Black Waters Run Deep (Part II)
Blackwater’s men are disturbingly similar to other armed men in black on the southern side of the border. Los Zetas is a criminal organization closely associated with the Gulf Cartel. This group, much like Blackwater, is made up of ex-military men and former police officers. Many of these men received training at the School of the Americas in Georgia, purportedly to battle drug trafficking.
They are now possibly one of the most powerful groups of drug traffickers in Mexico. Their power in pueblos in the North is now greater than that of local authorities. There are regular accounts of extreme violence in these areas. Much of this violence is used to keep their own “order” in their territories. Los Zetas’ influence runs deep and is known on both sides of the border.
It can be said, then, that Mexicans are no strangers to ex-military men who take the law into their own hands. In many ways, Americans are still naive to the idea that paramilitary activity can and does happen in the United States. “Not here,” they say. “Not in my country.”
What exactly is Blackwater doing in San Diego County so close to the Mexico-US border? There is talk of detention camps for undocumented immigants, much like those that Blackwater established in the Middle East. There is talk of gun trafficking to groups like Los Zetas. It’s no secret that president Calderón is militarizing Mexico, applying his mano dura. Blackwater could have a whole new million-dollar market in Mexico.
The lines between legal and extralegal are getting dimmer and dimmer. Conflicts that were once the government’s responsibility, the armed forces’ responsibility, are now being handed over to corporations, corporations that thrive on instability. There is no doubt about it- Aguas negras run deep.
