Drug-related murders in Mexico have soared in the last two months. Municipal, state, and federal police officers have died in clashes against heavily armed commandos or have been assassinated on the orders of drug bosses. It has been argued that this rise in violence is a signal of the Mexican government's progress in the War Against Drugs. The argument is that cartels, while retreating, have launched a series of desperate attacks on police forces. This "measure of progress" has been complemented by some dramatic drug and cash seizures.
These events have contributed to the recent advance of the Merida Initiative in the US Congress‚ both the Senate and the House have approved bills that include aid to Mexico, although they still have to agree on a single bill. But is Mexico receiving aid because its forces are doing really well and need further support to win the battle with the cartels or is the country doing so badly that it needs urgent assistance before it loses the War on Drugs? Carrying out the world's largest cash seizure has definitively contributed to victory over drugs, but losing the chief of federal police has not, specially since this highlights the government's inability to protect its main strategists and operatives against drug cartels.
The fact is that Mexico needs help to curve ubiquitous violence across the country and strengthen, professionalize, and protect the law enforcement agencies leading the War on Drugs. Indeed, not only are police officers resigning but also asking for asylum in the US. Furthermore, the country's general population is now affected by drug consumption and fear caused by cartel members roaming through rural towns close to the trafficking routes.
In short, in a multi-front war against drug trafficking and consumption, the Mexican government's efforts seem to be mixed. In order to recover the confidence of the population and the aid of foreign actors like the US Congress, the Mexican government must reach higher standards, particularly when it comes to the status of the police forces and their members.
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The rise in violence does not necessarily mean progress. It is just simply a rise in violence due to the drug war. If they continue escalating the war on drugs violence will continue to escalate and NEVER be reduced. As long as there is a huge demand for drugs in the US there will always be people willing to provide them. The drug war is a waste of money and lives. The only real solution is to legalize drugs. I don't know when the US government and the Calderon goverment will realize that legalization is the ONLY solution. Mark my words and wait and see that I am right. Let's see if the drug war will be won by next year, and let's see if the violence will be reduced. You will see that violence will not be reduced and that the drug war will never be won. When will some people get this through their thick head.
What if the war on drug consumption in the US was similarly militarized, intense and relentless- THAT might make a difference…just a thought. One need not fill up the jails anymore, just fine drug consumption out of existence. I think that’d be better, and would provide lots of nice tax income.
I’d prefer for a rational policy designed to legalize, regyulate and drug drug consumption of course, but that's probably no more realistic.
What these two solutions have in common, of course, is that they both go at the problem at the root, consumer demand. Picking on individual consumers is also probably better because most won't create and fund potent paramilitary organizations to resist, unlike supplyers.
Mr Stranger,
once again I agree. It is unfortunate that those propositions are way too unrealistic. Nevertheless, there might be some other solution that tackles the root problem, that is, the demand for drugs.
I definitely agree that the problem lies with drug demand in the US. The Drug Enforcement Agency's approach is to target the major drug dealers, rather than the individual users.
Contrary to what most people in the US believes the war on drugs in Mexico is not a new thing. The Mexican Army has been in this fight for 3 decades with thousands of dead soldiers. It is truth however, that President Calderon has given more support and more freedom to the Army to operate against the Cartels, but this is a necessity rather than a strategy.
The 400,000 policemen in Mexico are completely useless. After decades of neglect, they are either corrupt or incapable- in terms of training and equipment- to stand up to the Cartels.
With a record 85 billion dollars in reserves, a 400 million dollars aid from the Merida Initiative is really useless; the problem is not money, the problem is the police and judicial systems are heavily infiltrated. The Army can only detain drug dealers in fraganti -red handed-, and are not allowed- by the constitution- to investigate or follow up, hence the ones detained are later freed by the corrupted system.
To say that the Cartels out gun the Mexican Army is an exaggeration; it is truth that they have an impressive arsenal for a civilian criminal organization, including grenades, diverse assault rifles, 50mm Barret guns and even maybe Rocket Propelled Grenades -which if they have they have not used yet-, but the Army can handle this, they have done it so far. Every fight or battle, either on the streets or the sierras or mountains of Mexico, invariably ends up with the drug dealers running or dead.
As for the allegations that the Cartels “frequently steal from the Mexican Army stockpiles”, it's completely false and lacks any support. The Mexican Army has a limited arsenal and is very closely guarded; the weapons used by the Cartels do not come from there. They don't come from the gun shops in the border either; the weapons used by the Cartels come from the US Army stockpiles and/or directly from the manufacturers like Armalite, Colt and Bushmaster to name a few.
Why is the US backing Mexican Cartels?
Here is why: there are 30 to 40 million consumers of drugs in the USA that demand their daily fix. Billions or drug dollars move freely and are laundered every year in the USA with the complacency of US Government and the public. The American public has been indoctrinated into believing that drug cartels come only from the south; but what about the American cartels that distribute and have the lion's share of the drug business? Why does the DEA only arrest low level street distributors? , Mexico with very limited resources and a corrupted judicial system arrests many more cartel heads than the US-, Where are all the big fish? Apparently drugs distribute themselves in the USA.
You can have all the international cooperation and support that you want, but the fundamental problem remains: as long as the American society keeps focused on money instead of family, more and more consumers will join the market, demand will increase and the drug business will thrive.
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