I’ve been a long time fan of Zeta Seminario going back to the days of Jesus Blancornelas. Adela Navarro’s visit to Toronto deserved a much wider audience. Her description of how the 3 (or more) cartels in Tijuana and Baja California choose their preferred political and police allies has been described as the result of a “failed transition” to democracy by other writers such as Edgar Buscaglia.
When Vicente Fox won the 2000 Presidential election, he weakened the centralized power of the State and unleaded a system of federated states. That’s when the cartels began to expand and pick and choose allies in politics and in law enforcement.