ABSTRACT
During 2005 and 2006—the final two years of the presidency of Vicente Fox, the levels of violence associated with drug-trafficking in Mexico escalnated in an alarming way. Public opinion was routinely shocked by news reports of brutal killings, dismemberment of bodies, beheadings and an impressive use of heavy weaponry in a turf war between drug cartels. Initially, violence appeared to be limited to the border region in the north of the country, particularly to the city of Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas—a key point of introduction of illegal drugs into the United States. But eventually, shootouts started to take place and dead bodies to appear in other states like Guerrero, Tabasco, Quintana Roo and Michoacán. The reaction of the Fox government to the situation in Nuevo Laredo and elsewhere was Operation Safe Mexico (Operativo México Seguro), based on the massive deployment of members of the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) and the military. The objective was to circumvent corruption within the local security apparatus (municipal and state police were seen as part of the problem), and ultimately to deter violence—basically through a “show of force.” 1 But as the Fox period approached its end, the number of executions continued to grow. Apparently, this situation was welcomed by some government officials who perceived that it was the outcome of a successful strategy leading to the detention of major drug lords. They argued that violence did not affect the rest of society. 2
