Mexico on the brink

Felipe Calderón says drug cartels threaten Mexico’s democracy. But his effort to crush them are damaging its society
Ben Whitford
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 28 July 2009 21.00 BST

Last month, President Felipe Calderón announced that Mexico was at a crossroads: the country’s drug cartels had grown so powerful that they now posed a threat to future of Mexican democracy. As if to underscore his point, the country was last week gripped by a fresh wave of brutal violence, as heavily-armed gunmen laid siege to police stations across Calderón’s home state, left a dozen federal agents dead by the side of a mountain highway and assassinated the mayor of a northern ranching town.

The cartels’ brazen attacks point to their evolution from ragged criminal collectives into de facto military organisations. Better funded, better trained and far more heavily armed than the police officers attempting to contain them, they now more closely resemble Colombia’s Farc rebels than any conventional street gang.

Like the Farc, the cartels are seeking to control neighbourhoods and even entire regions. Oversized banners proclaiming the gangs’ dominance are common sights in public spaces across the country, and cartel leaders’ orders can drive police chiefs from office or help propel sympathetic politicians to electoral victory. Amid last week’s violence, one cartel capo even tried to dictate terms for a ceasefire to the federal government. His offer was rebuffed but stood as further testimony to the cartels’ increasing well-founded confidence.
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