Finding a peaceful year in Mexican history is a challenge. From the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821), through the civil wars and wars with the U.S., France, Guatemala, etc, in the mid-nineteenth century, the Revolution of 1910-1920, and the ongoing cartel/drug wars of the present day, most of the country’s history has been a protracted period of violence. The incessant turmoil encouraged an estimated 16 million Mexicans to come to the United States in the 50 years between 1965 and 2015. An estimated 36.6 million persons of Mexican origin were living here as of 2017.
Alas, there is nothing new under the Mexican sun. At least a dozen heavily armed and–thanks in large part to the Biden administration’s open-borders policies–heavily financed cartels operate and war openly among themselves and with the corrupt and hapless official military and police units.
Now word comes up from the south that in southern Mexico a new paramilitary force has been formed, one calling itself the “Civil Army of the Indigenous People of Pantelhó.” (Pantelhó is a town in the Chiapas state.) The new “Civil Army” claims it was created to defend the populace against another paramilitary group, Los Machetes.
Since private armies require sources of revenue, it isn’t surprising that Los Machetes is said to be affiliated with a drug- and human-smuggling cartel–in this case, the Cartel Jalisco New Generation. As of yet, no such affiliation has been identified for the Civil Army.
Breitbart Texas theorizes that the creation of the new paramilitary is in response to the inability of the Mexican authorities to deal with the recent kidnappings of 16 police officials by cartel members in Chiapas. The kidnap victims were ultimately released, but the government has been powerless to make arrests.
In summary, with its corrupt police, inept army, uncontrolled cartels, and now rising paramilitaries, is our southern neighbor collapsing into yet another civil war?
Almost certainly. But then, in Mexico, who can tell the difference?
For more, see Breitbart News.