Here’s the nut of this story: “Mexican security forces must balance two objectives: achieving tangible results in the war against cartels, while also respecting the rights of Mexican citizens. In Mexico, achieving such a balance is harder than it appears.” Indeed, some of us are old enough to remember when Mexico wasn’t … what it is, which is a bad imitation of Colombia in the 80’s. As Douglas Lucas and others have documented, the cooperation between the US and Mexican authorities is not exactly designed to respect the personal freedoms of the citizens of Mexico. It’s more a case of what cops call the “Self-cleaning oven.” That is: containment. Eventually everyone who is going to be shot or kidnapped WILL be shot or kidnapped and at that point the violence will die down. This strategy may or may not work, but it cannot work without thousands of deaths in the meantime while the police forces of both countries just try to make sure it stays south of the American border. This is not an appropriate role for a domestic police force.

Categories: Hackers