Mexico Confronts Bloody Present to Ensure Brighter Future
Last week the Zetas cartel of Mexico dumped 49 decapitated bodies on a highway about 100 miles southwest of Texas border, in the latest massacre in the ongoing fight between Mexican drug cartels.
The drug war in Mexico has claimed over 50,000 victims since 2006 and even though it's on the border with the United States, it is one of the least reported international stories. These gangs, particularly the Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartels, have become so powerful that local governments are outmanned and outgunned- left to call in Mexican armed forces to contain the gunfights.
It's become an impossible story to report. Since 2007, 13 journalists have been killed in Mexico and many have sought refuge in foreign countries including three who were granted asylum in the United States and Canada, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
To discuss the issue Christiane Amanpour sat down with someone on the front lines in this battle Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican Ambassador to the United States. In an extended interview, Ambassador Sarukahn spoke candidly about the stakes of this fight, what "victory" will look like, and the important parallel future the United States and Mexico share.
"For decades, for many decades, corruption, endemic corruption, has been and continues to be a challenge. This is one pig I'm not going to put lipstick on; how do you tackle corruption that's festered for so many years - for so many generations in many ways - is a very vexing problem."
