Thankfully this week several senior US government officials led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Eric Holder paid a visit to Mexico. This meeting was preceded by about eighteen months of over two thousand murders nationwide relating to the illegal drug trade in Mexico. In addition to these diplomatic ties being sewn, manpower and money are being funneled through US Congress and down to border states to help combat the violence. We who call the border home are not surprised to see drugs and violence grace the front pages of the national news outlets. There is something eerily familiar about reading about weekly seizures and arrests in our own local newspages, but now this multibillion dollar industry has been thrust into the spotlight once again. How about this time around, we bring some real soutions to the discussion table? There are so many considerations. The guns and arms that originate in the US and end up in the hands of the narcos, the security of our physical border, domestic drug policy, etc. What does the future hold? Where do our lawmakers and law enforcement begin?
Forbes magazine recently listed Juan "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa cartel, on its list of the world's wealthiest individuals. Perhaps we should not glorify these criminals but rather bring them to justice. In Mexico, easier said then done. However President Felipe Calderon has done nothing short of bold in ordering federal troops to quell cities overcome with violence and fear. I am in favor of the Federales' presence in our sister city, although greater oversight is needed. Stories of military abuse are rising to the level of concern. Checkpoints and the like are tools and meant to establish security and safety not infringe on citizens' rights. Let's hope that both our nations can start with a clean slate in resolving this drug war, old strategies have failed and new ones must be open and comprehensive in scope.
Carlos, please stop posting on this blog. Your posts are garbage. It pains me to read your posts, especially since you fail to proofread and/or edit your posts. I wish you would remove yourself from this blog voluntarily and offer your space to a more informed and less elitist thinking individual. It is obvious that you simply regurgitate the spiel preached at the Dickinson School of Law, which constitutes a type of verbal plagiarism. You state the obvious and this insults the readers of this fine blog. It should be evident from the lack of response to your previous postings and this one in particular you are not welcomed on this blog.
Posted by: That's What She Said | April 06, 2009 at 12:56 PM
I agree.
The stories of military abuse are coming from the people who are employed by these cartels themselves. Don't let them fool you.
The only stats we need to concern ourselves is the homicide rate is down by a lot since the military took over and the chance of spillover violence is minimal. That's the truth
Posted by: Yea | April 16, 2009 at 06:05 PM