Mexico gunmen abandon two trucks with 35 bodies inside

Last Tuesday, in the state of Veracruz, several gunmen blocked a busy road and left two trucks with tens of bodies inside, most of them showing signs of having been tortured. Motorists around feared for their lives. Seven of the 32 corpses - 23 men and 12 women- have been identified, and it seems that they were involved in organised crime and had prior criminal records such as kidnapping, extortion or homicide. The local authorities pointed out that Veracruz is experiencing a bloody escalation of crime and tension unseen before, very difficult to control. This upsurge has been blamed on a struggle between the cartel Zetas and its rivals to control new drug routes.

The tragedy from last week is just another example of how Mexican cartels resort to huge violence in order to control the drug market. Los Zetas, which control most of Veracruz - now a drug hub- kidnap, torture and kill other cartel’s members, threaten the population and blackmail politicians and important Mexican businessmen. Given the worsening of the situation, in 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderón announced the beginning of the famous “war on drugs”, which would employ all national forces -including the army- to fight drug cartels. Nevertheless, having soldiers in the streets does not seem to have achieved the goals. On the contrary, cartels like Los Zetas o Sinaloa have grown in number and dramatically increased their power. The day to day in Mexico is a constant bloodshed. There is news about massive killings everyday. It is like a war, with crime organisations confronting police and army forces, and it is citizens who suffer the consequences. We do not realize that more people are being killed in Mexico everyday than in any war right now; but no solution can be found. What should Mexican authorities do? Would legalizing drugs be a sensible measure to bring cartel activity to an end? Can the rest of the world stop this by cooperating individually or through international organizations? or is it just Mexico’s internal issues and therefore, other States should not worry/interfere? It is difficult to find an answer, but I definitely think that the issue of drug trafficking and crimes related to drug cartels concerns every nation and hence, we should cooperate through our security forces and find ways to stop this problem.

Source: BBC News, September 21st 2011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14998500