Citation

Strat. Comments 2008; 14(8): 1-2.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13567880802565187

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Mexico has been on major drug-trafficking routes into the United States since the mid 1980s, but the violence associated with this illegal trade has escalated alarmingly in the past few years. Since President Felipe Calderón took office at the end of 2006, drug-related violence has claimed nearly 5,000 lives ¬– more than 3,200 of them in 2008. An army crackdown by Calderón has provoked an increasingly militarised response from the country's drug cartels, and the government's attention is finally turning to the police and judicial reforms that many observers believe are central to solving the crisis.