Mexico

The Mexican armed forces are a pillar of the war against drugs. Indeed, thousands of regular troops are patrolling several municipalities and large cities across Mexico while Special Forces make most of the arrests of high-profile drug lords. In a country plagued by corrupt police forces and heavily armed drug traffickers, the army (which also controls the air force) and the navy have become the country’s last resort in a war that has produced thousands of casualties. Unfortunately, the armed forces themselves are likely to become another victim of this war.

The Mexican army has experienced thousands of desertions in the last few years. According to an investigation of the newspaper Reforma, between 2001 and 2006, the army has lost an average of 30,000 members per year. Although the rate of desertion has decreased to 17,000 in 2007, this is still a very significant number; especially considering where these soldiers go after leaving the armed forces.

The likely cause of desertion in the armed forces is poor working conditions for the meager salaries. According to Benito Jiménez from Reforma, a regular soldier makes between $300 and $400 dollars a month. They could easily make a few more hundred dollars by joining private security companies. More alarming is when soldiers are paid much more for joining drug cartels. This makes the cartels much more deadly, for the trained soldiers are familiar with government procedures. In fact, cartels are now openly recruiting soldiers.

In addition to soldiers leaving for better-paid opportunities, the army is under close scrutiny regarding human rights violations. Although police forces are traditionally associated with violations of human rights in Mexico, the army is no beacon of virtue. Indeed, many military camps served as prisons during the Dirty War of the 1960s and 1970s that produced more than 1,500 disappearances. Even though the country’s human rights records have shown overall improvement, violations continue to occur throughout the territory.

As a result of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, the armed forces were deliberately separated from politics. Their function was limited to the protection of the country from external threats and to relief efforts during national disasters. For decades, the army enjoyed legitimacy unmatched by other Mexican institutions. Lamentably, things have changed. Senior military officers have been tainted by corruption scandals, former member of Special Forces are now bodyguards for drug bosses, and young people aspire to work for drug cartels rather than the army.

So far, nobody knows how this other war within the armed forces will end. If the situation does not improve soon, the army, and the country, will lose the war against drugs.

On April 10th 2008, opposition legislators closed the podiums in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. This action effectively forced the remaining members of Congress to take legislative action elsewhere and prevented a fast track approval of a key energy reform that affects the most precious natural resource in Mexico: oil. Between 2001 and 2006, on average, oil revenues constituted 7.9 % of Mexico’s GDP and over 34 % of the income of the federal government.

Two days before the storming of both chambers of Congress, President Felipe Calderón presented a bill that is considered a major reform to the antiquated oil industry in Mexico. The oil industry has been controlled by the State since 1938 and is considered a pillar of Mexican sovereignty. Based on this popular belief, members of Congress from a coalition of leftist parties literally closed Congress in order to “defend the nation” from foreign interests that would take over the oil industry if the bill is approved. The legislators demanded a broad and public debate on oil reform.

Once again, the response from this sector of the Left, led by former Presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has polarized not only Mexican society, but has also weakened the Left. A strong, coherent, and broadly supported Left is needed in a country that is mainly controlled by conservative sectors of society. For instance, a private organization called “Better Society, Better Government” (Mejor Sociedad, Mejor Gobierno) launched an advertising campaign that caused national controversy by comparing López Obrador with Adolf Hitler and other infamous heads of government.

After more than two weeks of negotiations on a national debate over oil reform, the podiums were liberated on April 26th. While this sector of the Left achieved its short term objectives, once again liberal democracy in Mexico lost another battle to political polarization. Yet, the war for a moderate political system has not been lost. Future battlegrounds like the State of the Union Address in September, and national elections in 2009, will constitute some of the major tests to Mexico’s evolving democracy. Hopefully, the Left will not have weakened more political institutions by then.

In March 1st 2008, Colombian armed forces destroyed a camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Ecuador. Raul Reyes, a FARC’s top commander, died in what is considered the “biggest blow” to the guerrilla group so far. The Colombian armed forces also killed 4 Mexican students and injured another one. The incident and the sole Mexican survivor Lucia Morett’s testimony, have caused tensions between Mexico and Colombia, and galvanized the public in favor and against the Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and his administration. This is indeed unprecedented.

First, although relations between Mexico and Colombia have always been close, the conflict has produced tension between them. On the one hand, the Mexican government is obliged to protect the rights of the Mexicans involved. This places more international pressure on the Colombian government to adjust its policies against guerrilla forces and improve its human rights records. On the other hand, these tensions have been fueled by statements given by the Colombian President about the relationship between the Mexican students and the FARC–they were called terrorists and criminals; and by the Colombian government’s refusal to compensate the relatives of the Mexican students. In addition, both countries have dispatched members of their police forces to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths and FARC operations in Mexico. In a continent where sovereignty and self-determination are pillars of foreign policy, the results of police investigations are likely to provoke more tensions.

Second, the activities of the Mexicans killed and injured in the attack have caused protests against the Colombian government and declarations in favor of its guerrilla tactics. Conservative groups in Mexico have publicly backed President Uribe and his tactics, and even presented a formal request to the General Attorney’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República) for an investigation of the possible links between Mexican students and Colombian guerrilla fighters and drug-traffickers. According to these associations, there might be a link between the FARC and violent groups in Mexico–which has been plagued by kidnappings and has experienced guerrilla-style attacks in the last few years.

Conversely, relatives of the killed students, supported by their classmates from the National University (usually associated with the Left in Mexico), have argued that Lucia Morett and her companions were only doing research in Ecuador when they were attacked while staying in the FARC camp. According to this version of the story, the Mexican students were in the wrong place at wrong time. Moreover, they accused Uribe and his administration for the murder of their relatives and friends. In late March, protestors demonstrated in front of the Colombian embassy in Mexico City and marched towards the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On March 30th, the Ministry produced a declaration confirming its commitment to protect the international rights of Mexicans. The declaration also condemned the Colombian incursion into Ecuador and requested compensation from Colombian authorities. In late April, some relatives of the students killed in the attack announced that they will visit Colombia and meet with members of the Colombian Congress.

Mexican and Colombian authorities are currently investigating the presence of the students in the FARC camp attacked in Ecuador on March 1st. While the incident has affected relations between Colombia and Mexico, it is important to note that the tensions between the administration of President Uribe and Mexican society are greater than the problems between the Colombian and Mexican governments. Indeed, governments can cooperate and negotiate, yet both are subject to domestic constituencies that demand, on the Colombian side, an end to the war at all costs; and on the Mexican side, the protection of Mexican nationals abroad–which echoes demands for the protection of Mexican immigrants to the United States–and the protection of Mexicans from kidnappings and drug-related violence within Mexico.

At the center of this conflict are human rights concerns. Both Mexico and Colombia need to learn how to carry out their national security policies without endangering the rights of innocent citizens and their visitors. By improving their human rights standards, they would also improve regional security while combating transnational guerilla activities and drug trafficking.

New America Media has compiled a summary of the top news in Latin America for 2007, ranging from natural disasters and the election of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner as President of Argentina, to the failure of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to consolidate his power through an electoral referendum. President Calderon of Mexico also made the list for dispatching federal troops to combat drug traffickers within the country. 

For this blog’s summary of 2007 for Mexico, see the Year in Review page.

Jose Narro Robles was named the new rector of Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM). Robles is a doctor who previously headed the university’s medical school. UNAM, with approximately 160,000 undergraduates and 21,000 graduate students, is the largest – and often ranked the best — university in Latin America. 

Famed Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas has been commissioned by Mexico City officials to design what would be Latin America’s tallest skyscraper at 984 feet.  As the New York Times noted recently, however, the proposed ”Bicentennial  Tower” is causing controversy among its future neighbors and city activists who are taking legal action.  If built, the 70-story tower overlooking the city’s Chapultepec Forest would open in 2010 to celebrate Mexico’s 200 years of independence from Spain.

This image depicts what Koolhaas has in mind.  (Photo: Office for Metropolitan Architecture)

Mexican President Felipe Calderon will be honored at the Foreign Policy Association’s 8th annual World Leadership Forum in New York City on September 25th.  Chilean President Michelle Bachelet will be honored at the New York Democracy Forum Dinner the evening before.  See here for more details, including registration information.

President Calderon has named new ambassadors to Venezuela and Cuba, in an effort to improve diplomatic relations with the two socialist regimes. Mexico’s current ambassador to Colombia, Jesus Mario Chacon Carrillo, will head to Venezuela, filling a two-year vacancy in the top diplomatic post there. Calderon has also asked Congress to send Gabriel Jimenez to Cuba, replacing a Vicente Fox appointee.

The Carrillo appointment comes after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez appointed an ambassador to Mexico earlier in the week. Chavez had previously refused to recognize Calderon’s victory in Mexico’s presidential election, and in 2005, called then-President Fox a “puppy” of the United States. The reinstatement of ambassadors now brings a new opening in diplomatic relations and dialogue. 

The Council on Foreign Relations hosted a discussion titled “Biofuels in the Americas” featuring David J. Rothkopf and C. Ford Runje. Participants discussed the drawbacks of corn-based ethanol as well as the opportunity that Latin American countries have to diversify their economies via the energy sector by developing biofuel industries. Listen to an audio podcast of the program here.

The 9th Cuba-Mexico Inter-Parliamentary Conference concluded recently in Havana, providing an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations. According to press reports, the meetings were attended by senators and deputies from all parties represented in the Mexican Congress and a deputy delegation from the Cuban Peoples’ Power National Assembly. Delegates hoped to review positions prior to international events such as the upcoming Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly meetings, while also covering issues like health, education, culture, and cooperation in natural disasters and environmental protection.

See: Cuba-Mexico Lawmakers in Havana (Prensa Latina)