mexico
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Cross-posted with Conflict Jounal This is a weekly roundup of events from 23 March to 29 March 2014. Although the Mexican government claims that it has not lost control of the “citizen police” forces known as autodefensas, there are many signs that the groups are undermining the country’s bid to quell persistent violence. Florida-based security assessment firm…
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Cross-posted with Conflict Journal This is a weekly roundup of events from 17 March to 22 March 2014. A draft report released this week by Christof Heyns, special rapporteur for the United Nations on Extrajudicial Executions, concluded that Mexico has experienced “numerous extrajudicial executions by the armed forces and the cartels, often without any accountability” as…
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Cross-posted with Conflict Journal This is a weekly roundup of events from 9 March to 17 March 2014. The head of Mexico’s federal police force has resigned as of Monday; Manuel Mondragon stepped down from his position as head of the National Security Commission but will still be working with the department on strategy efforts in…
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It is difficult to say when Mexico’s “Drug War” began. For nearly a century, the United States and Mexico have been engaged in operations to halt the production of drugs south of the border as well as their shipment to the United States, which is the world’s largest drug market. However, the genesis of the…
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Last month, the Mexican government announced an initiative to “legalize” vigilante self-defense groups that have sprung up in response to drug-war related violence. The groups, known as “autodefensas” or “Rural Defense Units” have actually had some success in battling the cartels and the government has been moving from leniency to outright cooperation with them over the…
Mike LaSusa 