Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Mexican Special Forces in Sinaloa (2008 photo: Lorne Matalon)
Federal police in Mexico believe that several members of La Familia, one of the country’s most notoriously violent drug gangs, have been killed in a shootout in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan State, after the gang blockaded the city. Anchor Lisa Mullins gets an update on Mexico’s drug wars from Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution.
Download MP3
Read the Transcript
The text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.
Lisa Mullins: Mexico’s government says it’s security forces have killed a top drug cartel leader. Nazario Moreno is known as the craziest one. He was the head of La Familia. La Familia is one of Mexico’s most dangerous cartels. It handles much as of the methamphetamine, heroine, and cocaine that comes north here to the United States. Officials say that Morena was gunned down yesterday during a government crackdown in the cartel’s home state of Michoacán. The crackdown lead to a shootout between police and cartel gunmen. Later the cartel retaliated by blocking roads throughout the state. Gunmen fired on cars and trucks passing by. They pulled drivers out of the vehicles, burned the vehicles, then used them to stop traffic in and out of the state capital, Morelia. At least five people died in the violence, including an eight month old baby. Despite all that, Mexican officials are claiming the operation was a success. Vanda Felbab-Brown studies counter narcotics policy at the Brookings Institution. She’s not ready to call it a victory for the government.
Vanda Felbab-Brown: This is difficult to gauge. Certainly the government of Mexico has portrayed hits against important cartels as important indicators for victory. The consequence however of this interdiction policy has been a very dramatic increase in violence because the remnants of the organizations fight among each other over control of territory at work, and they also fight within the organization over who will take over the leadership. So it is very difficult to know after any particular such interdiction operation whether this will in fact be the crippling blow to the organizations, or whether the organization will be able to regenerate itself.
Mullins: Can you tell us a little bit more, you know much about this organization, La Familia. Can you tell us about them and how they operate?
Felbab-Brown: Yes, one of the newest drug trafficking organizations in Mexico, and one of the most brutal and violent ones, became notorious for its rituals, beheadings, that is very focused on intimidating the society as much as driving the drug trafficking organizations in the state.
Mullins: If the fight against La Familia of Michoacán, this Mexican state, if this has been a hallmark of President Calderon’s presidency, he’s from that area, how do you engage how well he’s done and how successful he’s been?
Felbab-Brown: Well, again, the effective metrics is often difficult. And the Mexican government has pointed to the number of captures of prominent drug cartels as an indication of success, and it’s similar indication at some level of [inaudible 2:44], but the consequence has been this very dramatic violence that we see in Mexico. And it’s clearly in my view a measure of failure.
Mullins: What do you make of the fact that this group, La Familia, is said to be on the decline in some reports. But there’s a report the cartel has actually sent out a letter saying it wants to disband and negotiate a truce with authorities. Is this for real?
Felbab-Brown: There have been several similar overtures from La Familia to the Calderon administration. And in my view it is a sign the group is under pressure. But it doesn’t mean necessarily that the fact that they are under pressure that they are anywhere close to being defeated.
Mullins: All right, thank you very much Vanda Felbab-Brown, the author of the book, Shooting Up: Counter Insurgency in the War on Drugs. She teaches at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Thank you very much.
Felbab-Brown: My pleasure.
Mullins: Mexico’s cartels are constantly looking for ways to move their drugs north. Authorities recently discovered one of the most sophisticated tunnels dug by the cartels underneath the U.S.-Mexico border. A BBC correspondent was given a tour. You can see the video of the tunnel for yourself at theworld.org.
Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.
Discussion
One comment for “Shootout in Mexico’s drug war”