The war on drugs keeps Mexico at bay. The mafia has followers everywhere. Not even President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is doing anything about it.

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, at the National Palace in Mexico City, January 10, 2023. Photo: Fernando Llano/ap

I didn't really want to write anymore. “The world is not worthy of that word, this is my last poem,” declared Javier Sicilia after his son was murdered by mafia hitmen in 2011. “The poetry that is in me no longer exists,” he added in that moment.

Years later, the Mexican author addressed the death of his son in his book “El Deshabitado”, initially dedicating himself to the fight against excessive violence in his country. In the “Justice and Dignity Peace Movement,” which he helped launch, thousands of people marched across Mexico and the United States against terrorism.

The 67-year-old never left any doubt about his hatred for the corrupt political class, which is partly responsible for the situation. Faced with the countless deaths caused by the “war against the mafia” declared by the then president 15 years ago, he was received with open ears.

Daily threats

Many hoped that the mobilizations would stop the murders, disappearances and daily threats. But what happened was: nothing. Violence increased and more and more regions were controlled by organized crime.

Sicily was never optimistic. However, hope gained when Andrés Manuel López Obrador was elected president in 2018. With representatives of civil society and the new government, he developed concepts to create justice, overcome impunity and stop violence. But what happened again: nothing. In his inaugural speech, the leftist head of state did not even mention the project and there can be no talk of weakening the mafia.

Since then, the poet has used unpoetic words against the “traitor” López Obrador. “At the end of the legislative session, you have failed like your predecessors and, like most criminals in Mexico, will go unpunished,” he wrote last week. No matter which party you vote for in this year's election, you vote for the mafia.

Thousands were displaced

It is an electoral campaign and anyone who follows the president's statements can perfectly understand Sicily's anger. López Obrador is downplaying the situation in the state of Chiapas, while two cartels keep the population in check and thousands of people have had to leave their places of origin.

He does not hesitate to denounce human rights organizations to gain votes at the expense of the relatives of the 43 missing teacher students. And he sticks to the “alternative facts” policy. “We cannot see political violence being unleashed regarding the elections,” he said recently.

This arrogance is remarkable. A few days earlier, a local politician was murdered in the Veracruz region and two members of the governor of the state of Zacatecas were murdered almost simultaneously. According to a report recently published by the Laboratory organization, 16 political candidates for public office have died violently since June 2023. By the time citizens vote in June, the number will be significantly higher.

The influence that criminals have on elections is already a current topic in the media. This is how the former head of the secret service Guillermo Valdés Castellanos describes it in the liberal magazine Free Lettershow the mafia violently guarantees that city halls are occupied by “their people.”

Sicily seems desperate. She wanted to prevent others from suffering the same fate as his son. “There is no political will, no conscience, nothing,” she summarizes. “We can only trust in horror,” she says from the hearts of many relatives of victims of violence.