Mexican drug war crimes go live on the Internet
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MEXICO CITY — In the midst of the brutal drug trafficking war encroaching on their lives, thousands of Mexicans every morning check social network Web sites to see if they will encounter any unpleasant surprises on the way to work or school.
But they are not the only ones.
While average citizens go online to let others know where in their neighborhood a body has been uncovered or if they can expect disruptions from cartels or the Mexican military, the drug gangs themselves also use the tools to manipulate public opinion by making threats and warnings.
The spread of vital information ahead of the daily commute, via social networking technology and sites like Facebook and Twitter, is especially useful in the country’s north, near the US border, which has become ground zero for the country’s drug war.
More than 28,000 persons are believed to have been killed in drug cartel-related violence in Mexico in the last four years, when President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown, making residents increasingly desperate for ways to avoid the bloodshed..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101005com3.html
1 comment
We must not legalize marijuana! Even if it would eliminate more than 60% of cartel revenue and end their incentive and ability to continue murdering countless innocent people. We MUST keep arresting 850,000 people a year for marijuana offenses even though, after FORTY YEARS of prohibition, marijuana use went *up* 8% last year and 6,000 people a day start smoking marijuana for the first time. We taxpayers WILL keep paying $40 BILLION a year for the prohibition because it’s so good for us that we don’t care that it doesn’t stop people using marijuana and it draws drug dealers into our communities to meet the demand. The prohibition MUST last FOREVER!!!
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