Understanding Mexico's Drug Cartels, Corruption and Emigration 1 of 2

Understanding Mexico’s Drug Cartels, Corruption and Emigration 1 of 2
In pursuit of the truth – www.cinopsbegone.com Saturday, May 8, 2010

Morella, Mexico, by William Booth, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Mon. May 3, 2010

DRUG CARTELS EXPAND ATTACK ON AUTHORITIES

As a public safety official was riding home a week ago after an evening of political schmoozing at the state fair, a stolen tractor-trailer burst onto the highway – and another high profile ambush began with a blast of light.

Grenades were being lobbed at her. Over the next six minutes as the official, Minerva Bautista, screamed into a police radio, “They are killing me!” – up to 40 heavily armed commandos unleached more than 2,700 rounds at her three- vehicle convoy of armored-plated sport-utility vehicles. Some of the weapons were capable of penetrating a vehicle’s engine block or knocking down a helicopter.

Bautista managed to survive – after being treated for shrapnel injuries – but two of her bodyguards and two by-standers died in the ambush, and nine people were injured.

Mexico’s crime syndicates appear to be escalating their attacks against the state, according to law enforcement officials. No longer content to fight police officers and soldiers when confronted with arrest, the drug organizations are increasingly targeting police commanders and public officials.

“In the last few weeks the dynamics of the violence have changed,” said Interior Minister Fernando Gomez-Mont, the country’s top security official. “The criminals have decided to directly confront and attack the authorities.”

More than 22,700 people have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon began his battle against the powerful drug cartels in December 2006, according to a confidential government report. Mexican officials stress that the overwhelming majority of the dead were gangsters killed over turf or for revenge.

Yet, Calderon recently revealed that more than 1,100 of those killed were soldiers, police officers and officials.

Violence against Mexican authorities has been sensational but relatively rare in the past three years. But according to news and police reports, Mexico has entered an especially deadly period, with scores of attacks against police officers and government officials across the country.
George H. Kubeck