Hemisphere Focus: Mexican Governors and Mayors Place Ex-Military in Public Safety Posts

The government of Felipe Calderón has increasingly relied on the military to conduct operations against the major cartels that threaten citizen security. Since taking office on December 1, 2006, Calderón has deployed upward of 30,000 army and navy personnel to fight criminal organizations. His reliance on the armed forces springs from the fact that the cartels have overwhelmed Mexican police forces--weakened by corruption and lack of professionalism—at the federal, state, and local level. Especially in smaller communities, policemen are also extremely vulnerable to attacks and blackmail by ruthless underworld gangs.