In three months, Mexico has had 7,667 murders.

A memorial to the dead. AFP. 

During the first three months of 2018, Mexico has recorded 7,667 violent deaths, the worst number in 20 years. AFP. That number is a major increase since 2017 which saw an already high 6,406 deaths. March was the worst month with January and February being slightly lower. The violence is largely due to the Mexican Drug War as gang violence, kidnappings and fuel theft all contributed to the high murder rate. Last year was the worst year for the Mexican murder rate with 25,339 murders in total. 

My Comment:

Not a very long article from AFP, but I think it's important to remind people what is going on in Mexico. Now obviously some of those murders aren't really part of the Mexican Drug War. Included with those deaths there are the normal crimes of passion, opportunity and just plain evil that aren't part of organized crime. 

Even granting that though, it's clear that things are getting much worse in Mexico. The cartels are obviously still fighting it out and it is costing quite a few lives. To the point where it is fair to say that Mexico's murder problem is really more of a war. That much should be obvious but it's pretty rare to see it stated in those terms even among people that want tighter border control in the United States. 

So why are things worse? I think the AFP report is partially on the money. The drug cartels are expanding into other areas in order to generate revenue. Though drug smuggling makes quite a bit of money, greed is also a human vice. As long as there is more to be made, it will be attempted. 

And these cartels are taking a page out of the ISIS playbook. Much like ISIS they have moved on to kidnapping and stealing petroleum products as secondary sources of income. Kidnapping obviously leads to violence as in order to be taken seriously you have to be willing to kill the victim if you aren't paid. Since not everyone is willing or able to pay the kidnappers, a lot of people are getting killed. Taking over fuel businesses and siphoning pipelines also involves a surprising amount of violence. I think this, along with the continued violence between the cartels and government is the reason for the increase. 

I also think that this diversification is due in part to Trump's rhetoric on the wall. A border wall will reduce the amount of drugs and migrants, also a money maker for the cartels, coming across the border. It won't stop drug smuggling but it will have an impact on the cartels bottom lines. They understand that to survive they have to change. Assuming that the thing gets built that is... 

I can't imagine that the drug war and deaths isn't the number one election issue in Mexico, which is coming up fast. Right now a far left candidate Andres Manuel Lopez is in the lead and I don't think he will do much to bring the fight to the cartels. Indeed, I don't think he will do much of anything good and the cartels will probably continue to thrive under a far left government.