Party problems

So apparently Nazario Moreno (El Mas Loco) was killed after La Familia organized a massive party in Apatzingan, one of its strongholds in Michoacan. President Calderon told W Radio that "with a certain amount of insolence, they organized a party, a gathering of hundreds of their people. ... Everyone found out about the party."

This isn't the first time a party has led to the demise of a top narco. On December 11, 2009, Arturo Beltran Leyva hosted a Christmas "posada" (holiday party) in Ahuatepec, Morelos, just outside the lovely haven of Cuernavaca. He hired musicians (Ramon Ayala among them) and escorts to entertain his guests. The Marines swooped in and tried to capture him, to no avail.

But they kept on his tail, and five days later, gunned him down in a Cuernavaca high-rise.

This time around in Michoacan, the authorities weren't lucky enough to leave with Moreno's corpse, which will no doubt lead to rumours that Moreno's death has been fabricated. We'll see. Already, the people of Apatzingan have taken to the streets to protest his death and rally around La Familia.

According to an AP report: One man held up a sign that said: "Nazario will always live in our hearts." A boy in a checkered shirt held another saying "Mr. Nazario, for students your ideals live on." A little girl in pigtails held a sign reading "La Familia Michoacana is more than one state." A woman held one high over her head proclaiming: "Long live La Familia Michoacana."

Locals have been paid off by the narcos to protest before, throughout Mexico; the fact that a little girl in pigtails was carrying a sign makes me wonder if the same hasn't happened here.

Seriously, the Calderon administration really needs to get its message across immediately, that it truly is trying to help its people. The army has been engaged in reconstruction and heart-winning exercises in Michoacan, why not highlight those activities before the people turn once and for all to a bunch of pseudo-religious quacks who peddle meth on the side. It'd be a start.