Mexico: A Failed Country

This is today's dispatch (the bad news comes daily) from the border crisis. As usual, this dispatch comes from here on the front lines in El Paso, where you get this news daily. Meanwhile, the mainstream media plays it down nationally. Enough introduction.


The actual dispatch is that the Mexican Army has taken over the municipal police function in Juarez, Mexico--the sister city across the Rio Grande from El Paso, where this is being typed. In fact, the army is taking over some frn some other local enforcement agency as well.


The fact is that the Juarez police, and local authorities, have lost Juarez to the drug cartels. A week or so ago the mayor of Juarez had to flee the city, because of threats from the drug cartels against he and his city. Of course, part of the problem is that a good part of the police are part of the drug cartels. Corruption is endemic in Mexico, and always has been. But violent drug gangs taking over the country is worse than when I was growing up--a reversion to the days of Pancho Villa (who, as far as I know, did not lead a drug gang, although I would not have put it past him).


Yep. Mexico is sending troops to....... Mexico. What can you say when today's news story on El Paso radio includes the infomation that the Mexican Army (300 new troops and 700 Federal police being imported from elsewhere) is receiving a crash course in policing.


Mexico is a failed country.


P।S। I would not be confident that the drug cartels cannot corrupt, or have not already corrupted, the Mexican Army। Major Mexican political figures have certainlyl been involved in the drug trade in the past.

P.S. 2: In other news from Juarez today (this one on the Fox News radio newscast), there was a prison riot that required the army to put down. To me, his is not nearly as important as the ongoing victories of the drug cartels in Mexico. We have prison riots in this country. But we don't have the systemic problems Mexico has--yet.