Transnational Networks

Somaliland votes in Presidential Elections

    For the first time since 2003, and after two years of delays and disputes over voter registration, Somalilanders will vote in the second Presidential election in their young country's history.

    Founded in 1991, after the Somali National Movement (SNM) defeated President Barre's troops in Northern Somalia, Somaliland remains unrecognized. While under international law their existence is relatively sound – British Somaliland, its former territory, joined together with Italian Somaliland (Puntland and southern Somalia) after five days as an independent country in its own right – the rest of the world still supports the Transitional Federal Government, which has little representation from Northern Somali clans. Siad Barre virtually ignored the north of Somalia for decades during his rule, which saw him invest most of his country's wealth into the then-capital Mogadishu. Then, when the SNM was founded in the late 1980s, Barre's troops brutally bombed and destroyed critical northern towns and slaughtered countless civilians. The SNM's victory was not intended to set Somaliland onto a path of independence, but popular pressure forced the SNM-led government to declare independence.

Mexico: Where the Dark Fields of the Republic Roll on Through the Night

Another day on the killing streets of Juaréz (Source: http://publicintelligence.net)

    When Felipe Calderón won 2006's contentious elections, he pledged to bring war to the drug trafficking organizations (DTOs)* that were corrupting, corroding and murdering their way towards immense riches. Most local police forces in the country have long made their choice of plata o plomo (silver or lead; the bribe or the bullet), as have the state and federal police forces. The army, meanwhile, is somehow considered less corrupt but are renowned for their brutal torture and kidnappings.

    Calderon has deployed numerous federal police and soldiers to border regions and areas facing high levels of drug production or trafficking. As of late 2009, at least 40,000 have been dispersed and it is likely that more have followed in recent months. But the violence, mayhem and murders have not stopped. In fact, since deploying government forces the situation has gotten much worse. The numbers below might appear to speak for themselves, but really they do not. This list of ejecuciones (DTO-related murders) must be considered indicative, as the Mexican army and police forces also murder, but for a Mexican reporter to tell this would result in his or her death – so it is not reported. If one is lucky, an army murder is classified as “cartel-related”, and is included.