Mexico

Many of the current issues Mexico faces are the result of the 71-year rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), from 1929 until 2000. The Federal Security Directorate (DFS) enforced the rule of the PRI, especially during what is known as the Mexican Dirty War in the 1960s and 1970s. Hundreds were killed in the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre, when a student demonstration was attacked. The imprisonment and torture of political opponents and suspected guerillas, along with assassinations and forced disappearances, helped silence opponents of the regime.

The DFS and top PRI officials became heavily involved in organized crime, especially drug trafficking. Arturo Durazo Moreno, a former DFS agent and Chief of Police in Mexico City, was the most prominent example of this corruption, participating in political repression and then using the police as a criminal organization to enrich himself. Former DFS agents were among the founders of the Sinaloa and Juárez Cartels, and many agents had ties to the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1970s and 1980s. The high-profile killings of journalist Manuel Buendía and DEA agent Enrique Camarena led to the end of the DFS, but by this point criminal organizations were entrenched in Mexico, with close connections to the state.

In 1994, reformist presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was assassinated, and a guerilla group known as the Zapatista Army of National Liberation began a revolt in the southern state of Chiapas. The end of PRI rule was generally peaceful—following the disputed and likely manipulated 1988 election, its grip on political power began to slip, and corruption and economic mismanagement led to increased popular anger. Vicente Fox, from the right-wing National Action Party (PAN), won the 2000 election. Violence between criminal groups grew in the 1990s and early 2000s, generally at a low level despite some high-profile incidents. In 2006, newly elected president Felipe Calderón sent thousands of troops to fight drug gangs in the state of Michoacán, widely seen as the beginning of the Mexican drug war. The militarization of the fight against criminal groups has completely failed to effectively address crime; in fact, violence has spiraled even further.

Despite the arrests or killings of dozens of cartel leaders, criminal groups remain extraordinarily powerful, controlling large parts of the country and sometimes matching security forces in terms of firepower and organization. There are hundreds of organized crime groups within Mexico, some of which have essentially grown into paramilitary forces that challenge government control over large amounts of territory. Many self-defense and vigilante groups have emerged to combat them, further complicating the issue.

Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. Femicide and violence against women are major issues, exacerbated by the ongoing conflict between cartels and the state. Security forces were implicated in the disappearance of 43 students in 2014 in Iguala. The armed forces continue to be used to combat organized crime, despite the promises of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). Coming into office in 2018 with a pledge to “abrazos, no balazos” (“hugs, not bullets”), López Obrador promised to end the militarization of security, but violence has remained high. The creation of a new National Guard under military command has ensured that the fight against organized crime remains heavily militarized.

In 2023 and 2024, violence worsened further, with major clashes between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, sparked intense firefights in Culiacán and beyond. In 2024, the International Crisis Group and UNODC reported that cartel violence had reached its deadliest levels since 2011, with more than 170,000 homicides linked to organized crime since 2006. Political violence has also grown: more than 30 local candidates were assassinated during the 2024 elections. In 2024, Claudia Sheinbaum, AMLO’s ally and the first woman elected President of Mexico, took office pledging continuity of his “Fourth Transformation” project but has faced immediate pressure to restore civilian control of the security apparatus and reduce impunity. Relations with the United States remain tense due to disputes over fentanyl trafficking and U.S. military cooperation proposals, which Mexico has rejected as violations of sovereignty.

Peace Attempts:
Efforts to restore peace in Mexico have largely centered on security reform and anti-corruption measures rather than direct negotiation. The López Obrador administration launched several “peace and reconciliation” initiatives, including dialogues with communities affected by cartel violence and programs focused on youth employment to reduce gang recruitment. However, these have had limited success, as structural corruption and entrenched criminal networks continue to undermine reform.

In 2023, the Mexican government cooperated with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to implement new frameworks on anti-money laundering and judicial transparency, but enforcement remains weak. The 2024 election marked a potential turning point: President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has promised to demilitarize public security by gradually transferring control of the National Guard to civilian institutions, strengthen social programs targeting poverty and inequality, and open limited channels for amnesty or reintegration of low-level offenders.

At the regional level, Mexico continues to participate in multilateral efforts to combat transnational organized crime, including cooperation through the United States–Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security and the Latin American Security Pact (2024), which aims to address drug and arms trafficking through intelligence-sharing rather than militarization. Despite these initiatives, violence, corruption, and impunity remain systemic. For peace to take root, Mexico must build trust in civic institutions, end the reliance on the armed forces, and ensure accountability for human rights violations committed by both the state and organized crime.