A newspaper's stunning, front-page editorial of seeming surrender to drug capos has set off a national debate from the presidential palace to Mexico's equivalent of the water cooler — its ubiquitous town squares.
"What do you want from us?" El Diario de Juarez asked the cartels whose war for control of the border city across from El Paso, Texas, has killed nearly 5,000 people — including two El Diario journalists — in less than two years. "You are currently the de facto authorities in this city ... Tell us what you expect from us as a newspaper?"
For many Mexicans, it was a voice that finally exposed in a very public and unusual way the intimidation felt across the country.
"We weren't speaking directly to (drug gangs). It was an open message," El Diario director Pedro Torres said in one of dozens of interviews since the editorial appeared Sunday. "We wanted to provoke a reaction that would call attention to what's happening in Juarez, and in the end, I think we met our objective."
By: Brant
Looks like they're following the model of "mainstream" American media (who embraced our al-Qaida enemies a long way back).
ReplyDeleteOr maybe they are following after the European media, which refers to Muslim rioters in France as generic "youths" and such.
Mexico does seem to be having a narcoinsurgency problem, but much of the issue pre-dates the narco business. How long has Mexico been hopelessly corrupt? To what extent has Mexican law enforcement or its courts been effective? (Ever...)
What do traffickers want? To make money...what else? Who didn't know that?
This should be dealt with as one should deal with al-Qaida: As a violent network that must be destroyed through effective personality-targeting. Kill or capture the middle tier (the technically and/or operationally competent middle management) and you will greatly reduce their ability to engage in coordinated violence. You won't stop the drug problem, but you'll suppress the violence.
All in all, as long as there are people interested in being druggie losers, there will be someone willing to sell the stuff to make it happen. You can't protect people from themselves. It just cannot be done.
But you CAN hunt down the key members of violent organizations and kill or capture them. THAT you can do.