Starting Date: 3rd of February, 2016
Post Quality Note: The post below is the very minimum of what i expect here.
Chronicle I: "Saving Mexico"
Mexico City, United Mexican States
5th(XV) day of March
That had been the title of that issue of Time magazine. It was a simpler time, the winter of 2012, with Enrique Peña Nieto leading the PRI back to power in Mexico, whilst the Obama administration saw a second term. He became the talk of the day, the young president married to a Mexican soap opera actress and his long promised reforms against organized crime and the economy. It seemed Mexico had begun to step in the right direction.
Less than twelve months later, Mexico face planted. Violence exploded after Mexico's "Kingpin strategy" created power vacuums across the cartels, leading to violent internal fighting and eventually splintering. The spikes in crime led to the deployment of Mexican military forces to the areas and, therefore, more violence. Mass murders and disappearances became increasingly common, especially when protests against them began. Soon enough, it was impossible to tell which events were done by the cartels and which by law enforcement. The line between organized crime and government blurred to the point of nonexistence.
The mediocre performance of the economy despite hyped bills and reforms didn't help public perception of the government, which was seen as corrupt after the First Lady's multi million dollar house scandal and the acquiring of a new presidential plane, the most expensive in the world. Poverty remained stagnant while southern rural states saw the Drug War escalate as citizens took up arms against the cartels and government forces alike. And who would blame them? Both acted the same.
Now, it was the first months of a new year, the Pope had been brought to Mexico in an attempt to divert public attention from the planned mass murders of certain trouble making activists Peña Nieto had targeted. Ushering away his aides as the cameras poured in, he quickly joined the Pope on his modified Ford-150. Waving to the hundreds of onlookers on the streets of Mexico City, a red laser silently appeared on the president's temple. Before the cameras had recorded a second of it, the president's head was gone, replaced by a mist of blood. Out of the terrified masses emerged dozens of armed men, firing into the security forces. Caught off guard, the primary police officers were quickly dispatched, leaving Pope Francis exposed. Soon enough, his transport was riddled with bulletholes. It would take another minute before the second wave of law enforcement arrived, and the militants quickly dispatched.
A giant manhunt for the survivors and all those involved quickly ensued, with the cartels claiming responsibility hours later. Relations between the Holy See and Mexico strained as an international crisis developed. Secretary of Interior Osorio Chong, next in succession, quickly called for general elections, with only 10% of each state being counted with the help of UN election assistance. At the end of the month, the results were in and an independent civil activist had gained the presidency. Emiliano Salinas, some say with the influence of his father's past presidency on Mexican politics, would be inaugurated in less than a week. And he would inherit a country at the brink of collapse.
