Last month, a wave of violence abruptly shut down parts of northern Mexico.

Vehicles set on fire, massive roadblocks in place.

It's just the latest in a string of violent attacks throughout Mexico.

Cities have seen widespread arson, shootings, and vandalism.

To restore order, the administration of Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador

responded as it usually does by sending in the military.

Thousands of Mexican troops are now patrolling very popular destinations like Tijuana and Ensenada.

But it wasn't supposed to be like this.

Lopez Obrador came into office promising to get troops off the streets.

Instead, he's more than doubled their numbers.

He claims there's just no other way to handle Mexico's narco violence.

I'm Gustavoiano.

You're listening to The Times. Essential news from the LA Times. It's Friday, September 2nd, 2022.

Today, we look at Mexico's delicate dance with its military,

an institution that's among the most trusted in the nation

and potentially its most dangerous.

My LA Times colleague and foreign correspondent Kate Lintecum has covered Lopez Obrador for years.

Kate, welcome the Times.

It's good to be here.

So we talked about Lopez Obrador earlier this year on The Times, about that weird referendum that he launched against himself.

But we really didn't get into one of the big

promises he ran on when he won the presidential election in 2018, an end to Mexico's

...