A Less Violent Response

I thought it was pretty interesting that the gang that caught one of the alleged killers of Juan Francisco Sicilia didn't just kill him and leave a sign on his body identify him as such, but rather called the local military base with his whereabouts. Mexico's gangs are not entirely immune to shaming, especially in isolated incidents of immense public attention (to take an earlier incident, the bombing of the plaza in Morelia in 2008), and here they seem to have responded to the author's pleas with some modicum of reserve. Second, it's also striking in that they implicitly recognized the legitimacy of the government by calling the military. This was an isolated incident and I certainly wouldn't yet draw any sweeping conclusions, but it was unusual.