Mexican Drug War

Increasing drug prohibition violence in Mexico poses a risk to the nation’s credit rating in the “medium term” and may threaten economic growth. The violence is shaving 1.2 percentage points off the economy annually, Finance Minister Ernesto Cordero said today. Moody’s probably won’t downgrade the country before President Felipe Calderon’s term ends in 2012.

The extremely dangerous city of Ciudad Juárez had more homicides this past August than any other month since prohibition-inspired drug trafficking organizations began fighting a turf war in 2008. Other very deadly months include this past June, when 313 people were slain, and August 2009, with 315.

Though they are nearly a thousand miles away from the bloodshed, Mexican expatriates living in the Rogue Valley fear possible reprisal.

Former California state senator Tom Hayden opines that he supports the November ballot initiative to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana because our country's long drug war is a disaster and there is an alternative that is better for our health, safety and democratic process.

Mexico’s Federal Police Commissioner Facundo Rosas said today that 3,000 police officers have been fired since May. Six of those officers have been charged in the death a murdered mayor. Rosas said the fired cops were either linked to corruption or failed to do their jobs.

Drug traffickers are increasingly diversifying their illicit activities and targeting more than just rival criminal gangs.

Mexican authorities are investigating the assassination of Hidalgo, Tamaulipas Mayor Antonio Leal-Garcia whose killers are suspected gunmen allied with Los Zetas. The Zetas have also been blamed for the massacre of 72 Central and South American immigrants just a couple hours away in San Fernando. The police chief in Hidalgo, Tamaulipas was killed back in May.

Phenomenally rich due to drug prohibition, Mexican drug gangs, which used to focus exclusively on ferrying narcotics such as cocaine to the United States, have diversified into other lucrative criminal activities such as human smuggling and extortion.

Central America is struggling to contain rising drug prohibition violence as powerful Mexican drug traffickers, facing a government crackdown at home, expand southward and intensify operations in neighboring nations.

While escalating violence in Mexico's war on drugs may be prompting some would-be tourists to think twice about visiting the country, others see it as a chance to try a different kind of travel experience. A new type of traveler is flocking to the country, keen to experience a dark underworld of drug traffickers, leftist rebels and illegal migration.