Trip to Mexico

Two weeks ago I went to Mexico for the week on business. I was in Mexico City, Tijuana and Monterrey. I flew Air France to Mexico City, via Paris, and Aeromexico back to Paris, taking Air France's Irish-based, but wholly-owned subsidiary, CityJet, between Dublin and Paris in both directions.

What left an impression on me was Tijuana, an uremarkable border town just south of San Diego. The city is rife with crime driven by powerful gang syndicates. While I was there, there was a large protest in the city-center about 'express kidnappings' of doctor's. An article (subscription required) from the June 2 edition of The Wall St. Journal addresses the issue of crime and the power of gangs in looking at the city's newest mayor.

As the article itself states, "...the past year and a half, about 450 Mexican lawmen have been killed by the country's drug gangs, including a growing list of police chiefs. Weeks ago, hit men killed the head of Mexico's elite Federal Police."

Let's hope the new mayor can address some of this crime. For its part, President Bush has proposed $500 million in U.S. drug aid for Mexico. But with Congress looking to trim 20% of that amount and add stipulations around human rights, that money - whatever's left of it - may not arrive in time.