Mexico’s Deadly Crisis – Drug Cartels and Pandemic

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Mexico’s problems become our own? With the rising power of the drug cartels coupled with the destabilizing effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, “the Mexican state is in serious trouble,” warns John Davidson in The Federalist.

With so much turmoil and trouble across the country right now, most Americans are probably not thinking about our southern neighbor. But they should be, because Mexico is in trouble, facing a dual crisis of deadly drug cartels and a deadly coronavirus pandemic. As conditions there deteriorate, we should expect Mexico’s problems to become our own…

Center Left Populist President

Mexico never made adequate preparations for the pandemic earlier this year. Government officials, most notably López Obrador, dismissed concerns about the coronavirus, downplayed the dangers, and failed to take precautionary measures early. López Obrador even bragged that the virus could not hurt Mexicans, touted good-luck charms he carries for protection, and attended a string of campaign-style events in March, mingling closely with crowds at a time when some health officials were warning Mexicans to stay at home…

Deadly Coronavirus Cases Spreading North

Now we’re starting to see coronavirus cases spreading north from the U.S.-Mexico border. Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, told CNN that California hospitals are seeing an ‘unprecedented surge across the border’ of coronavirus cases.”

A collapse of government authority, and perhaps of the regime itself, isn’t unthinkable under these conditions.

Why America Should Be Concerned

Americans shouldn’t wave away the consequences of a collapse of the Mexican state. Our history with Mexico has shown time and again that chaos and disorder south of the Rio Grande never stays there. That’s just as true of lawless cartels as it is of a runaway pandemic.