Blame Dope Inc. and British Empire for Killings of Americans in Mexico

Nov. 5, 2019 (EIRNS)—The horrific Nov. 4 murder of nine Americans—six children and three adults—by drug cartels in Sonora, Mexico sent shock waves throughout Mexico and the United States. The murder victims belonged to the Lebaron family, members of the La Mora religious community, an offshoot of the Mormons, who have resided in northern Mexico for decades. A convoy of several family members was traveling between the states of Sonora and Chihuahua when it was attacked, killing three women and six children. Another seven children survived the attack. Four of the children were burned alive when their van caught on fire.

There has been much speculation that the Lebarons weren’t the intended victims but were just caught in the crossfire between rival drug gangs. This is unlikely, since the family has a history of confrontation with drug cartels and had armed themselves with sophisticated weapons and organized self-defense units.

Rather, this incident should be seen as a sequel to the one in Culiacan a few weeks ago, which was intended to completely destabilize Mexico, portray President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as incompetent, and drive a wedge between the United States and Mexico. In the Culiacan case, EIR emphasized, and as Lyndon LaRouche had always insisted, the culprit was Dope, Inc. and the British Empire, which can only be defeated internationally, not within Mexico.

Any attempt to portray the situation differently is wrong. In today’s daily press briefing, López Obrador was pressed about the series of tweets that President Donald Trump had issued after the attack, urging Mexico to “wage WAR on the drug cartels,” and reporting that the U.S. “is willing and able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively.” López Obrador welcomed Trump’s offer of cooperation, but said he rejected the idea of waging war against the cartels, because “we declared war” once under former President Felipe Calderon, “and it didn’t work ... it’s a failed strategy.” He described Trump’s offer as “respectful,” but emphasized that Mexico is a sovereign country and that no other country can intervene in Mexico unless there is a cooperation agreement, or Mexico requests assistance.

The fallacy in López Obrador’s argument is the simple fact that no real war on drugs was ever waged in Mexico—or in the U.S., for that matter. If there had been, the executives of the Queen’s drug bank, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC), would be sitting in jail. The friendly phone call between López Obrador and Trump later today, indicates there is a basis for real cooperation, that need only be expanded into the tripartite U.S.-China-Mexico program proposed by EIR. In the phone call, López Obrador offered his condolences for the deaths of the Americans (who had dual citizenship), and vowed that justice would be served, Milenio reported. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard reported there was no mention of Trump’s proposed war in the call, and that the U.S. President expressed “total confidence” in Mexican authorities.