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world news Diabierna 26 november 2021

Mexico’s drug war uses drones, human shields, gunships

(AP) — The Mexican gov- “What we need is for one car- eguera.
ernment is rapidly run- tel to take control, stop the
ning out of tools to con- fighting and impose some Jalisco is the one cartel in
trol the expansion of the semblance of calm,” said a lo- Mexico that doesn’t hide
feared Jalisco cartel on cal priest. “Everything indi- what it is, and doesn’t play to
the front lines of Mexico’s cates that group is the Jalisco the politics of press relations
narco war in the western cartel.” or restraint.
state of Michoacan and
the stalled ground effort is Above all, what residents “We’re narcos,” said the lo-
being supplemented by an want is for the Viagras’ check- cal Jalisco leader, who did
increasingly sophisticated points to be cleared and the not give his name. “Every-
aerial conflict. road opened again. Because body should mind his own
they must occasionally pass business.” His beef with the
Jalisco, Mexico’s most mili- through those roadblocks, Viagras and other local gangs
tarily powerful drug gang, none of the residents wanted he’s fighting is that “they
has begun organizing towns- to give their names for fear of want everything for them-
people to act as human reprisals. selves.”
shields against army troops,
which now just try to keep But one explained it this way Jalisco keeps its sizeable army
rival cartels apart. to the army squad: “The only of troops running with a po-
road into Aguililla is blocked tent mixture of money — the
“If they try to come in here and controlled by a cartel that cartel has a lot, from traffick-
again, we’ll put 2,000 peo- is only 500 yards away from ing fentanyl and meth into “Papa.” known for two things: being
ple out here to stop them,” you, and you (the army) are the United States — and co- the most heavily armed car-
said Habacuc Solorzano, a not doing anything to protect caine, which it flies in from Both cartels have devel- tel in Mexico, and the only
39-year-old farmer who leads our right to travel freely,” he Costa Rica. oped bomb-carrying drones, one to have ever shot down a
the civilian movement as- said. “You don’t know how and the most feared warrior military helicopter.
sociated with the cartel. His hard it is to be paying a war As the local boss stands at an on these battlefields is the
statement, like most of what tax that is being used to kill impromptu street-side com- “dronero,” or drone opera- In 2015, Jalisco cartel gun-
comes out of the Jalisco side, us.” mand post, a pickup full of tor. While initially crude and men brought down a Euro-
is not mere boasting: He al- Jalisco gunmen with AR15 dangerous to load and oper- copter transport helicopter
ready had about 500 local res- That is actually a fairly ac- assault rifles pulls up. The ate — and still worrisomely with a rocket-propelled gre-
idents marching last week— curate description of govern- driver says, “The Scorpion indiscriminate — drone war- nade, killing eight soldiers
then wading across a river ment policy: preserving the said he needs some stuff,” fare has improved, and it’s and a police officer. While the
— to confront an army squad status quo, and making each and the boss reaches into his not unusual to see metal barn choppers Jalisco faces now
blocking a dirt road leading cartel stay in its own territory. own truck and hands the co- or shed roofs opened like are Blackhawks, there is little
out of Jalisco territory. pilot a plastic bag with what tin cans from the impact of doubt the cartel can come up
But Jalisco won’t accept the appears to be a kilogram brick drone explosions. with something punchier.
Residents of Aguililla are fed government as arbiter of of cocaine, apparently for
up with the army’s strategy of drug cartel territorial divi- ”the troops.″ Locals also claim — though The newspaper El Univer-
simply separating the Jalisco sions; the local Jalisco cartel there is little evidence be- sal published transcripts of
and the Michoacan-based Vi- leader says the army is only Jalisco understands brute yond a few craters in roads — intercepted cartel commu-
agras gang. The army policy trying to protect the weaker force; for the moment, it that the cartels are starting to nications where a leader can
effectively allows the Viagras of the two gangs, the Viagras, doesn’t bother Aguililla use land mines. be heard coaching a sniper
— best known for kidnap- for reasons of corruption. residents much, because it with a .50-caliber rifle to
ping and extorting money doesn’t have to. But if it sus- To handle the increasing fire- put armor-piercing rounds
— to set up roadblocks and Jalisco is everywhere in pects a resident of actively power in the conflict, the through the door of a heli-
checkpoints that have choked Aguililla, from pickups and working for or passing infor- Mexican government has copter. The Mexican army
off all commerce with Agui- homemade armored cars mation to the Viagras, that resorted to playing a power- did not respond to request
lilla. Limes and cattle head- bearing the cartel’s initials person’s life expectancy is ful card to outgun the Jalisco for comment on this, or oth-
ing out, or supplies heading to the small trampolines the likely to be very short. cartel: Blackhawk helicop- er issues.
in, must pay a war tax to the gang installed for children in ter gunships equipped with
Viagras. every village. The local boss shrugs off the rotating-barrel electric ma- In the past, Jalisco has ob-
government’s assertions that chine guns that can fire 6,000 tained squad machine guns,
“We’d rather be killed by you Some residents say they are cartels like Jalisco are having rounds per minute. .50-caliber sniper rifles and
than killed by those crimi- strongly pressured to par- trouble finding young re- 40mm grenades and launch-
nals!” one demonstrator ticipate in the protests, fear- cruits, due to the current ad- It is a weapon that almost de- ers.
shouted at soldiers during a ing their water or electricity ministration’s youth employ- fines ’’indiscriminate blanket
tense, hour-long confronta- might be cut off if they don’t. ment and training programs. fire″ and is banned in most The government, afraid of
tion between demonstrators Others are just tired of pay- countries in civil conflicts. It the kind of bloodbath that
and a squad of a dozen troops ing the Viagras’ war taxes “It depends on the kind of is the kind of weapon Presi- started in 2018 when the
who took cover behind a bar- and being cut off from the youth,” he says. “Those that dent Andrés Manuel López Jalisco cartel moved into the
ricade of car tires. Many of outside world. One female sleep under bridges, they Obrador says he no longer neighboring state of Gua-
the demonstrators carried protester described how her come here and they think wants. najuato, is now left with an
rocks and powerful sling- father died in early 2020 be- they’re in Paris. There’s food unworkable policy of defend-
shots, but did not use them. cause the Viagras wouldn’t here.” But for the moment, such ing gang territorial divisions,
allow them past to get to a massive firepower is the only and an increasingly narrow
The residents want the army hospital. “I make it clear to my people thing holding Jalisco back. military advantage.
to either fight both cartels, that they come here to fight,”
or at least let the two gangs Dozens of cartel gunmen he adds. “They shot up and burned An unnamed army captain
battle. openly wear bulletproof vests two of our trucks,” the local who tried to talk with the
emblazoned with the group’s Beyond food, regular pay and gang boss said of the gun- Aguililla protesters expressed
“Let the two cartels fight it Spanish initials, “CJNG” — unlimited drugs, the Jalisco ships. “When the soldiers ar- the predicament.
out and kill each other,” an- Jalisco New Generation Car- cartel also offers its young rive with a helicopter, there’s
other demonstrator shouted. tel — on the back, and on the foot soldiers a kind of fam- nothing you can do, you just “How can it be that Mexicans
“Jalisco is going to beat ev- front, “FEM” — “Mencho’s ily structure. Everyone, even get out of the way.” are killing other Mexicans?”
erybody!” Special Forces,” a reference the local boss, refers to their the captain said. “This just
to the nickname of the car- immediate superior as “Apa,” It’s not clear that is going to can’t be.”
That view is widespread. tel’s leader, Nemesio Os- the way a child would say be the case for long. Jalisco is