2017: A Year of Record Bloodshed and Mayhem for Mexico

MEXICO CITY — This year is on track to be the deadliest in Mexico since the government began releasing crime records 20 years ago.By the end of 2017, the government projects, more than 27,000 people will have died in violence fueled by warfare among cartels, political corruption and an increase in U.S. demand for drugs like heroin, meth and cocaine, much of it smuggled through legal entry points along the Texas border.Security has deteriorated so badly that the government on Friday formalized the use of soldiers on the streets, generating angry response from critics. That includes the United Nations and Amnesty International, who fear the move will lead to more violence and human rights abuses.No longer are killings limited to states such as Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Durango, Sinaloa and Jalisco. Twenty-seven of Mexico’s 32 states have reported drug violence this year, including areas that are popular tourist destinations for North Texans such as Cabo San Lucas and Cancun.“It’s not only that we don’t have an answer for the violence, but when you look at our current strategy, if you can even call it that, the violence has actually grown,” said Catalina Pérez Correa, a law professor and specialist on drug violence at CIDE, a university in Mexico City, and a leader of a citizens movement called Security Without War.  Continue reading...