Occasionally some analyst will say that the drug cartels have no political ideology. However, maybe a better way to look at it is that their ideology is their business.
A farmers' group or teachers' union or corporation or NGO will support politicians that are favorable and oppose politicians that are unfavorable to their organization. The Mexican DTOs are political actors, just much more violent and less democratic than those previous examples in that they take up arms to threaten and kill those they disagree with, bribe those they can bribe and support those who best help their business.
Just because they're not Marxists or anarchists or "freedom fighters" doesn't mean their ideology can't be defined. Mexico's DTOs have political preferences and policies they want politicians to take.
Would it make a difference if we thought about and fought against "narco-ideology" rather than ignoring it or dismissing criminals' political preferences as irrelevant?
