Page 12 - aruba-today-20190831

A12 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 31 auguSt 2019
Mexico's new drug war may be worse than old one

By MARK STEVENSON He attributes the muted
Associated Press response to new President
COATZACOALCOS, Mexico Andrés Manuel López Ob-
(AP) — Mexico's drug war rador's high approval rat-
appears to be back — and ings, topping 70% in some
it may be worse this time polls nine months into his
around than in the bloody term. Such ratings "tend to
years of the government's intimidate expressions of in-
2006-2012 offensive against dignation," Hope said.
drug cartels. Many Mexicans also are
Back then, the worst of the willing to give López Ob-
violence was confined to a rador the benefit of the
few cities. Now it is spread doubt as even the presi-
out throughout the coun- dent acknowledges that
try. Once it was not un- violent crime is the most
common for gangs to kill serious challenge he faces.
adults but leave children To the extent possible,
unharmed. Now, the killing López Obrador has avoid-
of children alongside their ed violent confrontations
parents has become all too with gangs that were of-
frequent. ten blamed for spawning
Perhaps the most discon- violence during Calderón's
certing change: Bloody 2006-2012 administration.
cartel violence outraged López Obrador has even
Mexicans and captured personally congratulated
international attention for troops who allowed them-
the drug war, which saw selves to be abducted
27,000 homicides during its In this June 2, 2019 file photo, the body of a bloodied man lies in the middle of a street where po- and disarmed by vigilante
peak in 2011. Today, even lice and forensic workers secure the crime scene in Acapulco, Mexico. groups that are often linked
though the number of Mex- Associated Press to cartels.
ico's homicides soared to He insists his go-slow poli-
near 35,000 last year, the of him wearing an "I Love Now, children are being Hope notes Mexico has a cies of reducing youth un-
bloodshed seems to draw Coatzacoalcos" T-shirt. killed with chilling frequen- lamentable record in inves- employment will eventu-
less attention and indigna- But they could never agree cy. In June, a young boy tigating and prosecuting ally solve the root causes
tion. on a place to move, in part was killed along with his fa- killings — over 90 percent of of the problem better than
It has all left many Mexi- because violence is now ther in Sonora state. In July, crime go unpunished. declaring another frontal
cans wondering which way a problem across much of a 10-year-old was killed "The risk involved in killing offensive against drug car-
to turn. Mexico, so no place is re- during a robbery in Puebla a man, or killing his whole tels.
That was evident this week ally safe. state. In August, gunmen family, is the same," the Carlos Ángel Ortiz is one
in Coatzacoalcos, an oil in- From 2006 to 2012, much burst into a home in Ciudad analyst said. Under that of those who doesn't fault
dustry city in the Gulf coast of the drug war killing oc- Juarez and fired 123 bullets logic, wiping out an entire López Obrador.
state of Veracruz where curred in a string of north- that killed three girls, aged family "has its advantages. "It is like the president says,
residents say gangs have ern Mexico cities — Ciu- 14, 13 and 4, along with an It is more intimidating, it is 'Only the people can save
been fighting over turf and dad Juarez, Tijuana, Culia- adult male who apparently easier to carry out, and it the people," Ortiz said as
extorting business owners can, Reynosa and Nuevo was the real target. makes escaping easier." he made plans to bury his
with threats of violence. Laredo. "Now it is more Two years ago, Coat- The relentless violence has niece, Xóchitl Irineo Go-
Late Tuesday, suspected dispersed, and that also zacoalcos made headlines numbed many people. mez, a dancer at the night-
members of the Jalisco makes it harder to control," across Mexico when a man, In 2010, gunmen burst into club who died of smoke in-
cartel showed up at the said Alejandro Hope, a se- his wife and three young a party of high school stu- halation, leaving behind a
Caballo Blanco nightclub, curity analyst in Mexico. children were gunned dents in Ciudad Juarez's son and a daughter ages 7
blocked its exits and set a But counting down all the down by a drug cartel. In Villas de Salvarcar neigh- and 3.
fire that killed 28 people similarities — deadly arson contrast, the shooting of borhood, killing 15 in what "We have to look out for
trapped inside, apparently attacks, bodies left piled in the three Ciudad Juarez appeared to have been a each other, and report
because the owner had ei- heaps or hung from over- girls drew less attention. case of mistaken identity. crimes more," Ortiz said.
ther refused to make extor- passes, massacres at par- "It seems like we are be- The bloodbath provoked The poor provide López
tion payments or sold drugs ties, beheading videos coming accustomed to large, angry street protests Obrador's base, and it is
from another gang. posted on social media — this, to people killing chil- and a visit by an apologet- that group who suffers the
Vanessa Galindo Blas lost the parallels between now dren. I don't want to be- ic President Felipe Calde- most from crime. Irineo Go-
her common-law husband, and then are all too clear. come accustomed to rón. mez was the sole support
Erick Hernández Enriquez, "It's like deja vu all over that," said Lenit Enriquez This year, in April, gunmen of not only her children,
to the blaze. Both were na- again," said Hope. Orozco, an activist in Coat- burst into a party in Mina- but her elderly parents. Er-
tives of Coatzacoalcos, but Another disturbing trend zacoalcos. titlan, near Coatzacoalcos, ick Hernández Enriquez left
had been discussing mov- is that young children are Her brother, Jonith Enriquez and killed 14 people. Days little behind for his family
ing away. being gunned down by Orozco, has been missing later, a few dozen people aside from a modest, three-
"We had talked about leav- killers targeting adults. The since he was abducted on held a subdued peace room cinderblock house.
ing here for somewhere Sinaloa and Juarez cartels Sept. 25, 2015. There has march. "There are a lot of empty
safer, so our kids could once prided themselves been no trace of him since, "It's politics as usual, noth- houses in Coatzacoalcos,
have a better future," on their targeted killings, even though her group, ing happened. This should a lot of people have left,"
Galindo Blas said Thursday which riddled intended the Mothers' Collective of generate generalized in- said Maria Fabiola Davila,
as she stretched her hands targets with bullets while Searchers, has hunted for dignation" against cartels a civic activist. "Those who
out over Erick's bare metal leaving family members un- traces in clandestine burial and government leaders can afford it move to an-
coffin. On it rested a photo touched. grounds across Veracruz. alike, Hope said. other country."q