The above pic leads an Atlantic photo essay with the eye-opening title “Mexico’s Drug War: 50,000 Dead in 6 Years.” Let’s just say, it’s among the tamer images. The text lede is powerful:
Since Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón began an all-out assault on drug cartels in 2006, more than 50,000 people have lost their lives across the country in a nearly-continuous string of shootouts, bombings, and ever-bloodier murders. Just last weekend, 49 decapitated bodies were reportedly discovered on a highway in northern Mexico. The New York Times reports on an increasing numbness and apathy among Mexicans after years of worsening carnage, about which they’ve been able to do virtually nothing. Gathered here is a collection of recent photographs from Mexico’s drug war and the people so horribly affected by it.
While this story has of course received coverage in the American press, it may well be the most undercovered major story of our times. The exploits of the Kardashian family have garnered more press than a massive civil war on our own border.
