May 27, 2011

Mexican Politcs and the Whack-a-mole drug war: What Mexico Will Look Like in 2012

Sadly,we have to agree that Mexico can do little to end the drug war. The ending is, as most Mexicans know from experience, in the hands of the U.S., which provides the drug market but prohibits it from being legal, thus feeding the cartels billions of dollars. The end of the war will only come when the US legalizes drugs. At present, that is not in the political cards. Just this week, U.S. Senate leadership issued recommendations to increase U.S. support of the present failed Merida Plan strategy. 

But Mexicans, such as those led by Javier Sicilia, must continue to protest this and seek to work with US civic organizations advocating legalization. This collaboration has begun to happen, as evidenced by a joint Mexican-US declaration at the May 8 march and the call for a joint Mexcian and US demonstration on June 10 in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. 

What Mexico Will Look Like in 2012 - New America Media: ". Jorge Ramos, the lead news anchor for Univision, has gone on record as saying, “Calderón’s strategy [against the drug cartels], which has cost more than 34,000 lives in the last four years, has been an utter failure.”

A failure to stem the violence has catapulted public safety to the top of the list of voters’ concerns ahead of next year’s elections in Mexico, trumping even the economy.Calderón will be termed out, but there is mounting pressure for would-be presidential hopefuls to declare that, if elected, they would call off the war on drugs.

But as 2012 nears, does Mexico have a choice?

It does not.

Mexico has the United States as a neighbor – which is both the world’s largest consumer of illegal drugs, and a militaristic nation that, with impunity, takes actions against nations it deems a national security threat.

Quite simply, regardless of the sentiments of poets and journalists – and everyday citizens who march peacefully through the streets of Mexican cities – the government has no choice in the matter.

There are two fundamental reasons why Mexico’s next president will stay the course.

Foremost is the matter of national sovereignty. It is unthinkable for Mexico to establish a quid pro quo, where the military’s campaign stops and the cartels cease their violence. The idea of having the Mexican state co-exist with nebulous geographic regions under the control of organized criminal syndicates is not in the cards.

Secondly, ....The United States wouldn’t stand for a rogue state to coexist alongside Mexico’s legitimate government. ...

think of the retaliatory actions that the U.S. government would pursue should it conclude that Mexico represents a “national security threat.” In other words, if Mexico’s next president abandons Calderón’s drug war,... then Mexico could easily be declared a “rogue state” that threatens the “national security interests” of the United States, always a precursor to economic and military actions.

In the best-case scenario, Mexico would then be subjected to financial havoc as American authorities move to seize bank accounts used by the drug cartels to launder their money, paralyzing Mexico’s financial system. In a worst-case scenario, Mexico may itself be occupied militarily by the United States....

In the same way that Barack Obama has found it impossible to close down Guantanamo, so will Mexico’s next president find it impossible to end the war on drugs. "

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