The organized organized crime 2023/11/12

They were the last days of September 2001. The dust from the fall of the Twin Towers was barely settling, however, an investigation was already beginning into the theft by the New York mafia of hundreds of tons of steel, valued at thousands of dollars. million dollars, also called the World Trade Center.

According to information reported at that time in various media in the United States, organized crime in that country had diverted the materials to waste sites so they could be processed and sold. The same thing is believed to have happened to tons of gold and silver that were in vaults under the buildings.

“A troubled river, fishermen gain,” dictates the saying. That is the reality in chaotic times like the ones Mexico is experiencing.

According to various journalistic – and even official – investigations, something like this has happened with all the precious wood that has been cut down by the Army for the construction of the Mayan Train. Networks of activists reported that by 2021, nearly 930 million trees had been cut down and each one could have a commercial value of about $5,000 in the market.

This wood has been sent to China or left over the border with Guatemala, as published in videos on social networks that show immense lines of trucks full of the valuable resource leaving the country.

Now it has been Acapulco's turn. It is documented that after the hurricane Otis Organized crime has taken the port into its hands – which is not entirely new, since the entire region has been infiltrated for years.

We should have realized the rot in which Guerrero was immersed when in a municipality governed by the president's party Lopez Obrador, in a state governed by the same party as the president, they murdered the 43 normalistas from Ayotzinapa. Nine years after the tragedy, they have dedicated themselves to inventing culprits – like the former attorney Jesus Murillo Karam–, profiting from misfortune and hiding information.

In a note from a few days ago, the columnist Hector de Mauleón (The universal, Organized crime has already taken over Acapulco, November 6, 2023) describes how dozens of bank branches were looted before and after the hurricane. These organizations are also the ones that have taken over such lucrative businesses as the sale of stolen fuel and even devastated houses and apartments.

The port of Acapulco is a reflection of the situation in the country. Overpowered authorities and a total absence of the rule of law. A powerful organized crime that fills the spaces of power that are vacant by our elected officials.

The worst thing is that it seems that, although the president Lopez Obrador and the state governments of Morena insist on demonstrating their lack of capacity and indifference towards the people, as we are witnessing with the destruction of Acapulco, the people will continue to give them their votes, something similar to Stockholm syndrome. Poor Mexico.

*Master in Public Administration

by Harvard University

and professor at the Pan American University

X: @ralexandermp