Mexico drugs war editorial sparks national debate

A NEWSPAPER’S stunning, front-page editorial of seeming surrender to drug capos has set off a national debate from the presidential palace to Mexico’s equivalent of the water cooler – its ubiquitous town squares.

“What do you want from us?” El Diario de Juarez asked the cartels whose war for control of the border city across from El Paso, Texas, has killed nearly 5,000 people – including two El Diario journalists – in less than two years. “You are currently the de facto authorities in this city ... Tell us what you expect from us as a newspaper?”

For many Mexicans, it was a voice that finally exposed in a very public and unusual way the intimidation felt across the country.