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New Mexican President, Same Cartel War?
We talk to a lot of people in our effort to track Mexico’s criminal
cartels and help our readers understand the dynamics that shape the
violence in Mexico. Our contacts include a wide range of people, from
Mexican and U.S. government officials, journalists and business owners
to taxi drivers and street vendors. Lately, as we’ve been talking with
people we’ve been hearing chatter about the 2012 presidential election
in Mexico and how the cartel war will impact that election.
In any democratic election, opposition parties always criticize the
policies of the incumbent. This is especially true when the country in
involved in a long and costly war. Recall, for example, the 2008 U.S.
elections and then-candidate Barack Obama’s criticism of the Bush
administration’s policies regarding Iraq and Afghanistan. This is what
we are seeing now in Mexico with the opposition Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI) and Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD)
criticizing the way the administration of Felipe Calderon, who belongs
to the National Action Party (PAN), has prosecuted its war against the
Mexican cartels. Read more »
Dispatch: Increasing Complications in India-Iran Relations
Analyst Kamran Bokhari examines the pressure put on relations between
New Delhi and Tehran due to U.S. sanctions on Iranian energy exports at a
time when the looming U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has both
countries concerned. Watch the Video »
