Prison Break in Nuevo Laredo Accomplished with Either Threat or Corruption

Over one hundred and fifty felons "escaped" from the federal prison in Nuevo Laredo (across the river from Laredo, Texas) by walking through the main entrance that had been somehow left open.  The prisoners left their cells, then their units, then walked through the main entrance and out to freedom.  By the time the news was out, there was little doubt that the "escape" had been accomplished with the blessings of the warden.  The only bright side is apparently the prisoners simply left instead of killing the guards and other staff before their exodus.  The only question remaining is whether the prison warden accepted bribes to release the prisoners, or accepted an offer that "he could not refuse."  Perhaps he traded the the prisoners' freedom for the sparing of his own life by one or more of the drug cartels.  Once again, this is another blatant display of the arrogance and disdain held for the Calderon led "war on drugs" as well as for the very idea of "government by law." 

Mr. Felipe Calderon, Mexico's president, clearly does not have his country under control, as now even the federal prisons have caved in to criminal demands, or worse, actually become part of the criminal payroll.  The military and federal police seem to be relatively loyal to the legitimate government, but how many other institutions at local, state, and federal level are in the hands of the drug cartels and other criminal gangs? 

I blogged a few days ago concerning the question of why the war in Mexico (as I call this situation) should even matter to citizens of the United States.  Well, if you live in Laredo or along the Texas border, you now have one more very serious reason to "care" and to demand state and federal protection.  There is little doubt that many of the escaped prisoners made a bee-line for the Rio Bravo and the relative safety to be found in Texas.  No doubt many of these criminals have contacts in Texas who are willing to harbor them.  The police and border patrol officers in the general area have, on top of all the regular headaches, the additional problem of detecting and detaining the Mexican prison escapees who may enter Texas.  And Texas citizens, many of them unarmed, have the additional fear of being targeted by these criminals as they attempt to penetrate further into Texas and the other border states.

With the northern prisons now under or potentially under the control of the cartels, one has to wonder what national institutions will next fall under criminal control.  If prison wardens do not have the fortitude to stand their grand against threats and use of criminal force, what other institutions could be expected to do the same?  It appears that, as in the days following the Mexican Revolution and the continued violence under the outlaw rulers in the border states of Mexico, Northern Mexico is once again out of the hands of the legitimate government.  Only with great determination and military might can Calderon once again secure his nation.