Holy Warriors of the Cartels: Religious Conflict within the Mexican “War on Drugs”

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1. Introduction
On Saturday December 28, police found five bodies in Michoacán state; three near Los Erandenis bridge in Tarimbaro, two more in the state capital Morelia. All the bodies were decapitated; their heads were found nearby. It was the last case of violence in 2013 attributed to one of the fresh cartels, calling itself Los Caballeros Templarios (LCT), literally “Knights Templar,” after the religious order, dedicated to fight in the name of Christianity.
These “Templars” seem to symbolize the new phase of so-called “war on drugs,” going on in Mexico since president Calderón’s declaration in 2006. Knights Templar are not only responsible for most of the methamphetamine production flowing to United States and third most powerful drug trafficking organization (DTO) in Mexico but also a religious sect, using so called “divine justice” to justify the elimination of their enemies.
LCT are the latest proof that “war on drugs” in Mexico is not purely secular in nature; this secular nature has been long time disputed anyway, thanks to religious aspects, such as the widespread popularity of narcocultura.
In this paper, I intend to advocate that Mexican “war on drugs” has in fact also evolved into religious conflict, perceived as a holy war at least by LCT. The preposition for such holy war, according to Eller, is existence of the concept of “just war” from the side of the holy warriors: Cosmic dualism envisions the forces of good and evil locked in a cosmic struggle for domination. Humans are and should be engaged in this contest—“warriors for God” and “Christian soldiers”—in which there is no neutrality. LCT’s “Divine Justice” is a good example of such concept. Furthermore, Knights Templar are presenting themselves as armed ...

... middle of paper ...

...reated by failed state and failed (Catholic) Church has been filled with new religions and also narcocultura.
3. Narcocultura and drug-related religiosity
3.1. What is narcocultura?
What Mexicans call narcocultura, is a unique set of cultural activities, religious practices and alternative values related to drug trafficking. It is a true culture in its complex meaning, including specific style of dressing, dance moves or aesthetics. It even developed its own music genre, narcocorrido; songs narrating the deeds of brave, honorable drug-traffickers. These alternative values present drug trafficking as ethical.
Some authors like Bradley Tatar consider narcocultura to be one of the forms of abovementioned cultura norteña, being mostly present in the northern states bordering U.S. and mountainous regions with strong opposition to the center represented by Mexico City.

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