Why Drug Gangs Have Stake in Mexico's Elections Patrick Corcoran - InSight
go to original June 11, 2012

As Mexico's presidential campaign reaches its final weeks, one analyst argues that criminal groups have an growing incentive to interfere in the elections, as the gangs' increasingly localized focus makes collaboration with the authorities ever more important.

In a recent piece for Nexos, security analyst Eduardo Guerrero Gutierrez pointed out that while criminal groups have long had an interest in building links with the different levels of government, recent developments have made them focus on elections all the more. One is that gangs today earn more money from extortion and from retail drug trafficking, which is known in Mexico as "narcomenudeo." Unlike international drug trafficking, which can be carried out much involvement from the authorities, the police are far more likely to be aware of extortion and retail drug sales. Government tolerance - or better still, collusion - is needed.

Another issue is the democratic opening in Mexico: unlike 20 years ago, when the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) had ruled Mexico for six unbroken decades, today criminal groups have to deal with the three major parties contending for political posts. That means that profitable and long-standing relationships between a group and a political party in a given area can be rendered useless with a single election, which is a grave setback to a gang's interests.

In this sense, meddling in elections is a logical policy for gangs, not unlike private-sector campaign donations to candidates promising a lower corporate tax rate. And, just as large companies sometimes make contributions to more than one candidate in the same race, criminal groups also hedge their bets by donating cash or performing services for a variety of different candidates. That way, they have a measure of protection regardless of the outcome of the election.

As Guerrero noted, criminal groups’ increased interest in the electoral process has reached its apogee with the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar), the Michoacan-based gang that broke off from the Familia Michoacana following the 2010 death of Nazario Moreno, alias "El Chayo." Having established itself as the leading gang in the state, the Caballeros were accused of playing a significant role in the outcome of the Michoacan gubernatorial elections in November.

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