Mexico: 507 Dead...in just 14 days

Fourteen days into the New Year: 507 executed, among those 3 mayors and 22 minors.

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In the first 14 days of 2011, every 40 minutes a person has been killed in the country in incidents related to organized crime, marking the beginning of the most violent year in the current administration.

According to Grupo Reforma's executionmeter, which collects data on drug related deaths across the country, 507 drug related deaths have been recorded, so far, in 2011.

Compared to the same period of 2010, which registered 428 drug warrelated deaths, there has been an 18% increase.

In 2007 and 2008, during the same period, drug related deaths were 112 and 111, respectively.

And, by 2009, that number jumped to 179 homicides.

States with the highest number of executions this year are Chihuahua with 96, Guerrero with 78, Sinaloa with 73, Durango with 52, Nuevo Leon with 41 and Jalisco with 37.

Acapulco suffered the most violent deaths in a single day on January 8, when it reported 25 people executed by organized crime, 14 of them beheaded.

In terms of official operations, last Thursday night 14 people were killed, including two soldiers, in a clash between authorities and gunmen at a drug gang safe house in Xalapa, Veracruz.

Among the victims were three mayors and 22 minors, including two young sisters, aged 8 and 12, who were caught in a crossfire on January 11 in Guadalajara.

Also noted is the tragic death of a 2 month old baby in Guachochi, in the mountains of Chihuahua, who was killed along with his parents on January 13.

Experts agreed yesterday that, despite government efforts, the number of executions will not decrease this year.

For Martin Barron, researcher and professor at the National Institute of Penal Sciences, impunity is an element that contributes significantly to the increase in killings because most of the killings are never investigated and, therefore, offenders are never punished.

"What the state authorities have done is say: 'I'm not getting involved because it was an execution, because they were guns, rifles, etc., it's not my responsibility, it's the responsibility of the federal authorities because it is drug trafficking, " said Barron.

"So, that's how the State evades its responsibility, "he said, "because we must remember that the murders are crimes of common law.

"The issue is stalled, in limbo, it has yet to be resolved. "

Carlos Humberto Toledo, an expert on national security issues, felt the positive results that the federal government says it's making in it's anti-drug fight, have, in reality, never been verified.

"Organized crime has not been weakened. On the contrary, it is active, operative, strong, and fighting tooth and nail for their territory, " said Toledo.