Whack-a-mole: The Mexican Drug War: A Nation Descends into Violence

From the English edition of the German magazine, Der Spiegel, a detailed over-view of the real political and social crisis presented to Mexico by the drug cartels.

The Mexican Drug War: A Nation Descends into Violence - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International: "Could the legalization of drugs be the answer, as some experts suggest? Or maybe more border controls? Would a new national police force and a reform of the government solve the problem? Or is it best to simply leave the cartels alone, which for years was the government's policy?

These are the questions that Mexico is asking itself in 2010, the 200th anniversary of the beginning of its war of independence. The filmmaker Luis Estrada has given his native country a bitter film for its anniversary: 'El Infierno' (Hell). It is the portrait of a world consisting of nothing but narcos, whores and corruption.

'We have a national problem, and it's called impunity,' says Estrada, a soft-spoken man with glasses and a gray beard. 'People who break the law aren't punished. That's why many believe that honesty doesn't pay. We Mexicans are in hell, that's for sure. I just don't know which pit of hell it is at the moment.'" Dec. 23, 2010