Mexico
66-555: Consulting and training support by: Non-state armed groups: [REDACTED] Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) [REDACTED] Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) Mexican cartels : Weakened and defunct cartels: [REDACTED] Mexico [REDACTED] EPR : Events: Topics: The Mexican drug war (also known as the Mexican war on drugs ; Spanish: Guerra contra el narcotráfico en México , shortened to and commonly known inside Mexico as
132-581: A Washington, D.C. judge a failed operation to capture alleged kingpin Ovidio Guzmán López was carried by the Mexican National Guard , in which fourteen people died (mostly from the armed forces and cartel enforcers and one civilian bystander). Guzmán was released after approximately 700 cartel enforcers, armed with .50 caliber rifles, Rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and 40 mm grenades took multiple hostages, including
198-454: A genuine force, better equipped and organized than the EZLN. July 17, 1996: An attack on an army patrol in the southwest of Guerrero wounds several soldiers and kills one civilian. Two weeks later an ambush on Navy patrolmen leaves another wounded. August 7, 1996: EPR snipers killed one soldier and wounded several others. The EPR general command gave a press interview the same day. On August 25,
264-401: A legal framework to the military grade forces that have been doing police work in the last years. He promised not to use arms to suppress the people, and made an announcement to free political prisoners. His approach is to pay more attention to the victims of violent crime and he wants to revisit two previously taken strategies. In 2019, the promised Mexican National Guard was created. Despite
330-668: A near shutdown of border crossings between Mexico and the United States. The initiative was intended to reduce the importation of Mexican marijuana to the United States during what was considered to be the prime harvest season. It was implemented by Myles Ambrose , who served as the Commissioner of Customs in the Nixon administration . Freshly elected as US President, Richard Nixon launched an anti-drug war by following his Anaheim campaign pledge of September 1968. He targeted
396-636: A radio station in Tabasco . President Zedillo at his State of the Union Address (Segundo Informe de Gobierno) said: "Against terrorism, all the power of the State" in a message that terrorist acts would be prosecuted. May 1997: Two engagements left 5 soldiers and 4 guerrillas dead. July 2007: EPR claimed responsibility for several attacks against Pemex oil facilities in the Bajío region and stated that
462-650: A rival's operations to the Mexican or U.S. government's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). While many factors have contributed to the escalating violence, security analysts in Mexico City trace the origins of the rising scourge to the unraveling of a longtime implicit arrangement between narcotics traffickers and governments controlled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which began to lose its grip on political power in
528-682: A small share of worldwide heroin production, it supplies a large share of the heroin distributed in the United States. Since 2003 Mexican cartels have used the dense, isolated portions of U.S. federal and state parks and forests to grow marijuana under the canopy of thick trees. Billions of dollars’ worth of marijuana has been produced annually on U.S. soil. "In 2006, federal and state authorities seized over 550,000 marijuana plants worth an estimated 1 billion dollars in Kentucky 's remote Appalachian counties". Cartels profited from marijuana growing operations from Arkansas to Hawaii. A 2018 study found that
594-628: Is estimated that in the first eight months of 2005, about 110 people died in Nuevo Laredo , Tamaulipas as a result of the fighting between the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels. The same year, there was another surge in violence in the state of Michoacán as La Familia Michoacana drug cartel established itself, after splintering from its former allies, the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas . On December 11, 2006, newly elected President Felipe Calderón , from
660-548: The 2000 Mexican election , when the right-wing PAN party gained the presidency and started a crackdown on cartels in their own turf. In 2000, Vicente Fox, from the right-wing PAN party, became the first Mexican president since the Mexican Revolution not to be from the PRI; his presidency passed with relative peace, having a crime index not too different from that of previous administrations, and Mexican public opinion
726-697: The EZLN from the EPR in his communiqués, largely because of the EPR activities in the state of Chiapas in the midst of peace talks in 1996 and 1997. The EPR though still asserts its support of the Zapatistas. The Popular Revolutionary Army has founded a militarized political party, the Popular Revolutionary Democratic Party , or Partido Democrático Popular Revolucionario . The group often signs its communiqués " PDPR-EPR ," combining
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#1732772085355792-502: The Mérida Initiative as well as technical advice to strengthen the national justice systems. By the end of President Felipe Calderón 's administration (December 1, 2006 – November 30, 2012), the official death toll of the Mexican drug war was at least 60,000. Estimates set the death toll above 120,000 killed by 2013, not including 27,000 missing. Since taking office in 2018, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador declared that
858-563: The Sonora Cartel with Aldair Mariano as the leader). After his arrest, the alliance broke and high-ranking members formed their own cartels, fighting for control of territory and trafficking routes. Although Mexican drug trafficking organizations have existed for several decades, their influence increased after the demise of the Colombian Cali and Medellín cartels in the 1990s. By 2007, Mexican drug cartels controlled 90% of
924-641: The State Department and the Bureau of the Budget . Statistics on the volumes of cannabis seized were way below expectations and did not exceed the average volumes that had been seized before the operation. Much of US press publicized marijuana during the crisis. Other temporary illegal smuggling channels were activated during the operation, such as high-potent marijuana shipped from Vietnam and of hashish from Northern Africa . A marijuana shortage throughout
990-824: The cocaine entering the United States. Arrests of key cartel leaders, particularly in the Tijuana and Gulf cartels, have led to increasing drug violence as cartels fight for control of the trafficking routes into the United States. Federal law enforcement has been reorganized at least five times since 1982 in various attempts to control corruption and reduce cartel violence. During the same period, there have been at least four elite special forces created as new, corruption-free soldiers who could do battle with Mexico's endemic bribery system. Analysts estimate that wholesale earnings from illicit drug sales range from $ 13.6 to $ 49.4 billion annually. The U.S. Congress passed legislation in late June 2008 to provide Mexico with US$ 1.6 billion for
1056-462: The war against the narco ; Spanish: Guerra contra el narco ) is an ongoing asymmetric armed conflict between the Mexican government and various drug trafficking syndicates . When the Mexican military intervened in 2006, the government's main objective was to reduce drug-related violence. The Mexican government has asserted that their primary focus is dismantling the cartels and preventing drug trafficking . The conflict has been described as
1122-411: The 1980s. In the decades before this period, consumption was not generalized – reportedly occurring mainly among persons of high socioeconomic status , intellectuals and artists. As the United States of America is the world's largest consumer of cocaine, as well as of other illegal drugs, their demand is what motivates the drug business, and the main goal of Mexican cartels is to introduce narcotics into
1188-640: The Caribbean, the Colombian organizations formed partnerships with the Mexico-based traffickers to transport cocaine by land through Mexico into the United States. This was easily accomplished because Mexico had long been a major source of heroin and cannabis , and drug traffickers from Mexico had already established an infrastructure that stood ready to serve the Colombia-based traffickers. By
1254-490: The EPR have gone missing apparently after being kidnapped by government forces since the arrival to power of President Calderón. These disappearances of political activists are not restricted to the EPR but also to many others independent activists. The government claims they are caused by narcotraffic gang disputes. Operation Intercept Operation Intercept was an anti-drug measure engaged by President Richard Nixon from 21 September to 11 October 1969 that resulted in
1320-746: The Mexican Interior Ministry solely responsible for public security and the creation of a national military level police force called the National Gendarmerie . In December 2017, the Law of Internal Security was passed by legislation but was met with criticism, especially from the National Human Rights Commission , accusing it gave the President a blank check . Andrés Manuel López Obrador ,
1386-733: The Mexican theater of the global war on drugs , as led by the United States federal government . Violence escalated after the arrest of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo in 1989. He was the leader and the co-founder of the first major Mexican drug cartel ; the Guadalajara Cartel , an alliance of the current existing cartels (which included the Sinaloa Cartel , the Juarez Cartel , the Tijuana Cartel , and
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#17327720853551452-500: The PAN party, dispatched 6,500 Mexican Army soldiers to Michoacán , his home state, to end drug violence. This action is regarded as the first major deployment of government forces against cartels, and is generally viewed as the starting point of the Mexican drug war. As time passed, Calderón continued to escalate his anti-drug campaign. By 2008, there were about 45,000 troops involved along with state and federal police forces. The government
1518-749: The President from the Center-left National Regeneration Movement party, took office on December 1, 2018. One of his campaign promises was a controversial "strategy for peace", which would give amnesty to Mexicans involved in drug production and trafficking as a way to stop the drug trade and the resulting turf violence. His aides explained that the plan was not to pardon real criminals, like violent drug cartel members, but to prevent other people from following that path, especially low-income people, farmers forced into drug cultivation by cartels, and young people that may end up in jail for drug possession. Obrador pointed out that
1584-521: The Sinaloa Cartel. Los Zetas also instilled terror against journalists and civilians of Nuevo Laredo. This set a new precedent which cartels later mimicked. All these activities by Mexican criminal organizations were not widely reported by the Mexican media, although key conflicts took place, including the Sinaloa Cartel attacks and advance on the Gulf Cartel's main regions in Tamaulipas . It
1650-548: The Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation cartel. The dominant PRI party ruled Mexico for around 70 years until 2000. During this time, drug cartels expanded their power and political influence, and anti-drug operations focused mainly on destroying marijuana and opium crops in mountainous regions. There were no large-scale high-profile military operations against their core structures in urban areas until
1716-1078: The Spanish initials of the army and the party. However, the Popular Revolutionary Democratic Party does not function in the political world independent of the Popular Revolutionary Army; the party does not appear on ballots in any local or federal elections. [REDACTED] Mexico [REDACTED] Popular Revolutionary Army Supported by: [REDACTED] Zapatista Army of National Liberation (denied by EZLN) Drug cartels: [REDACTED] Ernesto Zedillo (1996–2000) [REDACTED] Vicente Fox (2000–2006) [REDACTED] Felipe Calderón (2006–2012) [REDACTED] Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018) [REDACTED] Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018–2024) [REDACTED] Edmundo Reyes [REDACTED] Juan Nepomuceno Guerra [REDACTED] Joaquín Guzmán Loera June 28, 1996: After
1782-461: The U.S. Popular Revolutionary Army The Popular Revolutionary Army or Ejercito Popular Revolucionario is a leftist guerrilla movement in Mexico . Though it operates mainly in the state of Guerrero , it has conducted operations in other southern-Mexico states, including Oaxaca , Chiapas , Guanajuato , Tlaxcala and Veracruz . The EPR announced its existence on June 28, 1996, at
1848-506: The U.S. began when prohibition came to an end in 1933. Near the end of the 1960s, Mexicans started to smuggle drugs on a major scale. In the 1960s and 1970s, Mexico was part of both Operation Intercept and Operation Condor , developed between 1975 and 1978, with the pretext to fight against the cultivation of opium and marijuana in the "Golden Triangle", particularly in Sinaloa . The operation, commanded by General José Hernández Toledo,
1914-549: The US with flights from Mexico were also affected by the operation. On the eighth day, the US authorities declared the ongoing operation was a success, despite many complaints of abusive search techniques by US custom patrols. On the US side of twin cities along the border, retail business dropped more than 50%. The United States-Mexican Border Cities Association organized protests against the operation in those cities. Because of complaints from cross-border travelers and from Diaz Ordaz,
1980-462: The United States from Mexico. On the same day, Nixon's plan was leaked to the public by the White House correspondent for The New York Times Felix Belair, Jr. The operation was deployed in all 30 border-crossing stations. Radars were installed to detect unobserved border-crossings. The Navy was deployed in the Gulf of Mexico to reinforce the operation. Twenty-seven international airports in
2046-591: The United States is produced in Colombia (followed by Bolivia and Peru ) and that the main transit route is through Mexico. Drug cartels in Mexico control approximately 70% of the foreign narcotics flow into the United States. Mexican cartels distribute Asian methamphetamine to the United States. It is believed that almost half the cartels' revenues come from cannabis. Cocaine, heroin, and increasingly methamphetamine are also traded. Although Mexico accounts for only
Mexican drug war - Misplaced Pages Continue
2112-457: The ability to distinguish between armed-civilian convoys and drug-cartel convoys, forcing Peña Nieto's administration to distance from them. Peña Nieto's handling of the 2014 Iguala mass kidnapping and the 2015 escape of drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán from the Altiplano maximum security prison sparked international criticism. A great part of Peña Nieto's strategy consisted in making
2178-562: The attacks would continue until two of its members were released. The government denies responsibility for the disappearance of these 2 members. [1] August 1, 2007: EPR also claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a Sears store in Oaxaca , there was some damage but no injuries. On the same day the EPR also claimed responsibility for an attempted bombing of a Banamex bank branch also in Oaxaca . September 10, 2007: Pemex reported explosions due to sabotage on several pipelines located in
2244-714: The cannabis coming from Mexico and the heroin coming from Turkey through the French Connection . Operation Intercept is considered the opening act of the US involvement in the Mexican Drug War . With that move, Nixon strengthened his conservative base in Southern California . The operation was prepared with G. Gordon Liddy (who was involved in Watergate and prosecutions against Timothy Leary ) and Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio . The policy
2310-477: The commemoration of the Aguas Blancas massacre one year earlier. Dozens of rebels, carrying AK-47 and AR-15 rifles, declared war against the Mexican government and read aloud the "Aguas Blancas Manifesto", as well as firing 17 shots into the air to pay respect to the 17 who died in the massacre. The Popular Revolutionary Army advocates socialist peasant revolution. Subcomandante Marcos has distanced
2376-448: The country led users to experiment with other drugs or to grow their own. G. Gordon Liddy would later state, "For diplomatic reasons the true purpose of the exercise was never revealed. Operation Intercept, with its massive economic and social disruption, could be sustained far longer by the United States than by Mexico. It was an exercise in international extortion, pure, simple, and effective, designed to bend Mexico to our will." When
2442-420: The criminal groups that wanted to impose dominance in their towns, entering a new phase in the Mexican war on drugs. This strategy, allegedly proposed by General Óscar Naranjo , Peña Nieto's security advisor from Colombia, crumbled when autodefensas started to have internal organization struggles and disagreements with the government, as well as infiltration by criminal elements, that deprived the government forces
2508-466: The distribution, as well as the transportation of cocaine, and became formidable traffickers in their own right. In recent years, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel have taken over trafficking cocaine from Colombia to the worldwide markets. The balance of power between the various Mexican cartels continually shifts as new organizations emerge and older ones weaken and collapse. A disruption in
2574-467: The end of the Mexican war on drugs, stating that he would now focus on reducing spending, and direct its military and police efforts primarily on stopping the armed gasoline theft rings —locally called huachicoleros — that had been stealing more than 70 thousand barrels of oil, diesel and gasoline daily, costing the Mexican state-owned company Pemex around 3 billion dollars every year. On October 17, 2019, based on an extradition request sent to Mexico by
2640-464: The explosions cost the Mexican economy $ 100 million a day as over 2,500 businesses were affected and 60% of Mexico's steel industry was shuttered. On September 11, 2007, the EPR claimed responsibility for the explosions. Following the July 2007 pipeline attacks, President Calderón deployed 5,000 special troops to secure the pipelines, along with dams and power plants. These troops began regular patrols of
2706-490: The housing unit where military families live in Culiacan. The cartels used burning vehicles to block roads, a tactic taken from militant protesters, with the event described as a mass insurrection. Obrador defended the decision to release Ovidio Guzmán, arguing it prevented further loss of life, and insisted that he wants to avoid more massacres. He further stated that the capture of one drug smuggler cannot be more valuable than
Mexican drug war - Misplaced Pages Continue
2772-465: The key energy producing state of Veracruz and further inland in Tlaxcala . According to reports, there were six explosions targeting pipelines carrying natural gas, propane, and crude oil. The effects of the explosions were so severe that they caused the evacuation of over 20,000 people from the area. The explosions caused millions of dollars in damages to Pemex equipment. Additionally, it is estimated
2838-533: The late 1980s. The fighting between rival drug cartels began in earnest after the 1989 arrest of Félix Gallardo, who ran the cocaine business in Mexico. There was a lull in the fighting during the late 1990s but the violence has steadily worsened since 2000. According to researchers, as of 2023 there are an estimate of 175,000 people working for the drug cartel. The head of the U.S drug enforcement reported that there are an estimate of 45,000 members associates and brokers spread over more than 100 countries working under
2904-423: The lives of innocent civilians, and that even though they underestimated the cartel's manpower and ability to respond the criminal process against Ovidio is still ongoing, During 2019, the federal forces deployed 8,000 troops and police reinforcements to restore peace in Culiacan. This strategy of avoiding armed confrontations while drug organizations have continued violent altercations has been controversial. One of
2970-492: The mid-1980s, the organizations from Mexico were well-established and reliable transporters of Colombian cocaine . At first, the Mexican gangs were paid in cash for their transportation services, but in the late 1980s, the Mexican transport organizations and the Colombian drug traffickers settled on a payment-in-product arrangement. Transporters from Mexico usually were given 35% to 50% of each cocaine shipment. This arrangement meant that organizations from Mexico became involved in
3036-696: The militarization of the drug war. Consequently, defense spending has surged by 87% between 2012, Calderón's last year in office, and 2022. Although the number of deployed soldiers is higher, available data indicates that they assume a more restrained role. They engage in fewer confrontations, seize fewer firearms, and prioritize non-confrontational strategies to deter criminals. This has resulted in lower seizures of weapons and fewer arrests of alleged criminals. Additionally, President López Obrador has broadened their duties, such as overseeing vaccine distribution and addressing irregular migration flows. The U.S. State Department estimates that 90 percent of cocaine entering
3102-551: The national level, the anti-Mexican campaign had an impact on the stereotype of Mexicans conveyed in the press. Along the border, it revealed how deeply intertwined the Mexican and the Americans border communities were. In early 1970, the Jefferson Airplane released a single, " Mexico ." The song was not played on some radio stations at the time because the lyrics referred to Operation Intercept, but this song became
3168-508: The new government's planned strategy changes, during the first two months of the new presidency the violence between drug trafficking organizations sustained the same levels as previous years. On July 15, 2022 authorities captured Rafael Caro-Quintero , a former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, but lost fourteen soldiers in an aircraft crash in the remote mountains near Sinaloa's border with Chihuahua. On January 30, 2019, Obrador declared
3234-502: The operation was ceased, it was replaced by Operation Cooperation , a new anti-drug agreement aiming at designing a shared strategy in fighting drug trafficking. According to Kate Doyle, senior analyst of the National Security Archive , the operation was a success for Nixon on three levels: he gained law-and-order stamina, made Mexico bend to his demands, and started a war on drugs that would last for decades. On
3300-547: The past approaches failed because they were based on misunderstanding the core problem. According to him, the underlying issue was Mexico's great social disparities which previous governments' economic policies did not reduce. For law enforcement, he promised to hold a referendum for the creation of a temporary national guard, merging elite parts of the Federal police , Military police, Navy , Chief of Staff's Guard and other top Mexican Security agencies, intending to finally give
3366-529: The previous administrations' approach to public security through militarization, campaigned on the promise of removing the military from the streets and returning them to the barracks. However, under the López Obrador administration, deployments and military expenditures have reached unprecedented levels. The current number of soldiers deployed for security duties is 76% higher than during Felipe Calderón 's presidency, whom López Obrador holds responsible for
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#17327720853553432-505: The previous policy of attacking drug-trafficking organizations by arresting or killing the most-wanted drug lords and intercepting their shipments. In the first 14 months of his administration, between December 2012 and January 2014, 23,640 people died in the conflict. In 2013 Mexico saw the rise of the controversial Grupos de Autodefensa Comunitaria (self-defence groups) in southern Mexico, para-military groups led by land-owners, ranchers and other rural inhabitants that took up arms against
3498-514: The reading of the "Aguas Blancas Manifesto" by "Captain Emiliano", guerrillas engaged police in a fire fight near the Guerrero capital of Chilpancingo , wounding several policemen and one civilian. July 2, 1996: An EPR communiqué warns of "imminent" armed clashes with the army and police, this in response to the massive military presence in the area. Military intelligence concludes the EPR to be
3564-603: The rebels claim to have killed 59 soldiers since June 28. August 28 and 29: The largest assault so far, exceeding public and government conceptions about the group's strength. A coordinated multistate attack hits army, police, and government targets in Oaxaca , Guerrero , Puebla and the Federal District , killing 18 and wounding more than two dozen. The EPR claims 41 dead and 48 wounded. Guerrilla forces also blocked roads in Chiapas to distribute pamphlets and seized
3630-459: The reduction in drugs from Colombia contributed to Mexican drug violence. The study estimated, "between 2006 and 2009 the decline in cocaine supply from Colombia could account for 10%–14% of the increase in violence in Mexico." Illicit drug use in Mexico is low compared to the United States, but is on the rise. With Mexico's increased role in the trafficking and production of illicit drugs , the availability of drugs has slowly increased locally since
3696-619: The region both on the ground and in the air. However, Pemex has 60,000 km of the pipeline so it will be difficult to secure the pipelines from saboteurs. Shortly after the September pipeline attacks, the Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional (Mexican intelligence service) leaked a report stating that Venezuela 's President Hugo Chavez was believed to be supporting the EPR with materials, armament, and training. Mexican magazine Contralínea has announced that at least 21 members of
3762-434: The same period as result of his militaristic anti-drug policy. In 2012, newly elected president Enrique Peña Nieto , from the PRI party, emphasized that he did not support the involvement of armed American agents in Mexico and was only interested in training Mexican forces in counter-insurgency tactics. Peña Nieto stated that he planned to deescalate the conflict, focusing in lowering criminal violence rates, as opposed to
3828-405: The searching of vehicles was reduced after 10 days and completely abandoned after about 20 days. The Nixon administration believed that it had largely achieved its goal of encouraging the Mexican government to begin an effort to stem domestic drug production. California Governor Ronald Reagan made a public speech on television to approve the operation. Operation Intercept was disapproved by
3894-419: The strongest critics of the new strategy and a firm proponent of continuing the armed struggle is former President Felipe Calderón, who originally started the military operations against traffickers in 2006. Calderón's militaristic strategy to capture cartel heads has also been criticised by local and foreign experts, as well as by multiple media outlets. President López Obrador, known for his strong criticism of
3960-400: The system, such as the arrests or deaths of cartel leaders, generates bloodshed as rivals move in to exploit the power vacuum. Leadership vacuums are sometimes created by law enforcement successes against a particular cartel, so cartels often will attempt to pit law enforcement against one another, either by bribing corrupt officials to take action against a rival or by leaking intelligence about
4026-457: The war was over. His comment was criticized, as the homicide rate remains high. Due to its location, Mexico has long been used as a staging and transshipment point for narcotics and contraband between Latin America and U.S. markets. Mexican bootleggers supplied alcohol to the United States' gangsters throughout Prohibition in the United States , and the onset of the illegal drug trade with
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#17327720853554092-664: Was a failure with no major drug lord captures, and reported abuse and repression in rural zones. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Colombia 's Pablo Escobar was the main exporter of cocaine and dealt with organized criminal networks all over the world. While Escobar's Medellin Cartel and the Cali Cartel would manufacture the products, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo 's Guadalajara Cartel would oversee distribution. When enforcement efforts intensified in South Florida and
4158-529: Was an alarming increase in violent deaths related to organized crime: more than 15,000 people died in suspected drug cartel attacks since it was launched at the end of 2006. More than 5,000 people were murdered in Mexico in 2008, followed by 9,600 murders in 2009; 2010 saw more than 15,000 homicides across the country. By the end of Calderón's presidency his administration statistics claimed that, during his 6-year term, 50,000 drug related homicides occurred. Outside sources claimed more than 120,000 murders happened in
4224-494: Was initially successful in detaining drug lords. Drug-related violence spiked markedly in contested areas along the U.S. border such as Ciudad Juárez , Tijuana , and Matamoros . Some analysts, including U.S. Ambassador in Mexico Carlos Pascual , argued that this rise in violence was a direct result of Felipe Calderón's military measures. Since Calderón launched his military strategy against organized crime, there
4290-515: Was instituted as a surprise move although Nixon had given Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz some advance warning when they met on September 8, 1969 to dedicate the Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing . The effort involved increased surveillance of the border from both air and sea, but the major part of the policy was the individual inspection, mandated to last three minutes, of every vehicle crossing into
4356-620: Was mainly optimistic with the regime change, with Mexico showing a decline in homicide rates from 2000 to 2007. One of the Fox's administration's strongest criticisms arose from its management of the peasant unrest in San Salvador Atenco . Los Zetas , the armed wing of the Gulf Cartel, based in Nuevo Laredo, escalated violence to unprecedented levels in the summer of 2003 through gruesome violence and military-like tactics against
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