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  • Hacker News
  • Highly recommend the 2015 documentary 'Cartel Land'
    by sriacha
  • the real war the US should be fighting
    by Kalanos
  • The article said they got their arms smuggled in from the US, but that only explains the small arms and drones. Where are they getting hand grenades?
    by MrDrMcCoy
  • Related, Colombia's new president Abelardo d' Espriella is getting sworn in in a couple hours. He won a somewhat close election against a more peace process party, on a platform of radical violence & all out total war against the various cartels, gangs, and rebel factions.

    Definitely huge echoes of El Salvador's intense crackdown. But it seems pretty uncertain that he actually has the military force capable of doing this. Colombia's wide array of insurgents are far more organized and well equipped than El Salvador, ala the Mexico situation here; this isn't like the nasty but kind of low level violence of El Salvador. Who all in all had a pretty easy time at it just built a ton of super brutal prisons, stripping legal protections, and then rounding up a couple % of the state's population immediately (and letting some go too, eventually, after months of brutal incarceration).

    I'd love recommendations beyond War Fronts, who in tune into a decent bit. I need to subscribe, to support. They just had a video on Colombia today. https://youtu.be/OiQZCJmkmR8

    by jauntywundrkind
  • About 30% of Mexico is gang-controlled
    by hereme888
  • Mexico has been like that for decades, I believe it's top 1 priority for most Mexicans yet it's still not fixed. What gives ?

    At some point when your government is so corrupt, you got to take weapon and organize yourself. It's sad.

    by aucisson_masque
  • These self defense groups sound great until you think about all the problems with vigilante groups. Also they have a history of turning into cartels.

    That and all things being equal I suspect most of the people in these groups would rather not be fighting.

    by int0x29
  • So you're forced to join a gang and fight their rival gangs, or you form your own gang equipped with rifles and grenades ready to commit violence, so that you can fight against joining that gang, or any other gang. Either way you're in a violent gang.

    I guess I'd rather have the state maintain a monopoly on violence.

    by tejohnso

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