Tag: drug trafficking

War on Drugs

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Protest in Juarez

Thousands of protestors flooded the rutted streets of Ciudad Juarez last week, railing against the massacre of 15 people, 10 of who were teenagers, which occurred last month.  Mexican President Felipe Calderon was there, offering his condolences to the families and plans to stabilize the city. 

 

This has been the deadliest year since President Calderon took office in 2006 and declared to heighten efforts with the ongoing war on drugs.  In 2009 alone 7,600 Mexicans have been killed, 1,600 of them in Juarez alone. 

 

“We’re looking for solutions from Juarez because you are the ones living it,” he said.

 

This is not only Mexico’s problem.  Border violence from the war on drugs is streaming into the United States.  Over 230 prominent US cities have Mexican drug-related violence, according to the Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center.  The cities are not limited to border regions such as El Paso, only a quarter-mile away from Juarez.  They are cities such as

  • Boston
  • Houston
  • Chicago
  • Los Angeles
  • Miami
  • Atlanta

 

The war on drugs is one of the most pressing matters in US foreign policy with Latin America.  It is a complex, multi-faceted battle that encompasses a wide stretch of compounding issues.  Transnational issues like:

  • Increased military involvement
  • Environmental hazards
  • Civil unrest at border cities
  • Unjust treatment of detainees at border facilities
  • Deaths of civilians, police, and cartel members

 

Billions of dollars are spent fighting this war, much to some tax-payers’ chagrin.  For Plan Columbia alone, the United States spent $4.7 billion.  The Merida Initiative, launched in June 2008, will invest another $1.6 billion over a three-year period. 

 

In a study conducted by Harvard economist Jeffery Miron, he argues the decriminalization and legalization of drugs, saying it will pump an astronomic $76.8 billion into our economy.

 

Is it worth it?

marajuana flag

more photos of the War on Drugs.

NAFTA Spells Oppression

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Earlier this month, Mexican officials announced they expect the economy to grow by 3.4% in 2010.  Despite this projected growth, much of the country is ravaged by poverty and inequality.  Mexico has one of the most disparate wealth distributions in the entire world.  NAFTA is largely to blame.    

When President Bill Clinton implemented the North American Free Trade Agreement I don’t think he knew its implications for Mexico’s poorest citizens.  At least, I hope he didn’t.

Signed into law in 1992, NAFTA is a tripartite agreement between Mexico, Canada, and the United States stipulating the equal flow of goods between the countries.  Although well-intended, the sudden influx of drastically discounted goods into Mexico crippled farmers and indigenous populations who have survived off the profits of their land for centuries. 

NAFTA quickly put the majority of rural farmers out of business.

Mexican farmer selling corn in the marketplace.
Mexican farmer selling corn in the marketplace.

Corn subsidies only exacerbated the problem of selling products in the local market.  Seed prices are up 20%.  In February of 2008, hundreds of thousands of Mexican farmers rallied in the streets of Mexico City, the nation’s capital to protest the corn subsidy. 

Corn is not the only crop that has gone to pot since NAFTA began, literally. 

According to an article in La Jornada, the relationship between the signing of the bill and drug trafficking has become tighter.  In places such as Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Veracruz, the growth of marijuana and poppy seed has increased with unprecedented intensity.  1/3 of all arable and permanent croplands in Mexico are used to grow illicit substances.  (I will explain more about the War on Drugs in later posts.)

While it is true the Mexican economy as a whole has made slight gains in the years since NAFTA, the campeñeros are bearing the brunt of this preferential agreement between the United States and Mexico.