MEXICO | Pemex fuel theft grows and turns violent. Mexico’s state oil company Pemex reports that in the first half of this year, the estimated volume of fuel stolen from its pipelines has reached 1.8m barrels, or 18% more than in the same period of 2011. In 2011 Pemex located 1,413 illegal pipeline taps, 99% more than in the previous year. Its physical security services division, GSSP, says that 53 of its agents have been attacked while on patrol: two were killed, 28 were injured and 23 were abducted and have not been heard of again. The attacks have taken…

It has been widely assumed that President Felipe Calderón was determined to escalate his government’s anti-cartel drive in the remaining months of his tenure, so as to be able to step down with his policy vindicated. Since the 1 July elections he has deployed more troops and federal police to drug-war hotspots, and there have been a number of high-profile captures, but none as impressive as the string carried out in September, which netted much of the top leadership of the Cártel del Golfo (CDG) gang. Just how this, and the reported rifts within Los Zetas, will affect the course…