Mexico On the Edge
The Drug Cartel Threat A Journal Special Report (This series was published in March 1997)
Mexico has endured earthquakes, uprisings and economic panics.
Today, this nation of nearly 100 million people faces what might be the most difficult challenge in recent history: moving from one-party rule to a multiparty democracy at a time when drug cartels have gained unprecedented power and influence.
Narcotics traffickers are pouring billions of dollars in profits into corrupting the very institutions the country needs to successfully make its historic political transformation.
Narco-traffickers have always sought protection of police and politicians, but their influence until recently seemed checked by the power of the Mexican presidency.
Yet as the authority of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) unravels, even that power appears to have limitations.
Mexico has endured earthquakes, uprisings and economic panics.