7,337. The amount of drug-war-related deaths since January 2007 in Mexico. Also more deaths than the number of U.S. fatalities in the entire Iraq war.
The start of 2007 marked the start of Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s war on drug traffickers. Since then, it seems that the drug cartels are winning. They are creating an army. They are kidnapping and murdering anyone in their way, especially police officers, at an alarming rate.
I worry because I will be flying into the heart of the trouble for a wedding late this year. I also worry because there are many innocent people being put in harms way, on both sides of the borders.
In one example, the Ciudad Juarez police chief quit just a few days ago after threats to himself and killing of his police officers. Posted signs around town said that a policemen would be killed every 48 hours unless that police chief resigned.
This war will go on for a while. It is not on the US radar just yet and the Mexican government currently does not have the power to win. In time, it will get ugly enough that the power will be put into the right people’s hands again.
But how long? And who do we support in order to help make a difference?
*image source: LAtimes
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