Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
.

Friday, November 23, 2012

President of the dead

Jorge Ramos El Diario November 19, 2012
Photos of victims hang on walls of homes outside Mexico City

 Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat

Miami. --I very much doubt that when people ask about Felipe Calderon, after he leaves office, they will say he was the employment president, as he promised in the 2006 electoral campaign. What people will say is that Calderon was the president of the dead. Many dead.
 

How many? Impossible to count with absolute precision. Based on government numbers, communications media speak of approximately 65,000 deaths during Calderon's six year term. But there are more. The journal Proceso published an independent investigation that calculated 88,361 deaths from December, 2006, to March of this year. And the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) counted a total of 95,000 up to the fifth year of the Calderon government's six-year term.

Whatever the correct number may be, it is unacceptable. No strategy against drug trafficking can be called successful, in any country in the world, which leaves more than 65,000 dead. The deaths describe a gigantic failure, incompetence and simple stupidity.

Didn't anybody think something was wrong when the deaths went over a thousand? What about when they surpassed 10 or 20 thousand murders? President Calderon didn't change course. On the contrary, he continued with the wrong strategy and the number of dead continued to grow. That's why they're Calderon's dead. And that's why it went so badly for his party, the PAN, in the last election. It was, in part, a punishment vote.

Juarez
His government insists that many of the dead are criminals. True. But many were not. If the majority of the 65,000 dead had been drug traffickers and criminals, there would be no criminals left in Mexico.

The reality is that there is no Mexican family that has not been touched by a murder, a kidnapping, a robbery, or by fear. Mexicans lost their streets and their public places. They also lost the already faint hope that the police and authorities could protect them. Impunity rules. 98.5% of crimes in Mexico go unpunished, according to a study by the Monterrey Technological Institute. That's also why the victims do not denounce criminal acts. What for?

Here, I am not doubting Calderon's courage in confronting drug traffickers. Of course it requires a lot of courage to fight against the worst Mexican criminals, armed with American pistols and rifles, and willing to send their merchandise, at whatever cost, to the insatiable drug market in the United States. What I am questioning here is the intelligence of choosing a strategy that only produces Mexican deaths and that has not reduced the production, traffic or the consumption of drugs. 

This is the war that Calderon started and lost. It's his responsibility. And it is a war. Just like George W. Bush committed a terrible mistake in starting the war in Iraq in 2003, when there were no weapons of mass destruction there.

Calderon likewise erred seriously when he started a war against the narcos without the necessary preparation, without an elite group to do it with and without a measurable objective. In the end, the number of deaths in the nine years of war in Iraq (109,726, according to IraqBodyCount.org) is very similar to that of Calderon's six year war against the narco. Both are wars. Both failures. And thousands of innocents are dead.

Calderon's government never considered that this was a war that was lost before it started. There are drug traffickers in Mexico because there are drug consumers in the United States. 22 million Americans have used drugs recently, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Colorado and Washington State have just authorized the recreational use of marihuana and 16 others allow its medical use. It's enough to watch any Hollywood movie to see that the use of drugs is absolutely generalized in American society. Stopping its consumption is not a priority for its politicians.

This is what Calderon didn't see or didn't want to see. While Mexicans are killing each other in a narco war without a concrete objective, Americans make the consumption of drugs even easier. Of course, I'm not advocating negotiation with the drug cartels. Neither should they be allowed to control our streets, our businesses or our political system. But what Calderon has done so far has not worked.
San Fernando Tamaulipas
A new strategy against narcotics requires the integration of all of the country's police agencies under a single command and the creation of an elite force; the liberation of cities, highways and public places from the hands of drug traffickers; strike at the narcos where it hurts, that is, at their money, seizing accounts, profits and properties; reducing levels of violence with tactics involving hyper-vigilance and creativity; and, above all, understanding that Mexico is a corridor for sending drugs to the north. No more, no less.

Calderon is leaving, but he leaves us many cemeteries. And a failed anti-drug policy that will cost a lot to dismantle and replace. But the worst thing is a terrible sensation that we were deceived. Calderon was never clear in the 2006 electoral campaign about his strategy against the narcos, and today he leaves us a bloodied and demoralized country.

Had they known, many would not have voted for him.

No, we will not remember him as the employment president. Calderon will always be remembered as the president of the dead.

51 comments:

  1. Jorge Ramos ? Jorge Ramos ???

    Is this the same Jorge Ramos from Univision's news [sic]? The same station that has Maria Elena Salinas in commercials in Spanish before the election saying something to the effect that "we (apparently talking just to hispanics?) should all get out and vote because if we did, we could have a hispanic president next time that looks out after OUR issues."

    (While in the same breath calling anyone else racists if they're looking out for THEIR issues that don't coinside with what Univision perceives the right stance to be.)

    Spoils system mentality of the majority?

    The advantages of speaking different languages far outweigh any disadvantages, but I'll tell you there are three people that make me sorry I learned Spanish (because now I friggin' understand them)

    1. Jorge Ramos
    2. Maria Elena Salinas (AKA cara de fuchi)
    3. Gerardo Ortiz

    Silvestre Reyes is an honorable mention because he really doesn't even speak Spanish. He barely makes sense in English. Maybe that's by design so we don't know what he's up to?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @210

      Hahaha badass comment; badass.... hahahahaha..

      Jorge ramos and maria elena salinas I understand completely, but why gerardo ortiz?

      Delete
    2. You have officially become my mancrush. Hahahaha or jajajajaja. Jorge ramos should just stfu. Gerardo Ortiz needs to go do concerts in rival territories and I'll take maria. Good stuff bro good stuff.. Elvis is drunk

      Delete
  2. President of the dead? Yea, I'm sure he was responsible for 65,000 deaths.... I'm being sarcastic by the way.

    ReplyDelete
  3. yeah, blame everyone but not the NARCOS, they are the ones responsible for the state of Mexico.

    ReplyDelete
  4. awesome article vato. bitch ass calderon...

    ReplyDelete
  5. I live here in Mexico and it is getting boring to here and read about how the United States is causing the problems here in Mexico. Fact is Mexico is one of the largest users of drugs in Latin America. True drugs are exported but only after what cannot be sold for profit here. I have one question and I bet no one will answer honestly. Do really believe that someone beside a Mexican is responsible for what a Mexican does to another here in Mexico? Please don't waste any space here to come back with Americas drug habit when Mexico has its own and will not address their own first. By the way Calderon did not start a drug war it was already on when he took office, he only confronted it and brought to light.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Calderon did not start a drug war? What mexico do you live in? Dope shit was already going on way before calderon, true enough; but there were never people getting into fucking shoot outs in broad day light, never mass executions to the extent of those today, never ass loads of people hanging off bridges like fucking decorations like now. Calderon has his own personal vietnam going on with these fucks; tapandole el ojo al macho with his "guerra contra la delincuencia" but backing certain cartels and scaring the shit out of the citizenry.... so yes, caldreon is BIG ASS PIECE OF SHIT HYPOCRITE. He will prove this yet again when he leaves mexico once his "presidential term" is complete.

      Delete
    2. 5:20 pm you are a fucking idiot for saying that Calderon is working whit some cartels. He has demonstrated that he has attacked all cartels the same.

      Delete
    3. 520 so why no chapo? Because calderon is on the take you fucking dumbass

      Delete
  6. Unfortunately regardless of recent votes in america to legalize cannabis, the drug war is far from over. Many states still have harsh penalties for cannabis, as I know personally from currently being charged a class 2 felony in the chicago area for 1000 grams of cannabis. A serious charge in illinois where in colorado I have commited no crime. As you can see, just between states the penalties vary greatly. The federal government is still fighting the drug war as are many states. For me that means I'm in big trouble, and may receive a big black mark on my record. For mexico, it means many more people will die horrific deaths with still no end in site. I don't know if any president of mexico can change anything there when the drug war rages here in america. When our policy and consumption causes this mess, only huge policy shift can fix mexico, america, and the rest of the world. We don't need to invent a system where the most ruthless acts of violence are rewarded with power and success. I fear we are too far gone and society will continue to crumble. Look around. Things are degrading fast. The drug war is cause of it all. Let's try to change coarse, if it isn't already too late. Good luck my mexican brothers. Your gonna nead it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. ...and what was he supposed to do just sit with his arms folded while the violence raged? What about the narcos dont they share any of the blame, i mean arent they the ones doing the killing? Remember, when LFM dumped those heads in Uruapan it was in 2006 before Calderon took office-is that his fault too? Ramos is just a hack. I would have loved to see what his ideas were but it is much easier to criticize something rather than come up with useful ideas

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great article! Fuck Felipe Calderon! Everyone knows the number of dead is easily over 150,000. Everyone in Mexico knows there are mass-graves all over,totaling thousands of bodies but the government doesn't want to "discover" them. Felipe Calderon should have to pay for all the deaths he is responsible for.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why hasnt calderon asked for the US's help? Because he is a piece of shit who is profiting from the chaos he has created. He could have left the narcos alone, to their own world of shit. Better that than the world of shit he has created.

      Delete
    2. You're a complete jackass.

      Delete
  9. There was a time when poor people knew the rich folk screwed them. Somewhere along the line the average voter just became too brain numb. Maybe it was video games that dulled us. Until the economy gets spread out for everyone Calderon and others can send troops all around but it won't help. Go ahead, line up the heads of cartel bosses but of wave of desperate people are bringing up the rear. If it is inevitable that a small percentage of grifters get all the world's money then its also inevitable that a relative's ears will arrive in the mail with a note demanding the last of your money.

    ReplyDelete
  10. calderon was president but it would not matter who was the killing took a natural leap as the war changed to include so many gangs and groups. watch it will not decease

    then again PRI will lie and everything will be worse

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Calderon and today's PAN is just as bad and to blame for corruption and feeding the people total bullshit.

      Delete
  11. For the most part this article is reactionary. Pity. How about researching and writing something with real depth.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That title sounds moronic, just Luke the people that blame Obama for the recession. most of the violence happened and keeps happening on the states governed by PRI , Cameron's opposite party. this shit was going To happen regardless of President, nobody foresaw the explosion in violence number and power of the zetas. after 9-11 the border got tighter, so they started to sell more coke on Mexican streets. but to blame Calderon for all the dead is narrowminded. put the blame were it really is, on the Mexican people. do some research the z vs CDs war started before Calderon when chapos invaded Laredo with Michoacanos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are correct. But when chapos invaded Nuevo Laredo that's wrong zetas invaded Nuevo Laredo get your facts correct first

      Delete
    2. Cdg is from tamaulipas, and z belonged to them. so all that oziel did was secure his turf. zetas never invaded N. Laredo. They are from Nuevo Laredo. they just got rid of the competition. chapo has been trying to take over n.l. for a decade. it will never happen .

      Delete
  13. Mexico has always been like a pimple full of pus,but all of the previous presidents had just covered it with makeup to make it look like nothing was going on, like nothing was happening. Calderon did not start the war against the cartels. The war was alredy there. The only difference was that it was one sided because most of the "people" who were suppose to help the mexican people (law enforcement and politicians) were sleeping with the narcos. We mexicans have always been very good at blaming someone else for our oun faults and mistakes. President Calderon just had the OO's to call it like it is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Supppsedly he had the balls to call it like it is... ok, he called it. Fucking now what? 80K dead, and then what? I guess by your analogy, he is going to be taking those balls and running like a bitch on once he is no longer president...

      Delete
  14. I apologize, un vato, I'm being a pessimistic asshole again. Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The main trouble with Mexico now is that the narcos have a head start of decades in their trade.
    The previous government which ruled the country for decades have been in cahoots with them.
    The whole system has been infiltrated by the narcs long, long ago.
    In fact, one can say that they have the country in their palms.
    Calderon's war against the cartels only started when he was elected the President not too long ago.
    And one just cannot just turn around an extremely bad situation in a few years' time.
    Especially when the problem is a very ingrained drug problem.
    Just look at Columbia.
    It has lots and lots of problems with Escobar Pablo.
    And he was just one of the drug lords!!!
    The same extreme violence was perpetrated on the government officials of the country.
    In fact, he even planted bombs everywhere which killed many innocent civilians all over the country!!!
    At his will and whims, although in Mexico there are many Escobars!!!
    And the problems are magnified many times just because they have been left to simmer for so long!
    What alternative do the Mexicans have?
    Accommodate the cartels and hope that they will reciprocate by lessening the carnage?
    It is very doubtful that such an act will lessen the carnage because cartels, especially drug cartels, being what they are, are run by very ruthless people who each want the whole cake for himself!!!!
    So, leaving them alone will just not do!!!
    Unless the people is willing to surrender the whole country to them!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Jorge Ramos use to work at Televisa as a reporter but left because he was taking bribes from certain politicial interests in Mexico , namely the leftists / Communists . He so badly wants to criticize the Mexican government without offering any concrete solutions or alternatives . Ramos is the typical liberal socialist pundit who does not understand the formulation of public policy and its implementation in regards to the complex "security " measures undertaken by the Calderon administration . Just because he is the anchor of Univision , and lives in Miami , he believes he has all the answers . He is not brave enough to return to Mexico and live day to day through this so called war .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So leftists / communists dont want security? Although liberties may be supressed I think China is pretty secure my friend, you commite serious crime (even dealing certain drugs) and ur gone with the wind. And the left in the US has been calling for the troops to come home and secure our own country instead of running around the world pillaging countries making new enemies and "aquiring" resources....However this Ramos guys sounds like a greedy scumbag which would put him on the right with the conservative eliete where money is God, one step below the narcos who are fascist dictators...

      Delete
  17. ja,ja, ja, ja, leftists, communists?!? ja, ja, ja. And where is their all powerful headquarters? Russia? The former headquarters of "Get Smart"? Take a deep breath. This not so difficult to understand. Corporations, multinational corporations are running things now. They put people in political power. They tell them when to hop. The leftist and communists have less power than trash men. This drug war is about corporations taking the drug market. They will win, no problem. Enjoy working for less than a dollar an hour.

    ReplyDelete
  18. To fight the cartels you need to first identify the people which control them. These dead "capos" and operatives can't be much more than foot soldiers. Does anybody believe these people have the skills to manage some international logistics? I don't. All we see are thugs which are on the run for the next safe house. People which have the international contacts and experience you'll look for secret services, high level politicians and companies/banks to handle the money streams.

    ReplyDelete
  19. POLITICS, NARCOTIC, TORTURE, MURDER, RAPE, EXTORTION, CORRUPTION, INTIMIDATION & BLOOD MONEY make a very lethal cocktail...Mexico gone down the dumps.

    ReplyDelete
  20. POLITICS, NARCOTIC, TORTURE, MURDER, RAPE, EXTORTION, CORRUPTION, INTIMIDATION & BLOOD MONEY make a very lethal cocktail...Mexico gone down the dumps.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can not believe people see president Felipe Calderon as the one responsible for the many deaths in Mexico. Calderons actions against organized crime was as a consecuence of the violence and the way organized crime was conducting busyness. Calderon fought a real difficult fight agains a very strong opponent, organized crime and corruption was a real difficult fight for the president. Many other presidents didn't do anything. Calderon is a hero in my book, put the blame where it belongs the criminals are the ones killing people not the president.

      Delete
    2. 712 Calderon didn't do shit but lead soldiers to slaughter; you completely dismiss the fact that the only way the cartels operate on the scale that they do is through corruption. Corruption is mexican governments' specialty... calderon is the government. Pretty simple. Only some get caught, only some get killed; question why somw of the biggest capos were captured without a single shot being fired in raids. My heros are the soldiers,marines and cops who aren't on the take, in mexicon who REALLY have been fighting since this shit exploded and arent getting backed up by a crooked ass government. Fuck calderon, fake ass hypocrite.

      Delete
  21. Calderon did the right thing the cartel had so much power that state and federal police could not do anything about it even if they wanted. The cartels were so well strcture that could not be eliminated just like that. It takes time you elinate another pops but not as strong as the other. Also the state Governador were at fault look at Coahuila Humberto Moreira was made a save heaven for Zetas while federal government was trying to fightem it was like this on every state it was coruped from top to bottom. so it was the whole country at fault. all money laundering busnisess, politicians , law enforcement. YOU DONT SEE the the fifty sububan convoy like tony used to have or FEDA FUERSAS ESPECIALIZADAD DE ARTURO. JORGE RAMOS NEEDS DOES A BETTER JOB AT NEWS NOT GIVING HIS OPPINIONS

    ReplyDelete
  22. Mexico will NEVER be that beautiful country it once was.. Between Calderon and the Cartels they destroyed the innocents of thousands of hard working Mexicans.. Chapo's greed destroyed half of Mexico.. my opinion if every cartel was working from there plazas without trying to invade others, there would be equal money for everyone.. and less violence.. but I don't know I might be wrong

    ReplyDelete
  23. November 23, 2012 4:59 PM

    Really? Your comments on this issue is ignorant. You fight fire with fire and stay the course. Or can you tell me what other course of action you would have taken? Don't just post some lame comment and not have a solution. I will await your response.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @459

      Do you really think calderons' drug war qualifies as fighting fire with fire? Hahaha... please. Don't be naive, all he did was stir up a hornets nest, of course, while he himself is at a safe distance. Why has sinaloa gotten more and more powerful while he was president? Why are there so many crooked governors, DA's and mayors under calderons' government walking around free TO THIS DAY? Why is that in the almost 80 years of el PRI's rule, there were no heads rolling, no hanging bodies or daylight shoot outs broke out? Because calderon is inept, both at being corrupt and at "combating delinquincy". All he has been good for is starting shit that wont end, asking the US to do what he refuses to in his own country, and he wont have to worry about it the shit he started; the innocent kid walking down the street who catches a stray bullet will though. My solution to the problem? Either TRULY fight fire with fire, by no rules as the cartels operate, fully backing the military, not like some half ass vietnam that calderon seems to be familiar with, or legalize all dope. Anything so people don't walk down the street afraid like they do now.

      Delete
  24. «November 24, 2012 1:56 AM»

    You've been fanned! You said it in a nutshell. Mexico is a failed state (drug users/addicts are just through the roof!) and will continue to deteriorate.

    My wish to Chivis and the writers here on BB to stay safe and much best wishes to the holiday season with their families. Please stay safe and may they be protected at all times . . .

    ReplyDelete
  25. Why does everybody keep saying america is at fault. Look, the damn problem for mexico is the corruption. Bottom line, this a problem that goes back 100 years - corruption.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I dont think Calderon killed whole familys or extort buisness s ( which led to more people getting killed when they didnt pay) or beheaded anyone on video so to blame him for atleast not giveing in which all before him did is for lack of a better word bullshit

    ReplyDelete
  27. Yes a very poor stratagy indeed. These "murders" you speek of . I must assume that these numbers are in large part are these armed gunman fighting the military. WRONG APPROACH ! When the army is fired on they should contact these poor misunderstood souls and say "we love you. Thats it love them into submission. And when they kidnap a son or daughter , offer them another. They will get that warm fuzzy feeling inside and see the error of their ways.
    Or we could make guns ligal for honest non criminal people to own and defend themselves but keep it illegal for criminals. God made man and guns can make them equal.
    Its not a perfect solution but its a damn sight better than a unarmed population at the mercy of these sorry sons of bitches.
    When the thugs attack lay enforcement and get killed IT IS NOT MURDER ! It is only murder when innocents are killed. There are some dumb bastartds that will never see the difference. Are you saying in Calderone didnt use his method innocent people wouldnt be killed by crimminals ? I say if Mexico dont continue to combat the cartels , we seal that border tighter than a jug . What is happening in Mexico right now is "The Chickens Are Coming Home To Roost. It was permitted by the ones in charge for so long that it is threatening to consume Mexico.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bro you are one dumb redneck hick who obviously knows dick about Mexico or daily life there

      Delete
  28. The z are not from nv laredo wtf, nuevo laredo used to be turf of los texas and chachos they are 100% laredenses there whole organization and had conexions with arturo beltran and la bitch ass barbie, the z where send from Matamoros from orders pf Osiel,Most of the original z where from other states most souther and center of Mx, The chapo will never be able to take nv laredo they have over ten thousand of foot soldiers in nuevo laredo fromvhalcones to sicarios to comandantes adding up the z from laredo tx,cdg is getting weaker by the minute wait when epn comes and takes the military and marina off the streets and u going to see how deep the z are in Tamaulipas and North of mx

    ReplyDelete
  29. Fuckin geniuses,the lot of you.People,you gotta hate the whining motherfuckers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is that whining I hear coming from you, bud?

      Delete
  30. @ 10:17am dude look im no war strategist ok,but if i notice a sharp rise in bloodshed after i made a decision with pan party too go for the Capo's, especially innocents bloodshed,then i would know i had gone the wrong path or not enough,i would of decided by 2008 whether to make a pact with the Cartels for peace or asked for help overseas,bring in expert special forces against terrorism to align with MX-forces and saturate mexico, sounds crazy, but Calderon could not curb the violence only tenfolded it.Cause as being in charge of the Country means you are in charge of looking after the peoples of that Country...60,000+narco related deaths is fucking terrible in my eye.
    YOU state "fight fire with fire and stay the course" You and Calderon obviously dont give a fuck about the innocents that are dead,i do.

    ReplyDelete
  31. @4:47pm Z-40 was born and raised in Nuevo Laredo same wit Z-50(taliban).

    ReplyDelete
  32. "Is that whining I hear coming from you, bud"?
    No,hatred,for pricks like you,im not your bud hard ass.Fuck off back to the basement you fuckin bore.Another fuckin genius.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 446 hahahaha calmate pinche perrito ruidoso. fuckin internet rambo taking "bud" all serious.. youre not my bud but youre still whining huh? Hahaha HATRED, wow man that's scary shit, i guess? spoken like a true shit talker tho, se ve que tienes practica wey pero shit talking es para dos gentes 1. los mayates 2. gente vale verga. I'm sure youre both, siguele morrito.. glad you recognize I'm a genius tho. Keep whining too shit stain. The point is people wont stop posting their comments over articles and thoughts just cuz your panties got bunched up. Thats the point behind a blog you stupid fuck, welcome to the internet.

      Delete
  33. November 27, 2012 3:57 AM
    "just cuz your panties got bunched up"
    Bien dicho companero,imma a puras mamadas
    Nah man,fuck this its all good aint it,ten cuidado guey ye eard me?

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated, refer to policy for more information.
Envía fotos, vídeos, notas, enlaces o información
Todo 100% Anónimo;

borderlandbeat@gmail.com