Mexico cartel hangs dead bodies from bridge

In the city of Uruapan, 19 dead bodies were found a week, writes The Guardian. Nine of the bodies hung half naked on a bridge in the city and next to them appeared a banner with the text "Wonderful people, continue with your routines". The banner must have been signed with the Jalsico New Generation cartel initials in red.

"This type of public, theatrical violence where you don't just kill - you boast about killing - is supposed to scare rivals and send a message to authorities," Alejandro Hope, security analyst in Mexico, told AP News Agency.

At least ten other shattered bodies were found in two other locations near the bridge. Advocate Adrián López Solís has previously said that it is a conflict between competing cartels over the control of the region's drug trafficking. The recent deaths also appear to be linked to revival battles, says López Solis.

"Unfortunately, the conflict has resulted in these types of events that justify public concern," the lawyer told the AP.

Falko Ernst, international crisis researcher focusing on Mexico's cartels, argues that the conflict is not just about the local drug market. It also includes the fight to take control of the region's avocado market - a billion-dollar industry.

- The big attraction here is avocado, he tells The Guardian.

The British daily newspaper has previously reported that up to four avocado trucks are stolen in Mexico each day through organized crime. Ernst also believes that the intent of the killing is to intimidate competing criminal groups, their members, families and Mexican authorities.

The Spanish newspaper El País has also written a longer report on the crime of the avocado market, and believes that the unrest was at its worst about five years ago. Then the then head of APEAM, an association for avocado producers in Michoacán, resigned after being caught on film while sitting and talking with a well-known cart leader, along with businessmen and local politicians. That's what El País reports.