Mexico's cartel drug war bloodier, more widespread

Regions other than north see mass killings

Vanessa Galindo Blas grieves on the coffin that contains the remains of her late husband Erick Hernandez Enriquez, also known as DJ Bengala, who was killed in an attack on the White Horse nightclub where he was DJ'ing, as the family brings his body for burial in the municipal cemetery in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz state, Mexico, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019.  (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Vanessa Galindo Blas grieves on the coffin that contains the remains of her late husband Erick Hernandez Enriquez, also known as DJ Bengala, who was killed in an attack on the White Horse nightclub where he was DJ'ing, as the family brings his body for burial in the municipal cemetery in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz state, Mexico, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

COATZACOALCOS, Mexico -- Mexico's drug war appears to be back -- and it is more widespread this time around than in the bloody years of the government's 2006-2012 offensive against drug cartels.

Back then, the worst of the violence was confined to a few cities. Now it is spread throughout the country. Once it was not uncommon for gangs to kill adults but leave children unharmed. Now, the killing of children alongside their parents has become all too frequent.

Bloody cartel violence outraged Mexicans and captured international attention for the drug war, which saw 27,000 homicides during its peak in 2011. Today, even though the number of Mexico's homicides soared to near 35,000 last year, the bloodshed seems to draw less attention and indignation.

The violence has left many Mexicans wondering which way to turn.

That was evident this week in Coatzacoalcos, an oil industry city in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz where residents say gangs have been fighting over turf and extorting business owners. Late Tuesday, suspected members of the Jalisco cartel showed up at the Caballo Blanco nightclub, blocked its exits and set a fire that killed 28 people trapped inside, apparently because the owner had either refused to make extortion payments or sold drugs from another gang.

Vanessa Galindo Blas lost her common-law husband, Erick Hernandez Enriquez, to the blaze. Both were natives of Coatzacoalcos, but they had been discussing moving.

"We had talked about leaving here for somewhere safer, so our kids could have a better future," Galindo Blas said Thursday as she stretched her hands out over Erick's bare metal coffin. On it rested a photo of him wearing an "I Love Coatzacoalcos" T-shirt.

But they could never agree on a place to move, in part because violence is now a problem across much of Mexico, so no place is really safe.

From 2006 to 2012, much of the drug war killing occurred in a string of northern Mexico cities -- Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana, Culiacan, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo. "Now it is more dispersed, and that also makes it harder to control," said Alejandro Hope, a security analyst in Mexico.

Deadly arson attacks, bodies left piled in heaps or hung from overpasses, massacres at parties, beheading videos posted on social media -- the parallels between now and then are all too clear. "It's like deja vu all over again," said Hope.

Hope said Mexico has a lamentable record in investigating and prosecuting killings -- over 90% of crimes go unpunished.

"The risk involved in killing a man, or killing his whole family, is the same," the analyst said. Under that logic, wiping out an entire family "has its advantages. It is more intimidating, it is easier to carry out, and it makes escaping easier."

The relentless violence has numbed many people.

In 2010, gunmen attacked a party of high school students in Ciudad Juarez's Villas de Salvarcar neighborhood, killing 15 in what appeared to have been a case of mistaken identity. The killings provoked street protests and a visit by an apologetic President Felipe Calderon.

This year, in April, gunmen attacked a party in Minatitlan, near Coatzacoalcos, and killed 14 people. Days later, a few dozen people held a subdued peace march.

"It's politics as usual, nothing happened. This should generate generalized indignation" against cartels and government leaders alike, Hope said.

He attributes the muted response to new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's high approval ratings, topping 70% in some polls nine months into his term. Such ratings "tend to intimidate expressions of indignation," Hope said.

Many Mexicans also are willing to give Lopez Obrador the benefit of the doubt as even the president acknowledges that violent crime is the most serious challenge he faces.

Lopez Obrador has avoided violent confrontations with gangs that were often blamed for spawning violence during Calderon's 2006-2012 administration.

A Section on 08/31/2019

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