Citizen Watch in Mexico

President Felipe Calderon’s call for citizen participation in his campaign against the cartels is a smart move, especially because the nature of the game is changing: the cartels are no longer just trafficking drugs, they are usurping the powers of the state. In today’s Washington Post article, Calderon said, “The behavior of the criminals has changed and become a defiance to the state, an attempt to replace the state.” Indeed, there is an atmosphere of fear in the country, and the criminals seem to be gaining the upper hand, ruling like warlords, Mafia-style. In this campaign, Calderon is asking the public to be vigilant and to report to the authorities anyone who may be involved in protecting the cartels, whether they are prosecutors, judges, police, mayors, or governors.

At stake is nothing less than the sovereign will of the Mexican people. In a republican setting, a people’s sovereign will gets translated into a vote for a government that rules by people’s consent. The usurpation of state powers by illicit criminal organizations threatens this democratic arrangement, where the rule of law is replaced by the rule by men, and the constitutional order by force and intimidation.

“We have an organized crime and a disorganized society,” said Calderon. For a respectable country with a great historic past, Mexico cannot allow the mob to gain the upper hand. As it is, the mob is making the country move backward instead of forward. A strong yet responsible government co-opting an enlightened citizenry can put an end to it.