As you may or may not know, our southern neighbor has been experiencing near-constant conflict since President Felipe Calderón was elected in December of 2006. Initially it was reported to be unrest in the Oaxaca province caused by the supporters of his left-wing opponent Manuel López Obrador, during which several foreign reporters were killed, and the U.S. Government issued a travel warning to the region. Eventually the story of Oaxaca stopped running in the news, though two more journalists were killed there[1], and since it was not reported that the conflict ceased, one must assume it is on-going. Regardless, the violence which then spread throughout Mexico began to be referred to as a Drug War, and it is indisputable that this is what the violence on the U.S. border is, at least.



This violence has involved approximately 40 beheadings this year alone[2], and 4,000 deaths since 2006[3]. The worst areas for violence are shown, left, in red. It can be seen that this violence is centered along the U.S. border; a disproportionate amount of the violence also occurs specifically in the border cities of Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo, where the governments campaign is currently focused[4], and the violence frequently spills across the border, particularly in Laredo, Texas, which is separated from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico by a storm drain and some fencing.



In this year alone, several towns on the border with the U.S. have lost their entire police force, as a large enough number are murdered and then the rest resign. Currently, four very high ranking Police Officials have been assassinated in Mexico this year alone[5], including Robert Velasco Bravo, the head of the federal police agency's organized crime tactical analysis office, along iwth countless low-level officials and officers.



It is common for some commentators to act as though America is the cause of this Drug War, since it is providing the demand for the Drugs to cross the border to the north, and allowing illegal weapons to go south. This shift of the blame is ludicrous, of course. As regards the latter, the Drug Cartels are using military hardware, the kind that is illegal in America too. This means their equipment either came from corrupt American Officials or corrupt Mexican Officials. Which of those two eventualities seems more likely? And blaming the U.S. for it's demand seems to me to be akin to blaming the Chinese for their demand of opium[6].



If there is a cause of this lawlessness, it is corruption and incompetance on the part of the Mexican government. The U.S. government is currently discussing the Merida Initiative, a $1.4 billion aid-package to the Mexican government. Some former supporters of this Initiative have begun to rethink their position after various acts of near-criminal incompetance on the Mexican governments part, including the release of the murderer of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent[7].



Those apologists who make excuses for the Calderón government's incompetance are woefully mistaken. The Calderón government is responsible for this mess, and the best way to help him is to build our Border Fence. This is one of the easiest ways to crack down on the illicit trade across the border of people and goods, and starving the cartels will be more effective than throwing money at a corrupt and incompetant government.