Uncovering Mexico

Uncovering Mexico

Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.

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Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2008 > May > 28 > Entry

Narco toll: Bloodiest month in five years

By Jeremy Schwartz | Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 09:49 AM

There are still three days to go in May, but an unrelenting string of drug killings has already made this the deadliest month in at least five years, according to the El Universal newspaper. As of yesterday, the newspaper had counted 370 drug related executions (such statistics are kept by various newspapers in Mexico - the federal government doesn’t release updated numbers). And that was before Tuesday’s gruesome death toll of 19, which included the killings of seven federal agents in the city of Culicacan.

The two epicenters of the latest rash of violence are Culiacan, the home of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Ciudad Juarez, across the river from El Paso. Chihuahua, Juarez’s home state, has registered more than 150 executions this month, according to the newspaper.

Some sources have speculated that the explosion of violence in Ciudad Juarez is the result of a falling out between the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels, which reportedly had been united for years in the battle against the rival Gulf Cartel, headquartered in Tamauilipas. Others argue it’s the inevitable result of President Felipe Calderon’s offensive against the cartels. He has sent more than 20,000 federal troops into trouble spots to confront the drug gangs, leading to executions of hundreds of police officers and agents. In recent weeks, cartels have begun publishing hit lists with the names of agents they are targeting. Several have been gunned down following their appearance on the lists.

All of which has created an atmosphere of extreme fear in Culiacan and Ciudad Juarez. According to Mexican news reports, those two cities have become virtual “ghost towns” as residents, gripped by a collective “psychosis,” shut themselves inside their homes instead of venturing into the increasingly dangerous streets.

Meanwhile, the spike in violence provides a grim backdrop to the debate over the so-called Merida Initiative, a proposal to give Mexico $500,000 in military aid to fight the cartels. The U.S. Congress has slashed the proposal to $350,000 and the proposal has been criticized by forces as disparate as right wing talk radio and liberal Rep. Lloyd Dogget, D-Austin. Mexican anger at American reluctance to get its hands dirty appears to be rising. A common complaint here is that Mexico is paying an unfair price as it tries to keep drugs out of the United States.

“As the tragic toll seems to lose all sense, our American ‘allies’ haggle over funding for the Merida Initiative, dropping it from $500 million to $350 million,” El Universal wrote this morning in an editorial. “Mexico provides 20 times more in money, and all the deaths.”

Meanwhile, the spike in violence provides a grim backdrop to the debate over the so-called Merida Initiative, a proposal to give Mexico $500,000 in military aid to fight the cartels. The U.S. Congress has slashed the proposal to $350,000 and the proposal has been criticized by such disparate forces as right wing talk radio and liberal Rep. Lloyd Dogget, D-Austin. Mexican anger at American reluctance to fund the initiative appears to be rising. A common complaint here is that Mexico is paying an unfair price as it tries to keep drugs out of the United States.

“As the tragic toll seems to lose all sense, our American ‘allies’ haggle over funding for the Merida Initiative, dropping it from $500 million to $350 million,” El Universal wrote this morning in an editorial. “Mexico provides 20 times more money, and all the deaths.”

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