The Mexican government is facing its greatest crisis, shocking society over the disappearance of 43 students last September when teaching students were heading to Iguala to solicit funds, conjuring the memory of the student massacre in Tlatelolco in 1968.
The incident has highlighted the close relationship between civilian authorities and police with drug cartels and criminal organizations, exposing corruption and government negligence. The government in an attempt to avoid responsibility said the problem is in Iguala, not Mexico.
The lack of interest of President Peña Nieto, oblivious to the problem, delayed reaction, and mismanagement by the government has made the country request his resignation.
According to research conducted by the Attorney General, the wife of Iguala’s mayor, who was preparing to give a speech, asked her husband to block the teaching students. Once arrested by police in Iguala, they were handed over to police in Cocula who gave them to members of the drug cartel Guerreros Unidos, who brutally killed and incinerated them. This case demonstrates the chilling collaboration between municipalities with the flagrant violation of human rights.
The mayor and his wife, known as Mexico’s Macbeths for their political ambition and corrosive policies, amassed a fortune tied to drug cartels. They are just a sample of the corrupt network in the country. Drug money and the desire for power penetrate deeply into the political arena becoming complicit in crime when governors, prosecutors, judges, mayors, legislators are members or heads of cartels. Drug traffickers invest a billion dollars annually in police bribes, and Mexico has become a narco state.
Violence has escalated since President Calderon started the failed War on Drugs in 2006, which left nearly 90,000 dead, and according to “Human Rights Watch” 200,000 disappeared of which the government recognizes 22,322. Peña Nieto’s government has 31,000 deaths to his credit.
Peña Nieto, who has focused on the privatization of the oil industry, has been concerned about the image that Mexico presents to the world and not reality. He avoids “publicizing” criminals when they are caught, makes no press release and pressures the media not to speak or report about the subject. Therefore, it gives the impression that the violence is decreasing although in reality it is increasing.
America is also responsible for having no arms-control policy, since 70% of guns used in Mexico are of U.S. origin. America is also the largest consumer of drugs coming out of Mexico, reaching 1,286 cities and generating $50 billion profit annually, making Mexico the main supplier of marijuana and cocaine in the U.S.
Impunity prevails resulting in the inefficiency of the judicial system which has not punished anyone for 22,322 missing. Corruption corrodes the political arena, the federal government does not guarantee the safety of its citizens, and local governments continue to increase their power with the help of the underworld and drug traffickers. History will continue to repeat itself. It is up to the people to demand deep change and accountability.
