* Above, moral authorities: Felipe and Margarita, via La Jornada.
There is a tendency to see the bloody and surreal narco war in Mexico in stark black-and-whites, but just a scratching of the surface reveals infinite shades of gray, and degrees of complicity up and down the class scale. Are small-time users on both sides of the border good guys or bad guys? How about a cartel that has strict Christianist values but makes no hesistation in killing those who cross them? And what about all those narco-politicians who allegedly strike deals with traffickers in order to minimize violence and disorder in their states?
Consider also the dark labyrinth of moral corruption that permeates local media operations across the country. From Charles Bowden's engrossing narrative on the life of a journalist in the narco-controlled North:
"Corruption at the paper," he explains, "was subtle. The politicians would win over my boss with dinners and bags of money. The reporter on the beat would sometimes get pressure from the boss not to report certain things like the bad habits of politicians, the houses they own, the girlfriends. And it was understood that you never asked hard questions. The narcos also gave out money but I was always afraid of them. They own businesses and horses, buy ads, have parties with celebrities and you cover that, they would pay you to cover that, but you never mentioned their real business."
He sees his Mexico as genetically corrupt. A corrupt Aztec ruling class fused with the trash of Spain, the conquistadors. This thesis helps him face the reality around him.
"In Mexico," he says, "we operate in disguise. There is one face and under that is another mask. Nothing is up-front."
Read the whole thing here; it's worth it. The piece also dissects corruption and impunity in the oh-so-upright Mexican military.
Far as I'm concerned, one of the most disingenuous gestures I've seen so far in this eternal mess is the head of the Mexican state saying publicly that Mexican youth become "slaves" of the narco trade because, yes, "they don't believe in God, they don't know him."
Unreasoned, outrageous, and as a statement from an executive in a secular republic, deeply immoral.