The Mexican Border Drug Wars

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

I dont mean to minimize the problem- some cities in Mexico (Juarez) are just pure terrible, however, large parts are calm.

Well, I remember of that Mexican girl I spoke with over the Internet, living in a city 2 hours down the US border, she didn't tell me her city was particularly touched by drug war, she seemed to be slightly upper middle class, and she wasn't the kind to complain at all or to spread herself on that topic, but at one point she just told me in a kind of 'desperately amused' exclamation that she could seriously 'be shot anytime in street!'. So well, maybe not high figures of dead people all over the country but since, even if by lesser extent in some places, the problem would be largely present, it makes people living in a war feeling with all the fear they have to deal with. Not to speak about the way they prosecute, which adds horror to crime.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

As I said she wasn't the kind to exaggerate, and unless things are extremely biased in different media, seems there is slightly more problems in Mexico nowadays than in the rest of Latin America. Both in term of numbers of crimes than in term of the horror of the crimes committed.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Well, I haven't a link to provide right now, but amongst the memories I can have of the different things I heard from there, there has been blind killings in teenagers parties, mothers shot with babies, anti-toxicomans centers targeted by full blind killing of all caretakers and patients, cars blown up n the street, amongst other things I don't remind exactly of and without speaking of all the shootings that can happen in street and that can touch anybody.

I precisely described the way this girl was before telling the kind of things she told me, precisely because such a person who doesn't complain and who almost felt desperately amused of how fragile life could be for her, might well tell in which situation people can live here. But maybe she was in an area with biggest problems than other cities in Mexico, which the discussion we had didn't permit me to really know.

In my original post I said that I was aware that there certainly was areas in which most of the problems were located, but aside from the fact these places are located in different places all along the state of Mexico which kinda makes the whole country concerned with that, I don't know, maybe a drug war, a shooting, can possibly happen here or there, even if not often or of lesser intensity, if that's effectively how it can happen, then some fear is legitimate. I mean it's not because there are only few massive crimes areas than we can necessarily feel the rest is ok, in fact seems that we would all need a precise account on how it happens in Mexico before stating, in one way or an other.

In France too, criminality increases and becomes more and more violent, but it's far to be Mexico, and a kalashnikov shooting because of a 'drug war' will make headlines of evening news if there is a murder, I know media can easily do too much and then people will easily feel there is troubles everywhere, but beyond this, just watching the facts, at least the collection I heard of, in terms of number and of violence of the crimes seems people in Mexico can legitimately worry.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

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As I understood from what you said, she was upper middle class (or middle class) living in a city that wasn't that much touched by the drug war, sorry if I misunderstood or if you didn't really know and just ventured a guess. It just caught my eye because someone living in a relatively peaceful city and middle class saying that she might get shot sounds just like the people living in the city of Buenos Aires afraid of the 2000 murders per year in the metropolitan area. And I also feel that people from Europe or the US think that everywhere in Mexico, Argentina or Latin America as a whole is some kind of hellhole with people wanting to get out at the first chance they get. So maybe my arguments are biased in this respect.

Well, yes, according to what she told me I spotted her rather upper middle class, and in a city 2 hours down the US border, not sure about the name 'San Pedro' maybe, was a long time ago this year. And the fact that it was really not the kind to complain about that, and really not the kind to expand her on that either, it's just that the conversation led us to have a debate about the attitude of the Mexican society on this topic, which took us to speak about the importance of religion and on and on, and after a tough debate in which I was kinda blaming some things in the Mexican society, she went like that. According to what she told me during this long conversation about her city it seemed to me an 'average city', but yes, maybe I assumed too much. I can only guarantee that girl was not the kind to complain or to enjoy to say that everything is bad and awful, more likely the opposite, she had a kind of light elegance which prefers to focus on what's beautiful.

But, beyond this personal case, on which you can't base an analysis yes, it's just a concrete example, yes, I don't mean average Mexico is average Ciudad Juarez, but all things that can happen even if mainly in a few different parts of the country can imo legitimately worry Mexicans about what's happening in their country. And well I know civilians are not the 1st targets but they can be touched anytime apparently according to how crimes are committed (some public shootings between gangs, some blind ones amongst some groups of civilians, some cars blown-up, I seem to remind an awful stuff about immigrants too, but I really don't have the mind to look further through it right now). And anyhow, one more time, seems nobody here really has a clue abut the situation for the 'average Mexico'.

But beyond the fact that Mexicans should worry or not, I mainly intervened here to say that, no matter how could have been other situations in the past and in other places of the world,  according to what seems to happen there in term of proportions and characterization of crimes we can maybe legitimately say that the situation is kinda exceptional in Mexico nowadays, and if maybe not all over the country, it's not only a matter of Juarez either apparently even if that one would be the harshest, several different spots in the country have made some bad news.

And, as to the topic originally at hand. Making people legalize it because of massive crimes? Not sure, it would take an over-brave and over-strong politician to do that. Fear make people securitarists, not open-minded to new schemes.