CARTEL TAKEOVERS: 'GOVERNMENT BY GANG' IN MEXICO

How much worse can things get in Mexico as violence and corruption
wrack that country? Well, on Wednesday, Mexican President Felipe
Calderon said that drug cartels are now trying to take over
governments in many parts of the country.

"This has become an activity that defies the government, and even
seeks to replace the government," he said.

And now, with more than 28,000 people dead in the Mexico violence
since 2006 when a government "crackdown" began, there are predictions
of intensified violence.

Phil Jordan, former director of the El Paso Intelligence Center, said,
"The grenades, the car bombings in Mexico is just a preview of the
worse to come. The collateral damage is nothing now in what can happen
to the future."

The question, as it always is with the issue of Mexican violence, is
what Calderon's government plans to do about it. And the answer
remains the same: The government is either incapable of controlling
the situation -- or it is unwilling.

While the entire situation in Mexico is appalling, it's extremely
distressing to see the cartels trying to insinuate themselves into
governments. Calderon said gangs are imposing tax-like fees, extorting
money from businesses, and, "I do not doubt that they are also
extorting money from priests and pastors in this country."

But it gets worse.

Calderon, speaking at an anti-crime conference, said that some people
"... are telling me, 'Mr. President, don't bother the criminals.' "

Calderon called that an "unacceptable option" and he's right. But it
serves to show the increasing desperation of people who can't see an
end to the killings and violence and corruption that surround them.

As to fears of the violence spilling over into this country, Jordan
said, "The grenades the other day and the car bombing is just another
escalation that has no boundaries, but the escalation does have borders.

"The cartels will not attack or use that type of tactic in the United
States."

It's to be hoped that he's right. But the United States must keep
pressuring Mexico to stop the violence, must help Mexico in that
endeavor, and at the same time secure our border with Mexico so that
violence doesn't spill over.