View of a marijuana field at Los Algodones community in Culiacan, Sinaloa State, Mexico on Jan. 30, 2012.
When Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney squared off to debate foreign policy on Oct. 22, the only mention of Latin America was when Romney called the region a “huge opportunity” for the United States. There was no mention of the estimated 60,000 people who have died in drug-related violence in Mexico in the past six years, double the number believed to have been killed in Syria’s civil war. But just as the presidential candidates didn’t want to discuss Mexico’s drug war, is seems Americans don’t want to read about it either. In July, Mexico’s new president Enrique Peña Nieto hinted at shifts in the country’s strategy away from large drug busts to focus more on protecting ordinary citizens from violence and kidnapping by cartels. As Nieto begins his first full year of a six-year term, it will be important to see whether this new approach works — and whether Americans will start paying attention.