Mexico: A Mosaic Cartel War
Abstract
A situation of high-intensity crime does not mean that a war is not occurring in Mexico. But it is a war of a different kind. In fact, there are several conflicts occurring at once that blend into each other. There is the conflict of cartels among each other, the conflict within cartels, cartels against the Mexican state, cartels and gangs against the Mexican people and gangs versus gangs. When combined, they form a mosaic cartel war that creates an atmosphere somewhere between Al Capone's Chicago and an outright war?. It is not an irregular or regular war; neither is it a small war nor a general war, nor a limited war, nor a total war, nor any of the familiar appellations given to armed conflicts fought by conventional militaries. And, finally it is not ?a war about nothing.?2 It is a multidimensional, multiparty and multi-location armed conflict fought among criminal groups over what are essentially criminal goals; the groups are resisted by the state while their goals are rejected by it, making the state a party to the conflict. Because it is a war of a different kind, the targets of the cartels have been wide ranging? from police to journalists, from clinics to discos, military bases to children?s birthday parties. ?Criminal cleansing? has occurred in Mexican towns where cartels have ordered residents to leave or face possible death. A mosaic cartel war is complex in its manifestation and confounding to traditional military and law enforcement solutions. As a result, there is great difficulty for governments on either side of the border to fight this type of war and to bring the violence under control. As RT Naylor argues, the violence of the state is often a response to the violence of the criminal; the reverse is also true. And once the interactive cycle of violence is set in motion, it may be impossible to separate action from reaction, or to say for sure if the reduction in the use of violence on one side will lead to the same on the other.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 12, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA544853
Entities
People
- Paul R. Kan
Organizations
- United States Army War College