Poor Mexico: Reports from the cartel wars

A number of stories related to Mexican drug cartels and their relationship with US-side prison gangs, as well as other articles about US-side cartel infrastructure and organized crime in Mexico and Latin America, caught my attention over the holidays and may interest Grits readers:

• Houston Chronicle: Cartels cooperate with prison gangs
• Austin Statesman: Authorities work long hours to stamp out Mexican mafia
• Brownsville Herald: Prison gangs enforce brutal reign
• SA Express News: Prosecutors like RICO
• Huffington Post: Mexican drug cartels recruit young latinos in Southern California
• Catholic Online: Mexican drug cartels recruiting American teens
• Gant News Service: DEA: Mexican drug cartel extortion moving more into US
• McAllen Monitor: Gulf cartel lieutenant linked to various incidents on US side
• AP: Mexican cartels build own national radio system
  
• Wired: Radio Zeta: How Mexican drug cartels stay connected
• Global Post: Mexico police tortured suspects in Ciudad Juarez, human rights body says
• El Paso Times: Juarez forensic team a work in progress
• Honduras Weekly: Holding the United States accountable

Reading these stories reminds me of Porfirio Diaz's famous lament: "Poor Mexico, so far from God, so close to the United States!"