Calderón Accused of Taking Sides in Mexico's Drug War

MEXICO CITY – A Roman Catholic cathedral in the border state of Nuevo León was the backdrop this week for the drug cartels' latest salvo in a drug war that is looking more like a conventional war, complete with increasingly sophisticated propaganda.

Hanging from the church fence in Monterrey was a banner more than a dozen feet high addressed to President Felipe Calderón, accusing the government of favoring some cartel groups over others – a charge the government denies – and appealing for a more balanced approach.

"We urge you to put neutral commanders in these jobs and not allow the narco police to stay," it read in neat black block letters.

At least two dozen similar banners in 14 cities and six states appeared Monday in public places. The Monterrey church is in front of City Hall.

The sudden proliferation of "narco-banners" across Mexican cities, including tourist zones like Cancún, shows that the cartels are prepared to ratchet up a fight that has taken more than 5,000 lives this year, analysts said.

"The banners are the first step in a series in which organized crime groups are announcing that they are going to declare war on the government," said Arturo Yañez, a former adviser to the federal government on security issues.

His theory, Mr. Yañez said, is that some cartel groups will shift their firepower from turf battles with rivals and join forces to fight federal authorities.

"Two years ago, the federal government declared war on the narcos, but the narcos have not declared war on the government and have not really taken on the government," Mr. Yañez said, pointing out that the record number of deaths are overwhelmingly from cartel turf wars and not police or military action.

Whether or not a broader war is coming, analysts said the banners represent the development by the cartels of an increasingly sophisticated tool in the art of war – propaganda.

In the last few months, the handmade banners have gone from featuring crude epithets aimed at turf rivals to often detailed accusations of alleged collusion of government officials with Mexico's dominant drug cartel group, the Sinaloa cartel.

Commentators said the war of words – along with an Internet barrage of grisly videos – represent the changing nature of a conflict in which cartel operatives openly carry out coordinated public relations campaigns to counter the government's paid TV and radio spots.

The banners have appeared in drug hotspots like Reynosa, Tamaulipas – across from McAllen, Texas – but also in the touristy capital of Oaxaca state.

"One must remember that in the drug trade these days, former military soldiers trained in the manipulation of information have replaced capos of the rancher type," the newspaper El Universal wrote in an editorial. "And like with all armies, the drug traffickers know that in an armed conflict, propaganda is key to tilting the balance in one direction."

Government officials have said the banners are deliberate disinformation aimed at Mexican public opinion.

"The criminal element seeks to have a scheme of criminal propaganda, trying to discredit the Mexican state and public officials," said Public Security Minister Genaro García Luna. He was responding to questions by reporters in late October about narco-banners accusing him of favoring some drug cartels over others.

But at least in one case, the government appears to have concurred partially with the banner-writers.

On Oct. 24, a narco-banner allegedly signed by a paramilitary group associated with the Gulf cartel, the Zetas, accused the interim head of the federal police, Gerardo Garay Cadena, of collusion with the Sinaloa cartel and its allies, according to media reports from the Gulf state of Veracruz.

A week later, Mr. Garay resigned and was put under temporary arrest.

This week, he was formally charged with allegedly protecting drug traffickers who had previously been aligned with the Sinaloa cartel and stealing money during an anti-drug operation. He is being held in a federal prison.

Mr. Garay is one of more than a dozen top anti-drug officials jailed in the last two months as part of the attorney general's "Operation Clean House." He is the highest-ranking official to face drug charges since 1997.

Monday's banners were unsigned, but their authors are believed to include members of the Gulf cartel, based along the Mexico-Texas border. The banners were focused almost exclusively on Mr. Garay's former boss, Mr. García Luna. The Monterrey version mentioned his name eight times in red letters, practically demanding his removal.

But Mr. Calderón recently gave his security minister a public vote of confidence in the wake of the corruption investigation. Speaking in late November while visiting Peru, the president said, "If there was any doubt of his integrity, or even some element of proof that would disqualify that integrity, surely he would not be the minister of public security."

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