LAWLESS LAWMEN

Demonstrations show Mexican people tired of crime

Declarations by Mexico's President Ernesto Zedillo calling on authorities
to take a firmer stand against violence and crime are heroic but of little
comfort.

Recently, a respected journalist known for reporting on government
corruption and drug cartels was wounded and his bodyguard killed in a gun
battle near their newspaper office in Tijuana. In Mexico City, two civilian
police and more than 30 military officers were jailed recently in
connection with the September murders of six youths. The arrests of the
army officers disturbed many who viewed the military as being less corrupt
than civilian police.

For Zedillo and Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, the incoming the mayor of Mexico City,
stemming the tide of violence will not be easy, since they must depend on
crimefighters who may be criminals.

Mexico's citizens obviously have grown weary of the violence and crime.
Their frustration manifested on Saturday when some 20,000 people marched
into the capital city's central plaza chanting "enough, enough" and
"justice, justice." The demonstration was one of largest ever in the
country. That should provide a clue to Zedillo and other government
officials that action, not declarations, are in order.

To the credit of government officials, the investigation of the police and
military scandal is being conducted in public. This is a change welcomed by
a Mexican public accustomed to secret investigations that yield little or
no justice.

As Cardenas prepares to take office shortly, he will no doubt learn, as
Zedillo has, that sweeping change is needed in the ranks of law enforcers.
Unfortunately, declaring that is far easier than doing it when the lawmen
are party to the lawless.