Ten Years Into Mexico's Drug War, the Violence in Acapulco Rages On Nathaniel Janowitz - VICE
go to original November 11, 2016

In March, Franc Contreras reported on drug and gang-related violence in Acapulco (CCTV America)

This December marks ten years since Mexico’s government declared war on the country’s drug cartels. Since then, more than 150,000 people have been killed, and roughly 28,000 people disappeared, many of them victims of drug-war-related violence. In comparison, nearly 125,000 civilians died in Iraq between January 2003 and December 2012, according to the well-reputed Iraq Body Count project.

The death toll is emblematic of the failure of the government’s two-pronged strategy: taking down top cartel bosses, while simultaneously deploying federal-security forces to cities or regions where the violence has gotten out of hand. Over the past decade, the authorities have celebrated arrests or deaths of many cartel bosses with direct links to groups present in Acapulco, and the city, which is the main source of income for the whole state of Guerrero, has a very strong police presence. And yet, this year, Acapulco leads the country in homicides. The beach town wasn’t always this dangerous, and in an effort to turn the tide, many locals there continue to insist it’s not so bad.

Just a few decades ago, Acapulco was a destination for the stars of Hollywood’s golden era. John Wayne and Frank Sinatra lazed on the beach; on their honeymoon, John and Jackie Kennedy caught a large fish they would later mount in the White House; Sylvester Stallone filmed parts of Rambo II in the bay. In the late 80s, the stars were replaced by spring breakers from the US, who danced to the popular Four Tops song “Loco in Acapulco” right up to the end of the century. By then, Acapulco had also become an important prize for warring cartels that wanted its port to traffic contraband through, and to access the city’s lucrative internal drug market, as well as the lush poppy fields located in the nearby sierra.

Acapulqueños often reference a firefight between police and alleged cartel members on January 27, 2006, at a major crossroads in the Garita neighborhood, as the moment it all really started in their city. “That’s when all the sadness and all the evil began in Acapulco,” said Juan Manuel Guillén, who saw his two jewelry stores go out of business as the tourism and economy of Acapulco declined in the past ten years. “It’s really sad what has happened in Acapulco. And not just in Acapulco, in all of Mexico.”

Read the rest at VICE

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