Vigilantism: Symptom of Failed Governance

Vigilantism: Symptom of Failed Governance

Some Mexicans see their government as inept and ineffective.  This is forcing some of them to take matters into their own hands.  There are indications this is giving some Mexicans hope.

 

One Face of Failed Governance

Murders, disappearances and kidnappings are reported to go uninvestigated.  Law enforcement and government agencies are known to be infiltrated, corrupt or even unsafe; this also impacts good law enforcement officers who want to do their jobs safely without threat to themselves, or their families.  Mexico does not have a death penalty and an estimated two percent of criminals are ever actually prosecuted.  With these kinds of figures and reports, why would anyone count on government officials to do their jobs?  This is one perspective of Mexico’s failed governance.

Another Face of Failed Governance

Now while the government is ineffective, the cartels and local criminals are effectively filling in their wake.  Narco-insurgents have subverted towns to the point where they either buy off local leaders, or they simply kill them.  Cartels have no problem with implementing the death penalty, and their form of street justice is instant as well as psychologically and physically effective- conviction rates are not a concern.  With these kind of figures why should local citizens side with the government, a government that is invisible, unable to take on the cartels, especially when the cartels can come back to haunt them if they are not killed?  This is another form of failed governance.

One Town Re-establishes Some form of Governance

In early December 2010, two writers with the Washington Post made note of one relatively recent incident that occurred in late September 2010.  A gang of armed kidnappers entered a restaurant in Mexico in an effort to abduct a female cashier.  Local Mexicans became infuriated and chased the gang down and killed them in an effort to save the girl- she was saved.    The reporters interviewed one local vigilante who stated they were tired and frustrated with the security situation in Mexico and the failure of the government to address the problem.  Therefore they have been taking their security interests into their own hands.

Vigilantes groups are reportedly on the rise in some parts of Mexico; not only in those towns bordering the United States, but also some major cities like Monterrey.

Some vigilante groups are decapitating the criminals.  Others have local alert systems to warn a town when a kidnapping has taken place so vigilantes can resolve the situation.  Other groups created road blocks, provide intelligence and other activities in order to work against local criminals.

While there are concerns these extrajudicial efforts may consist of criminals or people with vendettas, they are filling a gap where governance is lacking.  Locals arm themselves appropriately, not worrying about limitations put upon them by Mexican Law.  Locals also affect the death penalty, not simply as a form of vengeance, but one of defense so the perpetrator does not come back to haunt them.

The bottom line is this; the drug war and US consumption of drugs are symptoms of a problem.  The real problem is that Mexico’s government is a failure; it is a government that forces people to flee their country to survive on foreign soil like the US, or stay in Mexico with the understanding they have very little in terms of safety and security.  By locals filling in the security void their government has left open, they have created a new sense of hope- they have mitigated the narco-insurgent’s Psychological Domination of the Battlespace.