Point of order

Ganchoblog’s post on the El Universal crime poll overlooked one important figure.

Patrick  notes that 63 percent of respondents agree with the general “¡Ya basta! to crime” statement of Felipe Calderón, in general, but slightly more respondents blame the government than criminals for increasing violence (28 to 24 percent) and that 61 percent of respondents believe the criminals are “winning.”  This is an increase from the 50 percent who thought so in January 2010.

Furthermore:

… 80 percent expressed support for the army being deployed on the streets, while 86 percent said the army should support the fight against drug trafficking.

Perhaps it was buried in the dataset to which Ganchoblog linked, but the data also reported that 75 percent also believe there has been a negative impact on human rights .

As the paper opines:

When talking about a change in strategy, some in the federal government and among its critics, take this to mean giving up on the crime fight, coming to terms with the criminals, or ignoring them.    What the figures suggest is that the people neither want the State to capitulate to the criminals, nor to maintain the status quo.

…

Take away the ideology, and people want to fight crime, but they want their rights respected too.

It may be a mistake to conclude, as Gancho does, that:

Despite the emergence of another anti-violence movement in recent weeks, the constituency for a radical and immediate change of direction doesn’t seem to exist

I’m not sure what Ganchoblog considers “radical and immediate change”, but I’ve yet to hear any of the opposition call for a complete “surrender” to the criminals, or for a complete withdrawal of the military.  Even Lopez Obrador — the usual suspect when commentators use the word “radical” —   according to a recent “Wikileak” (06MEXICO505) recognized that there was a place for the military in anti-crime activities.

Actually, there have been a few who have suggested withdrawal to the barracks while new rules of engagement are drawn up to protect citizens and their civil rights.  Those radicals included law professors, academic and the the Roman Catholic hierarchy.

The only radical proposals I’ve seen are from the Calderón Administration, trying to ram through a legal changes that would permit it to use military force in any civil disturbance.