In the last week two events in the UK have put Mexico on the news-map around the World. A unique BBC TV series showcased the very best of Mexico. At the same time the publication of the Armed Conflict Survey 2017, the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ “in-depth analysis of the political, military and humanitarian dimensions of the 37 major armed conflicts in the world”. With each one depicting pretty dissimilar visions of Mexico, they force us to analyse the country’s socio-political context.

“Mexico, Earth’s festival of life” is one of BBC World’s latest productions. It is an interesting three part series in Sunday’s prime time viewing slot showing Mexico’s landscape, culture and nature. (In case you have not watched it, I recommend you do so this weekend). “A land full of natural riches, of towering giants and secret rivers” is how the producers of the series describe Mexico. And it is true, over 700 species of reptiles, more than 400 mammals and 26,000 different plants live across its more than 760,000 square miles. As the 14th largest country in the world, Mexico is home to almost 12% of the world’s biodiversity. The BBC is also right when it says that Mexico is really “a country rich in colour and culture … where great civilisations rose”. Chocolate, vanilla, avocado, tomato, and many varieties of chillies and beans are just some of the culinary ingredients that Mexico has given to the World. The Mayans, for instance, created a number system approximately 1,000 years more advanced than the Europeans of that time and developed one of the most accurate ancient calendrical systems. And the Aztecs were one of the biggest “nations” in the world, with a population of over half a million, more than twice as big as Paris, the biggest European city at the time.

The Telegraph’s arts and media columnist Jasper Rees wrote earlier this week that Evania Wrigh, the series’ director-producer, “should expect some sort of Mexican order of merit”. And I couldn’t agree more. The series produced a natural level of excitement and made me remember how proud I am of Mexico, its people and its culture, particularly as I was watching it from the Falkland Islands, over 9,000 kms away from home.  Nevertheless, the series also made me remember that, regrettably, not all is bright and shining in Mexico. Beginning with the almost imminent extinction of the Mexican vaquita porpoise, or the highly endangered Mexican grey wolf [both the result of corruption and a lack of law enforcement], Mexico is facing important socio-political challenges on different fronts.  And the IISS Armed Conflict Survey2017 shed some light on the matter.

According to the IISS, with over 23,000 homicides in 2016, Mexico is now involved in the second deadliest armed conflict in the world, behind only Syria, where 50,000 people died as a result of the civil war. The IISS report, though, was the result of two main analytical inconsistencies.

1. As stated by Mexican analyst Patricio Estevez and recognised by a Research Associate for IISS, -contrary to IISS’ description- the report seemed to be more determined by the availability of data than by an in-depth and appropriate statistical study. Put simply: contrary to IISS assumptions not every homicide in Mexico is related to an “armed-conflict” (even if it did exist).
2. The IISS death comparison results are not particularly useful for understanding the severity of violent scenarios, either in Mexico or in the rest of the world. By ignoring the important differences in population size, IISS seemed to obviate the fact that, as stated by Alejandro Hope, the probability of dying in Syria is twelve times bigger than in Mexico.

Notwithstanding the report’s inconsistencies, it is undeniable that Mexico is becoming an increasingly dangerous country. It is estimated Mexico will have 30,000 homicides this year, making it the most violent year in Mexico’s modern history. In 2014, Viridiana Rios identified that being a Municipal President in Mexico was the third most dangerous profession in the world, and corruption was so rampant that Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index ranked Mexico 103 among 174 countries. Just two days ago, the BBC also reported the assassination of drug-trade reporter Javier Valdez in the City of Culiacan, one of the drug-trafficking strongholds in Mexico. One day later, the deputy-director of a local news agency and her son were murdered by organised crime. Their death followed that of other five journalistsacross –what analyst Philip Caputo once called– the “virtual narco-republics” of Guerrero, Veracruz, Chihuahua and Morelos.

These contrasting views allow us to state, as Alejandro Hope did, that Mexico is neither Syria, nor Switzerland in terms of socio-political advancement, as it seems to be internationally portrayed. Nevertheless, the  failures of the IISS on the one hand, and the BBC’s adorned representation of Mexico on the other, enable us to identify at least two key weaknesses in Mexico’s governance:

a) Lack of transparency and accountability, evidenced by the absence of accurate data on crime. It started well with former President Calderon but suddenly stopped as soon as the current administration took office.

b) Improving international perceptions is superimposed to attending structural national problems: Perhaps you remember President’s Calderon “Royal Tour” projectto promote Mexico internationally whilst the country was subsumed in a security crisis? See Aristegui’s report on the matter. Well, we have a saying in Mexico: “think the worst and you won’t be far wrong”. Whilst I do not want to do that, this seems to be happening again.
 

Overall, as pointed out by Hope, to avoid providing “silly and useless” solutions to complex problems, better and up-to-date data is essential, but also more complete and thorough analyses of it. Without this, no effective strategy or strategies can be devised to tackle insecurity. Mexico’s government is doing its part, ranking among the top 20 countries in the world for open data. It is now our task as academics, politicians and analysts to increase government accountability by scrutinising the available information, particularly in public security and human rights, where there is still much to do.

International reputation matters, and matters a lot, particularly for a country highly dependent on the tourism industry. Nevertheless, the BBC series forces us to demand better governmental attention to environmental protection. It is not possible to praise Mexico’s 4th place in global biodiversity while it ranks 65th in Yale and Columbia’s Environmental Performance Index. Conservation, though, is not just a government task, it involves us all, from Mexican citizens to international tourists, from fishing companies to enforcement agencies, from scientists to media, etc. Mexico, the BBC series said, is a unique place, where great civilisations have risen. It is time to work for it not to become the place where a great civilisation falls.

Jose Angel Garcia is a PhD researcher at the Department of Politics of the University of Sheffield. His research revolves around governance, co-production of public policy and civil society development in young democracies. He tweets @JangelGarciav.

Image:  Filip Gielda