On the 26th of August 72 murdered migrants from Central & South America were discovered after the lone survivor alerted marines at a naval checkpoint.

The state investigator, Roberto Suarez, (an establishment lawyer from Mexico’s elite) ‘dissapaeared’ after being appointed to look into the deaths. His body was found two days later. The one time it looked like he might take his job seriously, he got killed for it.
Two car-bombs exploded, one outside Televisa, the national TV station in Cuidad Victoria, the other outside a police station, several people were injured in the blasts
Later on there was a further grenade attack on another police station
Entire areas of the northern cities Victoria, Reynosa and Matamoros have been under army curfew.

Mexico’s migrants (for the vast majority Mexico is an obstacle on the way to the US rather than a destination in itself) staged a 300 strong demo in Coahuila- with their faces covered to protect their identity. The USA is not famed for its benign treatment of ‘indocumentados,’ but it is generally recognised that what they have to put up with in Mexico is much much worse. The recent massacre is just the tip of the iceberg.

This was just what happened this week. In one State, Tamaulipas.

If Mexico were a Muslim country, the talking heads would now be asking, “Is Mexico sliding into civil war?”Or we might choose to ask a slightly different question: “Is another word for term for a multi-factional armed struggle that’s killing an average of about 130 people per week ‘civil war?’” It’s a moot point, really. Mexico is sliding into chaos, fast. Were Mexico Muslim it would be a ‘failed state’.

Laughingly, the UK foreign office says that there is a low danger of terrorism (although it does mention that if you’re holidaying in Mexico you might want to stay away from any explosions that are happening). The US embassy has ordered its staff to evacuate their kids from Monterey (Mexico’s second city).

Another grenade went off this week, in the tourist town of Puerto Vallarta, killing one and injuring 14 (including four amputations), but that was just put down to high jinks.

Oh, and just Monday (30th) the government sacked over 3,000 cops for corruption (or at least for being corrupted by the wrong faction).

There is a trajectory being followed here, and it is leading in an obvious direction. The Mexican government is intent on a military solution to the narcos and their Cartels. The Cartels are armed groups that do not need to rely on the support of the local population. They are perfectly poised to respond in kind President Calderon’s escalation.

The Cartels (first and foremost Los Zetas- who are earning a bit of reputation lately for a Latin American ‘El Qaeda’) have already escalated the level of violence to deliberate attacks on civilian targets. The next tactical escalation is to attacks designed to cause maximum civilian casualties. This looks like where it might be heading, it is happening quickly.

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