Truce?

Based on information from the Sinaloa newsmagazine Ríodoce and interviews with anonymous sources, Proceso is reporting that the major Mexican drug traffickers agreed to a truce earlier this year. The supposed impetus for the agreement was that as the cartels have warred with each other, independent organizations have gone directly to South American suppliers, and the market share of the Sinaloa heavyweights is being threatened. Most of the article focused on the various Sinaloa kingpins (including those operating other cities, as is the case with the Arellano Félix group in Tijuana, and Vicente Carrillo in Juárez), but it said that representatives of la Familia Michoacana and the Zetas have also acceded. Outside of Sinaloa, violence in 2009 has continued at the same levels as last year, although according to Proceso, this is because the groups agreed that all pending executions would be carried out before the truce comes into a effect. Such pacts in the past haven't held for long, but a truce that provides even a temporary respite is welcome.

It's odd how the run-up to this truce resembled the preparations for meetings between adversaries on the global stage: low-level feelers came first, then mid-level agenda-setting reunions, followed by the actual agreements hammered out by the leaders.