MEXICO MUST DECLARE INDEPENDENCE FROM DRUG CARTELS

Mexico is setting the stage for a multifaceted, multimillion-dollar,
star-studded celebration.

Sept. 16 is the bicentennial of the country's independence. It's a
day known as "El Grito," or "The Call," for independence from Spanish
rule. But the celebration risks being overshadowed by the many
challenges the Mexican government faces regarding security issues.

Mexican drug cartels have been operating in the country for years and
have gained more strength with the downfall of Colombian drug lords.
But in the past decade, they have grown increasingly violent.

President Felipe Calderon declared war against organized crime when
he came into office in 2006, and since then more than 28,000 people
have died - so many that the country seems to have become immune to
the shock of finding dead bodies, sometimes decapitated or dismembered.

But the massacre of 72 immigrants from South and Central America in
the border state of Tamaulipas, thought to be the largest mass
killing so far in this war, has sent shock waves not only through
Mexico but throughout Latin America.

The tragedy has put the spotlight on the country's inability to
control the violence and its lack of response to years of complaints
of abuse against immigrants.

It also has forced a closer look at who is committing these barbaric
acts and how they are able to get away with it. Of the nine known
drug cartels operating in Mexico, none is more violent than the
Zetas, who are suspected of the massacre in Tamaulipas.

"That is their profile. They are violent," Ricardo Ravelo, who has
written five books on drug cartels, told me in an interview. "We have
to remember that their formation is military. They were trained, they
love war, and that is the only way to see them," he added.

According to Ravelo, the Zetas are former members of an elite
military unit created to intensify the war on drugs in the mid-'90s.
At that time, the Gulf cartel, led by Osiel Cardenas, was gaining
strength, and Cardenas was becoming increasingly fearful of being
killed, so he put together a security force to protect him from his rivals.

The first one to join was one of the leaders of the military elite
force, known by his code name of "Zeta 1," and he, in turn, recruited
dozens of officers.

When Cardenas was arrested in 2003 and deported to the United States,
where he is serving a sentence for drug trafficking, the Zetas went
from being the cartels' security guards to being their rivals. What
sets them apart from the other cartels is their extremely violent
nature and the network they have been able to form, which includes
former members of the Kaibiles, a military elite force from Guatemala
specializing in jungle warfare; and gang members from Central America.

The Zetas also have grown to be very business-savvy. Anticipating the
possible legalization of drugs that could put a dent in their
business, they have diversified into 25 other criminal activities,
according to Ravelo. The most lucrative, for now, are extortion and
human trafficking. The mass murder of the 72 immigrants was,
according to accounts by an Ecuadorean survivor, because they refused
to join their ranks.

None of this would be possible if it weren't for the complicity of
law enforcement, and of local, state and even federal authorities.
"The drug cartels have paid off an enormous amount of police
officers, federal agents, politicians, judges and customs agents.
They control several cities on the border, and there is no
institutional capacity by the government to stop the criminal
activity," political analyst Hector Aguilar Camin said.

Aguilar Camin added that just as Mexico has not been able to control
its borders to prevent the flow of immigrants who use the territory
to reach the United States, the U.S. also has not been able to
prevent the entry of undocumented immigrants and drugs. He believes
that the Mexican government cannot win the war against drugs: "This
war needs to be seen in a different perspective. We need to stop
putting emphasis in the persecution of drug dealers and put more
emphasis in the protection and security of the people."

After Mexico's bicentennial celebration - once the party is over and
the stages have been dismantled - Mexico needs to look seriously for
ways to take its country back. It reached independence from an
oppressive ruler 200 years ago; now it needs to become independent
from that toxic combination of organized crime and internal corruption.