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Moreover, corruption remains a terrible problem. Most observers agree that the several law enforcement agencies operating at the border are widely compromised. Throughout the country, local police, underpaid, under-trained, and under-equipped, are clearly still on the take. Honest cops run the risk of contempt from their coworkers or of being killed because of fear they will expose the crooked ones. Hundreds of police have been killed since the Calderón initiative began. Some no doubt conscientiously opposed the drug gangs; others, reportedly a majority, simply worked for the wrong gang. Even those thoroughly vetted for trustworthiness may succumb to temptation, or give in when a gang confronts them with the choice, plata o plomo—silver or lead, bribe or bullet.

The corruption extends far up the line. In 2008, at least 35 agents from an elite organized crime unit within the attorney general’s office, including top officials ostensibly leading the crackdown against the cartels, were fired or arrested. According to news accounts, they had for

several years been receiving monthly payments ranging from $150,000 to $450,000 each, in return for keeping the cartels informed about government operations. $450,000 payoffs, see “Levels of Prohibition: A Toker’s Guide,” The Economist , March 15, 2009; “Mexico under siege,” Los Angeles Times , October 28, 2008. Payoffs of such size are apparently not unique; wiretaps used to bring indictments against members of the Gulf cartel caught discussions of bribes of $2 million. $2 million, see “Mexico under siege,” Los Angeles Times , July 21, 2009. In May 2009, guards at a Zacatecas prison offered no resistance as 53 inmates walked out and drove away in a 17-car convoy. Escape from Zacatecas prison, see “Mexico under siege,” Los Angeles Times , July 13, 2009. Later that same month, federal agents accused 10 mayors from the state of Michoacan of abetting La Familia drug traffickers. Michoacan mayors, see “Mexico under siege,” Los Angeles Times , May 29, 2009. In July 2010, prison officials in Durango were found to be sending prisoners, using official vehicles and armed with prison weapons, on designated assassination assignments. Mark Stevenson, “Mexican drug cartel inmates let out of prison,” The Globe and Mail , July 26, 2010. At about the same time, 56 members of Tijuana law enforcement agencies were arrested for corruption, adding to more than 400 similar arrests or firings since January 2008. In May 2010, the mayor of Cancun was arrested on charges of aiding the Zetas and the Beltrán-Leyva gang. Ken Ellingwood, “Cancun mayor’s arrest adds to Mexico worries,” Los Angeles Times , May 27, 2010. No one imagines these are the final examples.

Those who criticize the gangs publicly, or attempt to expose the corruption that enables them, do so at their own peril. In April 2009, a Roman Catholic archbishop in Durango wondered publicly why the authorities seemed unable to locate Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the most sought-after cartel figure in the country, since he was widely known to be living nearby. According to the Los Angeles Times, most local media did not report the explosive comments, and copies of national papers that ran the story appeared on few newsstands. A day or two later, the archbishop backpedaled, claiming that he was simply repeating things of the sort people say to their pastor. Archbishop, “Mexico under siege,” Los Angeles Times , April 4, 2009. As a further safety measure, he began traveling with bodyguards and ordered an armored car. Tracy Wilkinson and Ken Ellingwood, “In Mexico’s drug battle, the public is missing in action,” Los Angeles Times , December 30, 2009. The timidity of the media in this case is common and understandable. Gangs have attacked newspaper offices and TV stations after they have published or aired stories attacking the cartels or exposing their ties to public officials. In March 2010, the National Human Rights Commission reported that at least 57 reporters had been killed over the past decade, 57 reporters killed, see Tracy Wilkinson, “Mexico crime reporters face deadly perils,” Los Angeles Times , December 29, 2009. supporting claims by the international Committee to Protect Journalists that Mexico is “one of the deadliest countries in the world” for reporters. Many journalists exercise self-censorship, ignoring stories on drug trafficking and confining their reporting to “weddings, quinceañeras, and baptisms.” “Weddings,” see “Mexico under siege,” Los Angeles Times , June 11, 2008. In a stunning admission of helplessness, El Diario, the largest daily newspaper in Ciudad Juárez, after two staffers had been murdered by drug gangs, ran a front-page editorial on September 19, 2010, asking cartel “Lords” to “explain to us what you want from us. What are we supposed to publish or not publish, so we know what to abide by. You are at this time the de facto authorities in this city because the legal authorities have not been able to stop our colleagues from falling.” Randal Archibold, “Mexico paper, a drug war victim, calls for a voice,” New York Times , September 20, 2010.

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Source:  OpenStax, Cartels, corruption, carnage, and cooperation. OpenStax CNX. May 23, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11293/1.2
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