The Mexican "drug war" has taken
a turn for the worse. Since the return of the old guard Party of the
Institutional Revolution (PRI) to the presidency in 2012, violence has expanded
and increasingly targeted political activists, journalists and human rights
defenders. And two recent massacres committed by government officials indicate
that the country may be headed towards a rerun of the "dirty wars" of
the 1970s, in which the government hunted down and killed or jailed thousands
of activists.
It is time for international public opinion
to shift Mexico from the "democratic" to the
"authoritarian" column. The upcoming Senate hearings on President
Barack Obama´s nomination for the new US Ambassador to Mexico, Maria Echaveste,
present an excellent opportunity to take a hard look at the crude reality south
of the Rio Grande.
This past June 30th, soldiers brutally
executed 21 youth in a warehouse in the town of Tlatlaya, less than 90 miles
from Mexico City. Both federal and local officials immediately covered up the
incident by announcing that the dead were supposedly kidnappers and had died in
a gun fight. It took independent reporting by the Associated Press, and a
public exposé by a witness in the Mexican media, in order for the massacre to
come to light. It is now clear that the Mexican military, which has received
billions of dollars in US assistance in recent years, assassinated dozens of
youth in cold blood.
This past September 26th, another massacre
has confirmed suspicions about the use of the "drug war" as a cover
for political repression. In the city of Iguala, less than 50 miles from
Tlatlaya, local police opened fire on dozens of peaceful, unarmed youth
activists, all students at a local teacher training school renowned for its
commitment to social change and progressive education. Six people were killed,
over a dozen injured and more than 40 have disappeared. One cadaver later
appeared with his face brutally skinned, sending a clear message that the
choice of victims had not been accidental. This weekend various mass graves
were discovered nearby with the burned corpses of what are likely the students.
In order to reduce international scrutiny, the Mexican government has tried to present these two massacres as cases of isolated human rights abuses. But both cases go far beyond simple abuse of force by law enforcement. They involved premeditated attacks by agents of the state on groups of youth whose did not present a serious threat. The massacres are therefore best categorized as crimes against humanity.
