Why Team Biden Can’t Ignore Mexico’s Deal With the Devil
The cartels aren’t at war with the state at this point—they often are the state. It’s a problem the American administration is going to have to reckon with, not just ignore.
Just in time for Día de los Muertos comes a macabre tale from south of the border that reminds us what happens when someone makes a deal with the devil. It’s official: Mexico is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the drug cartels.
This should not come as a total surprise to the Biden administration, which needs to understand that its relationship with Mexico has to change. The new realization as to just how embedded the cartels are with Mexico’s institutions represents a formidable challenge for President Biden. He needs to understand that Americans can no longer trust Mexican officials to rein in the cartels, if we ever could.
Americans have come to expect that, no matter which political party in Mexico controls the presidency, there is likely to be a cozy relationship with drug traffickers. The current president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, literally describes his approach to the narcos as “hugs not bullets.” That’s a clear giveaway.