[HiLo]

This is a very simplistic view of the cartels, and a very US-centric view as well. This doesn't really factor in the local / native view of these groups, which see them much more as semi-heroic for standing up to the imperial Americans and corrupt, oppressive home governments. The cartels recruit heavily and are huge organizations - giving those poor, unemployed guys from backwood areas a mission "greater than themselves" really is a timeless strategy that has worked well for thousands of years, especially when that vision involves power (violence) and wealth.

[tptacek]

The suggestion that violent Mexican drug cartels enjoy public support is an extraordinary claim that you should support with evidence. Polling suggests otherwise; cartel violence is one of the top concerns of the Mexican public.

The idea that organized crime syndicates that rape and murder men, women, and children might be seen as a symbol of independence from American oppression strikes me as an argument that might make sense in the airless vacuum of an Internet message board, and in no other place.

[WildUtah]

Thousands showed up to protest the arrest of el Chapo Guzmán last year [0]. The cartels fund schools, parks, businesses and public works in Mexico.

Of course, some communities also organize to fight against cartels with autodefensas. The federal government works to shut them down and leave them vulnerable. That just leaves more communities in the hands of cartels.

Polling is against cartels because most Mexicans live where cartels aren't based.

[0] http://m.eleconomista.mx/sociedad/2014/03/01/narco-ya-prepar...

[tptacek]

77% of all Mexicans list cartel violence as the most important problem facing the country.

Crowds of people in Culiacan may consider Guzman a hero, just like crowds of people in Medellin mythologized Pablo Escobar. The Sinaloa cartel kicks back money to the whole state, and Guzman is a hometown hero.

With Guzman at the helm, the Sinaloan cartel was also less violent to civilians than its competitors, particularly the Zetas.

The government of Mexico is among the most corrupt and least trusted in the world, and is itself implicated in the mass slaughter of groups of civilians.

It does not follow that Mexico as a whole, or even the state of Sinaloa as a whole, sees the Sinaloan cartel as a force for good. They are clearly not that.

[WildUtah]

The comment you responded to cited local support for cartels, not national. Also, the government is rightly considered responsible for cartel violence more than the cartels. Previous governments limited violence by managing cartels without fighting them.

"The government of Mexico is among the most corrupt and least trusted in the world"

That is an extraordinary claim that demands evidence. Mexico is an orderly, prosperous first world democracy with serious gang problems, not some African or Middle Eastern failed state.

[wamatt]

>"The government of Mexico is among the most corrupt and least trusted in the world" That is an extraordinary claim that demands evidence.

Sure GP's comment reads a tad hyperbolic. However, Mexico is certainly perceived to be fairly corrupt.

It appears in the bottom half of the 2014 Corruptions Perception Index (CPI), ranked at Rank 103 out of 174 countries.

https://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results

[cryptop]

>polling

Would you like to cite said polls? Any results from Mexico I'd take with a grain of salt, most likely they just polled upper class individuals who obviously will cite cartels as a danger.