Evidently shown by the recent discoveries of multiple decapitated corpses of bound and tortured men and women in Michoacán and several other states of Mexico, most of the Mexican drug cartels have kept their PR promise of not committing any violent acts in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI during his late March visit to Guanajuato, Mexico.

 

 

The murders and the blatant display of mutilated corpses are unfortunately becoming more and more common nowadays in an embattled Mexico.

 

The latest string of murders are being traced back to the notorious and powerful Sinaloa Cartel through its ally “New Generation”, which left aggressive messages to its rivals with the bodies.

 

Though tens of thousands of federal troopers and policemen patrol the important roads, port cities and towns of the states of Mexico, the efforts put into the war on the drug cartels seem to be to no avail.

 

Violence continues to escalate as drug cartels continuously clash with both powerful rivals and the Mexican government in what is becoming a one-sided war of attrition for an increasingly stressed government that has failed to keep the cartels in check.

 

Although high profile cases of shoot-outs between the cartels and law enforcement are frightening for the locals, what is equally even more terrifying for both them and for Mexico’s nearby neighbors including the United States is the stunning display of influence exerted by the cartels in almost every nook and cranny.

 

The cartels are brutal and efficient, so much to the extent that its members can either corrupt or threaten hundreds of policemen into working with them.

 

Many already know this. Many already know what the cartels such as Los Zetas and the Caballeros Templarios have done but to a lesser extent, what they have done with free speech and public dissent in Mexico.

 

Intimidation, bribery and killings are enough for the cartels to manipulate the flow of information and even affect what’s on the front page of daily newspapers throughout Mexico.

 

However, most of their truly heinous deeds go largely unnoticed thanks to their dark successes in censoring blogs, local newspapers and even international media.

 

To the casual observer, the kidnappings, murders & torture are gaining no attention from the international media despite the increasing rate at which they occur and how publicly displayed they are.

 

This is however not because the cartels are incredibly subtle or that the police can’t find the real culprits but it is due to the large sphere of influence the cartels have gained just by threatening to murder or target journalists and whole branches of news outlets.

 

Leaders of the cartels are also trying to safeguard their groups’ reputations online by buying the services of their own hackers and cyber security specialists which takes care of their “blogger problem” within the country.

 

In addition to suppressing facts and striking fear into the public, the drug cartels have lately been spreading their own misinformation which portrays them as patriotic defenders of the Mexican people or simply not as bad as what the government “wants” the public to “believe”.

 

Even worse, as the failing war on drugs and cartels in Mexico continues to be carried out by the Mexican government, outside public attention and empathy regarding these “incidents” have become almost non-existent.

 

Another beheading? Another murder?

 

Oh, just Mexico.

 

Censorship utilized by the drug cartels is becoming more and more of a problem. Perhaps if it was censorship carried out by the government, people would have a more viable and safe target to protest against.

 

But it’s not government censorship; this is purely the disgusting exploitation of the people’s fear on part of the drug cartels to permanently plant themselves in Mexican society. And it must be stopped.

 

The world’s unbound journalists, bloggers, activists and average citizens should take careful note of this.

 

In unison, we should start covering and expanding upon news that won’t be covered by fearful media, we should start spreading the dark facts about these cartels which are trying to paint themselves as the real “justicia” of Mexico.

 

At the very least, we all should pay more attention, offer any help we can to alleviate the suffering of the Mexican people and fight against the censorship of this collective abomination we call “cartels”.

 

They can’t kill all of us.