To optimists, the arrest in Mexico this week of the world's most wanted drug lord, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, and Mexicos bloody drug war generally, are proof that the Mexican government is standing up to the cartels. But pessimists look at Mexico and see a failing state on Americas border.
More than 80,000 people have been killed in Mexicos brutal conflict, with the victims beheaded, shot, tortured and worse. Civil authorities regularly quit or join up with the warlords, and entire towns have been depopulated as government forces and warlords vie for control.
