Fusion's Manuel Rueda: Hanging with Mexico's Vigilante Groups Manuel Rueda - Fusion
go to original December 20, 2013

Vigilantes Fight Back Against Mexican Drug Cartels (Fusion)

Mexico's president recently completed his first year in office. While some media outlets have been lauding his efforts to overhaul the country's education system and open its oil fields to foreign investment, lots of questions remain about whether Mexico is actually becoming a safer place to live.

Kidnappings rose by 25% in Mexico this year, according to the government's own figures. In many parts of the country, the taxing of local businesses by drug cartels has been such a serious issue that dozens of communities have formed vigilante groups to protect themselves from gangs that give them a dire choice: Cough up large amounts of cash for "protection" or pay with your life.

These vigilante groups are mostly formed by local farmers, business leaders and indigenous groups who have gathered funds to buy weapons to defend themselves and do the job that the government ought to be doing.

Journalists in Mexico suspect that some of these groups have been infiltrated by cartels or have made pacts with them, creating a confusing and dangerous situation.

Read the rest at Fusion

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