Mexican Drug War

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The Mexican Drug War is an armed conflict taking place between rival drug cartels and government forces in Mexico. The violence has risen sharply in the past year resulting in over 2,000 deaths since January 2006.^[1] This war is similar to the conflict in Colombia involving drug cartels and the government. Allegedly the cartels in Mexico are linked to the cartels in Colombia. The fighting between rival drug cartels began in earnest after the 1989 arrest of Miguel Angel Felix who ran the cocaine business in Mexico.^[2] There was a lull in the fighting during the late nineties but the violence has steadily worsened since 2000. Former president Vicente Fox sent small numbers of troops to Nuevo Laredo on the US-Mexico border to fight the cartels with little success. It is estimated that about 110 people died in Nuevo Laredo alone during the January-August 2005 period as a result of the fighting between the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels.^[3] In 2005 there was a surge in violence as a drug cartel tried to establish itself in Michoacan. In 2006 over 500 people were killed in Michoacan because of rival cartels trying to gain control of territory.^[4] The cartels are reportedly using machine guns and bazookas as weapons. American and Mexican authorities say that Mexico is the main supply route for cocaine and other illegal drugs entering the US and that Colombia is where most of the plants used to produce illegal drugs are grown before shipment to the US via Mexico and Central America.^[5] On December 12, 2006, at the request of President Felipe Calderón 6,500 troops arrived in Michoacan to retake territory held by drug cartels. The military is using checkpoints, armored vehicles, helicopter gunships and navy boats in their operation.^[6] Calderon's military offensive marks the biggest escalation yet in the Mexican Drug War.

[edit] Effects

Many people in Mexico have suffered the violence of the conflict, although, the conflict is not present in all the country. The states that suffer the conflict mostly are: Baja California, Guerrero, Chihuahua, Michoacán, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, and Sinaloa. President Calderón's government is currently fighting the drug-dealers especially in his home state of Michoacán, but there are more operatives going on in the states of Jalisco (not an official operative) and Guerrero. On December 24, 2006; the governor of Baja California Eugenio Elorduy anounced a similar operative in his State with cooperation of state and federal governments. This operative started in late December 2006 in the border city of Tijuana. As of early 2007, these operatives extended to the states of Guerrero, and the so called "Golden Triangle States": Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa. In February 2007, the federal government extended these operatives to two more states: Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. In response to these operatives, the organized crime tried to assassinate the federal deputy representing Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.