The relentless drug war
Diego Martin Velazquez Caballero
Although the Morenista government has been cornered for breaking the campaign promise to return the army to the barracks, the advance and strength of criminal groups in various entities is an indication that, outside the federation, there is no local government capable of protect the citizenry. Insecurity is a constant in local governments, more than in the federal administration.
The lack of clarity and transparency in the resources executed by local governments, mainly in state and municipal governments ravaged by the war between groups dedicated to the transfer of narcotic and psychotropic drugs, especially in the regions governed by the opposition, manifests the need to greater centralization in security policies and the disappearance of powers in those entities where governments should simply resign – or have done so – due to their impotence in the face of the force of crime.
The increasing progress of the protagonists in the drug war shows the need to increase budgets to develop security policies and strengthen the national bodies in charge of operating legitimate violence. Social readaptation centers and rural municipalities are structured on the basis of crime and require radical measures to be amended. State governments are more than permissive with local crime, feuderalism has been verified on several occasions and several state executives have been directly related to the mafias.
By 2024, regardless of the party that wins, the new six-year term must recognize the perpetuity of the state of exception that Mexico is experiencing and consider measures to strengthen the federal government and reduce the incompetence of local governments. Feuderalism was the true face of corrupting neoliberalism that was creating unpunished and criminal oligarchies, as well as exposing society to impressive levels of insecurity.
The reengineering of security in Mexico implies recognizing where the budgets must be exercised and the accounts that governments must render. Beyond the criminal ties and mafia sponsorships that officials in charge of civil order have, security indicators must also be considered for the revocation of mandate. The Sicilianization of Mexico is imminent and without serious proposals for public order, the reality of the Failed State also leaves our borders.
The exploits of the groups that fight in the drug war prevent any public policy from working. Local governments are ineffective, corrupt and incompetent, it is up to the federal government to be an accomplice or censor of these events.