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Editor's Note: Arturo Argente Villarreal is a columnist. Experience in corporate legal advice. Specialist in commercial law, bankruptcy law, corporate law and international litigation. Graduated from the Law University of Tulane. Political and legal analyst.
(CNN Spanish) - The month of October 2019 represents a brief biopsy of the most violent year in the history of modern Mexico.
On Thursday, October 17, a precipitous military operation was carried out to capture Ovidio Guzmán López, son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and extradite him to the United States. This operation was executed without prior search warrant and without the authorization of the members of the security cabinet, formed by the Secretary of Defense, General Luis Cresencio Sandoval, and the head of the Federal Public Security Secretariat, Alfonso Durazo Montaño.
According to the official version, Ovidio Guzmán López was briefly in the hands of police and army elements in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa. This attempt unleashed a violent response from the Sinaloa Cartel, in which order, convocation and strategy towards the aggressor were demonstrated. In the end, the goal was achieved, the freedom of the son of "Chapo" Guzmán.
Culiacán represents a “waters party” in the administration of López Obrador and calls into question the security strategy of the security cabinet of the current administration, with a National Guard that does not work and is completely exceeded.
Given these facts, the coordinator of Morena in the Senate, Ricardo Monreal, sought to close ranks with President López Obrador when referring: “It is unfortunate what happened in Sinaloa, Guerrero and Michoacán in recent days. It reflects the process of decomposition and destruction of the social fabric, which was inherited. It is time to close ranks to regain our peace of mind, no more impunity, no more decomposition; the Legislative Power regrets what happened and expresses its total solidarity with the peoples, the people and with the President of the Republic ”. This statement caused annoyance in the social networks to disengage from his responsibility and he was required to act with character and determination in the way of governing.
Undoubtedly, this breakdown will provoke a haughty, proud and arrogant underworld throughout the country; which has taken "the measure" to the army and evidenced the lack of authorities, both state and federal, and that manifests a submissive state, yielding to the onslaught of the narco.
What happened in Culiacán evidences the ungovernability of an entity and extends a message of "declaration of war" of organized crime to the government.
It is necessary to understand that the turn of organized crime is not only focused on the transfer of drugs, but has extended its scope to extortion and kidnapping, destroying the confidence of the inhabitants of the states where they operate. This uncertainty generates disarticulation and fear among the population that is trapped in a scenario of violence and impunity where the lack of authority causes fear among the members of a society and devalues the confidence of the population in its security and justice institutions. According to the National Survey of Victimization and Perception of Public Security (ENVIPE) in 2017, about 87% of the population had a lot or some confidence in the Navy and the Army, respectively. After what happened in Culiacán, the distrust will be greater.
- Mira: Culiacán does not return to normal after the capture of Ovidio Guzmán
Undoubtedly, the spiral of violence will continue to grow and with this the increase in the purchase of weapons on the northern border of the country, since according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), “7 out of 10 homicides and others high-impact crimes are committed with weapons from the northern border, specifically from states such as Texas, California and Arizona. ”
The Center for Social Studies and Public Opinion (CESOP) of the Chamber of Deputies estimates that there are more than 15 million illegal weapons in Mexico, and of these, the majority are Americans.
Mexico has become a huge graveyard where social inequality has increased, drug use has increased and the state has lost much of its sovereignty. The only solution to confront drug trafficking is limited to the costly option of the military that has plunged us into a violent civil war without addressing a corrupt and inefficient justice system. If the use of bullets is the only option to deal with insecurity, then Culiacán is the chronicle of an announced death of a nation.
Violence in Mexico