As suggested by James Surowiecki in the Financial Page of the New Yorker (July 7, 2008): "When bad things happen, it's always nice to have a scapegoat". Since it is not possible to ask for the resignation of the economy or the media (at least not in democratic countries), Presidents and Prime Ministers have become quite good at the art of dismissing public officials when things do not go as planned. Mexican Presidents are no exception.
In the last few months, there have been important changes at the Attorney General's Office. Indeed, several high-ranking officials, including the Deputy Attorney General in charge of Special Investigations on Organized Crime (SIEDO), resigned to their positions due to cooperation problems at the hearth of the cabinet, or to poor results in the fight against crime. As the demands for security increase in number and intensity, it is possible that Mexico will observe more of these resignations/dismissals in the next few months. At the top of the list is Interior Minister Juan Camilo Murino, as well as some other cabinet members in charge of protecting Mexican citizens.
In the meantime, we can expect to see many more references to the implementation of the “National Security, Justice and Legality Agreement“, as well as to who is in charge of overseeing it and who is responsible for its success or failure. This might sound familiar to students of international organizations, as the latter usually spend more time discussing the existence of a problem than actually solving it. Unfortunately, people die while other people agree on what kind of help they need.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
