Good Points

Writing just before the attacks in Morelia two nights ago and using the executions in Mexico State as his reference point, Jorge Fernández Menéndez compares the drug cartels to ideologically motivated guerilla groups. He points out that merely seeking cash should make the cartels philosophically easier to shut down, because they won't try to fight to the last man. Rather, they will fight only until the profit motive runs dry. He warns that a fusion of the cartels with a political ideology --a bit like Colombia with the FARC et al, but the other way around in Mexico-- could be the most dangerous possible development for Mexican security. The speculation in Morelia thus far has focused on criminal groups, and it'll be interesting to see what the investigation reveals in terms of motives. La Familia Michoacana has shown ideological pretensions in the past, although their actions seem to be purely profit-driven thus far. Does Morelia represent a long-term change in tactics from at least one cartel, or is it merely an isolated tragedy?