By Dave Anderson:
A state is supposed to maintain a monopoly on legitimate violence. The Mexican state has lost its monopoly on legitimate violence in Juarez as local elites, symbolized by the local newspaper are reaching out to the cartels in arranging truces so that their reporters are not targeted:
Borderland Beat has translated:To the organizations that are disputing the plaza of Ciudad Juarez: the
loss of two reporters of this publishing house in less than two years
represents an irreparable breakdown for all of us who work here and, in
particular, for their families.
We would like it to be known, we are communicators, not psychics. With
that in mind, as information correspondents, we want you to explain,
What is it you want from us? What is it you want us to publish, or stop
publishing? Explain so we can attend these issues.
You are, at present, the de facto authorities of this city. The legal
security commands have done nothing to prevent our colleagues from being
killed in the line of their duties, although we have repeatedly
demanded protection...
The local elites recognize that the Mexican government is unable to protect them. Their response is to seek protection from the people who actually have power and the capacity to extend or retract protection, namely the cartels. Juarez is a temporary autonomous zone if this is the case as the de-facto power on the ground is not a central government but non-nation state violent actors.
If the newspaper is able to come to an arrangement with the cartels that results in their reporters protections at a 'reasonable' price, it is a signal to other elites to start cascading their allegiances towards non-governmental armed groups. At that point, the legitimacy of the Mexican government in Juarez and other smuggling plazas markedly degrades and what was originally an anti-crime/anti-smuggling operation becomes a much more complex counter-insurgency operation.
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