Mexico & Nafta - August 2010 (ISSN 1741-444X)

How can Mexico end the war against organised crime?

President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa now openly admits that he and his government underestimated the scale of the problem when he launched his war against crime upon taking office in 2006. He and his government are not alone in underestimating the threat posed by apparently weak and feuding enemies; Russia and now Britain and the US all underestimated the problems they would face in Afghanistan, despite the lessons of history. The difficulty for Calderón is that, unlike the former empires, he cannot withdraw, after declaring victory.