Drug cartels in Mexico who once operated in the shadows announced their entrance into mainstream society with a number of beheadings in 2006 that marked the beginning of a wave of unprecedented violence that still consumes parts of the country. Gun fights in broad daylight occur regularly in parts of Nuevo Leon, Michoacan and Chihuahua. Cartels have also moved on to methods more sadistic than beheadings via vats of acid and even a car bomb or two.
Much of Mexico continues to live normally despite the violence in some areas. Traveler extraordinaire Rick Steves celebrated the coming of 2011 in Mexico City with nary a hint of drug-related violence in sight. My relatives in the state of Jalisco continue to live in peace. My friends with families in Juarez, unfortunately, cannot say the same. They have suffered extortion and violence at the hands of cartels and corrupt law enforcement.
Most Mexican news organizations can’t or won’t cover the situation in-depth because of threats and attacks by cartels on their headquarters and journalists. U.S. news organizations can’t or won’t because it’s not in their interest to do so save for lazy, fear-mongering tales of spillover violence and anarchy.
So where do concerned citizens and interested parties turn to for accurate information and comprehensive analysis of events in Mexico? Read on after the jump to find out:
Afroxander (aka Iván Fernández) 