Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Friday, January 31, 2014

Pragmatism

Most comparative textbooks include a line, somewhere in a chapter about Mexico, that the success of the regime and the PRI is, in part, due to the pragmatic approach that government and party leaders have taken.

In other words, ideology and "perfect" solutions have taken a back seat to what works. The recent changes to the petroleum industry would be one example. This is another.

Mexico to integrate vigilantes into security forces

Mexican vigilante groups in western Michoacan state have agreed to join the official security forces after weeks of taking the law into their own hands.

Vigilante fighters in Michoacan

The "self-defence" groups have recently taken over a number of towns in their attempt to drive the Knights Templar drug cartel from the area.

The government announced on Monday that the vigilantes would now be integrated into units called Rural Defence Corps…

The "self-defence" groups have accused the government of not doing enough to protect locals from the cartels, which extort local businessmen and farmers.

The vigilantes launched an offensive earlier this month, moving close to the stronghold of the Knights Templar cartel in the town of Apatzingan.

Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said the new units would be "temporary" and "under the control of the authorities to cooperate with the troops"…

One of the vigilante leaders, Estanislao Beltran, said his group was keen to speed up the process. "We are going to dedicate ourselves to regularising our status, having a legal status," said Mr Beltran…