Consequences Of Violence In Mexico

Part B: Examine the consequences of the conflict on individuals, groups and countries either directly or indirectly affected by the conflict
There are many impacts and consequences of the criminal violence in Mexico upon the civilians experiencing it, the criminal groups causing it and the countries trying to stop it. Criminal violence damages the psychological, economical and social areas of life for Mexican citizens and various other countries involved.

The individuals, due to the nature of the conflict, experience most of the consequences of criminal violence. The results of research (based on a sample of 333 people from 15 of Mexico’s 32 states, part of a study done by Mauricio Meschoulam) showed that 51 percent of the people surveyed said violence affected their work life, 72 percent their social life and 58 percent their family life. Furthermore 42 percent said that violence had an impact on their economic status

Pena Nieto, the newly appointed president, began his term by improving coordination between intelligence and operations agencies and calling for judicial reform, resulting in high profile captures of drug lords. This different approach caused a decrease in homicides, but an overall increase in kidnappings and extortion cases, showing a diversification of criminal activities. Furthermore, Mexico City, which had previously had lower levels of violence, there was a 21 percent increase in homicide. Calderon’s and Nieto’s initiatives both focused on an issue and improved it to an extent, but their successes were diminished by the fact that the severity of other issues increased. In Nieto’s case the statistics clearly showed that even though he reduced homicide there was still an increase in crime, it just diversified and homicide actually increased in Mexico