Los Zetas Cartel Is Throwing Parties for Kids

Last weekend, hundreds of kids in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas danced to bands and played with clowns hired by the Los Zetas cartel. In Ciudad Victoria, the state's capital, children attended parties and received gifts from the crime organization's proxies as part of a series of celebrations in honor of Día del Niño [Children's Day] according to Mexican magazine Proceso. As entertainers welcomed kids to games and trampolines, cartel members set up notices throughout the city, urging the population to rethink Los Zetas' role, and thanking children for bringing joy to their homes. "May God bless you all and always guide you on the good path to righteousness that you must follow to be men and women of good. God bless our little ones. Att. Los Z," the message read. For several decades, kingpins and drug trafficking organizations in countries like Mexico and Colombia have courted the civil population with money, presents and donations in an effort to garner popular support. Pablo Escobar in Medellín as well as drug dealers from around Sinaloa were known and admired for their generosity, which was implemented through events such as those that took place in Tamaulipas. The phenomenon is far from new, except for Los Zetas. As the most powerful Mexican cartel, this gesture could point to a strategic and dangerous political shift...more