Very interesting read on the state of Mexico by Benjamin T. Smith at Dissent. A bit long, but worth it.
The much quieter release of the Piedras Negras story has been
suspiciously convenient for the Peña Nieto government, and hints at the
increasing power Mexican authorities have asserted over the press under
the PRI. On the one hand, by allowing the story to get out, Mexican
authorities flagged to both Mexican voters and potential U.S. investors
that peace is being restored. On the other hand, the story has not
circulated widely enough to invite more penetrating and potentially
critical discussion of Peña Nieto’s anti-drug strategy. The official
narrative is the only one on offer.
Media spin has a long history in Mexico. But now, combined with
historical amnesia, it threatens to cover up the return to a policy of
state–cartel cooperation. Will U.S. authorities just stand by and
watch—or are they quietly writing their own script for the next phase of
the drug war?
Addendum:
Angry people are angry. They have a right to be. And they're going to get angrier. Eventually this will reach a breaking point. It has to. It'll break when
some sufficiently large crisis occurs, and one side is fully prepared
to use that seething rage for constructive outcomes.
What country is David Atkins from Hullabaloo writing about? Could be Mexico, but it isn't. A pretty good analysis of the current state of affairs in El Norte.
The party that is more ready for that moment will be the one that makes
real policy changes. Until then, we'll just keep surfing waves, watching
each side crow that Americans have finally "woken up" and "put the
adults back in charge" every two years while not a whole lot actually
gets done for anybody but the rich.
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