Zuckermann Assesses Dark Clouds

Leo Zuckermann, no pessimist, says that this is the worst he's felt about Mexico since 1994.

That I remember, Mexico hasn’t had such a bad public climate since that devastating year in 1994. In every area, there is a feeling of anxiety. Wherever you look, the problems that afflict the country are many.

The interim includes the country's worst financial meltdown in modern history in 1995 and the grave political crisis in 2006, and it's almost all because of security. Certainly, the economy has played a role, but the American meltdown hasn't harmed Mexico as much as one might expect. Mexico's political parties are stronger than most in Latin America, but if such an environment persists, especially if the attacks in Morelia are repeated elsewhere, it's easy to imagine an Uribe-type figure from outside the normal political sphere gaining a wide following.