Voices of Mexico no. 87

Our Voice

Four months into 2010, the news in Mexico has been full of alarming reports of the country's growing insecurity. As a result of the struggle over territorial control among the drug cartels and their violent reaction to President Felipe Calderón's frontal strategy to fight them, altogether the confrontations have made for about 3,000 executions so far this year.

Because of the size of the country, most of the population still leads a normal life; however, a general state of disquiet is beginning to emerge in the face of the ominous signs of focal points of violence throughout the country.

The complexity of understanding the circumstances that led Mexico to its cur- rent state of affairs cannot leave out decisive elements. While the declining pur- chasing power of wages and the collapse of the job market seem related to the structural change in economic policy that began three decades ago, the 2008 world debacle yet again undermines the possibilities for creating new equilibriums.