Security crisis in Mexico exposes Lopez Obrador’s failed state (Opinion)

Seven friends and cousins aged between 14 and 18 walked out of their homes one day. They had planned to spend Saturday night at a ranch in the State of Zacatecas, one of Mexico’s regions hardest hit by organized crime. A group of armed men kidnapped them in the early hours of the morning. Last week, authorities found the bodies of six of these young people, with one survivor. The massacre coincides with the ninth anniversary of the disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students and, beyond the horror of an endless conflict, exposes the impotence of the rule of law and security forces against the advance of drug cartels.

The war between criminal organizations vying for control of drug trafficking routes to the United States has intensified in recent years due to the rise of fentanyl. However, this emergency, which threatens to spread globally, is just the latest link in a serious systemic problem. The mafias and illegal groups operating in Mexico are responsible for the violence crisis affecting the country. To this evidence is added another: their penetration into states such as Zacatecas, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Guerrero, and extensive territories along the northern border, where authorities have not been able to assert control and are losing the battle against drug cartels.

The murder of the six teenagers has shaken Mexicans, as did the massacre of five young people forced to kill each other and recorded on video in August. After such inhuman episodes, the first and understandable social reaction is to seek accountability and political responsibility. However, a brief review of the last two decades shows that the crisis goes further. With opposing strategies, neither Felipe Calderón’s war on drugs, nor Enrique Peña Nieto’s policies, nor the current focus on public investment and development in the areas most besieged by crime, led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, have managed to end this conflict.

With these premises, the response should not only involve the usual actors, from local to federal authorities, from the judiciary to the police and the armed forces. It is time for Mexican politicians to reach a national agreement, a kind of State pact against violence. Impunity rates hover around 90%, an unsustainable figure that highlights the extent of corruption. In addition, there is a need for more fluid collaboration with the United States, the world’s largest consumer market for narcotics. Finally, two key debates that must be addressed at international levels: drug decriminalization and the sale and circulation of weapons.

TYT Newsroom