The WaPo has one of those end-of-the-year-wrap-up stories today about the drug wars raging in that nation to our south, the one with which we share a 1,951 mile-long border - in Mexico, 12,000 killed in drug violence:
The daily newspaper Reforma, one of the most respected independent outlets, reported 12,359 drug-related killings in 2011, which it said was a 6.3 percent increase over the previous year. As a comparison, there were 2,275 drug murders in 2007.
-- snip --
Other media reported similar numbers. Daily Milenio recorded 12,284 drug-related deaths in 2011. The La Jornada newspaper counted 11,890 deaths in 2011, which it said was an 11 percent decrease from the previous year.
The Mexican government has not reported the official figures yet (they say they will next month), which might be a clue that the figures are too embarrassing for them to report in a national election year.
But the figures are out there, all the same. The Justice in Mexico Project, sponsored by the Trans-Border Institute of the University of San Diego, has tons of excellent data sets and analysis of the drug wars here.
The bottom line is the situation got just a little bit worse last year. About six percent more people were killed than in 2010, with a slightly higher incidence of women and innocent victims. Beheading became a little more popular as a signature method of execution. The weapons and tactics got somewhat more military - is that an AT4 anti-tank rocket next to the hand grenades in the photo above?
The geographic distribution of violence within Mexico changed a bit, probably reflecting a trend toward more cartel-on-cartel battling. The result was that some parts of the borderlands got calmer while previously quiet interior places such as Veracruz and Guadalajara got much more dangerous. The WaPo put a positive spin on that change:
One of the few bright spots is that the murder rate appears to be down in border manufacturing hub of Ciudad Juarez, dubbed Murder City, by about a third. Baja California and Tijuana also saw decreases in homicides.
The murder rate is down by a third in Juarez? Sounds good, but that might be because more Mexicans are fleeing the violence. The University of Texas El Paso's student reporting project on the Mexodus indicates that over a quarter million people have either been internally displaced to safer regions in Mexico or have crossed the border. Anyone in Juarez with two pesos to rub together has most likely sought a safe haven elsewhere.
What's the right word for a tragedy that got just a little more tragic?
27 comments:
Great post TSB! That new police chief in Juarez has done a great job.. The Mexican Federales tried to kill him once and assasins killed a lot of his officers but he's toughrn a burnt boot! My fearless mother-in-law defied the cartels by taking half the family on the bus to Mexico City from Texas for Christmas (she is armed at all times.. with a cane!) gwb
TSB: Do you have any doubt about tonite in Iowa? I think invisible guy is streaking to the big V! gwb
She took the bus to Mexico City? That is valor.
In Iowa right now (8:52 PM) Paul is tied with Santorum for the lead (24% each), Romney has 23% and Gingrich has 13%. Could get interesting.
That was great diplo security work catching the German arsonist in LA.
It would be fun to know why they spent 4 yrs hunting down his mom over a pair of breast implants? gwb
TSB: I didn't realize til after all the "analysis" that RP had to win the Iowa evangelicals who came together behind Santorum. The interesting thing is that he scored 2nd best with evangelicals behind Santorum (who hasn't been bashed yet!) I think RP will grow with the religious right and also be the candidate of the Indipenditos! Mitt can be Mr. 25%! gwb
My favorite moment last nite was watching Tom Brokaw spend 5 minutes doing a great analysis of all the Iowa candidates without mentioning Ron Paul!
GWB: I hadn't seen the DS connection to that case before! Most impressive.
And speaking of impressive, there is the matter of the arsonist's mother's fake rack. He ended up getting arrested because she was wanted in Germany for failing to pay her plastic surgeon. You can't make this stuff up.
Evidently the DS guy had the bright idea of following "Harry" out to see what kind of vehicle he was driving. (blue dodge minivan) And that's how they nabbed him! I'll bet that State guy reads Jack Reacher stories. gwb
Getting Away with Murder? #StateDept Diplomatic Security agent accused of murder in Hawaii allowed to leave, trial postponed 'til September. gwb
(from Peter Van Buren's blog)
http://federaleagent86.blogspot.com/2012/01/stupid-is-as-stupid-does.html
Wow TSB: Talk about going for the low hanging fruit! You can get deported just with a phony name?
I can't even get a 6 pack w/o a photo ID. Then again, women are complicated. gwb
GWB: How bizarre about that girl! She didn't even speak Spanish, how did ICE determine she had to go to Colombia? And she kept posting to Facebook the whole time she was missing? I just shake my head.
On the Honolulu postponement, who knows why? 'The wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow' they say, maybe slower in Hawaii.
And how did Columbia decide to give her citizenship!! ?? I hear Texas lawyers !!! Maybe that guy that defends Willie Nelson every time he gets busted for pot.
Looks like we now have indefinite detention for minors suspected of terrorism!...with or without a lawyer. I say $3 million easy!gwb
http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/05/smallbusiness/doctors_broke/index.htm?hpt=hp_t3&hpt=hp_c1
TSB: The 50% of doctors who practice privately are going broke
unrelated to how well they practice. The rest are being burned out by the big outfits they work for. Oh..and my share of the
debt went up $500 since a week ago!
gwb (thanks for the handy clock!)
TSB: GO US NAVY !! Some great PR
for the military! Which made me think: why not offer to fly the rescued fishermen AND the pirates
to Tehran? And then why not turn captured pirates over to whatever country that most of the crew is from? gwb
U.S. rescues Iranian hostages, with good timing
By Craig Whitlock and Jason Ukman
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/us-picks-up-iranian-hostages-with-good-timing/2012/01/06/gIQAI56YfP_blog.html
I like that idea. Somalia pirates tried under sharia law ... excellent.
TSB: MY visit to stratfor website gave Anonymous my email. Yesteday I got a spoof email from them containing everything they downloaded from Stratfor including all the exec's snarky comments while trying to deal with the debacle.. followed by all their personal info. Did you see that Facebook can't deal with that "hack
worm" except by shutting infected accounts? This is going to be BIG!
GWB
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/8999890/Tony-Blair-and-the-8million-tax-mystery.html Mr Blair paid just £315,000 in tax last year on an income of more than £12 million. In that time, he employed 26 staff and paid them total wages of almost £2.3 million. TSB: I take back all that bad stuff I said about the Russian Mafia! These political heroes of ours are worse!
And they obey the law! gwb
The difference, you see, is that Blair, like Bill Clinton, gets his millions through the pursuit of Good Works. That makes it all right.
Absolutamente TSB! Influence peddling is hard work, not to mention the lawyers fees and "admin
costs" eat up all your take home.
As Tony famousy said: "I could have cashed in a lot more than I did." gwb
TSB: Thanks to diplopundit for reporting the only salient point of the "debates" so far: http://diplopundit.blogspot.com/2012/01/ambassador-huntsmans-country-first-gov.html
You aren't a worthy candidate if you would serve in Obama's State Department!
Iowa cured me of watching any more US politics! Now if I can just get my wife to quit rooting for TEBOW!
gwb
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NA10Ak01.html Recall notice for the Turkish model
By Spengler
TSB: I didn't realize Erdogan was such a dictatorial sob, or that he was Times man of 2011. (Spengler says)
Turkey isn't democratic, as its volatile Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan reminded the world last week by arresting yet more journalists on trumped-up charges of coup plotting. According to Turkey's Journalists' Union, Turkey has jailed 97 writers, more than China, which no-one confuses with a model democracy. gwb
OK TSB: What are we looking at here? gwb
The new template? Blogger was screwing something up with my old one, so I made a change. I like to think the photo is of the underside of the Capital Building, but it's actually a snapshot I took of restoration work in the foundations of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Thanks! I thought I was being monitored by aliens with that funny line going down the blog.
(probably just the Mossad) How old would those columns be? 3000yrs?
gwb
I like the sub-title change and the new look is a big improvement!
gwb
http://www.juancole.com/2012/01/iran-hype-undermined-by-obama-administration-admissions.html
TSB: A good piece by Juan. When you watch HC always being bellicose but wrong on the facts it seems she is angling for 2016.
The media keeps the public totally confused while we are in fact waging an economic war to bring down Iran. Like most things Hillary has been for I don't expect this to turn out well. gwb
GWB, on the age of those columns, I think no more than 1,700 years. The original Old City walls and buildings were totally destroyed by the Romans, and were rebuilt - not for the last time - by Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, in the third century AD.
Also - yes, that was a good piece by Cole.
TSB: Mexico has upped the body count since 2006 to 47,600. I think I saw that at www.kdhnews.com gwb
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