Aguayo on Failure

Sergio Aguayo Quezada tackles the Mexican state's grade. A bit like your blogger in tenth grade, he finds that Mexico is passing, though not in such a way that provokes optimism:

In general terms, the answer must be no [Mexico is not failing] – if only because the state still controls most of its territory. However, the situation becomes less clear if the actual, close working of cities and institutions are examined: here, the state's presence is often notional, as those who control the power-strings are the narcos. The government of Felipe Calderón is disoriented and passive in face of the corruption, inequality and impunity that bleed and debilitate society and the state. The feeling that we are marching towards a precipice is accentuated.