Then They Came For The Bloggers

Disturbing news from Mexico regarding how Los Zetas appear to have targeted social media users.

Since traditional media throughout Mexico is now mostly under the thumb of the narcotraficantes, social media is one of the very few outlets available to discover what is really going on there. The narcos no doubt want to control social media, and the people who use social media. Fear, as always, is their weapon of choice. Social media has an ally in numbers, and in anonymity, but fear may win out.

I read, and sometimes blog from, El Blog del Narco, one of the two named targets of this outrage. El Blog del Narco has many weaknesses - it's sensationalistic, it's incomplete, it's sometimes poorly-edited - but considering the pressures under which it operates it's amazing it exists at all. All bloggers owe it to our southern brethren to support what they do, amplify what they say, and probe further ourselves when they can't.

The narcos will someday extend their reach north of the border and attempt to control traditional and social media here too. Bloggers here may eventually fall under their shadow. Right now, what we can do is use that freedom that we still have and continue reporting on what is going on with respect to Mexico and the narcotraficantes, and also to report on what they are doing in the U.S. In particular, I am disturbed at what I see is a growing alliance between private U.S. militias, gun shows, conservative politicians, and the thriving gun trade that keeps the narcotraficantes in business. Some of the collateral damage resulting from recent GOP attacks against the ATF for its fumbled Fast and Furious program will be a weakened U.S. defense against the cartels. That was by design, in my book.

Several weeks ago, there was a story in the media regarding the U.S. government bias against Los Zetas, and thus tacit support for the Sinaloa Cartel. That's an understandable bias - Los Zetas are nuts on a scale no one else can approach! - but still, it's a dangerous game.