Detained Narco States La Familia May Surrender

According to the Associated Press, a captured narco named Sergio Moreno Godinez (aka Yellow) stated that the head of the La Familia Michoacan has had enough of the drug trade, and is considering ending the cartel.

Moreno, who was a major trafficker for La Familia in the port city of Lazaro Cardenas, said that Nazario Moreno Gonzalez (aka La Tuta) is having difficulty competing against other cartels, and is constantly losing ground to federal forces.

La Familia began as a vigilante group, with the overarching goal of protecting the people of Michoacan from immorally vicious narcos. Their first major act of retribution took place in 2006, when members of La Familia tossed severed heads into a discoteca in the mountain town of Uruapan.

Since then, La Familia has become one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico. According to the Associated Press, they are Mexico's main trafficker of Methamphetamine. Member of La Familia are bound by an honor code, and are prohibited from consuming (but not trafficking) narcotics. La Tuta requires each member to posses a "bible"of sorts (that he wrote) which explains the moral beliefs and over arching goals of the cartel. Despite their supposed "morals," La Familia is one of the most violent cartels in all of Mexico.

Yet that may no longer be the case, as La Familia dropped letters through out towns and sent e-mails to numerous journalists stating that they would be willing to disband if federal police promise to act honestly and fight to the death to defend the state. Those statements, coupled with the confession of Moreno, lead most government officials to believe that La Familia is nearing its end. Which cartel will take their place though, is an entirely different matter, and is of great concern, since that region has been fought bitterly over by two of the more infamous cartels in Mexico--The Sinaloa Cartel, and Los Zetas.

Narco culture

A video by Time about Narcocorridos. Laugh and judge at your own discretion.

http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,651073925001_2027104,00.html

Military abuses on the rise...

Mexico's army is one of the most respected, organized, and efficient military forces in Latin America. The army currently consists of 250,000 service men and women, with nearly 45,000 of said soldiers being stationed in drug cartel hot spots all over the country, including Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana.

However, according to bbc.com, the once highly esteemed Mexican army has lost a fair amount of public support. According to a survey by polling firm Demotecnia, public approval of the army has dropped almost 20% since late 2006.


The loss of support is partially due to a steady flow of public complaints concerning alleged abuses committed by the army. For instance, in the last four years, the National Commission of Human Rights has received more than 4,200 complaints concerning said abuses, which include accusations of rape, torture, and the use of excessive force. 


Furthermore, there are a number of recent cases that have only worsened public support of the army. Last March, two students in Monterrey were gun downed as they were leaving their university campus. It was initially  stated that the students had been caught in a crossfire between soldiers and Narcos, but it was later discovered by the National Commission of Human Rights that army soldiers had shot the students, and then proceeded to cover their tracks by tampering with evidence. 


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Many are saying now that the military was brought into the fight against the Narcos a little too soon, and that further involvement of the AFI or local police might have been wiser. However, unlike the federal and local police, the military does have the firepower to contend with the well armed Narcos. What should be considered though for the future, is properly training army personal in dealing with urban warfare, security details, and the protection of civilians. It has been four years since the fighting started, and this past year has been the bloodiest so far, as nearly 1,000 have been killed so far. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight for the fighting