). Despite all his failings, and there are many, and suggestions that he, and the PRI, want to negotiate with the TCO’s just like they did in the “good old days”, Peña Nieto´s pledge is on the right track. Calderón continues to assert that he is fighting (literally) for the security of Mexico but his war has caused tens of thousands of deaths (at the very minimum 70,000 [1]) in his 6 years of battle. Unfortunately any victory that Calderón may claim is Pyrrhic... and it is the poor and powerless who have lost and continue to suffer from his failed policies.

[1] Researcher, Molly Molloy, estimates the number of homicides at more than 110,000 for Calderón’s sexenio. Molloy, Molly (2012, July 26) Mexico's Magical Homicides. The New Times. Retrieved July 27, 2012 from http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2012-07-26/news/mexico-s-magical-homicides/

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wmmckay
Google+: gplus.to/mckay

The Mapping Project has run its course

2012-05-26T11:59:00.000-05:00

I have been watching the deterioration of the social fabric of Mexico ever since President Calderón chose to pursue his misguided, misinformed war against the narcos (TCOs) through his deployment of the Mexican army against his own people. Since December 11, 2006 the security situation, human rights and the Rule of Law have suffered immensely as have the more than half the population in Mexico that lives in poverty (and which bears the brunt of Calderón’s policies).

However, I am not just a casually informed reader of the news coming out of Mexico. I have a policing background, I was trained under the democratic policing model (which serves the interests of communities and individuals rather than political interests). Not satisfied with just the pragmatic aspects of being a police officer, I pursued graduate work on policing reform and training, studying best practices worldwide and subsequently I have worked with renowned police reform-minded agencies in Los Angeles, USA as well as Mexico. I wanted to contribute to meaningful change in police practices, rather than just academic musings and endless debate.

It was in 2010 that I began mapping the daily executions, mass killings and gruesome violence on Google Maps, an attempt to make sense of the daily tragedies (I also tracked the numbers of civilians killed, police killed and soldiers killed). The numbers went from worrisome in 2007 to troubling in 2008 and then horrific in 2010 where they reached terminal velocity (some see the leveling out in 2011 and the first half of 2012 at this “horrific” level as good news; I do not).

Because I made the maps public, others began to reference them (reporters, academics etc) and I had volunteers approach me to assist in tracking the numbers (volunteers whose dedication and diligence raised the quality of my project immensely, and to whom I am greatly indebted). The Mapping Project grew far beyond a hobby for personal use and became almost a public responsibility, one that I was happy to fulfill, but which required 4 to 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, of my time as well as that of my volunteers. Because of this increased time commitment, I sought funding from many sources, but to no avail.

Unfortunately we have come to the point where we neither have the time nor funding to continue this important work and so the decision has been made to bring a halt to the Mapping Project. I truly believe that this was an important task, one which provided a resource that many people have used and, I hope, has contributed to the dialogue of what is occurring here in Mexico.

I want to thank everyone for your support.

Walter M. McKay, M.A.
Director, WM Consulting

email: policiareforma@gmail.com
blog: wmckay.blogspot.com/
website: www.policereform.org
Twitter: twitter.com/wmmckay
Google+: gplus.to/mckay

Bloodletting in the 21st Century

2012-02-08T19:24:00.001-06:00

Using the military to address social problems, such as combating organized crime, is analogous to the bloodletting of a sick patient with leaches. Doctors of antiquity would apply leaches hither and yon across the body as a means to cure all sorts of ills but instead caused the patient to weaken further and, oftentimes, die from the “cure”. This seems to be an apt comparison to Calderón’s venesection of the body of Mexico (with apologies to Thomas Hobbes) with his use of the military as his national police force, a bleeding that is occurring in both a figurative and a real sense all over the country. In a state of denial, and as an attempt to mask this continuing policy failure, the Mexican government has recently released dubious homicide statistics that compare the sexenio of Calderon to those of his predecessors...to illustrate that things are, really, not that bad. A friend of mine, Dr. Jim Creechan, a Sociologist based in Toronto, recently posted his musings on these statistics (in his response to an article by Diana Washington Valdez, “Calderón years trail others for homicides”). Having obtained his permission, I am posting Dr. Creechan´s comments here (unedited, because I cannot improve on what he has written):

Benjamin Disraeli famously said "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics".
The Mexican government has been waging a very sophisticated campaign of "disinformation" to sell the story that Mexico is "not so bad" compared to other places. One of the major priorities of this current government is to change the image of Mexico held by the outside world.

The selective release of some statistics, the deliberate obfuscation of details, and the use of broad national statistics are part of this plan to "sell a manufactured story of safety and success in the drug war. There are many logical problems inherent in making comparisons between sexenios using national homicide data and most of these errors are obvious to anyone who understands how crime statistics are collected, tabulated and summarized: the counting process is not the same across sexenios, all forms of homicide (eg domestic violence incidents) are conveniently lumped together with gang and criminal violence in earlier counts but those incidents are left out of the current counts and, most egregiously, a national rate is used instead of regional or crime specific (State level) incidents. What was the homicide rate in Juarez, Acapulco, Vera Cruz, Monterrey etc. during those earlier sexenios. Was it anywhere near the rates exceeding 150 homicides per 100,000 that one now sees in those cities and in other regions — or was it lower.

The very fact that a national statistic is reported instead of using city-state-region statistics automatically lowers the rate by about 1/10th and make the numbers appear to be reasonable.

Frank Rich (former NY Times columnist, now New Yorker essayist) wrote a wonderful book titled "The Greatest Story ever Sold" to show how the manipulation of information and data by government allowed the Bush Presidencies and their evil acolytes to drag the United States into Iraq and Afghanistan. The campaign of misinformation was deliberate and unfortunately successful.

Although I applaud the efforts of reporter Diana Washington Valdez in interviewing others and putting the numbers in context, I would ask her to explore the answers to a simple question — "Where did those numbers about the crime rate come from?". She might even want to explore how these statistics about national crime rates are "mysteriously" appearing in several sources at once.

[1] Washington Valdez, Diana (26 January 2012) Special report: Calderón years trail others for homicides. El Paso Times. Retrieved February 08, 2012 from http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_19823397

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wmmckay
Google+: gplus.to/mckay

Some changes for the New Year

2012-01-09T12:36:00.000-06:00

First, regular viewers of the Mapping Project will notice the addition of a new marker on the maps: an outline of a male or female figure in white. In the western legal tradition, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and it is on this basis that we map the executions in Mexico--as a red balloon marker for all civilians, regardless if they are said to be "bad guys" by the government, the military, the police or the press. However, it was raised as an issue (by some viewers) about those who are, without doubt, innocent: the weeks-old baby, the 4-year-old girl or the woman driving in her car who is caught in the crossfire of a gang shoot out. For these undeniable cases we will now include this new marker. The use of the red balloon markers, however, still does not indicate the culpability of the person who dies, that is not for us to decide, rather the marker only indicates that there was a death that was related to organized crime/narco activity.

Second, the weekly count that we have been displaying (here: www.policereform.org) has been based upon the numbers provided by La Reforma, a respected newspaper whose research is used by many academics and researchers. For the overall total (now at 54,432) We have calculated the dead from the base number provided by the last government report in January 2011 (34,612 people killed in narco-related violence since Dec 2006 -- see my blog here for details) and then adding La Reforma's weekly updates. As of January 1, 2012 this will change, as we will now provide the updated figures based upon our own research with the data available on our public maps, for all to scrutinize. The reason for this is that we cannot challenge or check La Reforma's methodology, and unless you are a subscriber to their paper (as well as able to read Spanish) you cannot even obtain access to these numbers.

Morally, it is somewhat reprehensible that such data (concerning the havoc that is occurring in Mexico) is, firstly, not collected and made widely available by the government in a transparent and timely fashion and, secondly, that private agencies tie this important data to a subscription model...making a tangential profit off of the grief and misery of others. The Mapping Project will now address both of these issues--all data collected is displayed on public maps and the count maintained and updated weekly, free for the viewing. Full Disclosure: I do maintain a database of the collected data as well, but any analysis will be fee-based (we have to pay for this service in some fashion).

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

Follow on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/wmmckay

If there were not Chapo, we would have to invent him (with apologies to Wilde)

2011-12-09T13:21:00.001-06:00

Following in the footsteps of Eduardo Gutiérrez Guerrero [1], I am going to state the obvious: to focus on arresting the leaders of TCOs rather than systematically dismantling the organization itself will only lead to the fracturing of the organization and increased violence as others try to fill the leadership void (the point proven by charts provided by Gutiérrez). If President Calderón were truly sincere about “combating” organized crime, rather than deploying soldiers in the streets he would focus the state’s resources in competent investigations of ALL those involved, seizing all assets, and tracking down the organizations, businessmen and politicians who collaborate with the narcos as anywhere from 40 to 60 billion dollars a year of illicit cash washes through Mexico each year (or half a trillion since Calderón declared war). With a pool of 7 million “ninis” (youths who neither work nor study and who have little hope to do so) from which to draw, organized criminal groups can easily afford a war of attrition. TCOs offer the ninis what the government cannot and the elites will not, who see them as nothing more than castoff proles or proletarians [2].

The Calderón administration trumpets Ciudad Juaréz as a success with its unenlightened strategy but, although the death rate has fallen, it is not as precipitous as claimed since the administration tends to fiddle with statistics. In this case it is by using data from the highest month of casualties (October 2010 with an average of 11 per day) to compare it to one of the lowest months (April 2011 with an average closer to 6 per day not the 4 stated by Alejandro Poire [3]) claiming a 60% drop when in fact within this time-frame it was closer to 30%--which is not insignificant, and part of a trend of declining deaths for 2011, but certainly not the 60% claimed by the glib Poire (at the time he served as the federal security spokesperson but is now serving as the Interior Minister, the second highest post next to that of President). Both October of 2010 and April of 2011 were anomalies [4], and a more honest accounting would use the average number of people killed in 2010 (which was 9 per day) and compare this with the first four months of 2011 (including April) which has an average of 7 per day, with January and February both surpassing 200 deaths each (January - 222 and February - 231) [5].

But Ciudad Júarez is not the only city in Mexico experiencing hyper-violence as, under this strategy that has the top leaders of TCOs being killed or captured by the war-machine, violence has spread undeterred throughout the country, especially through the pacific states [6]. The latest example is Sinaloa where, for the last few months now, things have been percolating in and around the cities of Culiacán, Mazatlán and Los Mochis (see pie chart below):

Although the violence in Sinaloa has been off of the radar of the major media outlets the lid blew off last week on November 23 with a host of burned bodies, including police officers, turning up in Culiacán, 16 of them publicly charred in 2 burning vehicles as a brazen warning [7]. The Governor of the State, Mario López Valdez, immediately stated that this was between the narcos [8] but a quick answer like this seems a tad facile considering that 32 police commanders in Ahome were recently dismissed [9] and in Tijuana 15 million of Chapo’s money seized [10]. Thus, a different supposition of what is occurring is that Chapo is “cleaning house” for this egregious loss, rather than the imminent attack of the Zetas into Sinaloa territory (a tit-for-tat response to attacks upon the Zetas in Veracruz [11]). Granted, the reprisal theory does seem to be the case with the 20 bodies discovered in Guadalajara, Jalisco the next day [12]...but anybody with a marker and some cardboard can make a “narcomensaje”.

Be that as it may, Calderón´s rhetoric, of making headway against organized crime, does not seem to support the facts as the killers continue to kill en mass, with impunity. Force vs Force as a means to resolve domestic issues is not working, that is, using military weapons and tactics to combat social issues. Trying to address social conditions in terms of war-making and using the army as a domestic police service to combat crime cannot be successful in any sense. Crime and criminals are a result of social phenomena--there is no army to defeat, no leaders who once captured cannot be replaced (at best there is the fracturing of the organization into smaller pieces which will jockey, fight, and coordinate and adapt to continually fill the demands of a voracious drug market). What the war-making has done is make the illicit markets more efficient, the organizations more deadly and created a highly populated “assassin profession” employing thousands of young men (and even women and children).

But, cheered on by the US, Mexico refuses to deter from its ill-trodden path and, despite the fact that the narcos now kill by the truckload, still refuses to change strategy...increasing army patrols of the streets has not prevented assassins from driving around with trucks loaded with dead bodies, dumping them on major thoroughfares and/or lighting them on fire. What is needed is not bullets but competent investigations, rule of law, and a working justice system. Instead of deploying soldiers, Calderón should be “deploying” forensic accountants and investigators, "boring" suits and ties, rather than "sexy" guns and bullets, if he truly wants to wage an effective campaign against organized crime and make the country safer.

Calderon has engaged in a 5 year social experiment, of using the army to combat social problems, rather than focusing on the policing system. The results are in and it is clearly evident that it is not effective. After five years, billions of dollars, international support and assistance, Mexico now suffers from a contagion that has spread from the border to its east and west coasts with police officers kidnapped and killed [13], police forces resigning or fleeing from the towns that they are supposed to protect and serve [14], of cities having to fire their police commanders because of corruption and ties to the narcos, and of executions all over the country that continues to rise each year including those who dare speak out [15].

Now, the question many are asking is if this is a war, should Calderón not be held accountable? [16].

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings

Website: WM Consulting

Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wmmckay

[1] Gutiérrez Guerrero, Eduardo (2011, June 01) La raíz de la violencia. Nexos. Retrieved June 06, 2011 from http://www.nexos.com.mx/?P=leerarticulo&Article=2099328

[2] Malvido, Adriana (2011, December 07) Peña Nieto, redes sociales y ciudadanía. Milenio. Retrieved December 07 2011 from http://impreso.milenio.com/node/9075073

[3] Borderland Beat (2011, May 20) Juarez Homicide rate drops 60% in 6 months, says Federal Security Spokesman. Borderland Beat. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/05/juarez-homicide-rate-drops-60-in-6.html

[4] Sosa, Luz del Carmen (2011, May 01) En abril, menor cifra de homicidios en 14 meses. El Diario. Retrieved December 07, 2011 from
http://www.diario.com.mx/notas.php?f=2011/05/01&id=4a49b86c111a74ba9a319cf62dc09983

[5] ibid.

[6] Diego Valle Jones maps out the homicides for 2011, until August, and we can see that the Culican area is a hot spot http://www.diegovalle.net/maps/d3/crime-2011-aug.html

[7] Cabrera, Javier (2011, November 24) 26 muertos en Sinaloa; 16 fueron calcinados: La masacre, por disputa del territorio entre grupos antagónicos: Malova. El Universal. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/811193.html

[8] Debate (2011, November 25) Malova: Se disputan Sinaloa tres cirteles: Son el grupo criminal del Pacífico, los Beltrán Leyva y los Carrillo; familiares de las víctimas de los hechos del miércoles identifican a 10 de los 16 cuerpos. Debate. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from
http://www.debate.com.mx/eldebate/movil/Articulomovil.asp?IdArt=11540450&IdCat=12302

[9] Noreste (2011, November 15) Noreste. Detienen a todos los jefes policíacos de Ahome:
32 mandos fueron citados a una reunión para afinar detalles de operativos donde fueron sorprendidos con su detención. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from
http://www.noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?id=733911&id_seccion=19&fecha=2011-11-15

[10] Noreste (2011, November 23) Incautan a "El Chapo" 15 millones de dólares: Es el segundo aseguramiento más grande de efectivo en lo que va del sexenio; el anterior fueron 26 millones de dólares asegurados en Culiacán. Noreste. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from
http://www.noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?id=735929&id_seccion=

[11] Vanguardia (2011, September 21) Blindan Veracruz tras aparición de 35 cuerpos. Vanguardia. Retrieved December 07, 2011 from
http://www.vanguardia.com.mx/blindanveracruztrasaparicionde35cuerpos-1103136.html

[12] Zamarroni, Ulises (2011, November 24) Hallan al menos 20 cadáveres en Guadalajara: Los cuerpos fueron localizados en tres camionetas abandonadas en la Glorieta de los Arcos del Milenio. El Universal. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/811211.html

[13] CNN México (2011, November 21) Ocho personas, entre ellos tres policías, son secuestrados en Sinaloa: Cinco civiles y tres policías locales fueron secuestrados por hombres armados en el municipio de Angostura. CNN México. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from
http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2011/11/21/ocho-personas-entre-ellos-tres-policias-son-secuestrados-en-sinaloa

[14] El Universal. (2011, November 25) Ejército rescata a 14 policías de emboscada en Michoacán: De acuerdo con la PGJE, los elementos municipales fueron rescatados cuando presuntamente iban a ser secuestrados en un paraje de Carácuaro; los sacan de la zona junto con sus familias. El Universal. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/811505.html

[15] Beyliss, Marcelo (2011, November 29) Matan en Sonora a padre de joven desaparecido. El Universal. Retrieved November 29, 2011 from http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/83254.html

[16] BBC (25 November 2011) Mexico activists seek ICC investigation of drugs war. BBC. Retrieved November 25, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15899687

I do not like coincidences

2011-11-11T15:20:00.001-06:00

With the death of 2 interior ministers in the sexenio of President Calderón, I, along with many others, cannot help but wonder if the death of Juan Camilo Mouriño Terrazo 3 yrs ago [1] was a deliberate assassination, that the perpetrators, relying upon the successful cover-up decided to try again, this time with José Francisco Blake Mora [2]. Perhaps the narcos are feeling empowered enough to raise their sights from the killing of netizens [3] local mayors/politicians, and the occasion high-ranking police officer, to high level government officials (Blake Mora would be the one to step into the role of president if President Calderón were to die). IF this was an assassination it is troubling especially in light of recent reports that have claimed that the country has, basically, fallen to the narcos, namely a division between the two most powerful TCOs, the Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel, such that, if there ever was a war, Calderón has lost [4].

This is all speculation at this point in time, but unfortunately Calderón has brought the country to a point where such speculation is rampant and is weighted with credulity, that there is a war, that there is an enemy, one who has the capability and motivation to successfully pursue such assassinations.

For the rest of the country, it is a war that has done little other than to bring about great pain and misery and introduce state sponsored, systemic human rights abuses [5].

Where to go from here...

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

Follow on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/wmmckay

[1] Excelsior (2011, November 11) Blake y Mouriño, lamentables pérdidas en sólo tres años: Apenas la semana pasada se conmemoró el tercer aniversario del fallecimiento de Juan Camilo, también por un accidente aéreo. Excelsior. Retrieved November 11 2011 from http://excelsior.com.mx/index.php?m=nota&seccion=&cat=1&id_nota=782854

[2] Ramos, Jorge (2011, November 11) Muere secretario Blake Mora en accidente aéreo. El Universal. Retrieved November 11 2011 from http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/808102.html

[3] Alarcón, Francisco Sandoval (2011, November 11) Sin confirmar, asesinato en Nuevo Laredo por denunciar al narco en redes. Vanguardia. Retrieved November 11 2011 from http://www.vanguardia.com.mx/sinconfirmarasesinatoennuevolaredopordenunciaralnarcoenredes-1143682.html

[4] Vanguardia (2011, November 09) Controlan Zetas y cártel de Sinaloa la mayor parte del país: Siedo. Vanguardia. Retrieved November 11 2011 from http://www.vanguardia.com.mx/controlanzetasycarteldesinaloalamayorpartedelpaissiedo-1143112.html

[5] Human Rights Watch (2011, November 09) Neither Rights Nor Security: Killings, Torture, and Disappearances in Mexico’s “War on Drugs”. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved November 11 2011 from http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/11/09/neither-rights-nor-security-0

Breaking the 50,000 Barrier: About those numbers

2011-10-04T11:39:00.002-05:00

Readers will observe that the counter for the narco executions has been updated and is presently at 51, 273 [1]. I would like to start out by emphatically stating that no, there were not nearly 3,000 executions this last week in Mexico (although with 35 bodies being dumped on the street at one time, it makes one wonder [2]. So, that being the case, how did I come to a new total (and, how do I compile my numbers)? For those who follow the situation in Mexico they are aware that there are various figures put forth about how many people have been killed since President Calderón began his war in December 2006 [3]. These numbers can vary because of the methodology used, who is counting, what they may be counting and how they define a TCO related death (a husband killing his wife is different than a face sewn onto a soccer-ball). In the case of my count, I try to use the Mexican government’s figures as much as possible such that if I do criticize the government’s policies or strategies, we do not quibble about facts (and for those who want to dispute the government’s numbers can do so, as a separate issue). As an example, there is an issue of plausibility with regard to the blanket contention by the Calderón administration that 90% of all “narco-deaths” are bad guys i.e. criminals killing criminals. It is impossible for ANYONE to make that claim. What we DO know is that there are incidents of bodies showing up that have died prematurely and violently: that there are gun-battles between people in civilian clothes or between those dressed in uniforms against those in civilian clothes or even those in uniforms against others in uniforms. We KNOW that bands of individuals, dressed in military fatigues, police uniforms and/or civilian attire, attack people, individually or in groups, kidnap and torture and kill many, many people, including men women and children (far, far too many children in my opinion). Sometimes we know that these attackers are police and/or soldiers fighting bad guys but a lot of the times we do not. The criminals will wear fake uniforms and/or stolen ones, or the police/military are members of a TCO carrying out their bidding or, as has recently been seen, paramilitary groups such as the MataZetas, claiming to represent the community in defending itself [4]. One of the main reasons as to why we cannot know much more than this is due to the lack of successful investigations to inform us, that is, the Rule of Law (and prosecution, trial and conviction to assure us that criminals are in fact criminals). The successful rate of investigation for all crimes in Mexico is less than 2% which means that the 98% of all crimes go unsolved, thus a factual statement as to who is being killed cannot be made. This is especially the case when we can see the investigative prowess of Mexican authorities displayed in pictures of mass graves, discovered in Durango April and May of this year, where the corpses are literally excavated with a back-hoe [5] and hand-shovels [6]. So, with this in consideration, I use the numbers supplied by the government if not the explanation for them. Thus, there is one important set of numbers that the Mexican government released (of executions) in January 2011 that covered the period of Calderón’s war since Dec 2006 to Dec 2010 with the total at 34,612 killed by TCOs [7]. The number of killed each year was also given as: Dec 2006 - 62 executions; for the year 2007 - 2826 executions; for the year 2008 - 6837 executions; for the year 2009 - 9614 executions; and, for the year 2010 - 15,273 executions. From January 2011 to July 2011 there is an update by the Mexican government agency, Secretariado Ejecutivo Del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública, where, in its report “Incidencia Delictiva 2011: Fuero Común” it lists, for this time period, 14,835 murders (homocidos dolosos) [8]. These are the murders committed with firearms, knives and other implements, and although certainly not all are related to organized crime or TCOs, they provided a close approximation to what is happening in Mexico. Thus, updating my count for the end of July entails adding these 14,835 “homocidos dolosos” to the January count of 34,612 for a total of 49,447. And, from June 1 onward, I have added the Reforma newpaper (http://www.reforma.com/) weekly counts, up until this last week, thus arriving at 51,061. From this week onward I will continue to update this count on a weekly basis using Reforma’s numbers because Reforma is a respected national newspaper whose figures are referenced by many academia and NGOs (for example David Shirk and his Trans-Border Institute [9].

And that’s how we know that, at the very least, 51,273 people have been killed in relation to the war declared by President Calderón in December 2006.

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

Follow on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/wmmckay

[1] see https://sites.google.com/site/policereform/narco-killings

[2] see http://wmckay.blogspot.com/2011/09/next-chapter.html

[3] Some media use the last number issued by the Calderón administration in January 2011 of 34, 612, others add the weekly numbers tracked by newspapers such as Reforma (http://www.reforma.com/) to come to a total of 42,000 and some use my numbers at https://sites.google.com/site/policereform/narco-killings

[4] An excellent analysis of this is here: http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1651-zetas-push-to-take-guadalajara-could-unleash-battle-with-sinaloa

[5] Rocha, Ricardo (2011, May 12) Identificación cadáveres Durango no se realizarán en DF. GrupoFórmula. Retrieved October 01 2011 from http://www.radioformula.com.mx/notas.asp?Idn=172687

[6] La Prensa (2011 May 11) Venganza y secuestro tras los cadáveres encontrados en Durango. La Prensa. Retrieved October 01 2011 from http://www.laprensa.com.ni/2011/05/11/internacionales/60237

[7] see http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/primera/36178.html

[8] To see the report, go to: (http://www.secretariadoejecutivosnsp.gob.mx/work/models/SecretariadoEjecutivo/Resource/131/1/images/IDFComun_21022011.pdf

[9] Click here for his latest report: http://justiceinmexico.org/resources-2/justiciabarometro/justiciabarometro-ciudad-juarez/)

The Next Chapter

2011-09-26T09:01:00.001-05:00

In a brazen display of their power, and the continuing ineptitude of Mexico’s security forces (both police and military), a Boca del Río crime group dumped 35 bodies on a main thoroughfare, in the middle of the day, in rush hour, in the largest urban area in the state of Veracruz [1]. This was followed the next day with the discovery of 14 more bodies throughout this port city [2]. Javier Duarte de Ochoa, the Governor of Veracruz came out swinging, stating that the full weight of the law was being applied against organised crime, that his security forces where making unprecedented arrests, that he was increasing security measures and even denying that there were 14 other bodies found [3]. He must have the same speech writer as President Calderón, and, with these initiatives that he pledges, he should expect the same results that Calderón has enjoyed, more violence, impotence against the threat of the narcos and the sliding of Veracruz into a failing state, openly controlled by TCOs.

And, unfortunately, like President Calderón, Duarte is not going to get much assistance from his in-house experts nor the other talking heads and national experts who advise Calderón. The best that these experts seem to accomplish is to play up to the headline hungry media as they comment on the events that occur throughout Mexico. And media-friendly comments seems to be all they can supply rather than any real assistance or deep analysis (which they all claim to singly offer). This was seen June 17, 2011, when it was quickly and widely reported that the leader of Los Zetas, Heriberto “El Lazca” Lazcano Lazcano, was killed in a shoot out in Matamoros and that this could herald the decline of the Zetas (in conjunction with an ambush of 28 Zetas in military garb 2 weeks earlier) [4][5]. The discussion centered on how this was seen as a serious blow to the Zetas (how many times do we hear that with regard to any given TCO?) and that this was a turning point. Stratfor came out with a better analysis days later which included the fact that the Zetas had in fact fielded a possible 130 SUV convoy, full of gunmen, to invade Matamoros and that El Lazca might be dead but is probably not, clearly not an indication of an organization on the decline [6]. This same rhetoric, and discussion by the experts, was repeated (seemingly word-for-word) in a later news meme concerning the capture of Jose de Jesus 'El Chango' Mendez, one of the leaders of La Familia Michoacana which would herald the demise of La Familia et cetera, et cetera (recent events continue to prove this speculation as premature) [7].

This all makes for good chatter over a beer, a couple photo-ops and sanguine interviews with probing TV reporters--and maybe the announcement of a forthcoming book by said analyst--but in reality, nobody knows what is occurring only what has occurred. Guesses are made on what events mean and what might entail but that is all they are, guesses. Nobody really knows what is happening, the bad guys are not talking (except when captured and covered with cuts and bruises) and the Mexican security forces do not have the support nor trust of the community to groom reliable informants nor do they have the intelligence gathering expertise that the narcos have (the US, while having the equipment and expertise are loath to share it with what they consider as corrupt officials throughout the police and military and the academics). This leaves the academics and experts only with each other, and media reports, to rely upon... so they watch... and guess... and quote each other.

So, at this point, what do we know is going on in Veracruz? We know things have been heating up in the last few weeks in Veracruz (see https://sites.google.com/site/policereform/narco-killings) prior to the 35 bodies being dropped, and that Duarte had clear indications of trouble, especially in the last week, as is illustrated in this pie chart of the killings in Mexico from Sept 18 to Sept 24:

So, as a fellow talking head, my suggestion to Governor Duarte, if recent history is a guide, is to warn him that if he puts into action his Calderonistic rhetoric then Veracruz is doomed to follow the same sorry path as Juárez and Monterrey with barbaric acts that will continue to rise in scale of ferocity as the narcos battle, unchecked, for the lucrative drug market (as seen in the recent chainsaw beheading posted just recently on the Internet [8]). In light of this, he might want to serious consider a paradigm shift (see my earlier blog posting: http://wmckay.blogspot.com/2011/09/paradigm-under-which-mexico-suffers.html).

[1] Booth, William (2011, September 21). 35 bodies dumped in Mexican city as president begins effort to woo tourists. Washington Post. Retrieved September 24, 2011 from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/mexicos-dueling-images-35-dead-in-tourist-town/2011/09/21/gIQAkHjZlK_story.html?hpid=z4

[2] Mosso, Rubén (2011, September 24) Niega Duarte los 14 muertos del jueves. Milenio. Retrieved September 24, 2011 from http://www.milenio.com/cdb/doc/impreso/9031983

[3] Castillo García, Gustavo (2011, September 24) Niega el gobernador de Veracruz que hubiera otras 14 ejecuciones el jueves. La Jornada. Retrieved September 24, 2011 from http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2011/09/24/politica/007n2pol

[4] La Policiaca (2011, June 17) Reportan muerte del Heriberto Lazcano “El Lazca”, fundador de los Zetas. La Policiaca. Retrieved September 24, 2011 from http://www.lapoliciaca.com/nota-roja/reportan-muerte-del-heriberto-lazcano-%E2%80%9Cel-lazca%E2%80%9D-fundador-de-los-zetas/

[5] Milenio (2011, May 26) Por emboscada, 29 muertos en Nayarit: PGJ estatal. Milenio. Retrieved September 24, 2011 from http://www.milenio.com/cdb/doc/noticias2011/58c0b884bd6410700b50e01411cc30f1

[6] Stratfor (2011, June 22) Mexico Security Memo: Confusing Reports of a Battle in Matamoros. Strafor. Retrieved September 24, 2011 from http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110621-mexico-security-memo-confusing-reports-battle-matamoros?elq=439af56b937b4149803cb5c972b60bf1

[7] Wilkinson, Tracy (2011 June 22) Leading Mexico drug gang suspect arrested. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 24, 2011 from http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/22/world/la-fg-mexico-familia-20110622

[8] Borderland Beat (2011, September 24)The Execution of Two Chapos. Borderland Beat. Retrieved September 25, 2011 from http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/09/execution-of-two-chapos.html

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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War on Marijuana

2011-09-17T08:37:00.002-05:00

Today´s post is by guest writer, Allison Gamble.

Marijuana is the most widely used illegal substance in the United States, and the most controversial as well. While some people argue from a forensic psychology standpoint it's an addictive drug that leads to the use of much more addictive and harmful substances, others point to studies that emphasize the exemplary safety profile of the substance. For many people who use it for medicinal or recreational purposes, the perceived benefits outweigh the potential risks. A careful analysis of existing data is needed to determine whether the war on this particular drug is justified.

According to estimates by the University of California Los Angeles, around one fifth of the adult American population has smoked marijuana within the past year, and two to three percent use it on a daily basis. Some people use this drug for its health benefits, which have just begun to be discussed in scientific literature, but include the reduction of nausea and the relief of pain.

The National Academies Press has put together a comprehensive review of the effects of marijuana. It notes studies involving the use of marijuana for cancer pain showed significant pain relief, and when used in conjunction with chemotherapy (which often induces severe nausea) over half of patients were better able to eat and keep down food. Additionally, many patients reported feeling happier and less anxious.

Marijuana has been noted to be effective in treating the pain of several other medical conditions. These include chronic pain, especially when paired with insomnia, due to marijuana's sedative effects; migraine headaches; pain originating from the nerves or due to spinal cord injury; and pain related to HIV/AIDS or its associated therapies. Newer studies suggest marijuana may even exhibit anti-cancer properties. For of these reasons, 16 states have seen fit to legalize the drug for medicinal purposes, and voters in several other states are considering doing so.

Marijuana is frequently compared to alcohol in terms of recreational use. Similarly to alcohol, many people report feeling euphoria and disinhibition after using this drug. Unlike alcohol, however, marijuana does not have a known lethal dose, and the likelihood of harmful physical effects or addiction is actually quite low. In fact, studies are inconclusive as to whether marijuana is even addictive at all. To date, there have been no known fatalities due to overdose of marijuana, and even reports that solely focus on the adverse effects of the drug note it generally has a good safety profile when compared to other recreational drugs.

Although there is a growing acceptance of the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, with up to 73 percent of the population supporting its use as a painkiller and anti-nausea drug, far fewer Americans support outright legalization. State laws that allow this drug to be used as medication conflict with federal laws that keep it completely illegal, and have led to federal raids on dispensaries around the nation, even if no charges were filed. Only further research into the specific benefits and risks posed by this plant will allow Americans to make an informed decision as to whether it should continue to be illegal, or if the war on marijuana should finally be ended.

Allison Gamble has been a curious student of psychology since high school. She brings her understanding of the mind to work in the weird world of internet marketing.

The paradigm under which Mexico suffers

2011-09-08T19:47:00.000-05:00

President Calderón is still befuddled as to why the strategy that he has been pursuing for the last 5 years has not produced the results that he had expected (and for which he is still waiting), i.e., to win the drug war, as evidenced in his speech last week [1]. Aside from a close examination of the colossal failures of Plan Columbia and its kinship to Mexico’s imbroglio, I would like to humbly suggest that the problem is the paradigm through which Calderón views the challenges facing Mexico with regards to organized crime, drugs and security. His rhetoric indicates that he continues to view Mexico at war as is most recently seen by his labelling of criminal acts, such as the recent arson attack of the Casino Royale in Monterrey, as terrorism (of which they clearly are not, no matter how horrific, since these actions are perpetrated for financial gain rather than political aims) [2]. Moreover, Calderón, still operating within this “war-paradigm”, is also incorrect in thinking that the continuance of his current strategy is the only way to win (no matter how long it takes nor how many deaths result) [3].

One thing that President Calderón does get right, however, is that the prodigious US demand for drugs fuels the TCOs in Mexico and in turn the violence that has claimed nearly 48,000 lives (a large part of this is due to his misguided war and security policies) [4]. Everything else he gets wrong including relying on the US and its advisers to continue to follow this path of waging a war upon his fellow citizens (something to which the TCOs are now responding in kind through using any and all military grade weapons and munitions as well as building their own homemade tanks [5]).

It is erroneous for Calderón to adopt US “war-paradigm” policies and strategies to address social issues. We know this because, after over 40 years and trillions of dollars (yes trillions, not millions, not billions), the US still does not have a definitive policy nor practice that can enforce prohibition. As an example of this failure, the US tries to build a wall along the Mexican boarder when it cannot even keep contraband out of the most secure facilities it has--prisons--where drug use and abuse is rampant (just ask any warden or guard) [6]. The US continues to jail anyone who buys, sells or uses illegal drugs, with nothing to show other than the highest incarceration rate in the world coupled with the highest drug use in the world (clearly the tactics of fear are not working). As a grand social experiment, which has been conducted for over 4 decades (and is still, sadly, underway), the US has proven, without a shadow of a doubt, that the use of force to address social and health issues is not efficacious, that this “war-paradigm” does not work.

So, given the above, President Calderón needs to realize that if the use of force did not work with the US with its well-funded, well-trained and well-equipped armies (both police and military) it certainly will not work in Mexico with its poorly-funded, poorly-trained and poorly-equipped security forces (both the military and the police) stumbling along, relying “on numbers over intelligence and [which] falls back on time-worn tactics, such as highway checkpoints, of limited use against drug traffickers... [and] left the U.S. pointedly criticizing the force as "virtually blind" on the ground” [7]. Furthermore, as Calderón continues to operate under a “war-paradigm”, and the dismal results being achieved so far, there are some now projecting that US forces in Mexico as inevitable [8].

But, what if we step back from this paradigm, and realise that it is not a war, what then is to be done to address the threat of the TCOs? One option is to examine the structural elements--those that give rise to organized crime; the venues for their profits; and, the recruitment of Mexico´s poor into its ranks--something that is lacking under Calderón’s “war-paradigm”. A good example for us to turn to is Britain’s fight against highwaymen, desperate ex-soldiers-turned-robbers who, for the most part, when released from the war with little or no opportunity for work and the availability of quick cash to be made by a gun, turned to robbing stagecoaches in the 17th and 18th Centuries. Operating under the “war-paradigm” soldiers were deployed, strategies employed, rhetoric evoked and victories announced with each arrest made (sound familiar?) all for naught as the highwaymen continued in their trade, frustrating the British government’s efforts to combat this threat. Despite the efforts of an Empire nearing the height of its power and glory, one where the phrase "his Majesty's dominions, on which the sun never sets," was apt, and yet could do little to to prevent the scourge of highwaymen.

What did prove effective against the highwayman was a a few structural adjustments of which one the most important was the invention/introduction of bank drafts and cheques, the innovation of transferring money through the use of a document rather than physically bearing one’s riches (gold, silver and other valuables were untraceable and could be used by anyone)...bank instruments which could then be tracked and canceled if they were stolen (and a new draft reissued) thus making useless those stolen by the highwayman.

A paradigm shift, something for President Calderón to consider as he enters the sunset of his governing tenure...

[1] Tovrov, Daniel (2011 Sept 5) Mexico's Drug War: Can President Calderon Win? International Business Times. Retrieved Sept 5, 2011 from http://hken.ibtimes.com/articles/208652/20110905/mexico-drug-war-gang-president-calderon.htm

[2] ibid.

[3] ibid.

[4] But, Calderón is incorrect in thinking that the problem solely rests from being a neighbour to such a voracious consumer for Canada is as well yet does not suffer from the atrocious deaths and powerful TCOs that plague Mexico. Why is this? This is where the finger has to point back to himself, his fellow politicians, and the elite who control the wealth and resources of the country (with no intention of sharing), of the corruption that runs throughout all levels of government and without any serious efforts to bring about reform, accountability or transparency. For a count of those killed since President Calderón came to power see: https://sites.google.com/site/policereform/narco-killings

[5] Housworth, Gordon (2011, July 19) 'Narco-tanks': Cartel Competition Elevates to Asymmetrical Weapons. Insight Crime. Retrieved September 05, 2011 from http://www.insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1073-narco-tanks-cartel-competition-elevates-to-asymmetrical-weapons?

[5] Wilkinson, Tracy and Ken Ellingwood, (2010, December 29) Mexico army's failures hamper drug war. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 22, 2011 from
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/29/world/la-fg-mexico-army-20101230

[6] Let´s not even consider the security of the prisons in Mexico, as noted by a recent article, where assault weapons and drugs were discovered in a Mexican high security prison this week... El Universal (2011 Sept 08). SSP encontró 24 armas en Cereso de Chihuahua: Durante el operativo de esta tarde en el Centro de Readaptación Aquiles Serdán, elementos federales hallaron además 800 dosis de mariguana. El Universal. Retrieved September 09 2011 from http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/792267.html
Laplante, Matther D. (2011, February 07). Army official suggests U.S. troops might be needed in Mexico. The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved April 22, 2011 from http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51207681-76/mexico-westphal-drug-insurgency.html.csp

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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Volunteers Needed

2011-09-03T10:22:00.004-05:00

The Narco Killings Mapping Project is currently canvassing for volunteers to help monitor local papers in Mexico for deaths in relation to homicides, executions and mass graves that can be plotted on the Narco Killings mapping project (https://sites.google.com/site/policereform/narco-killings).

The Narco Killings Mapping Project has been in operation since May 2010 and is used by the media, academics, and the public to monitor the devastation of the war on drugs. Although very successful, the challenge we face now is to comprehensively track ALL the people who are killed each day all over Mexico.

We know from government reports that there is an average of 59 individuals killed each and every day but due to time constraints that prevent us from monitoring local media in all 32 states of Mexico we find that we are only able to map an average of 40 per day. This gap must be addressed as part of the path to bringing transparency, accountability and justice to Mexico.

This is an important task because the numbers of people killed are not being accurately tracked, and for those agencies that do collect statistics (including the government, media and other institutions), the numbers tracked vary between agencies, are glossed over and/or not being revealed to the general public in a timely matter [1]. If a national and international media misses or glosses over these important numbers, what else is missing and how can we know what is truly happening?

The Task

The work is not difficult and all that is needed is a computer, internet access and 1 to 2 hours a day (all training will be provided by the Narco Killings Mapping Project).

Each volunteer is assigned ownership for a State(s) of which he or she is responsible for scanning local media: online news, Twitter, Facebook etc (these links will be provided). Each day the volunteer is required to submit information, compiled in the form of: date, location, number of deaths, one line summary of event and corresponding link to the source of the report.

A basic knowledge of Spanish is helpful but not required.

For more information or to apply please send an email to: policiareforma@gmail.com

[1] A recent example is the Milenio Newspaper media group which recently published statistics on the executions for August 2011 (Conteo de las ejecuciones en el país en lo que va del año (gráfico interactivo)) and stated that none occurred in Colima and only 3 in Guanajuato, whereas the Narco Killings Mapping Project directly contradicts this with the mapping of 3 killings in Colima and18 for Guanajuato for the month of August 2011, and includes the media links to each event, for all to see and check for veracity.

Modifying Calderón’s strategy

2011-08-21T11:32:00.000-05:00

Many people have commented to me that it is clear that Calderón´s strategy is not working but now that the military has been committed the soldiers cannot be withdrawn as it would give the impression that the TCO's have won. So, the question is, "what should be done?". To answer this it must be understood that simplistic solutions as proposed by others based on US models of police reform, such as community policing, or other faddish elements, do not take into account the stark contrast in policing between the two countries. Fundamentally what Americans understand as policing, as the investigation and solving of crimes that result in the conviction of criminals in a fair and just trial, does not exist in Mexico in any form or fashion. The reasons for this are too many to explore in this blog but the primary one is that Mexico does not have police officers as we understand them in the US, rather the patrol officers that we see on the streets in Mexico function more as security guards (not even glorified security guards) and/or soldiers (or faux-soldiers) who patrol the streets and do little in the way of investigation, crime scene protection, witness interviewing etc. This is the main failing of Calderón’s strategy as his efforts are to strengthen this model rather than reform, improve or even replace it with true investigative policing in a meaningful way. Thus the proposed solutions by self described experts, based upon the US policing model being superimposed onto the Mexican, will not work. What is needed is proper investigations and arrests, not firepower, if Calderón wants to effectively challenge the TCO´s. With this in mind, Calderón’s strategy can still be viable IF the objective is to have a true, democratic policing model in Mexico (and I would strongly argue that Calderón, and the elite families, do not want such a model) that served the community rather than special interests (including TCOs), THEN what should be done is to continue with the military in their limited capacity of patrolling the streets (which has been shown to be nothing more than a political move as patrolling has been shown to be futile as a means of crime detection/prevention from the Kansas City experiment) but instead of arming and retraining the police officers as a replacement for the military, train them as investigators, ones who adhere to the Rule of Law, respect Human Rights, with the capacity to gather evidence, use warrants, interview witnesses, interview (not interrogate) suspects and focus on the safety and protection of the community members rather than engaging in a war (something the police do not do in a democracy). Politically, this is not as sexy as buying new cars, guns and helicopters, but in the long term this is what needs to happen if Mexico is ever going to have a chance.

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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If the Gov´t is winning, I would hate to see what losing looks like...

2011-08-16T19:39:00.005-05:00

With over 47,000 dead since December 2006 [1], and more States becoming ungovernable, the assertions by the Calderón administration, that it is making headway in this 5 year war by arresting some of the top leaders of the TCOs, seems to be nothing more than vacuous propaganda [2]. Aside from the weekly (sometimes daily) assassinations of police chiefs and senior commanders as well as mayors and other political figures all over the country, the 4 marines who were kidnapped in Veracruz yesterday [3] illustrate that none are immune from the terrors of the narcos. Terror that, unbelievably continues to worsen (even though it was bad enough when faces were sewn to soccer balls) with the appearance of pozoles (stews) that have been displayed in the streets of Tepic, Nayarit where the dismembered victims were arranged in large wash pans in a mixture of body parts, potatoes, carrots and other vegetables [4].

And, as a seemingly brutal rebuttal to an earlier blog that I wrote concerning the lack of narco killings in the Mexico City area [5], the last few weeks has seen an increase in killings throughout this metropolis and surrounding areas, with the northern part of the city experiencing the majority of the killings, most of which are attributed to either La Familia Michoacana and/or the Mano con Ojos [6]. Is this the beginning of the Monterrey-zation of Mexico City?

As a final note, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Katie M. for volunteering to help keep my maps updated on a daily basis [7]. She has offered to monitor the local dailies in Nayarit, Guerrero and Baja California to track the narco killings, many of which are not reported by the mainstream media. Her assistance has enabled the mapping project to be even more comprehensive, and I really appreciate her help!

[1] see www.policereform.org
[2] Ref. basically any statement and/or news release by Alejandro Poire, Mexico's federal security spokesperson.

[3] Villegas, Indira (2011, August 16). Apoya Gobierno de Veracruz a Semar en búsqueda de marinos desaparecidos. Veracruzanos. Retrieved August 16, 2011 from http://www.veracruzanos.info/2011/08/apoya-gobierno-de-veracruz-a-semar-en-busqueda-de-marinos-desaparecidos/
[4] La Policiaca (2011, August 16). Macabro pozole: Le agregan cabezas humanas. La Policiaca. Retrieved August 16, 2011 from http://www.lapoliciaca.com/nota-roja/macabro-pozole-le-agregan-cabezas-humanas/
[5] http://wmckay.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-not-df.html

[6] Rosenberg, Mica and Rachel Uranga (2011 August 16). Analysis: Mexico's splintering drug gangs pose new security risk. CW39. Retrieved August 16, 2011 from http://www.39online.com/news/local/sns-rt-us-mexico-drugstre77f5fj-20110816,0,6328276.story
[7] https://sites.google.com/site/policereform/narco-killings

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics"

2011-07-16T14:24:00.000-05:00

Lately, some statistics have been casually tossed around concerning the number of Federal Police officers in Mexico. In at least 2 publications it is claimed that, since 2006, the numbers of the Federal Police have increased more than fourfold (from 6,500 to 33,000 or 36,000). The first reference was on June 25, 2011 where, in his article in the Houston Chronicle, "Mexico winning cartel war", Ricardo Ainslie states that the “Mexican federal police force has quintupled in size to 33,000 officers” [1]. When I questioned Ainslie’s claim (as well as a couple other erroneous “facts” he cited) Ainslie stated that 6,500 was the number provided by Alejandro Poiré, the minister charged with communicating the Mexican government’s message, in a presentation that he gave at the University of Texas on March 28, 2011. The second reference to the magical 6500 was in a publication by Michael Beith on July 14, 2011 in Foreign Policy, “Can Mexico Fix Its Image Problem?”, where he stated that “Mexico had a mere 6,500 federal police officers” although Beith did not report where the number was sourced (although I suspect Poiré as well). What is of concern is the number itself, and the associated claim of police growth, where, in the era of political posturing and damage control, it deserves a little digging to confirm such broad statements (especially since it seems to indicate a massive restructuring and investment into the Federal Police).

With a little digging, we can see that, in reality, the proposed “quintupling” of the Federal Police is nothing more than a reshuffling of the same deck of cards. Basic research reveals that the entity known as the “Federal Police” did not even exist in 2006 but is a creation of recent years (May 2009, to be exact). The Policía Federal that exists today was the creation of the amalgamation of several federal forces that had already existed, the two largest being the Secretará de Seguirdad Pública Federal (SSP) and the Policía Federal Preventiva (PFP) who alone numbered 34,399 members (21,492 for the SSP and 12,907 for the PFP) back in 2006. And, as for federal policing agencies that existed in 2006, none had anywhere near 6500 members so it is hard to see what agency Poiré had in mind...but it could not have been the Federal Police.

There has been a lot of reporting, blogging and book writing concerning Mexico in the last few years, but I would think that getting the numbers right would assist us understanding what is occurring in this conflagration that has claimed over 46,000 men, women and children since Calderón took office (and maybe more cynicism and fact-checking when members of Calderón’s communication team makes any kind of claim or statement).

[1]Beith, Michael, (2011, July 14). “Can Mexico Fix Its Image Problem?” Foreign Policy. Retrieved July 15, 2011 from http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/07/14/can_mexico_fix_its_image_problem?page=full#
[2] Ainslie, Ricardo. (2011, June 25). "Mexico winning cartel war". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 26, 2011 from http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7626870.html#ixzz1QPY5pafThttp://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7626870.html

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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The Curse of Einstein

2011-06-28T14:34:00.002-05:00

When the news came out the other day that Tamaulipas was replacing police forces of 22 municipalities--Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, and Matamoros among them-- with the Mexican military [1] it is almost as if it was a slap in the face of Javier Sicilia and his demand of President Calderón to return the military to its barracks at their meeting on June 23 at the historic Castillo de Chapultepec [2]. Willfully ignoring the lack of progress in this war (despite fanciful arguments by others [3]), Calderón continues pursuing the same failed strategy. Calderón’s determination to confront the TCOs head on, and his use of the military to do so, has implications far beyond the human rights abuses committed by soldiers and Federal Police (in the name of security), far beyond the debate of whether to legalise drugs or not, far beyond the more than 41,000 people who have been killed as a result of his decision to wage war [4]. What is now happening is that the very concept of the Rule of Law is being threatened (another example of this is seen in the latest vigilante activity, of many, which involved 11 police officers being injured as they saved some alleged thieves from being lynched by “concerned” citizens[5]) and the specter of “social cleansing” possibly occurring under the cover of the war on drugs violence[6]. Calderón’s continued reliance on his armed forces for domestic security, in the face of over 41,000 dead, with less than 2% conviction rate illustrates that there is no Rule of Law, nor a security mechanism in place to enforce it, within Mexico and his war against the TCOs is the catalyst that has exposed this falsehood.

[1] Beaubien, Jason. (2011, June 24). "Mexico Replaces Police With Soldiers In Border Area" NPR. Retrieved April 26, 2011 from http://www.npr.org/2011/06/24/137393901/mexico-replaces-police-with-soldiers-in-border-area
[2] Figueroa, Martha Elba. (2011, June 24). "Pide perdón por muertes, pero no cambiará estrategia" El Diario. http://www.diario.com.mx/notas.php?f=2011/06/24&id=0bfc6ece9c83861d6a12dc2a195683cd
[3] Ainslie, Ricardo. (2011, June 25). "Mexico winning cartel war". Houston Chronice. Retrieved June 26, 2011 from http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7626870.html#ixzz1QPY5pafThttp://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7626870.html
[4] https://sites.google.com/site/policereform/narco-killings
[5] Europa Press. (2011, June 11) "Al menos once policías heridos durante un intento de linchamiento en México" EUROPA PRESS. Retrieved June 14, 2011 from http://www.europapress.es/latam/mexico/noticia-mexico-menos-once-policias-heridos-intento-linchamiento-mexico-20110614190301.html
[6] Bellinghausen, Hermann. (2011, June 27). "Una dictadura selectiva" La Jornada. Retrieved June 27, 2011 from http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2011/06/20/opinion/a11a1cul

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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More than just a war

2011-06-13T11:47:00.000-05:00

This weekend Javier Sicilia and his 20 vehicle “Caravan for Peace (and/or Solace)” finished the journey from Cuernavaca to Juárez to meet up with anywhere from 500 to 4,000 followers--the large spread of the estimates is due to the sympathies of the reporting sources--to protest the drug war (Alberto Torres “Firman Pacto Ciudadano y anuncian resistencia”
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/primera/37046.html). Sicilia´s movement is his response to his son being among 7 people killed last month in Cuernavaca. Like all too many, Sicilia was silent about the ravages of the drug war, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives, until it directly effected him. But, turning his sorrow to action, he is now spearheading a movement for change with demands for corrupt officials to be fired, the army to be returned to its barracks, rights of the indigenous upheld, protection of teachers, and to stop criminalizing Mexico´s youth, among many other demands tacked onto this movement that has the participation of over 250 NGOs. At the end of the caravan´s journey, Julian LeBaron eloquently commented on how everyone in Mexico is culpable for the violence when he spoke of the death of Marisela Escobedo (“Today I Get Off the Victims’ Bus to Be an Agent of Change and Work in My Community” http://narconews.com/Issue67/article4450.html). The message was clear, Calderón´s fight has done nothing to curtail the power of the narcos and has only brought death and misery to thousands without truly addressing the ills of Mexico.

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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A fearful populous

2011-05-26T14:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, a major gun-battle between rival drug gangs, leaving 28 dead, 17 of whom were wearing military uniforms, again illustrates the lack of control of Mexico’s security forces in many regions of the country (“Balacera deja 28 muertos en Nayarit” 26 de mayo de 2011 http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/80541.html). Not coincidently, there was also another story reporting on the displacement of citizens fleeing gunbattles around their home (Violencia desplaza a 2,500 michoacanos: Ejército refuerza vigilancia e inhibe ataques armados, según alcalde http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/80541.html), such reports are starting to sound more and more like they came from war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Somalia and Sierra Leon, but without the international concern or rhetoric. An even more interesting fact from this same article is that local governments are building, and utilizing, shelters to which the populous can flee (not unlike hurricane shelters or, more aptly, bomb shelters), a recognition that the authorities are otherwise helpless to protect citizens against these constant assaults, almost like a force of nature. And, because of this, Michoácan and Coahuila, like Torreón last year (“Edil de Torreón llama a encerrarse ante inseguridad: Tres facultades de la Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila decidieron suspender clases y desalojar a los alumnos ante el clima de inseguridad” http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/74641.html), have suspended classes because of the rising violence and concern for the students’ safety (“Violencia despierta pánico en Saltillo: Mueren siete en enfrentamientos, entre ellos un civil; suspenden clases en todos los niveles” http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/79761.html).

Tell me again, Mr. President, why are you engaged in this domestic war?

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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Why not DF?

2011-05-24T12:55:00.000-05:00

I have not posted on my blog lately because I wanted to bring my mapping project up to date (see it here), which I now have. But, after spending the last month or so mapping the horrors that this country experiences, the executions north, south, east and west, it has now occurred to me as to how strange it is that there does not seem to be any (or very, very few) executions, and/or shootings, in Mexico City, a city of 20 million. Certainly there must be violence here, as in any big city, but you would not know it by the media. Even in Vancouver BC, Canada, a relatively safe city of under 500,000, there are gang related killings here every year (not much but still there, see: http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/22/edmonton-murder-rate-horrifying-critic). However, if one follows the media here in Mexico City, there is nothing whatsoever. Why is this? Is there a media blackout? Is it to reassure those living here (home to the rich and powerful)? Is it self-imposed by the media or by external sources? Whatever the case, I cannot believe that there cannot be ANY (or such a low number) narco related executions here (I hope I am not risking my life by even stating the obvious: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/episode-guide/series-2011/episode-7).

As for the executions in the rest of the country, the count is now at 39,679 since President Calderón began his failed initiative in December 2006 (this includes the 234 bodies discovered in mass graves in Durango). By referring to “failed initiative”, I am not suggesting that the government should NOT confront organized crime. However, this is not a war and the army is not the right tool to tackle organised crime, that is what the police are for, and if Mexico police forces are not ready, get them ready but pull the army off of the streets. The military should not be involved with domestic intelligence, patrols, or investigations, they are not trained for it nor should they be, all of the training and equipment should be solely focused on the police not the military.

Calderón’s efforts (backed by the US) have only made the armies of the DTOs more efficient, effective and ever closer to becoming a regular army: (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/05/23/bloody-mexican-gangs-make-official-uniforms-insignia/)...although this is not news at all as insignias, uniforms and a command structure has been evident for a number of years (the embedded video at Fox News is a nice show though)...see an older blog post on this theme (http://wmckay.blogspot.com/2010/01/update-on-mexico-for-2009.html).

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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“It's the economy, stupid”

2011-05-01T13:33:00.002-05:00

In a recent article in the "Economist", John Sullivan observes that " Some analysts say the plague of kidnapping (up fourfold compared with 2005) and extortion may show that government pressure is forcing some drug cartels to diversify" (http://www.economist.com/node/18621268?story_id=18621268&fsrc=rss). But, rightfully, he notes that organised crime groups are not just about drugs, and never have been. Contrary to the position of President Calderón and his US cheerleaders, such as Michele Leonhart (“Bodies found as Mexicans march against drug violence” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12992664), both the horrific, unchecked violence in Mexico and the fact that the DTOs are diversifying, is sign of the strength of the DTOs not of their weakness and points to the government’s failed policies, rather than success, of using direct force (the military) to resolve social issues. As much as the facile rhetoric assures us, this is not a war against organized crime, of “good vs evil”. This envisioned dichotomy is an all too simple paradigm for a complex social milieu. When President Calderón talks of the necessity of making the country safe for the children (Combatimos a los malos: FCH: Dice a infantes que la lucha es para que puedan salir a jugar a la calle sin miedo http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/185093.html), he is referring to the children of the privileged and not to the children that his security forces are killing (Ya son 1,236 niños muertos en México http://www.nuevodia.com.mx/nacional/ya-son-1236-ninos-muertos-en-mexico/) or made into orphans, up to 60,000 since his term (La guerra al narco habría dejado 60 mil huérfanos http://www.oem.com.mx/elheraldodechihuahua/notas/n2052596.htm). When President Calderón talks about making the country safe and secure, he means safe and secure for the elites, not for the millions of people who live in desperate poverty, who have little or no education because of an underfunded and disastrous education system (all who can afford it, send their kids to private schools), to maintain the status quo. When President Calderón talks about prosperity and opportunity, he is referring to the prosperity and opportunity of the privileged, not to those who live without access to safe drinking water, electricity, basic infrastructure and medical care (all those who can afford it use private hospitals). When President Calderón refers to the “enemy”, he means those who work with or are a part of DTOs, those who are driven to it because there are no other opportunities for them in a country that does not offer them education or other work opportunities. The elites have a strangle hold on the economy (one reason why there is a disproportionate number of billionaires in Mexico, including the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim) and will not share the wealth whatsoever. Their executives, CEOs, managers, leaders, judges, politicians and power brokers all expect and receive salaries and perks that rival or surpass that of developed nations (sometimes double or more, the salaries of their contemporaries in rich nations “http://www.amconmag.com/article/2006/may/22/00023/”) but pay their workers, whether skilled or unskilled, a pittance for their labour (at present, minimum wage in Mexico is 57.46 pesos per day http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aDxkLtk91LkA). Having a large, uneducated, unskilled labour pool ensures that wages stay depressed (labourers who are so desperate that they even send their kids into the streets to earn money washing windshields rather than school … and these “street kids”, as calculated by the government, number in the millons “En México, 3 millones de niños insertados en actividad laboral: INEGI” http://www.radioformula.com.mx/notas.asp?Idn=170420). This colonial divide is what President Calderón and his coterie of like-minded are fighting for AND this is what he is fighting against, for the DTOs have access to millions of people who are now saying that they want a piece of the pie, if not shared voluntarily then by force. This is not an ideological battle, and marching through the streets saying "ya basta" will not change their minds. There is no war to fight, no “enemy”, there is only a society to improve, infrastructure in which to invest, jobs to create (quality jobs with decent pay) and opportunities to provide to all, not just the powerful and/or politically connected (and their families). And, until this is realized, and acted upon, there will be no victory to speak of, other than that of the organized crime groups who have now diversified throughout the Americas and now the rest of the world.

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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Un-Security

2011-04-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

Like an out of control forest-fire, the Mexican government seems only concerned with putting out those blazes that raise the most attention, willing to leave the rest of the forest to burn. For example, everyone seems to be aware of (and the government responding to) the 183 bodies found in San Fernando, Tamaulipas (“Bodies in mass graves now total 183, Mexican AG says” http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/04/27/bodies-mass-graves-total-183-mexican-ag-says/) despite the rising body count from the narcofosas in the city of Durango, with the recent discovery of 7 more corpses, raising the total to 103 (“Suman 103 cuerpos exhumados en Durango” http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/80239.html). Even though the bodies keep piling up in this city, Durango is not the focus of the media nor of politicians, it seems to be just a footnote (could this be due to the fact that this is the rumored nexus of the Sinaloa cartel as well as the hideout of Joaquín, “El Chapo” Guzmán?). Some communities, however are not willing to settle for this, the lack the lack of security, and thus are forming vigilante groups to protect their homes, businesses and populace. This is not news, as I noted earlier in my blog (“Rising Costs” http://wmckay.blogspot.com/2010/10/rising-costs.html). But what is new is that vigilantism is no longer a secret (or an open secret) as warnings are now displayed publicly on walls and buildings throughout cites such as those in Acolman, Mexico (“Se organizan vecinos en contra de la delincuencia: Pobladores alertan a los presuntos delincuentes que tomarán la justicia en sus manos” http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/edomex/4716.html) for miscreants to fear “the people’s justice”. For the inhabitants of Acolman the debate over security and the “rule of law”, that is occurring in the Mexican senate (“Senado aprueba reforma política” http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/primera/36726.html), is just empty rhetoric, and instead they are acting on their own to protect themselves because they know that the government will not, and in many cases cannot, protect them.

For a long time criminals have known that the security forces of Mexico are impotent, but now so does everyone else, the only tangible result from President Calderón’s war on drugs.

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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More and More (April 22, 2011)

2011-04-22T11:13:00.000-05:00

One of Mexico´s national newspapers, La Reforma, reports that 11 more bodies have been discovered near the city of Durango, Durango, the new hot-spot for "narcofosas" (mass graves by organized crime) which brings the total to 41 bodies so far (La Reforma, “'Arden' 3 estados por narcoataques” http://www.reforma.com/nacional/articulo/605/1208075/). Meanwhile, in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, the narcofosa count has now risen to 177 (Business Recorder “Mexico Tamaulipas body count rises to 177” http://www.brecorder.com/world/north-america/12072-mexico-tamaulipas-body-count-rises-to-177.html). And, while soldiers were digging up these bodies, gangsters shot up the town of Miguel Aléman, Tamaulipas, as well as burning down several businesses before being confronted by federal forces with the ensuing engagement leaving 2 dead (one of whom was a soldier) and 11 banditos captured (Sergio Chapa, “Soldier, gunman killed during cartel gunbattle in Miguel Aleman” http://www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=608738). In Acapulco and the surrounding area, another 11 people were killed (also from La Reforma, “'Arden' 3 estados por narcoataques” http://www.reforma.com/nacional/articulo/605/1208075/).

These events, in conjunction with the Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (CNDH) report of the 16 most dangerous states in Mexico (see http://www.cndh.org.mx/comsoc/compre/2011/COM_2011_092.pdf), bring to mind a water balloon that is being squeezed: the government responds to a threat, forces are deployed, bad guys are killed or arrested (or anyone who may resemble a bad guy) resolutions made, and promises given … until another zone of conflict appears (repeat previous actions). Part of this “water balloon effect” is the government's approach to the issue, viewing organized crime the same as an external threat where the army (and the increasingly militarized Federal Police) can be deployed to combat the enemy. The problem is that the “enemy” includes many of the same members of the communities that need assistance. Confronting organized crime is far more complex than hunting and killing “bad guys”, it is a social issue rather than strictly criminal and that, just as the Mexican politicians views US intervention as a breach of the sovereignty of Mexico, so do locals regard the heavy handed presence of the federal forces in their community, as an invasion. The uniformed, armed presence of the federal forces brings no relief, no assistance, no resolution to ANY of the ills that plague the communities (the presence of drug lords is just one of many problems, and, really, not the most pressing) and they are regarded with suspicion, distrust and resentment (which is reinforced by the human rights abuses by the federal forces). But the Mexican government, with full support of US politicians, continues its militarized policy against its own people, which now has resulted in the Mexcian DTOs becoming one of the most powerful armies in the world, according statements by Pentagon officials (as reported on April 12, 2011 by Anna Mulrine, “Pentagon: Central America 'deadliest' non-war zone in the world” http://www.minnpost.com/worldcsm/2011/04/12/27394/pentagon_central_america_deadliest_non-war_zone_in_the_world). The easy answers are not working (more men, more guns) but no one seems to be willing to deviate from this path despite the overwhelming evidence of its failure.

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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Descending through Dante´s Circles

2011-04-18T09:25:00.000-05:00

The level of brutality has now transcended a new low, two levels really. The first level: children, some less than a year old, are now being directly targeted by the narcos in their killing sprees. The latest news reports has assassins deliberately targeting babies and toddlers, as well as their parent(s), or in lieu of, if the parent(s) cannot be found (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/mexican-drug-cartels-targeting-and-killing-children/2011/04/07/AFwkFb9C_story.html). From this same Washington Post article: “competing criminal groups appear to be killing children to terrorize the population or prove to rivals that their savagery is boundless”.

This “savagery is boundless” statement brings us to the other transcended level: rival gangs are now skinning their opponents alive (“desollado vivos”) before killing them and then posing the corpses in macabre, grotesque positions, a new trend to shock the public and to humiliate the victims, even in death. The first reported case was of two victims, their bodies discovered in Tepic, Nayarit and involved leaving their faces beside the skinned bodies (http://www.nayaritpuntocom.com/portada/52228.html) and then, a week later another body in the same city of Tepic, found on a public overpass (http://www.lapoliciaca.com/nota-roja/%C2%A1localizan-cuerpo-mutilado/). In both cases, evidence points to the victims being tortured first and then skinned alive with their corpses dressed in their clothes and displayed publicly (this is reminiscent of the face that was sewn to a soccer ball and left in a soccer field for all to see -- http://wmckay.blogspot.com/2010/01/just-when-you-thought-it-could-not-get.html). The narcos, in their bloodlust, if not going for quantity (see Tamaulipas for the 145 bodies discovered in mass graves-- http://wmckay.blogspot.com/2011/04/mando-unico-and-mass-graves.html) are going for "quality" (desollado).

As a matter of record, the count of those killed in Calderón’s Drug War, as of April 15 is at 38,272 (https://sites.google.com/site/policereform/leap-mexico/narco-killings).

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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Mando Único and mass graves

2011-04-14T11:16:00.000-05:00

On April 10 there was an article concerning “mando único” or single command, a proposal by the head of the Federal Police, Genaro García Luna, to absorb all the municipal police agencies into state agencies (http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/184650.html) thereby creating 32 police agencies rather than the 1600+ agencies that currently exist. The municipal police agencies are widely considered to be the most corrupt, inept and untrained (a direct result of limited funding and no oversight mechanisms). García Luna had originally proposed merging all agencies (both state and municipal) into a single, Federal Police force (such as exists in the Dominican Republic), under his command, but the politicians (both federal, state and municipal) did not trust his proposal as nothing more than a power grab. However, the question of whether or not to have a single police agency in order to address corruption, is, in one sense, a red herring. Police officers and police agencies represent their communities, and in most respects, if the police are corrupt, the community's movers and shakers are as well. Thus, the impetus to fight corruption by merging the municipal police into a “single command” at the state level will only bring resentment at outside interference into local matters while ignoring the root causes. In order to combat corruption the federal government must focus its energies on such issues as poverty, lack of proper funding for infrastructure, public goods which are inadequately funded (such as schools, community centers and parks, as well as access to clean water) and the elimination of nepotism and cronyism (a disease that afflicts the President most direly).

While the politicians debate the issue of “mando único” Rome (Mexico) is burning. Within the last 2 weeks there have been numerous discoveries of mass graves, “narcofosas”, in the state of Tamaulipas, with the latest discovery putting the body count at 126 (Van 126 cadáveres hallados en fosas - El Universal - México). But the count is much higher than that as there are other mass graves being discovered in Sinaloa (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13074059) with 13 bodies and Sonora (http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/184764.html) with 5 more victims, unearthed at the same time as those in Tamaulipas. Thus, the overall count for the last two weeks is now at 144. Another one of Mexico´s national newspapers “Excelsior” reported yesterday that Mexican authorities have discovered 334 bodies in mass graves since 2010 (http://www.excelsior.com.mx/index.php?m=nota&id_nota=729476), although they did not include the newly found 10 bodies so the count is actually at 344 bodies.

Unfortunately, these discoveries of the last 2 weeks is not surprising considering the wholesale bloodletting that has been occurring in Mexico, as well as the high number of people reported missing (disappearances). As I previously mentioned in a posting last year, (Killings and marriage), there has to be many more mass graves scattered around the country and the current count of 38,230 people killed (Narco-killings) is only the bare minimum estimate of the murder victims since President Calderón initiated his war in December 2006.

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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Marches against death and chaos

2011-04-08T09:55:00.001-05:00

Last Wednesday, April 06, there was yet another march against the killings by the DTOs, voices raised in support for the Mexican poet Javier Secilia whose son, Juan Francisco Sicilia, was killed March 28 in Cuernavaca, Morelos (http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/04/07/thousands-march-violence-mexico/) along with 6 others. On this same day, while the march was taking place, police in Tamaulipas discovered several narcofosas, or mass graves, that contained at least 59 bodies (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/08/mexico-drug-war-tamaulipas-mass-grave-bodies).

How are these two events related? Javier Secilia calling for a march against the government is nothing new here in Mexico (and, unfortunately neither are the narcofosas), for, every time a relative of a prominent Mexican is murdered (Fernando Marti, or Hugo Wallace), the good people are outraged, take to the streets for a day and demand change. But, there is no march today for these 59 (all sons and daughters) as there were no demands for a march, or call for change, by Secilia prior to March 28. This is not unusual as other powerful voices will speak out in the future, demanding change, but for now are silent, and will remain so, until the events that effect others (37,774 dead and counting) directly effect them.

This grotesque NIMBY-ism alone, speaks greater volumes than the thousands who participated in the marches last Wednesday, chanting, crying, demanding and then going home at the end of the day to their routines having vented their collective spleen (sadly, those in power know that this is the norm and they need only wait a day or two...maybe a week...and it will blow over). It is these other voices that need to speak out now rather than when the violence directly effects them, as it is now directly effecting so many others in Mexico (who seem to have little or no voice on the national stage).

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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New Sheriff in town

2011-04-05T11:51:00.001-05:00

Ciudad Juárez, a town tortured by internecine warfare, poor wages, lack of infrastructure and opportunities for it's youth (whose only “succor” seems to be drugs and gangs) has a new sheriff in town (literally), Lt. Col. Julian Leyzaola Pérez (see the Los Angeles Times “Ciudad Juarez's top police official accused of rights abuses” http://lat.ms/eFBi3s). Leyzaola, a former army man (as indicated by the Lt. Col.), made his reputation in Tijuana, a brutal reputation of human rights abuses against suspected criminals as well as police officers in his own department whom he suspected of being corrupt (see The New Yorker article “In the Name of the Law” http://nyr.kr/hYYBO7). Human rights activists are concerned about Leyzaola and his methods, and rightly so. Security, or the perception of it, always seems to push human rights and freedoms to the background whenever a community feels threatened (or rather the elite of the community), who willingly sacrifice the rights and freedoms of it's powerless members in the name of being tough on crime/gangs/drugs/etc (on a worldwide scale we can see what happened after the 11th of September 2001).

There are several problems with this picture especially as it relates to Juaréz's new lawman (an ironic term). The main problem has to do with the installation of military personnel (current or retired) in police agencies. Even though both police and soldiers wear a uniform and carry weapons, they are not the same; their mission is not the same; their objectives are not the same; their ethos is not the same. And, because it appears that few politicians realise this, it is important to point out the differences between soldiers and police officers. It is not that difficult to understand and, without getting too deep into this, we only have to look at the ethos of the military: namely, the very existence of an army is for a country to defend itself or to attack an enemy (whether real or perceived). The soldiers are recruited (based on such traits as: fitness, team-players, obedient and, above all else, loyalty), trained and equipped for this function, that is, to defeat an enemy using as much force as possible in as short a period of time (see “The Principles of War” an essay by Carl von Clausewitz)--this, of course, presupposes the presence of the “other” or the “not us”.

To the astute reader, this ethos will immediately be seen to be the opposite of what is expected of a police officer, that is, someone who can be approached for assistance, someone who knows and understands the community and its concerns, someone who is a MEMBER of the community (which means there is no “other”), someone who observes the “rule of law” (as opposed to acting under the “rules of war”). Bearing this in mind we can see that the background of Leyzaola, and his actions as police chief in the last 4 years, is the opposite of community service and of the rule of law: he acts on suspicion, he endorses torture and curtails free speech (see La Prensa San Diego “High Noon along the U.S./Mexico border?” http://bit.ly/fkZq09). Although Leyzaola, and his supporters, credits his tactics with reducing violence in Tijuana, there are others who argue that his successes are more the result of good timing rather than of his efforts (see Proceso “Tijuana El héroe falso ” http://bit.ly/epyngH). What his tactics do achieve, though, is that the community has another “gang” to fear (aside from threats from various gangs, the army and it's abuses, rogue police officers etc). This fear was recently emphasized with the forced disappearance of 4 young men by uniformed men last week (see Human Rights Watch “Mexico: Investigate Enforced Disappearances in Ciudad Juarez--Police Accused, Torture Allegations Against Chief” http://bit.ly/gxF8mk).

Hiring people like Leyzaola and the militarization of policing, of communities, of society, will not stop, or even slow down, organized crime (think Russia or China). What is needed are domestic police agencies that adhere to the rule of law and that respect the human rights and freedoms of all community members. As opposed to the militarization of policing, these factors will, at the very least aid the police in the investigation of crimes because, as they gain the trust of the community they will receive more cooperation as well as credible information concerning illegal activities, rather than the creation of an army, a wall, a "we vs they" mentality which can only work in the favor of organized crime (as recent history has emphasized).

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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