A new national record!
Though not one to be proud of: 34 narcotics-related murders in a single day, the most ever. Much like the Bush administration spins the growing casualty rate in Iraq as proof “the surge is working”, the alarming murder rate is supposedly good news.
My local newspaper (el Debate) has taken to running narco-murders on their own page(s), separate from the rest of the normal mayhem of the day reports. I don’t know if it will help or hurt, but every one of our state (Sinaloa) police commanders was replaced with military administrators a few days ago.
Over the weekend, I missed the annual Goat Festival , having to go to Lerdo, through the supposedly lawless mountains of Sinaloa and Durango. It was kind of a boring trip. Which is a good sign, I suppose.
When I think about it, the cartels are no different from any other multinational corporation going through consolidation and “reduction in force.” It’s just that when you hear talk of a “bloodbath” in the automotive or accounting industry, it’s more figurative than literal. And shakeups in the executive suite at the local steel plant aren’t particularly folkloric… though in Sinaloa’s most famous agrobusiness they certainly are.
mexfiles.net 
Well, as we see throwing the military at the narcotics problem only destabilizes Mexico and increases violence. I really think that legalizing recreational drugs or at least decriminalizing them would be the best thing for Mexico. I also think that all the money that is used now in Mexico on the war against drugs would be better used for other things such as better education, generation of jobs, improvement of healthcare or just about anything else which does not include the use of the military or violence. Mexico has its problems, but also has its good points. There is really a lot of beautiful things in Mexico and it is really sad to see it being militarized and watching the military commit human rights abuses on their own people. Now that Calderon has declared the war on drugs, Mexico has lost some of its beauty it once had. I really hope, for Mexico’s sake, that in some way this can change. I hope the people start to realize the damage this war is causing and start to stand up to Calderon. There are non-violent, less costly, and more positive solutions to the drug problem–namely legalization. I hope that in my lifetime this can be achieved, for the sake of Mexico and the world in general.