SILVER OR LEAD: PART II: WILL THERE BE A MEXICAN SPRING?

Since my last post on the subject of citizens fighting back in Mexico against the cartels, the Government moved in and decided to co-opt the citizens brigades and dub them "Rural Defense Forces" or some such name, going back to the days when rural Mexican communities had no paid law enforcement or military to keep the peace.

But one condition of this deal is that the citizen fighters must register their names and weapons with the government. If I were in the citizens army command, I'd be rendering code names or numbers for each of my forces with their true identities not given to the government. And no registration of firearms.

I mean, come on. Mexico is the wild, wild west compared to the old west days in America, which can hardly hold a candle to the brutality, savagery and wanton nature of the current Mexican cartels. Are they going to require the cartel soldiers to "register" their weapons?

I would be afraid for the government to have my true identity. The government is bought and paid for by the cartels in many areas and on many levels. Lots of knowledgeable researchers claim the corruption not only pervades the state and local level but reaches into the highest levels of the federal government and military.

I would worry about the Mexican government having a corrupt employee who sold my information to a cartel who then could reek vengeance upon me, my family or my town.

The federal government and President of Mexico undoubtedly realize that they risk a "Mexican Spring" if they kill, disarm or otherwise fight the freedom fighters. Clearly, this decision to co-opt the citizens was made at the highest levels.

I like that term, freedom fighters. Vigilante also applies, but they have no choice but to kill or be killed by the cartels, so this is a war. 

Think about it. You have cartel violence all over most parts of Mexico. No community is too destitute for a cartel to consider moving in. They have the power to bring in ship loads, and I mean oil tanker size vessels,  of methamphetamine precursers through various Mexican ports. They rule  the highways in many areas, complete with roadblocks.

There have been cartels of one kind or another in Mexico for many decades. Difference was, they kept their violence to themselves with no collateral damage and all they did was bribe government officials and run dope. There were no decapitations, no hangings or other such atrocities. They had clearly defined territories and knew that the less bullcrap they generated would cause them less problems with law enforcement. 1 + 1 = 2.

Or as a friend of mine says, break one law at a time.

Don't get me wrong. Mexico, and particularly the border towns, have long been known for being wild, anything goes and very violent places in ways totally unconnected to the drug cartels. It's always been poverty stricken. The difference was, in many smaller Mexican communities and towns in the interior, life was peaceful and not nearly as violent as the border towns.

Now, in sort of out of the way places like a lot of towns, villages and mere isolated communities in the Mexican state of Michoacan,  you've got the heinous murders added to the kidnapping and rapes of women and children by the cartels.

So all this wanton, and it is truly heinous and wanton, cartel violence has pervaded many if not most of the areas of Mexico. Citizens, most of whom have never had it easy in this poor country, have just had miserable and indeed dangerous living conditions. I suspect many of them are fed up. I suspect many are very fed up not only with cartels and their violence  but with the government.

My late father long predicted that the people of Mexico would one day rise up against their long rumored corrupt federal government and have a(nother) revolution. That was 30 and 40 years ago when my dad said that, and things are so much more unimaginably worse there now then back then when my dad uttered those predictions.

So I would think the fear by the goverment of a citizen's uprising in Mexico is very high,  and that it's a very real possibility should the Mexican government not take this opportunity to take control of their country.

I keep wondering why the Mexican Naval forces have not been sent to Michoacan, particularly their naval special forces. They are rumored to be the only Mexican law enforcement or military entity that is not riddled with corruption. They seem to be the enforcers who get the job done and well done when called in on certain drug cartels.

So why are they not all over Michoacan helping the citizens and providing intelligence and support for them? To my mind, the Mexican armed forces, the Federales, the many law enforcement officers in state and federal prosecutors offices, and the many types of law enforcement officers in the country, ought to be side by side with the citizens and this whole Michoacan war could be brought to a quick end. It would be crucial for the military to continue their presence in support of the local militias, in order to deter the cartel members to not come back.

Likewise, it would obviously be wise to battle the other cartels in their territory at the same time they are fighting in Michoacan. Call in assistance from other nations if necessary or perhaps NATO troops to provide local law enforcement whilst all [non-corrupt] law enforcement and military forces battle the cartels and take their country back.

Mexico surely has lost billions in tourist monies over the past decade and likewise, I suspect many businesses who might consider relocating to Mexico find other countries to move to. Mexico, as I said, has in parts always been a bit dangerous of a place in terms of crime compared to where I come from, but there were many parts that had very low crime rates and were great places to visit.

Many of my friends have fished all over the coasts of Mexico and many of their waters, both salt and fresh, are literally brimming with fish. One friend of mine, the late Dr. Walter P., used to visit a certain mountainous area every summer in Mexico in furtherance of his college teachings regarding Mexico. He said the fishing there in the mountain streams was excellent.

Before this cartel violence started, I wanted to do some saltwater offshore fishing out of a certain Mexican town a lot of friends of mine have visited where they always caught lots of big fish. I still long to go to that town for the fishing I've heard so many stories about.

If the Mexican government would grow a pair, and really declare war on the cartels, they could make great progress with the help of loyal citizens.