Mayor Jose Lopez sat behind his desk, wiping sweat and exhausting his phone with calls that went unanswered. He called the local garrison, and as soon as they heard his hope for soldiers to maintain order,
they simply hung up the phone.
"Do you even listen to yourself?"
"What do we use to maintain stability?"
"You mean with soldiers?"
"Sorry, they're out there getting chased and shot at."
The culture in Mexico is such that by day they are soldiers, by night they become drug traffickers, carrying their weapons to join the battles of various cartels. If they win, they get a bonus, if they lose... well, the garrison can ask the security department for condolence money.
Unexpected, right?
In 2007, the second year of Calderon's drug war, he suddenly wanted to see the list of military sacrifices, intending to pay his respects or to tell the people how many were sacrificing for the nation.
And the result?
Over 60,000 people had died in 2006.
F*ck!