Timeline Of The Mexican Drug War
The timeline of some of the most relevant events in the Mexican Drug War is set out below. Although violence between drug cartels had been occurring for three decades, the Mexican government held a generally passive stance regarding cartel violence through the 1980s and early 2000s.
That changed on December 11, 2006, when the newly elected President Felipe Calderón sent 6,500 Mexican Army soldiers to the state of Michoacán to end drug violence there. This action is regarded as the first major retaliation made against the cartel violence, and is generally viewed as the starting point of the Mexican Drug War between the government and the drug cartels. As time passed, Calderón continued to escalate his anti-drug campaign, in which there are now about 45,000 troops involved along with state and federal police forces.
Note: To make the list more manageable, murdered politicians are listed separately in list of politicians killed in the Mexican Drug War, and journalists assassinated are listed at list of journalists killed in the Mexican Drug War. Other notable events in the ongoing conflict are included below.
Read more about Timeline Of The Mexican Drug War: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
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