The gang violence is extreme, among the worst that Mexico has endured: In one city after another, mostly along the U.S. border, rival drug cartels are rioting, setting cars and stores on fire, shooting and killing innocent bystanders, including at least one child last week.
The causes are many, as is fear that the Mexican government is incapable of controlling a deadly wave of chaos that may already be the new normal.
The latest outburst erupted on Thursday night, after a few days of quiet, when armed cartel henchmen torched random cars in the small state of Colima in response to the government arrest of their leader. Last week, narcos from the Jalisco Nueva Generacion Cartel set 25 Oxxo convenience stores on fire in central Mexico following other arrests.
