"Slaying of hero's family brings chills to Mexico."

Here is an excerpt of Elisabeth Malkin's article from the New York Times, reprinted in the Houston Chronicle:

"It had been an elaborate farewell to one of Mexico's fallen heroes. Ensign Melquisedet Angulo, a special forces sailor killed last week during the government's most successful raid on a top drug   lord in years, received a stirring public tribute in which the secretary of the navy presented his mother with the flag that covered her son's casket. Then, the next day, only hours after the grieving family had finished burying him in his hometown, gunmen burst into the family's house and sprayed the rooms with gunfire, killing his mother and three other relatives, officials said Tuesday. It was a chilling epilogue to the navy-led operation that killed the drug lord, Arturo Beltran Leyva, and six of his gunmen. And it appeared to be intended as a clear warning to the military forces on the front line of President Felipe Calderon's war against Mexico's drug cartels: not only you, but your family is a target as well." Link to Full Article

Analysis: I think we all knew that reprisals were coming after Arturo Beltrán Leyva was killed, but I don't think anyone imagined something like this would happen. I thought nothing the DTOs could do would ever surprise me, but I'm floored with this one. Going after a soldier's family? As an acquaintance of mine put it today, not even the Mafia went after family members.

For some time now, I've been saying that the Mexican government - as well as our own government - needs to start treating DTOs as something more than just common criminals. I wrote an article in Henley Putnam University's Journal of Strategic Security some time ago about this very topic; you can read it here if you like. While you may not be able to call them terrorists in the purest sense (no ideology other than a profit motive), they're behaving like a hybrid of organized crime, terrorists, and insurgents. How can you effectively battle an Nth Generation organization like that when you're treating them - and fighting them - like gang members?

Some of my readers have taken issue with this view, saying I sometimes give DTOs too much credit. And it's true that many people believe DTO leaders and members are just greedy thugs who like to use they're enormous arsenal with impunity. That may be true in some cases, but ordinary street punks don't infiltrate the government and police as well as the BLO does, or organize prison escapes as elaborately as Los Zetas do, or mastermind the piecemeal destruction of rival organizations as well as the Sinaloa Federation leadership does.

So - not that any government is coming to me for advice - my take on this latest development is that both the Mexican and US governments need to wake up, stop putzing (not my preferred word, but I'm a lady and this is a public forum) around, and treat the DTOs like the opponent that they are.

Comments

[Ted]

totaly agree, as in any war what starts out with some rules, it quickly degenerates into a conflict of attrocities. The governement cannot protect the whole country, a few bombs in and around popular tourist resorts will cause huge financial losses. They don't even have to be lethal.

In my opnion, Mexico has to use the full power of the state to go after the cartels, their leadership and the infastructure. This has to be done quickly and no cost and resources spared. In addition, Mexicans have to look in the mirror and ask themselves the question, how did it come to this? Terroritst are not born that way, they are made.

[Steve F.]

How dumb can the cartels get?

They've just crossed a line and they will not be allowed to go back.

The Mexican military has just been given their ultimatum: their country or the cartels, and they're going to choose their country.

This is going to get incredibly ugly, but it's ultimately going to lead to the destruction of the cartels.

[Thomas]

Sylvia,

I appreciate your blog and your analysis focusing on Latin America and particularly the Drug War in Mexico. Yet, I believe that treating the DTO's as terrorists is counterproductive. I agree vigorous policing and law enforcement efforts are needed. However, violence in Mexico is a symptom of a much larger movement afoot--- the transition of Mexico away from a one party state, with the PRI in charge, to a country with competitive elections (see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/opinion/24krauze.html ). This political transition coupled with Calderon sending in troops has upset relationships between DTO's and local police and politicians...with violence resulting. The fundamental problem confronting Mexico is one of state capacity and how to build it--security is just one integral compoenent in this equation. Colombia underwent a similar phase of violence (even more brutal than what is going in Mexico), and while it still has a way to go, is more stable and a better functioning democracy. To treat Mexico's problem with DTO's as terrorism is bound to obfuscate attention away from building state capacity, which is the long-term solution to the violence in Mexico. Keep up the good work.

[Will C.]

The killing of narco-leaders by the Mexican military (or police for that matter) will only perpetuate the unbearable violence afflicting Mexico. Violence and death is the cartel's occupation , and they are extremely efficient, brutal, macabre, and indiscriminate in its delivery. Therefore, why should anyone be surprised about the killing of the soldier's family? I am not...