“And this,” I was told, five minutes after arriving in Mexico, “is where they murdered the Archbishop.” I was at the entrance to the car park at Guadalajara airport. The archbishop was Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo, who died in a hail of bullets on May 24, 1993, along with six other people. He was murdered for daring to criticize the cartels, at least according to the official narrative.

There are other theories: he may have been caught in crossfire between rival cartels, or it may have been a case of mistaken identity, and Posadas was assumed to be a cartel head, many of whom, presumably, look like archbishops; or else it was the work of the government itself, which feared Posadas knew too much about its collusion with the cartels.

The cartels are spoken of in Mexico with weary resignation, the same way people speak of death and taxes. In the 33 years since Cardinal Posadas’s death, the situation has gotten worse. The toll from the drug wars since 2006 is estimated at 400,000 dead and 125,000 missing. The government has fought the war against the cartels and lost.

Their success is based on their ability to terrorize the population. Each emerging cartel brings with it hitherto unimaginable levels of violence. La Familia Michoacana made its debut in September 2006, when ruffians burst into a nightclub in Uruapan, Michoacán, firing shots into the air. While the clientele dived for cover, the cartel’s soldiers threw five human heads onto the dance floor. Each gang competes with its rivals, and the winners are always those who kill more, torture more and are thus feared the most.

La Santa Muerte has been condemned but it is the fastest-growing cult in Latin America

La Santa Muerte has been condemned but it is the fastest-growing cult in Latin America

Meanwhile, ordinary Mexicans turn to religion. The Catholic bishops condemn the drug trade and the associated violence, but no one, least of all the cartels, is listening. The patroness of Mexico, Our Lady of Guadalupe, known also as the Empress of the Americas, Queen of Mexico and Major General of the Mexican Army, receives thousands of pilgrims a day at her shrine in Mexico City.........

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