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Data leak exposes Mexico military corruption, incl. collusion with drug cartels

80 points by pain_perdu 4y ago

ncr100 4y ago
Yikes. Russia and many other governments keep dossiers on people who the government deems concerning. This is not a surprise. But the corruption in the military is concerning to me because the military is 1 step from power, and living in America, thinking that a massive neighbor could be coup'd by their military, or could practically be a military dictatorship, is intimidating. Laws should keep power balanced in the hands of civilian and non-civilian. If that is overridden dramatically like this example cites, then that creates a very large risk.
- genericone 4y ago
  Not only would we be next door to a military dictatorship, that military dictatorship would be responsible for smuggling billions of dollars in dangerous and illegal drugs. It probably makes way more sense NOT to coup, so that the officials in government have nation-state plausible-deniability, preventing a proportionate military response from the USA.
  - rurban 4y ago
    Ha, who do you think would support the generals in this? Where do they get the weapons from? Who is interested in keeping such a controlled state? Who does it all over latin america?
  - charlie0 4y ago
    Forget a military response, we'd just have to actually do a good job of stopping drugs from coming into our country and slash their profits severely.
- galdosdi 4y ago
  > living in America, thinking that a massive neighbor could be coup'd by their military, or could practically be a military dictatorship, is intimidating The situation in Mexico is depressing for many Mexicans but, the idea that it could become a domestic threat to the United States of America is as ludicrous as an elephant fearing a cockroach. There is an entire order of magnitude difference between the strength of the US economy or military and Mexico. The GDP alone is about 25x, before even considering that most of Mexico's GDP is dependent on the USA. Mexico, for better or worse, is in effect a vassal state to the USA, a territory in all but name whose leaders are permitted to pretend to be in charge, and pretty much always has been, except perhaps very early on on the life of these two countries. Mexico cannot afford the true displeasure of the USA, and its independence is at the pleasure of its neighbor. Whatever weird stuff happens there, it happens because the USA is tacitly okay with it or at the very least does not prioritize dealing with it.
daniel-cussen 4y ago

80 points by pain_perdu 4y ago

Yikes. Russia and many other governments keep dossiers on people who the government deems concerning. This is not a surprise. But the corruption in the military is concerning to me because the military is 1 step from power, and living in America, thinking that a massive neighbor could be coup'd by their military, or could practically be a military dictatorship, is intimidating. Laws should keep power balanced in the hands of civilian and non-civilian. If that is overridden dramatically like this example cites, then that creates a very large risk.

genericone 4y ago
Not only would we be next door to a military dictatorship, that military dictatorship would be responsible for smuggling billions of dollars in dangerous and illegal drugs. It probably makes way more sense NOT to coup, so that the officials in government have nation-state plausible-deniability, preventing a proportionate military response from the USA.
- rurban 4y ago
  Ha, who do you think would support the generals in this? Where do they get the weapons from? Who is interested in keeping such a controlled state? Who does it all over latin america?
- charlie0 4y ago
  Forget a military response, we'd just have to actually do a good job of stopping drugs from coming into our country and slash their profits severely.
galdosdi 4y ago
> living in America, thinking that a massive neighbor could be coup'd by their military, or could practically be a military dictatorship, is intimidating The situation in Mexico is depressing for many Mexicans but, the idea that it could become a domestic threat to the United States of America is as ludicrous as an elephant fearing a cockroach. There is an entire order of magnitude difference between the strength of the US economy or military and Mexico. The GDP alone is about 25x, before even considering that most of Mexico's GDP is dependent on the USA. Mexico, for better or worse, is in effect a vassal state to the USA, a territory in all but name whose leaders are permitted to pretend to be in charge, and pretty much always has been, except perhaps very early on on the life of these two countries. Mexico cannot afford the true displeasure of the USA, and its independence is at the pleasure of its neighbor. Whatever weird stuff happens there, it happens because the USA is tacitly okay with it or at the very least does not prioritize dealing with it.

daniel-cussen 4y ago