I'll tell you I don't know, but am very frustrated. I have taken probably 20 car trips to Mexico and have always envisioned spending a significant part of my retirment down there. Just like you have the snowbirds in So. Tx during the winter, a number of lovely parts of Mexico in the central plateau with their year long sunny skies and cool climate have had the WinterTexans flocking there to avoid the heat. I have talked to dozens of people including many Americans and Mexicians who go there frequently about what to do and am still puzzled and so are they. Generally they don't think the current very militarized "drug war" is helping. An artice I read recently says that to the extent that we at times make it temporarily hard for the cocaine to cross, it is causing the drug lords to resort to dumping the drugs locally to ordinary Mexicans at a reduced cost and now the incidence of crack use in Mexico is increasing. I don't know whether the persons pushing the drug war are so scared they can't think straight about drug addiction or whether the governments of Mexico and the US get a slice of the drug profits so they don't mind the status . Something is not working and their policies seem to make the violence worse than before. I do think that the American government's major push to have Mexico have a real live drug war between the Mexican military and the drug lords has greatly escalated the deaths and the affects of folks who like to travel to Mexico. What is going on? Is it just another way to sell weapons for the military industrial complex? Is it an attempt to basically control militarily Mexco in case the vast number of poor folks vote in a leftist? Is Obama I would argue a simplistic yet sincere old school drug warrior? The billions and billions that are spent to incarcerate millions and do the major police activity certainly could be employed to probably increase the access to state of the art drug rehabilitation many times. As an example I have a nephhew who recently has gone to some sort of Christian drug rehab program of unknown efficacy that is free, since he has no insurance and it is hard to find free drug treatment. In his case time in prison and the illegality has not caused him to be able to permanently quit, as he craves drugs uncontrolably despite periods of sobriety, though he is not a bad guy.
Mexico is a corrupt screwed up country with little to no power to control the masses. Just annex them already along with Canada and slowly add them to the union. DD
I have been following the news from afar. It just seems so crazy how more and more people get brutally killed and the police seems unable to do anything about it.
Mexicans are going through a similar situation the Colombians had to go through in the late 80's and 90's when Pablo Escobar and the other cartels were running the show. They're either going to have to fight the cartels or let the cartels "win" and let them corrupt every aspect of their government with their billions in drug money. The violence will go down if the drug war is stopped, but life will still suck for the average mexican if a large percentage of their government is corrupt. From what I have read, one of the main reasons why the military is so heavily used in Mexico is because the local police forces and to some extent the mexican federal police are too corrupt, under equipped and having low moral. I also read a large portion of the mexican military is recruited from the more rural areas that aren't heavily exposed to the corruption of the cartels, so they are a bit harder to corrupt. By some estimates there are 100,000+ armed thugs working for the cartels, often operating openly, i'm not sure how to combat them without using the military. Using the military in a law enforcement capacity is never ideal, but its what the Mexicans have to work with. I don't think mexico has reached rock bottom yet and things are going to get a lot worse over the next couple years, especially when that PEMEX money starts to run out. I'm more worried about whats going to happen south of the border then I am about Al-Qaeda. As of what to do with Mexico and their drug problem, I have no idea. Mexico is probably ****ed.
Drugs are not directly "to blame" for all of Mexico's ills, but prohibition has certainly exacerbated many problems and has dramatically increased the violence in Mexico, particularly on the Mexican side of the border. ________________________________________________________________ Latin America: Mexico Drug War Update http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/632/mexico_drug_war_update by Bernd Debusmann, Jr. Mexican drug trafficking organizations make billions each year smuggling drugs into the United States, profiting enormously from the prohibitionist drug policies of the US government. Since Mexican president Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 and called the armed forces into the fight against the so-called cartels, prohibition-related violence has killed over 19,000 people, with a death toll of nearly 8,000 in 2009 and over 3,000 so far in 2010. The increasing militarization of the drug war and the arrest of several high-profile drug traffickers have failed to stem the flow of drugs -- or the violence -- whatsoever. The Merida initiative, which provides $1.4 billion over three years for the US to assist the Mexican government with training, equipment and intelligence, has so far failed to make a difference. Here are a few of the latest developments in Mexico's drug war: Joaquin Guzman-Loera, aka El Chapo (wanted photo from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, US State Dept.) Friday, May 7 In Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila, police discovered the body of Froylan Collazo Badillo, a local police commander. Badillo had been shot and killed as his car waited at a stoplight. Saturday, May 8 Near Acapulco, police discovered three headless bodies showing signs of torture. Additionally, police found five bodies in a car left on a dirt road 50 miles to the north, near the small settlement of Tecpan de Galeana. The men had also been tortured and shot repeatedly. Sunday, May 9 In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, five men were killed after a shootout between two armed groups. Reports indicate that at least 15 bullet riddled vehicles were found at the scene of the incident, which took place on the San Fernando-Mendez highway. This brings to at least 14 people killed since the beginning of April in and around the town of San Fernando, which has a populace of 60,000. Tamaulipas has seen a dramatic increase in violence over the last few months as the Zetas Organization battles their former employers, the Gulf Cartel. Monday, May 10 In Sonora, the body of an American citizen was discovered partially buried in a creek 60 miles from the city of Nogales. Ronald Ryan, 67, was from Phoenix, AZ and had been reported missing May 3rd. Three men who had left Ryan's truck at a carwash in the town of Santa Ana were arrested on Tuesday. The men, all between the ages of 18 and 21, were found to be in possession of assault rifles and mar1juana. Local media reported that two of the men are the son and nephew of Jose Vasquez Villagrana, a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel who was arrested by Mexican authorities in February. In Guanajuato, three men were killed at an auto mechanic's shop. The three men were all members of a local motorcycle club. Just hours earlier, two other men were shot dead in a market in another part of the city. It is unclear if the killings were related. This brings to 58 the number of murders in the city of Guanajuato this year. Tuesday, May 11 Captured cartel documents leaked to La Reforma newspaper indicate widespread payoffs of Mexican police and soldiers. The documents, which demonstrate a sophisticated counterintelligence operation on the part of the Sinaloa Cartel, also indicate the Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has been in possession of the personal cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses of officials who have been involved in the search for him. Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel is currently considered to be the strongest in Mexico by the US and Mexican governments. Wednesday, May 12 Near Monterrey, the army raided a large training camp thought to be used by drug traffickers. The raid, which was carried out by heli-borne commandos and police, took place approximately 45 kilometers northeast of Monterrey. One suspect, who was described by authorities as "being too obese to escape" was shot and killed after opening fire on the soldiers. An unknown number of suspects escaped after being alerted to the sound of the helicopters. Some 200 assault rifles were seized at the site, along with a RPG'S, 60 fragmentation grenades, three anti-tank rockets, 12 stolen trucks, and several thousand rounds of rifle and pistol ammunition. Also in Monterrey, the army detained 12 local policemen suspected of having ties to drug trafficking organizations. During the raid, the army and federal police took control of a municipal police station, where they arrested the 12 officers. Local police in Mexico are often known to be extremely corrupt and thoroughly infiltrated by cartels. In Ciudad Juarez, authorities discovered the body of a groom and two members of his wedding party who had been kidnapped leaving a church four days prior. It has been reported that all three of the men were possibly American citizens. The bodies were found in the bed of a truck alongside a fourth man who may have not been at the wedding. The motive for the kidnapping and killings is unclear. [Editor's Note: We rely on the Mexico City newspaper El Universal for our weekly body counts, but we are very skeptical of its count of 637 killed in the last week, significantly higher than the usual 200 or so. Look for a note next week on how we resolve this.] Total Body Count for the Year: 3,870 Total Body Count for the Week: 637 (?) Total Body Count since Calderon took office: 20,197
The Mexican government is fighting the cartels for control of the country. This is what happens when local officials are openly for sale. At some point the national officials risk losing power over the whole country. When that happens, you either roll over and let them have it or you unleash the military to restore power. They chose to fight.
It would increase the pressure on U.S. border control and law-enforcement to stop the flow of drugs and might reduce violence in Mexico. It would royally tick off the United States and severely damage the relationship between the two countries. The U.S. might retaliate by reducing aid to Mexico.
It not about drugs, its about rule of law. What makes the US competitive in the world, is because the average person respects the law. Too many Mexicans don't which is why they will be screwed for the foreseeable future.
Not drugs directly, but the money it generates. The average person disrespects the law because those creating/enforcing them are dirty. Dirty guy gets killed / forced out, new guy comes in, gets swayed by get-rich-quick promise of drug money, turns dirty, disillusions average person. Vicious cycle.
