UNCLE SAM SAYS: 'THEY'RE NUTS IF THEY

THINK I WON'T STICK MY NOSE INTO THE

ISSUE OF MEXICAN DRUG TRAFFICKING'

[La Jornada, Mexico]

 

 

La Tercera, Chile

Mexico's Drug War: No Way Out But to Fight On

 

"Drug trafficking in Mexico has existed for decades, but it didn't seriously affect the stability of the country or provoke conflicts with the United States until the mid-1980s … By then, Mexican police institutions were in a state of decomposition, making them fertile ground for the corrupting activities of the narcos."

 

By Jorge Chabat

 

Translated By Paula van de Werken

 

March 13, 2009

 

Chile - La Tercera - Original Article (Spanish)

Mexico: A state in decomposition, from the Christian Science Monitor. [Click for larger version].   BBC NEWS VIDEO: A Massive crackdown across the United States against the Mexican drug cartels nets 750 people, $59 million in cash, 149 vehicles, three aircraft, three ships, 16,000 pounds of pot, 12,000 kilos of cocaine and over a million Ecstasy pills, Feb. 25, 00:00:50 BBC NEWS VIDEO: Eight Mexican soldiers decapitated by drug gangs, Dec. 23, 2008, 00:01:26

Drug trafficking in Mexico has existed for decades, but it didn't seriously affect the stability of the country or provoke conflicts with the United States until the mid-1980s, when Colombian cocaine began to cross in great quantities from Mexico to their neighbor up north. By then, Mexican police institutions were in a state of decomposition, making them fertile ground for the corrupting activities of the narcos. 

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

The dismantling of the Medellin and Cali cartels in Colombia during the 1990s created a vacuum that was filled by the Mexican cartels, but the level of drug-related violence in Mexico remained relatively low. This “peace of the traffickers” can be understood by the policy of tolerance of the Mexican government, which sought a degree of balance between the drug cartels and the state, in terms of the routes and the territories infiltrated by those groups.

 

That continued into this century, when President Vicente Fox ordered an energetic crackdown on drug trafficking. But to the extent that the drug lords were being arrested, the balance of power between the cartels was destroyed, stetting the stage for a war between the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels - the two largest - which has generated an enormous level of violence as well as sour protests from the United States due to the effects of battling the drug traffickers along the border.

 

When President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006 he inherited growing violence in which drug traffickers controlled sections of the county. With the support of the Army, he responded by launching a frontal assault against the cartels. Calderon’s offensive has increased his popularity but has also triggered a new rise in violence: the drug gangs not only confronted the government, but also began a settling of accounts among themselves. Last year more than 5,000 people were assassinated by organized crime - more than double the figure for 2007.

 

But the violence has now become more crude. Since 2007, many of the victims of the cartels have been decapitated - a tactic which is clearly intended to intimidate their enemies. And as the grotesque violence has increased, so has pressure to adopt a more effective strategy. Some even suggest a return to Fox's previous policy of tolerance.

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

Excelsior, Mexico: How Mexico Could Legalize Pot - Whether U.S. Likes it or Not

Excelsior, Mexico: Relations Between U.S. and Mexico are Deteriorating

La Tercera, Chile Mexico's Drug War: No Way Out But to Fight On

Semana, Colombia: Michael Phelps and American Hypocricy on the Use of Drugs

 

Obviously, most of the victims are drug traffickers, but the rampant violence that exists in the country has created a climate of insecurity that affects the everyday lives of many Mexicans, and in the end, may turn public opinion against Calderon’s policies. This is something that some of the drug-trafficking groups are promoting with anonymous posters and the staging of public protests demanding that the Army return to the barracks in northern Mexico.

 

Nevertheless, at least in the short run, it seems that there is no alternative Calderon’s strategy. After all, while his policy of confrontation has generated high levels of violence, it was tolerance for the drug cartels that corrupted the institutions of the State in the first place, sowing the seeds of the current situation.

 

It seems that the government's only option is to continue the war, hoping that its long-term efforts to strengthen the capacity and integrity of state institutions bare fruit. Corruption - especially within the anti-narcotics forces - remains a serious and persistent threat.

 

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US March 16, 11:37pm]