MEXICO: AT LEAST 21 people have been killed since last Thursday in gang warfare in the western Mexican state of Sinaloa, in one of the worst bouts of violence in memory in a region long conditioned to drugs-related savagery. Cecilia Sanchezand Marla Dickersonreport.
A wave of violence that began with the killing of a dozen people in the state capital, Culiacán, continued over the weekend and into Monday. The deaths of innocents, including a 12-year-old girl who had just left a party, have alarmed the public and left many questioning the effectiveness of the federal government's crackdown on drug trafficking.
An editorial in Monday's national daily El Universal cast doubt on Mexican president Felipe Calderón's decision to play hardball with the nation's drug kingpins, a strategy the US has encouraged and backed with millions of dollars worth of assistance. "Direct confrontation has only escalated the violence," the newspaper said.
Mexican media accounts provide a picture of the relentless violence.
Last Thursday, gunmen in Culiacán shot dead six people inside a car repair shop and three more outside. The victims included a 61-year-old university professor and his son (37), also a professor.
Later confrontations between the gunmen and authorities left three police officers dead.
Early on Saturday morning in Culiacán, rival traffickers were involved in a shoot-out in the north of the city.
On Saturday evening in the beach resort of Mazatlan, gunmen shot to death a high-ranking police official and then stormed a restaurant in a popular shopping mall, where they held a number of patrons hostage before escaping.
Early on Sunday morning in the city of Guamuchil eight people leaving a party were shot to death in their cars as they waited at a traffic light.
Early on Monday morning, suspected drug rivals clashed again in Culiacán. Assailants attacked a home with Molotov cocktails, burned vehicles and opened fire with high-powered weapons.
There were unconfirmed reports of two more drug-related killings in Mazatlan on Monday.
Home to the so-called Sinaloa Cartel, led by Joaquín "Shorty" Guzmán, the state of Sinaloa has become a battle ground for rival traffickers. Mr Calderón has sent 3,500 soldiers and federal police to the region as part of a nationwide offensive observers say has had both positive and negative effects.
There has been a number of high-profile arrests, as well as seizures of drugs and weapons. But the removal of top leaders has set off a power struggle among underlings eager to use violence to establish their own authority.
"The old drug lords often acted as mediators [to keep the peace]," said Jorge Chabat, a Mexico city-based security analyst. "The new, young guys are not disposed to negotiate."
Although opinion polls show the president's tough stance has been popular with the public, the recent high level of violence could be changing minds. - (LA Times-Washington Post service)