Las PaZIHónes en Paraíso

Local public transportation has again come to a standstill after the broad daylight shootings of combi drivers practically right under the noses of local police. I'm not certain of the number since neither the government nor local media are discussing the matter in detail, but according to area residents 3 drivers were killed in the area today.

This just can't be happening in my favorite place in the universe! How long before unregulated vigilante groups take up arms?

Other parts of the state already have them, and they keep having clashes with the police and military since when citizens take up arms you can't tell the bad guys from the good guys. Sound familiar? In Tamaulipas a local hero who has been working with an informal army of good citizens to clean up the region where they live was arrested while the bad guys roam free. In Michoacán you may remember Dr. Mireles whose autodefensas were sweeping the state and making a huge positive difference when the army stopped them in Apatzingán, the HQ of the bad guys, showing all of us in Mexico whose side Peña Nieto's PRI government was on. They eventually locked up Dr. Mireles who spent several years in prison. He is a HERO to the good and decent people of Mexico. He passed away not long ago. But all the good work he did has been undone by politicians who appear to work for the narcos.

Of course, as always, the solution to much of this is the legalization and regulation of all the stupidly banned substances that apparently tens of millions of estadounidenses want in order to remove the multi-billion dollar a year black market from the hands of violent organized criminals who, just like during Prohibition, continue to grow and expand their operations. Not sure if we've reached a point of no return, but there will be one, and for continuing to enforce stupid and failed policies both the U.S. and Mexican governments continue playing right into the hands of the criminals. How long does a policy have to be an ABJECT FAILURE before the people wake up from their propagandistic STUPOR and demand change from their governments? 50 years? 80?