President Felipe Calderon
The Mexican Drug War, a war between the government of Mexico and the various trafficking cartels boomed in 2006 when President Felipe Calderon took office. According to the blog, “Mexico’s Drug War,” “president Calderon in conjunction with the United States, launched a massive crackdown against drug trafficking organizations.” The United States was supplying president Calderon with money and drug enforcement intelligence in order to stop the flow of drugs into the country. However, many have questioned president Calderon’s strategies. Statistics show that during Calderon’s presidency from 2006 to 2012, safety dropped and violence escalated to high levels.
Mexico’s corrupted Judicial/Police sector weakened Calderon’s military strategy
Despite Calderon’s efforts to crackdown the drug cartels in Mexico, Mexico’s judicial and police sectors have allowed the cartels to flourish. In part because these sectors are weak due to the high levels of corruption. Law enforcement is known to be easily bought, since their earnings are quite low, they earn around $9,000 to $10,000 a year. An officer can easily double or triple its salary, simply by agreeing to “look the other way”. However, Calderon attempted to counter police corruption by increasing the role of military in local security efforts. But Calderon’s military strategy has done little to diminish the cartels.
Retaliation Resulting from Crackdown
Although, Calderon’s military strategy had made several arrests and killings of cartel leaders, the cartels have managed to flourish. The military under Calderon killed or captured 25 of the top 37 most wanted drug kingpins in Mexico. Unfortunately, the crackdown on cartel leaders split the organization, creating between 60 and 80 new drug trafficking gangs. These trafficking gangs retaliated by killing various municipal leaders and kidnapping and extortion of civilians. Increasing violence among the government as well as the common people.
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