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Mexico’s drug war is a global crisis

by Ruth Collins / May 19, 2011 / Leave a comment
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Gunman in Guatemala, where Mexico's drug war has now spread

On Sunday morning, 27 people were killed and beheaded in northern Guatemala following a raid on a dairy ranch in Caserio La Bomba. The incident has been described as the worst massacre in Guatemala for over 15 years. Amid growing suspicion that the attack may be linked to the rising presence of the Mexican Zeta drug cartel in Guatemala, the massacre may also point to the wider responsibilities of Mexico’s drug war.

Caserio La Boma is located in the northern Guatemalan province of Petén, which has become a popular contraband drugs route between the US and South America. Police are investigating whether the recent massacre could be linked to the killing last Saturday of Haroldo Leon, the brother of Guatemalan alleged drug trafficker Juan Jose “Juancho” Leon. In March 2008, Leon was killed alongside 10 other people in an ambush in eastern Guatemala. The ambush was a result of rising tensions between the Zetas and a Guatemalan drug gang over a turf war for control of drug smuggling routes.

The Zetas have been blamed for two recent mass killings in Mexico. Last month over 180 bodies were found in mass graves, and 72 migrants were massacred last summer in the state of Tamaulipas, which is close to the Texan border. These revelations, and the rising numbers of casualties and fatalities, have shown that there is still a huge question mark hanging over Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s anti-drug trafficking campaign. The r…

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Comments

  1. Alyson
    June 16, 2011 at 09:56
    Alcohol prohibition didn't work. The ice-cream wars of the Britain of the 1960's showed how unregulated competition led to 'turf wars' in which people got hurt fighting over territory for selling ice creams from vans. Portugal has led the way in decriminalising possession, but will it find the criminal gangs on its doorstep unless a wider decriminalization of possession can lead to legitimate regulation, for safety and standardization, of substances for which there is a world-wide demand? Armed drug empires have vast wealth and there are potential profits worth millions up for grabs. Money goes out of the West by the shed-load in pursuit of these temporary escapes from reality. The big picture is global. Money spent on prosecuting crime would be better spent on treatment centres, while regulation of supply would provide safer work for the mules and producers who currently are most at risk of harm.

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