Horizon:Mexico: "Is Mexico’s drug war spilling into the United States? Two recent cases bring new prominence -- and new confusion -- to this old question.
The two new cases of spillover violence, on October 30 and November 24, took place in Texas, more than 300 miles apart. Both produced murky and conflicting reports. Each involved a different Mexican crime cartel, on different kinds of missions. These probes by foreign criminals onto U.S. soil were apparently unrelated, and only coincidentally close in time." read more
The MexicoBlog of the Americas Program, a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), is written by Laura Carlsen. I monitor and analyze international press on Mexico, with a focus on security, immigration, human rights and social movements for peace and justice, from a feminist perspective. And sometimes I simply muse.
Showing posts with label drug war - border "spillover". Show all posts
Showing posts with label drug war - border "spillover". Show all posts
Nov 24, 2011
Drug War: Zetas Drug Cartel Allegedly Conducts 'Mexico-Style Attack' near Houston
Fox News Latino: "A multi-agency undercover drug bust in Texas spun out of control Monday afternoon when a civilian working for law enforcement was killed and a police officer injured in what has been described by the local press as a “Mexico-style” attack.
The incident occurred in Texas' Harris County, where parts of Houston are located, when the secret operative disguised as a truck driver delivering a 300 pound package of marijuana was driving through the northwest part of the county to a rendezvous point. Out of nowhere three sport-utility vehicles carrying alleged Zetas drug cartel gunmen cut off the 18-wheeler truck and opened fire on the cab, killing the driver." read more
The incident occurred in Texas' Harris County, where parts of Houston are located, when the secret operative disguised as a truck driver delivering a 300 pound package of marijuana was driving through the northwest part of the county to a rendezvous point. Out of nowhere three sport-utility vehicles carrying alleged Zetas drug cartel gunmen cut off the 18-wheeler truck and opened fire on the cab, killing the driver." read more
Nov 21, 2011
Border militarization: Texas Mayors Differ on Using War-Zone Equipment Along Border
More "border spillover" insanity
Nov 15, 2011
MexicoBlog Editorial: Debunking Drug War "Spillover"
An article published this week in the New York Times, "Money-Laundering Case Speaks to Border Fears," originally published in the Texas Tribune, got us thinking about the hot topic of border "spillover." The article provides an excellent description of a money-laundering scheme. But it begins with this sentence, "... when federal agents raided the stately home of a downtown (Laredo, Texas) perfume salesman in January, it reinforced a notion that is feared by Texas leaders: The drug war spillover from Mexico is much broader than shootouts and kidnappings — it is cloaked in the seemingly routine business transactions of the border economy."
Over the past year or so there has been much political brouhaha as to whether or not there is "spillover violence" from the drug war in Mexico into the border states of the U.S. Border state politicians, including one running for president, claim there is. The State of Texas recently paid for a study by retired U.S. generals to document "spillover." (The report included mostly undocumented, anecdotal reports.) The F.B.I.'s statistics say that crime in border cities is lower than elsewhere in the country. The Obama administration both claims that there is no appreciable "spillover" and uses the threat of "spillover" to justify increased border security measures aimed at pleasing those same border politicians and their constituencies.
But there is another problem with "spillover." The concept, itself, is a politically motivated metaphor that prevents accurate perception of reality. Using the metaphor "spillover" implies that some force that ought to be contained on one side of a barrier, like water behind a dam, is overwhelming the barrier, endangering whatever is on the other side. This metaphor is being used in the context of another politically motivated metaphor — the "war on drugs."
The metaphor of "war" attempts to create the perception that the drug issue is a "threat" coming from outside the boundaries of the United States. Therefore, it must — and can be — contained on "the other side," if not eradicated at the "source" (see A Disastrous Metaphor: Waging Domesitc War). Thus, if any aspect of the "threat" of drugs, crosses the border, it is "spilling over."
The metaphor of "war" attempts to create the perception that the drug issue is a "threat" coming from outside the boundaries of the United States. Therefore, it must — and can be — contained on "the other side," if not eradicated at the "source" (see A Disastrous Metaphor: Waging Domesitc War). Thus, if any aspect of the "threat" of drugs, crosses the border, it is "spilling over."
However, if we look at the reality, the drug trade is an integrated commercial process. It is the meeting of demand within the U.S. with supply from Mexico, through the exchange of goods for money. The trade transcends the official border. (The book, Line in the Sand by Rachel St. John talks not only about how arbitrary the U.S-Mexico border is in terms of geographic, economic and social realities, but also how borders actually create smugglers by attempting to interrupt commercial exchanges, aka "free trade.")
From the point of view of trade dynamics, the border is an obstacle to trade. NAFTA and subsequent trade-centered actions of both the U.S. and Mexican governments — including the recent agreement to allow Mexican trucks into the U.S. interior — are aimed at reducing border obstacles. In talking about the economic benefits of Mexican-U.S. trade for Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer described the border as "bountiful." Hence the money-laundering described so well in the New York Times article is not "spillover." It is an integral part of a transnational trade process.
Goods sold by the Mexican cartels are excluded from legitimate international trade relations; hence, they are denied direct access to standard banking channels for currency exchange and transfer of large sums across national borders. So the cartels become inventive — using U.S. perfume merchants and Mexican currency exchange businesses. The money is not "spilling over." It is flowing between markets.
Goods sold by the Mexican cartels are excluded from legitimate international trade relations; hence, they are denied direct access to standard banking channels for currency exchange and transfer of large sums across national borders. So the cartels become inventive — using U.S. perfume merchants and Mexican currency exchange businesses. The money is not "spilling over." It is flowing between markets.
We would also venture that drug trade-related violence is not "spillover violence." Whether it occurs in Texas, other border states or even further north, whether it involves Mexican cartels or U.S. gangs, it is integrally related to the trans-border drug trade. This drug trade does not have access to civil means of conflict resolution and functions in a hyper-competitive environment — due to the inflated value of its prohibited products. Therefore, it resorts to violence to resolve disputes and issues of competition, whether those issues occur in Mexico or the U.S..
The general conclusion of a number of writers is that the cartels use U.S.-based gangs for distribution precisely because they don't want to get entangled with U.S. police and courts. For the same reason, they don't want to increase acts of violence north of the border. In this sense, the existence of a jurisdictional border actually prevents "spillover."
The general conclusion of a number of writers is that the cartels use U.S.-based gangs for distribution precisely because they don't want to get entangled with U.S. police and courts. For the same reason, they don't want to increase acts of violence north of the border. In this sense, the existence of a jurisdictional border actually prevents "spillover."
Nov 13, 2011
Mexico Drug War - the Money: Money-Laundering Case Illustrates Cross-border Money Flow
The original headline to this article is sensationalist and misleading, highlighting "fears of cross-border spillover". The story is not about "spillover" violence. It actually details a money laundering case that illustrates how dollars from the drug trade are processed in the bi-national money market and used in apparently legitimate cross-border commercial transactions.
NYTimes.com: "... when federal agents raided the stately home of a (Laredo, Texas) perfume salesman in January, (it revealed how the drug trade) is cloaked in the seemingly routine business transactions of the border economy. ... Vikram Datta, a perfume salesman, ... was arrested by federal agents. They accused Mr. Datta, 51, (of being) a major player in the Black Market Peso Exchange, a decades-old system of laundering drug money and reinvesting it back into the economy.
NYTimes.com: "... when federal agents raided the stately home of a (Laredo, Texas) perfume salesman in January, (it revealed how the drug trade) is cloaked in the seemingly routine business transactions of the border economy. ... Vikram Datta, a perfume salesman, ... was arrested by federal agents. They accused Mr. Datta, 51, (of being) a major player in the Black Market Peso Exchange, a decades-old system of laundering drug money and reinvesting it back into the economy.
... The Black Market Peso Exchange ... was perfected by Colombian drug lords and later adopted by Mexican drug cartels: When drugs are sold in the United States, the proceeds, in American dollars, are smuggled back into Mexico or Colombia, where they are exchanged for pesos at a discounted rate. The peso-exchange businesses then use the dollars to buy products in the United States — in Mr. Datta’s case, millions of dollars worth of perfume — and have them shipped to purchasers in Mexico or Colombia." read more
Nov 7, 2011
Mexico Drug War: Can There be Spillover Hunger?
A look at the history of perceiving demons coming from Mexico compared to the facts.
See our page, 'A Disastrous Metaphor' for more on the U.S. propensity to avoid domestic issues by projecting them onto external enemies.
HORIZON: Mexico: "Spillover violence is one of the tricksters in Mexico’s organized-crime emergency. How much is the violence in Mexico spilling into the United States? The answer is complicated by a long tradition of peering south at Mexico’s struggles, and seeing demons.
See our page, 'A Disastrous Metaphor' for more on the U.S. propensity to avoid domestic issues by projecting them onto external enemies.
HORIZON: Mexico: "Spillover violence is one of the tricksters in Mexico’s organized-crime emergency. How much is the violence in Mexico spilling into the United States? The answer is complicated by a long tradition of peering south at Mexico’s struggles, and seeing demons.
... alarms over spillover violence hide two key truths: a) similar kinds of violence have ALWAYS spilled across the border, without the world coming to an end; and b) the real need for vigilance now, in case of any future increase, doesn’t mean that a wave of U.S.-side chaos coming from Mexico is a presentday reality (if it ever develops at all)." read more
Oct 28, 2011
Week's Top Articles on Mexico: October 21-27, 2011
Drug War news in Mexico focused this week on several debates about strategy.
Violence against Mexican women received attention with the bestowing of a human rights award on the journalist and women's rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro.
Regarding Mexican politics, there is a close look at the dynamics of the resurgence of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the rise of its likely presidential candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto.
On the immigration front, two stories portray some of the impact of Alabama's crackdown law: U.S. citizens don't want to do the hard work of field hands and a Jewish deli owner gets hate mail and boycott threats because he defends immigrants who have legal status. And, finally, a report on the decades-long waiting times required for potential immigrants to obtain visas to the U.S.
Drug War
U.S. Infiltrating Criminal Groups Across Mexico
NYTimes.com: Oct. 24, "American law enforcement agencies have significantly built up networks of Mexican informants that have allowed them to secretly infiltrate some of that country’s most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations, according to security officials on both sides of the border.
As the United States has opened new law enforcement and intelligence outposts across Mexico in recent years, Washington’s networks of informants have grown there as well, current and former officials said. They have helped Mexican authorities capture or kill about two dozen high-ranking and midlevel drug traffickers, and sometimes have given American counternarcotics agents access to the top leaders of the cartels they are trying to dismantle." read more
Mexico’s drug war bypassing marijuana and opium growers
The Washington Post: Oct. 21, " The Mexican government is allowing domestic marijuana and opium poppy production to climb to record levels, as soldiers who once cut and burned illegal crops here in the vast Sierra Madre mountains are being redeployed to cities to wage urban warfare against criminal gangs.
Since President Felipe Calderon ordered his troops into the streets in late 2006, the acreage dedicated to marijuana farming has nearly doubled in Mexico, according to technical reports by the U.S. government and United Nations, data provided by the Mexican military, and interviews with law enforcement agents and growers. The acreage devoted to opium poppies has also soared, according to the U.S. State Department, making Mexico the second-leading heroin producer in the world, after Afghanistan." read more
Questioning Washington Post's Theory that Distracted Army Equals More Drugs
InSight Crime: Oct. 26, "The Washington Post argues that Mexico's policy of deploying the military to address violence and insecurity has taken the focus off efforts to eradicate illegal marijuana and poppy cultivation, but the criticism is based on flawed premises.
Mexico’s share of the U.S. drug supply market has been growing for years, long before any major troop redeployment by President Calderon, meaning that the country’s eradication policy only partially explains supply market trends. There are a number of other factors that affect drug supply in Mexico, not the least of which is demand for drugs." read more
Release of Mexico Government Homicide Data Reveals "Cockroach Effect"
- The first regards the presence of US agents in Mexico and DEA use of Mexican informants to infiltrate the cartels.
- The second is whether or not Mexico's shifting its armed forces from crop eradication--their traditional task--to attacking cartels in urban warfare has led to an increase in marijuana and opium production.
- The third regards research showing that concentrating military and police in areas of violence results in the cartel battles moving to new territory.
Violence against Mexican women received attention with the bestowing of a human rights award on the journalist and women's rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro.
Regarding Mexican politics, there is a close look at the dynamics of the resurgence of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the rise of its likely presidential candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto.
On the immigration front, two stories portray some of the impact of Alabama's crackdown law: U.S. citizens don't want to do the hard work of field hands and a Jewish deli owner gets hate mail and boycott threats because he defends immigrants who have legal status. And, finally, a report on the decades-long waiting times required for potential immigrants to obtain visas to the U.S.
Drug War
U.S. Infiltrating Criminal Groups Across Mexico
NYTimes.com: Oct. 24, "American law enforcement agencies have significantly built up networks of Mexican informants that have allowed them to secretly infiltrate some of that country’s most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations, according to security officials on both sides of the border.
As the United States has opened new law enforcement and intelligence outposts across Mexico in recent years, Washington’s networks of informants have grown there as well, current and former officials said. They have helped Mexican authorities capture or kill about two dozen high-ranking and midlevel drug traffickers, and sometimes have given American counternarcotics agents access to the top leaders of the cartels they are trying to dismantle." read more
Mexico’s drug war bypassing marijuana and opium growers
The Washington Post: Oct. 21, " The Mexican government is allowing domestic marijuana and opium poppy production to climb to record levels, as soldiers who once cut and burned illegal crops here in the vast Sierra Madre mountains are being redeployed to cities to wage urban warfare against criminal gangs.
Since President Felipe Calderon ordered his troops into the streets in late 2006, the acreage dedicated to marijuana farming has nearly doubled in Mexico, according to technical reports by the U.S. government and United Nations, data provided by the Mexican military, and interviews with law enforcement agents and growers. The acreage devoted to opium poppies has also soared, according to the U.S. State Department, making Mexico the second-leading heroin producer in the world, after Afghanistan." read more
Questioning Washington Post's Theory that Distracted Army Equals More Drugs
InSight Crime: Oct. 26, "The Washington Post argues that Mexico's policy of deploying the military to address violence and insecurity has taken the focus off efforts to eradicate illegal marijuana and poppy cultivation, but the criticism is based on flawed premises.
Mexico’s share of the U.S. drug supply market has been growing for years, long before any major troop redeployment by President Calderon, meaning that the country’s eradication policy only partially explains supply market trends. There are a number of other factors that affect drug supply in Mexico, not the least of which is demand for drugs." read more
Release of Mexico Government Homicide Data Reveals "Cockroach Effect"
InSight Crime: Oct. 24, "Mexico’s federal government has published its statistics regarding homicides in 2011, allowing for a glimpse at the changing state of public security within the nation ... One of the states with the sharpest spikes in murders was Guerrero (and) leading the trend in Guerrero is Acapulco. ... Another region where the violence has spiked is Nuevo Leon. ... The current violence is largely centered around the Monterrey metro area. ... But while the news is bad in the regions mentioned above, other areas have experienced a significant lessening of violence. The foremost is Juarez,... in Chihuahua.
... Taken together, the picture is one of a nation growing slightly more violent, with the violence growing significantly more dispersed. ... This dynamic has long been predicted by the so-called cockroach effect, which holds that the government cracking down in one region will, at best, lead to the criminal actors scurrying to other locales. ... which means that nationwide impact of flooding a specific area with law enforcement could be negative, even with a positive local impact. read more
The Challenge of Violent Drug-Trafficking Organizations
Rand Corporation: Oct. 26, "... this monograph offers an assessment of the contemporary security situation in Mexico through the lens of existing RAND research on related issues. Specifically, we considered three strands of existing research: work on urban instability and unrest, the historical study of insurgency, and research on defense-sector reform.
The Urban Flashpoints Scorecard Shows That Mexican Border Cities Are Highly Vulnerable to Continued Unrest. The Counterinsurgency Scorecard Places Mexico Between Historical Winners and Losers and Reveals That Contemporary Mexico Is Not Unlike the First Phase of Several Historical Insurgencies. The Defense Sector Assessment Rating Tool Indicates That the Ability to Control Corruption Is Perceived as Weak, as Are Mexico’s Policing Capabilities. " read more
Violence Against Women
Mexican Women Reject Normalisation of Gender Violence
IPS ipsnews.net: Oct. 24, "Ninety percent of the non-governmental organisations in Mexico are founded and run by women, says journalist and women's rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, making them primary targets of violence, including spillover from Mexico's escalating drug wars. Cacho was recently in New York, where she was awarded the Civil Courage award from the Train Foundation
Human rights abuses and violence against women are widespread in Mexico, perpetrated by all actors in society, including the military and police. Nine out of 10 women in Mexico who suffer human rights violations do not report it to the authorities, and those who (do) report them are generally met with suspicion, apathy and disrespect. read more
Mexico Politics
The Rise of Enrique Peña Nieto and Return of the PRI
Center for Strategic and International Studies: Oct. 25, "The rise of Peña Nieto and the return of the PRI as Mexico’s dominant political party cannot be studied in isolation from each other. Both are important factors in defining the shape of the 2012 election campaign." read more
Immigration
After Alabama Immigration Law, Few Americans Want Immigrants' Work
Huffington Post: Oct. 21, "Potato farmer Keith Smith saw most of his immigrant workers leave after Alabama's tough immigration law took effect, so he hired Americans. It hasn't worked out: Most show up late, work slower than seasoned farm hands and are ready to call it a day after lunch or by midafternoon. Some quit after a single day." read more
Alabama Deli Owner Defends Documented Latinos, Receives Boycott Threats
Huffington Post: Oct. 21, "When Alabama's sweeping new immigration law went into effect last month, Birmingham businessman Steve Dubrinsky, owner of Max's Delicatessen, realized he had a serious problem. ... He employs several Latino workers, all of whom.... provided the necessary documentation when he hired them, so he had no reason to believe they're in Alabama illegally.
And yet several of them have told Dubrinsky to start looking for replacements. ... they either have undocumented relatives who they must leave with, or they simply no longer feel comfortable as Latinos in Alabama. ... Dubrinksy was so concerned ... that he spoke to the Birmingham News ... last week.
Suddenly, Dubrinsky had much greater problems. The morning the article ran, Dubrinsky ... turned on local talk radio, only to discover that the discussion topic was Dubrinsky himself. The host and his guests were trying to decide whether or not they should boycott the deli. ... The article had been shared on an anti-immigrant website, and Dubrinsky was soon bombarded with vitriolic hate email." read more
Immigrants find legal paths to U.S. long, difficult
USATODAY.com: Oct. 24, "Few visa categories, high expenses and processing times that can stretch decades put several obstacles along the legal road to immigration. ... According to the monthly Visa Bulletin published by the U.S. State Department, F4 visa applications filed in the Philippines before Aug. 22, 1988, are now being processed. If the family is from Mexico, the wait time is 15 years." read more
... Taken together, the picture is one of a nation growing slightly more violent, with the violence growing significantly more dispersed. ... This dynamic has long been predicted by the so-called cockroach effect, which holds that the government cracking down in one region will, at best, lead to the criminal actors scurrying to other locales. ... which means that nationwide impact of flooding a specific area with law enforcement could be negative, even with a positive local impact. read more
The Challenge of Violent Drug-Trafficking Organizations
Rand Corporation: Oct. 26, "... this monograph offers an assessment of the contemporary security situation in Mexico through the lens of existing RAND research on related issues. Specifically, we considered three strands of existing research: work on urban instability and unrest, the historical study of insurgency, and research on defense-sector reform.
The Urban Flashpoints Scorecard Shows That Mexican Border Cities Are Highly Vulnerable to Continued Unrest. The Counterinsurgency Scorecard Places Mexico Between Historical Winners and Losers and Reveals That Contemporary Mexico Is Not Unlike the First Phase of Several Historical Insurgencies. The Defense Sector Assessment Rating Tool Indicates That the Ability to Control Corruption Is Perceived as Weak, as Are Mexico’s Policing Capabilities. " read more
Violence Against Women
Mexican Women Reject Normalisation of Gender Violence
IPS ipsnews.net: Oct. 24, "Ninety percent of the non-governmental organisations in Mexico are founded and run by women, says journalist and women's rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, making them primary targets of violence, including spillover from Mexico's escalating drug wars. Cacho was recently in New York, where she was awarded the Civil Courage award from the Train Foundation
Human rights abuses and violence against women are widespread in Mexico, perpetrated by all actors in society, including the military and police. Nine out of 10 women in Mexico who suffer human rights violations do not report it to the authorities, and those who (do) report them are generally met with suspicion, apathy and disrespect. read more
Mexico Politics
The Rise of Enrique Peña Nieto and Return of the PRI
Center for Strategic and International Studies: Oct. 25, "The rise of Peña Nieto and the return of the PRI as Mexico’s dominant political party cannot be studied in isolation from each other. Both are important factors in defining the shape of the 2012 election campaign." read more
Immigration
After Alabama Immigration Law, Few Americans Want Immigrants' Work
Huffington Post: Oct. 21, "Potato farmer Keith Smith saw most of his immigrant workers leave after Alabama's tough immigration law took effect, so he hired Americans. It hasn't worked out: Most show up late, work slower than seasoned farm hands and are ready to call it a day after lunch or by midafternoon. Some quit after a single day." read more
Alabama Deli Owner Defends Documented Latinos, Receives Boycott Threats
Huffington Post: Oct. 21, "When Alabama's sweeping new immigration law went into effect last month, Birmingham businessman Steve Dubrinsky, owner of Max's Delicatessen, realized he had a serious problem. ... He employs several Latino workers, all of whom.... provided the necessary documentation when he hired them, so he had no reason to believe they're in Alabama illegally.
And yet several of them have told Dubrinsky to start looking for replacements. ... they either have undocumented relatives who they must leave with, or they simply no longer feel comfortable as Latinos in Alabama. ... Dubrinksy was so concerned ... that he spoke to the Birmingham News ... last week.
Suddenly, Dubrinsky had much greater problems. The morning the article ran, Dubrinsky ... turned on local talk radio, only to discover that the discussion topic was Dubrinsky himself. The host and his guests were trying to decide whether or not they should boycott the deli. ... The article had been shared on an anti-immigrant website, and Dubrinsky was soon bombarded with vitriolic hate email." read more
Immigrants find legal paths to U.S. long, difficult
USATODAY.com: Oct. 24, "Few visa categories, high expenses and processing times that can stretch decades put several obstacles along the legal road to immigration. ... According to the monthly Visa Bulletin published by the U.S. State Department, F4 visa applications filed in the Philippines before Aug. 22, 1988, are now being processed. If the family is from Mexico, the wait time is 15 years." read more
Oct 24, 2011
Mexico Violence: Women Reject Normalisation of Gender Violence
IPS ipsnews.net: " Ninety percent of the non-governmental organisations in Mexico are founded and run by women, says journalist and women's rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, making them primary targets of violence, including spillover from Mexico's escalating drug wars.
Human rights abuses and violence against women are widespread in Mexico, perpetrated by all actors in society, including the military and police. Nine out of 10 women in Mexico who suffer human rights violations do not report it to the authorities, and "those who (do) report them are generally met with suspicion, apathy and disrespect", according to Human Rights Watch's latest country report. "The normalisation of gender violence is increasing incredibly," Cacho said.
Even though some legal measures have been put in place to prevent and punish gender-based violence, the implementation has been very limited and impunity remains the norm for murder or other crimes against women, according to human rights groups. However, Cacho stressed that there is a growing feminist movement in Mexico to empower women and to discuss gender violence, including that perpetrated by the military." read more
Human rights abuses and violence against women are widespread in Mexico, perpetrated by all actors in society, including the military and police. Nine out of 10 women in Mexico who suffer human rights violations do not report it to the authorities, and "those who (do) report them are generally met with suspicion, apathy and disrespect", according to Human Rights Watch's latest country report. "The normalisation of gender violence is increasing incredibly," Cacho said.
Even though some legal measures have been put in place to prevent and punish gender-based violence, the implementation has been very limited and impunity remains the norm for murder or other crimes against women, according to human rights groups. However, Cacho stressed that there is a growing feminist movement in Mexico to empower women and to discuss gender violence, including that perpetrated by the military." read more
Oct 15, 2011
The Border: Crime Data and Spillover Violence along the Southwest Border
Mexico Institute: " ... as violent crime surged in parts of Mexico, the U.S. border region became safer. While in Mexico the murder rate climbed 29% between 2005 and 2010, it declined 24% in the U.S. border states. This suggests that despite a smattering of violent incidents perpetrated by members of Mexican criminal groups in the United States, widespread “spillover violence” has not occurred." read more
Sep 30, 2011
Week's Top Articles on Mexico: Sept. 23-29, 2011
Mexico Drug War: Three articles focus on the efforts of Mexican citizens to use social media to inform one another about the drug war in their communities and the violent response by the Zetas cartel in order to stop this flow of information.
Three articles talk about the Mexican police and army. The first reports the poor pay police continue to receive, while the second analyzes how simply raising salaries without instituting other major reforms will not end police corruption and collusion with the drug cartels. The third is about the army's request for a huge increase in funding to add more battalions and purchase modern equipment for the fight against the cartels. Leaders in the Mexican Congress support this proposal.
Human Rights: Mexico's Supreme Court failed to overturn a state law prohibiting abortion. Seven of eleven judges voted to declare it unconstitutional, but a "super majority" of eight votes is needed to make a law unconstitutional.
Mexico Border: Two articles talk about Texas' "border security strategy." The first reviews a report prepared for the state of Texas making the case that violence is spilling over from Mexico and that the state therefore needs to do more to achieve "border security." The article points out, however, that no hard data, only anonymous, anecdotal stories, are presented to back up this claim. The second article is an analysis of the political pork barrel that this ¨Texas strategy" feeds.
Immigration: A federal judge upheld most of the provisions of Alabama's law cracking down on unauthorized immigrants.
Drug War: Social Media
Mexico Turns to Twitter and Facebook for Information and Survival
NYTimes.com: Sept. 25, "... according to scholars and many Mexicans, social media has become a necessity in Mexico, with a mission far different from what has emerged in the Arab revolutions, or in China. In those countries, social networks have been used to route around identifiable sources of repression and to unify groups dispersed over large areas. In Mexico, Twitter, Facebook and other tools are instead deployed for local survival.
“These aren’t acts of political sedition or real-time attempts to bring about a change in government,” said Nicholas T. Goodbody, a professor of Mexican cultural studies at Williams College. “These are people trying to navigate daily life.”"
Three articles talk about the Mexican police and army. The first reports the poor pay police continue to receive, while the second analyzes how simply raising salaries without instituting other major reforms will not end police corruption and collusion with the drug cartels. The third is about the army's request for a huge increase in funding to add more battalions and purchase modern equipment for the fight against the cartels. Leaders in the Mexican Congress support this proposal.
Human Rights: Mexico's Supreme Court failed to overturn a state law prohibiting abortion. Seven of eleven judges voted to declare it unconstitutional, but a "super majority" of eight votes is needed to make a law unconstitutional.
Mexico Border: Two articles talk about Texas' "border security strategy." The first reviews a report prepared for the state of Texas making the case that violence is spilling over from Mexico and that the state therefore needs to do more to achieve "border security." The article points out, however, that no hard data, only anonymous, anecdotal stories, are presented to back up this claim. The second article is an analysis of the political pork barrel that this ¨Texas strategy" feeds.
Immigration: A federal judge upheld most of the provisions of Alabama's law cracking down on unauthorized immigrants.
Drug War: Social Media
Mexico Turns to Twitter and Facebook for Information and Survival
NYTimes.com: Sept. 25, "... according to scholars and many Mexicans, social media has become a necessity in Mexico, with a mission far different from what has emerged in the Arab revolutions, or in China. In those countries, social networks have been used to route around identifiable sources of repression and to unify groups dispersed over large areas. In Mexico, Twitter, Facebook and other tools are instead deployed for local survival.
“These aren’t acts of political sedition or real-time attempts to bring about a change in government,” said Nicholas T. Goodbody, a professor of Mexican cultural studies at Williams College. “These are people trying to navigate daily life.”"
Newspaper, bloggers stunned by killing in Mexico
MiamiHerald.com: Sept. 27, "The killing of a Mexican woman purportedly in retaliation for her postings on an anti-crime website has left stunned chat users and employees at the newspaper where she worked wondering who can still be safe in the violent border city of Nuevo Laredo.
Press freedom groups condemned the killing of Maria Elizabeth Macias, whose decapitated body and head were found Saturday next to a message citing posts she wrote on "Nuevo Laredo en Vivo," a website used by Laredo residents to denounce crime and warn each other about drug cartel gunfights and roadblocks.
Some bloggers vowed to keep up the fight against powerful drug cartels but warned users to trust no one."
The Zetas' Biggest Rival: Social Networks
InSight Crime: Sept. 28, "The Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo has seen three brutal killings in an apparent campaign by the Zetas against social media websites -- what is it about these sites that makes the gang so angry?
... The show of citizens grouping together to defy the criminal groups, prominently displayed on NLV (Nuevo Laredo en Vivio), poses a challenge to the Zetas’ image. Much of the traditional forms of media have been cowed into silence --... This stands in contrast to the outpouring of tributes to the dead woman, and protests against the Zetas that could be found on the website. Many posters rail against the “ratazzz,” or rats, spelt with a z to represent the Zetas, who are “ruining Nuevo Laredo.” Online forums like NLV represent an arena of defiance that is difficult for the Zetas to control, and this is a challenge to their authority -- one that they are answering with an escalation of brutality."
Drug War: Mexican Police and Army
Despite Violence - Many Mexican Police Still Paid Low Wages
Fox News Latino: Sept. 25, "They are fighting a violent drug war - but a new government report released Sunday shows many Mexican police officers still earn $350 per month or less, despite reform efforts aimed at increasing wages and decreasing corruption among the country's police."
Pay Rises Alone Won't Break Chain of Police Corruption
InSight Crime: Sept. 30, "... it’s not clear that higher salaries will be a determining factor in cleaning up the police. A pair of recent studies looking at police corruption in Mexico, the first by John Bailey and Matthew Taylor, the second by Daniel Sabet, conclude that salary is just one of the variables that determines whether an officer decides to actively work with criminal gangs, to merely tolerate them, or to confront them.
The other factors, which can weigh just as heavily, include the likelihood of being caught and the severity of the resulting penalty; the moral cost and the degree of personal commitment to the job; and the probability of suffering physical attacks, both in cases of agreeing or refusing to work with the gangs."
Mexico's Army Seeks More Funding, But Should it Have Key Security Role?
InSight Crime: Sept. 26, "Mexico's Ministry of Defense (SEDENA) is lobbying the country’s Congress for more than 13 billion pesos ($980 million) in funding to modernize the army and add thousands of new soldiers to its ranks. According to chairman of the Congressional Defense Committee, Rogelio Cerda Perez, the expansion and modernization of the army is “not a luxury but a necessity." He has called for "more troops on the streets," to fight drug trafficking gangs. The need to renew weaponry and vehicles is urgent, Cerda argues, with some equipment dating back to World War II. The 13 billion pesos demanded by the ministry would be used to reshape the army entirely, adding 10,800 troops and creating 18 new special forces battalions specialized in combating drug trafficking.
read more
Human Rights
Mexico supreme court upholds state’s right-to-life amendment, making abortion ban state issue
The Washington Post: "Mexico’s supreme court on Wednesday let stand a right-to-life amendment to the Baja California state constitution that says life begins at conception and effectively bans elective abortions in the northern border state. The ruling appeared to allow Mexican states to decide individually on the abortion question, though the court has also agreed to review a similar amendment from the state of San Luis Potosi.
Sixteen of Mexico’s 31 states have adopted right-to-life amendments that severely restrict abortions, though almost all continue to allow it under some circumstances like rape or danger to a mother’s life. Only Mexico City has legalized abortion on demand in the first trimester."
Mexico Border
Is violence spilling across the border? New report sheds little light
Austin Statesman: Sept. 29, "Few topics in Texas are more politically charged than the issue of violence spilling into Texas from the ongoing drug war in Mexico. ... But what’s been missing in the debate is conclusive evidence of whether spillover violence is actually occurring along the Texas border.
As we reported in Tuesday’s paper, the latest report seeking to bring clarity to the issue is the $80,000 “Texas Border Security: A Strategic Military Assessment.” Produced by two retired generals and commissioned by the Texas Departments of Agriculture and Public Safety, the report comes to some powerful conclusions: Not only is spillover violence real, but conditions on both sides of the Texas border are akin to a “war zone” and border residents are under attack “around the clock.” America’s fight against “narco-terrorism” is taking on “the classic trappings of a real war.”
But the report relies not on new statistics, or analysis of existing statistics. Instead it largely uses anonymous anecdotal evidence from ranchers and farmers, most of it culled from online postings. (The website, protectyourtexasborder.com is run by the state agriculture department and aims to win more federal help for border security.)"
How Unaccountable Private Contractors Pocket Your Tax Dollars Militarizing the Texas Border
AlterNet: Sept. 27, "Heavy on outsourcing and lacking documented success, the "Texas model" of border security's features are not original, but borrowed directly from the DHS or the military and are funded with federal money."
Immigration
Alabama to enforce strict immigration laws
CBS News: Sept. 29, "Police in Alabama are getting ready to enforce what is considered by many as the toughest immigration law in the United States. Beginning Thursday, authorities can question people suspected of being in the country illegally and hold them without bond, and officials can check the immigration status of students in public schools, Gov. Robert Bentley said. Those two key aspects of Alabama's new law were upheld by a federal judge on Wednesday. The governor said parts of the law take effect immediately. "We intend to enforce it," Bentley said."
Sep 29, 2011
The Border: Is violence spilling across the border? New report sheds little light
For a recent critical look at the Texas "border security model, see our post by Tom Barry of the TransBorder Project. The "retired generals," who produced the report discussed in this article run a security consulting firm and are the designers and operators of Texas' border security program. So by painting a picture of increasing violence, they are making the case that Texas needs to do more and, therefore, pay them more money. Most of the money comes from federal grants, not state funds. See also: Tom Barry's indepth report on the Texas strategy, At War in Texas
Focal Point: "Few topics in Texas are more politically charged than the issue of violence spilling into Texas from the ongoing drug war in Mexico. ... But what’s been missing in the debate is conclusive evidence of whether spillover violence is actually occurring along the Texas border.
As we reported in Tuesday’s paper, the latest report seeking to bring clarity to the issue is the $80,000 “Texas Border Security: A Strategic Military Assessment.” Produced by two retired generals and commissioned by the Texas Departments of Agriculture and Public Safety, the report comes to some powerful conclusions: Not only is spillover violence real, but conditions on both sides of the Texas border are akin to a “war zone” and border residents are under attack “around the clock.” America’s fight against “narco-terrorism” is taking on “the classic trappings of a real war.”
But the report relies not on new statistics, or analysis of existing statistics. Instead it largely uses anonymous anecdotal evidence from ranchers and farmers, most of it culled from online postings. (The website, protectyourtexasborder.com is run by the state agriculture department and aims to win more federal help for border security.)"
Focal Point: "Few topics in Texas are more politically charged than the issue of violence spilling into Texas from the ongoing drug war in Mexico. ... But what’s been missing in the debate is conclusive evidence of whether spillover violence is actually occurring along the Texas border.
As we reported in Tuesday’s paper, the latest report seeking to bring clarity to the issue is the $80,000 “Texas Border Security: A Strategic Military Assessment.” Produced by two retired generals and commissioned by the Texas Departments of Agriculture and Public Safety, the report comes to some powerful conclusions: Not only is spillover violence real, but conditions on both sides of the Texas border are akin to a “war zone” and border residents are under attack “around the clock.” America’s fight against “narco-terrorism” is taking on “the classic trappings of a real war.”
But the report relies not on new statistics, or analysis of existing statistics. Instead it largely uses anonymous anecdotal evidence from ranchers and farmers, most of it culled from online postings. (The website, protectyourtexasborder.com is run by the state agriculture department and aims to win more federal help for border security.)"
Jul 15, 2011
The Border Reality: U.S. border cities prove havens from Mexico's drug violence
U.S. border cities prove havens from Mexico's drug violence - USATODAY.com: "The picture painted of America's southwestern border with Mexico is a bloody one, in which the drug violence decimating northern Mexico has spilled onto U.S. soil and turned the region into a war zone. ...
That's not actually the case, according to a USA TODAY analysis that draws upon more than a decade of detailed crime data reported by more than 1,600 local law enforcement agencies in four states, federal crime statistics and interviews along the border from California to Texas.
The analysis found that rates of violent crime along the U.S.-Mexico border have been falling for years — even before the U.S. security buildup that has included thousands of law enforcement officers and expansion of a massive fence along the border.
U.S. border cities were statistically safer on average than other cities in their states. Those border cities, big and small, have maintained lower crime rates than the national average, which itself has been falling.
The appearance of an out-of-control border region, though, has had wide-ranging effects — stalling efforts to pass a national immigration reform law, fueling stringent anti-immigration laws in Arizona and elsewhere, and increasing the amount of federal tax dollars going to build more fencing and add security personnel along the southwestern border.
The perception of rising violence is so engrained that 83% of Americans said they believe the rate of violence along the southwestern border is higher than national rates, according to a recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 999 adults....
Some observers say the numbers don't reflect realities on the ground and give cover to a federal government that is not adequately protecting hundreds of border communities. ...
Others read the numbers as proof the issue of "spillover violence" from Mexico is being exaggerated and used as an impetus for anti-immigration legislation and stepped-up federal and state funding to law enforcement agencies along the border."
That's not actually the case, according to a USA TODAY analysis that draws upon more than a decade of detailed crime data reported by more than 1,600 local law enforcement agencies in four states, federal crime statistics and interviews along the border from California to Texas.
The analysis found that rates of violent crime along the U.S.-Mexico border have been falling for years — even before the U.S. security buildup that has included thousands of law enforcement officers and expansion of a massive fence along the border.
U.S. border cities were statistically safer on average than other cities in their states. Those border cities, big and small, have maintained lower crime rates than the national average, which itself has been falling.
The appearance of an out-of-control border region, though, has had wide-ranging effects — stalling efforts to pass a national immigration reform law, fueling stringent anti-immigration laws in Arizona and elsewhere, and increasing the amount of federal tax dollars going to build more fencing and add security personnel along the southwestern border.
The perception of rising violence is so engrained that 83% of Americans said they believe the rate of violence along the southwestern border is higher than national rates, according to a recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 999 adults....
Some observers say the numbers don't reflect realities on the ground and give cover to a federal government that is not adequately protecting hundreds of border communities. ...
Others read the numbers as proof the issue of "spillover violence" from Mexico is being exaggerated and used as an impetus for anti-immigration legislation and stepped-up federal and state funding to law enforcement agencies along the border."
Jul 8, 2011
Whack-a-mole Drug War at the Border: Alarming New Border Counternarcotics Strategy
From the TransBorder Project, a further look at the growing merger of "border security," "terrorism," the drug war and presidential politics in an election year.
Border Lines: Alarming New Border Counternarcotics Strategy: "On the occasion of the new Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy in the Arizona border town of Nogales, administration officials were once again caught in this border security paradox of their own making. Escalated threat assessments came side by side with assurances that the border was secure.
In a show of its commitment to border security, the administration brought together the top officials of the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), which produced the new border counternarcotics strategy.
In the press release announcing the new strategy, Attorney General Eric Holder offered an alarming view of border security, cartel penetration, and spillover violence. “Drug trafficking cartels spread violence and lawlessness throughout our border region and reach into all of our communities, large and small,” said Holder.
Speaking in Nogales, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also painted a frightening picture of security threats at the border – not only from the drug cartels but also from their “links to terrorism.”
Border Lines: Alarming New Border Counternarcotics Strategy: "On the occasion of the new Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy in the Arizona border town of Nogales, administration officials were once again caught in this border security paradox of their own making. Escalated threat assessments came side by side with assurances that the border was secure.
In a show of its commitment to border security, the administration brought together the top officials of the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), which produced the new border counternarcotics strategy.
In the press release announcing the new strategy, Attorney General Eric Holder offered an alarming view of border security, cartel penetration, and spillover violence. “Drug trafficking cartels spread violence and lawlessness throughout our border region and reach into all of our communities, large and small,” said Holder.
Speaking in Nogales, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also painted a frightening picture of security threats at the border – not only from the drug cartels but also from their “links to terrorism.”
Jul 6, 2011
The Border: Arizona Alliance's Dubious Achievements in Combating "Transnational Threats"
This is the second of three articles from Border Lines on the Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats – ACTT.
Border Lines: Arizona Alliance's Dubious Achievements in Combating "Transnational Threats":
ACTT is described as “a multi-agency operation in the Sonora-Arizona Corridor (what it calls FA-1) involving over 50 federal, tribal, state, and local law enforcement and public safety organizations.” Its aim is to “deny, degrade, disrupt, and ultimately dismantle criminal organizations and their ability to operate; engage communities to reduce their tolerance of illegal activity.” ...
The failures of the Obama administration’s approach to border control are clearly evident in one of its new border security operations – the Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats (ACTT), launched along the Arizona border in September 2009 as part of the Southwest Border Initiative.
... ACTT was launched largely in response to the rising outcry of border politicians about alleged increases in spillover violence from Mexico. In keeping with escalated threat assessments made by mostly Republican politicians and border sheriffs in Arizona and Texas, the Obama administration itself raised the border security rhetoric a notch by stating its intention to combat “transnational threats” and “transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) on the U.S. side of the border.
Yet after two years ACTT has little to show in the way of achievements in countering the transnational threats and TCOs that DHS says are endangering homeland security."
Border Lines: Arizona Alliance's Dubious Achievements in Combating "Transnational Threats":
ACTT is described as “a multi-agency operation in the Sonora-Arizona Corridor (what it calls FA-1) involving over 50 federal, tribal, state, and local law enforcement and public safety organizations.” Its aim is to “deny, degrade, disrupt, and ultimately dismantle criminal organizations and their ability to operate; engage communities to reduce their tolerance of illegal activity.” ...
The failures of the Obama administration’s approach to border control are clearly evident in one of its new border security operations – the Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats (ACTT), launched along the Arizona border in September 2009 as part of the Southwest Border Initiative.
... ACTT was launched largely in response to the rising outcry of border politicians about alleged increases in spillover violence from Mexico. In keeping with escalated threat assessments made by mostly Republican politicians and border sheriffs in Arizona and Texas, the Obama administration itself raised the border security rhetoric a notch by stating its intention to combat “transnational threats” and “transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) on the U.S. side of the border.
Yet after two years ACTT has little to show in the way of achievements in countering the transnational threats and TCOs that DHS says are endangering homeland security."
The Border: Obama Administration Responds to “Transnational Threats” with New Border Security Program
Border Lines: Obama Administration Responds to “Transnational Threats” with New Border Security Program: "From the beginning the Obama administration had a border problem, and two and a half years later the problem remains. ...
Rather to create a new policy framework for border control – one that would acknowledge that the vast border could never be truly “secured” against all illegal crossings, and one based on efficient control rather than on alarmist national-security and homeland-security threat assessments – the Obama administration has chosen to double down on border security. ...
What is more, the Obama administration has adapted the failed instruments of drug enforcement at home and drug wars abroad to its own border security policy.
The failures of the Obama administration’s approach to border control are clearly evident in one of its new border security operations – the Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats (ACTT), launched along the Arizona border in September 2009 as part of the Southwest Border Initiative.
... ACTT was launched largely in response to the rising outcry of border politicians about alleged increases in spillover violence from Mexico. In keeping with escalated threat assessments made by mostly Republican politicians and border sheriffs in Arizona and Texas, the Obama administration itself raised the border security rhetoric a notch by stating its intention to combat “transnational threats” and “transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) on the U.S. side of the border.
Yet after two years ACTT has little to show in the way of achievements in countering the transnational threats and TCOs that DHS says are endangering homeland security."
Rather to create a new policy framework for border control – one that would acknowledge that the vast border could never be truly “secured” against all illegal crossings, and one based on efficient control rather than on alarmist national-security and homeland-security threat assessments – the Obama administration has chosen to double down on border security. ...
What is more, the Obama administration has adapted the failed instruments of drug enforcement at home and drug wars abroad to its own border security policy.
The failures of the Obama administration’s approach to border control are clearly evident in one of its new border security operations – the Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats (ACTT), launched along the Arizona border in September 2009 as part of the Southwest Border Initiative.
... ACTT was launched largely in response to the rising outcry of border politicians about alleged increases in spillover violence from Mexico. In keeping with escalated threat assessments made by mostly Republican politicians and border sheriffs in Arizona and Texas, the Obama administration itself raised the border security rhetoric a notch by stating its intention to combat “transnational threats” and “transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) on the U.S. side of the border.
Yet after two years ACTT has little to show in the way of achievements in countering the transnational threats and TCOs that DHS says are endangering homeland security."
The Border: 'Spillover' Violence From Mexico: A Trickle Or A Flood?
'Spillover' Violence From Mexico: A Trickle Or A Flood? : NPR: "The Obama administration asserts that as a result of its two-year Southwest Border Initiative, the southern boundary has never been more secure. But Texas state officials and some border ranchers disagree; they've been saying that the violence in Mexico is spilling over and the president is not protecting the homeland. ...
The challenge is how to define spillover violence. The federal government says spillover must be drug-related violence that targets innocent civilians or law enforcement on U.S. soil.
But others think that's too narrow. They think spillover should include any trafficker-on-trafficker violence in the U.S. that originates with Mexican organized crime."
The challenge is how to define spillover violence. The federal government says spillover must be drug-related violence that targets innocent civilians or law enforcement on U.S. soil.
But others think that's too narrow. They think spillover should include any trafficker-on-trafficker violence in the U.S. that originates with Mexican organized crime."
May 27, 2011
Whack-a-mole War and the Border: The Spillover Violence Debate At The Border
Part of an excellent series on the drug war on the U.S. side of the border, by Fronteras, a co-operative news project of a number of public radio stations in the southwest U.S.
The Drug War At Home: The Spillover Violence Debate At The Border | Fronteras: "With every report of drug-related violence in Northern Mexico, comes the fear that the shootouts, the assassinations, and kidnappings will spillover into the United States.
But when does a crime along the border become an example of spillover violence? And when is it just a crime?
It’s all a matter of local interpretation and, sometimes, political manipulation. Even some media hysteria."
The Drug War At Home: The Spillover Violence Debate At The Border | Fronteras: "With every report of drug-related violence in Northern Mexico, comes the fear that the shootouts, the assassinations, and kidnappings will spillover into the United States.
But when does a crime along the border become an example of spillover violence? And when is it just a crime?
It’s all a matter of local interpretation and, sometimes, political manipulation. Even some media hysteria."
May 22, 2011
U.S. - Mexico Border: Not even friendship can bridge partisan views about border security
Not even friendship can bridge partisan views about border security | Texas on the Potomac | a Chron.com blog: "Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security subcommittee on investigations, elicited testimony meant to underscore the “spillover” of violence from Mexico.
That testimony included the deaths of the American David Hartley, gunned down on a jet ski in Falcon Lake, and the assassination of Jaime Zapata, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
Mexican drug cartels are implicated in both slayings. Both occurred in Mexico.
As a matter of professional courtesy, McCaul, the only Texan on the panel, opened the hearing up to other Lone Star state politicians for participation.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, whose congressional district includes Falcon Lake and Laredo, said testimony about drug killings in Mexico unfairly painted American border cities as under siege by the cartels – a distorted picture.
And Cuellar released charts that revealed that McCaul’s hometown of Austin had twice the crime of McAllen or Brownsville.
To soften the blow before releasing the charts, Cuellar told McCaul: “You know you’re my best buddy in Congress.”
McCaul admitted that his best friend was Cuellar."
That testimony included the deaths of the American David Hartley, gunned down on a jet ski in Falcon Lake, and the assassination of Jaime Zapata, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
Mexican drug cartels are implicated in both slayings. Both occurred in Mexico.
As a matter of professional courtesy, McCaul, the only Texan on the panel, opened the hearing up to other Lone Star state politicians for participation.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, whose congressional district includes Falcon Lake and Laredo, said testimony about drug killings in Mexico unfairly painted American border cities as under siege by the cartels – a distorted picture.
And Cuellar released charts that revealed that McCaul’s hometown of Austin had twice the crime of McAllen or Brownsville.
To soften the blow before releasing the charts, Cuellar told McCaul: “You know you’re my best buddy in Congress.”
McCaul admitted that his best friend was Cuellar."
Apr 1, 2011
The State Politics of the Whack-a-mole drug war, immigration crackdown and border security: Danger on the U.S.-Mexico border
An OpEd plea by a Texas border county sheriff and past president of the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition for including the sheriffs in federal border security planning. For an indepth look at the politics of this Coalition see our Sept. 2010 post At War in Texas. Together, the two articles make clearer the political dynamic behind what appear - on the face of it- to be illogical accusations by border state politicians that the federal government is not attending to border security despite its huge increase in spending on the border. These state politicians want to be an integrated part of the regular federal "border secuirty budget", instead of just receiving one-time "economic recovery stimulus grants" and other "emergency grants," as they have the past couple of years.
Border counties are among the poorest in the United States and can barely afford to hire and equip sufficient, qualified law enforcement personnel to meet citizens’ needs.
While billions of federal dollars are spent each year to increase the number and technical capabilities of Border Patrol agents, little is being done to improve security beyond the border area. An increase in border patrol agents gives the appearance of more security. But what about the soil past those agents’ narrow jurisdiction? ...
Without a comprehensive security plan from which officials at all levels can draw, we cannot create the conditions for true security. When Congress appropriates emergency funds, as it did in August, it sounds like a lot is being done. But in the absence of an agreed-upon plan, lawmakers will continue to spend on projects that fail to contribute efficiently to progress, and it’s not clear how we justify the resources needed to adequately staff, train and equip law enforcement agencies for coordinated border security operations.
U.S. border security cannot continue to be left to various law enforcement agencies that employ different procedures, lexicons and equipment, and whose objectives and priorities may conflict. Conducting operations in jurisdictional stovepipes precludes interagency coordination and cooperation. Maintaining the status quo means we will continue to give up miles of U.S. territory to criminals who threaten our citizens as they pass through our border counties to the depths of our country."
Feb 3, 2011
Laura's Blog: Napolitano in Texas: Tough Talk, Little Coherence
On Monday, Jan. 31, I crossed the border to hear Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano speak at the University of Texas/El Paso. I wanted to see what she had to say after spending the weekend in a two-day fast commemorating a year since the massacre of 18 mostly young people in Villas de Salvarcar, Ciudad Juárez.
I expected a clash of realities. The Obama administration has unconditionally adopted the Calderon government position that together they are winning the drug war and all that´s needed is to stay the course. Both governments avidly support militarization, of the border and of Mexico, as the means to confront organized crime. Both governments write off human rights concerns and the bloodshed that the war on drugs has caused as a necessary cost.
Even so, I wasn't prepared for Napolitano's outright contradictions and utter lack of compassion for the tragedies being played out on both sides of the border. Not once did she mention human rights, the rise in hate crimes and discriminatory laws and practices against latinos, violations taking place in detention centers, families pulled apart, or the deaths in Mexico as a result of the U.S.-supported drug war--despite the fact that hundreds of people demonstrated that same weekend on the Ciudad Juarez-El Paso border calling for an end the violence.
Instead, she dished out praise for the Southwest Border Initiative and some tough talk to Mexico. "I say to the cartels: Do not even think about bringing your violence and tactics across the border. You will be met by an overwhelming response. And we are going to continue to work with our partners in Mexico to dismantle and defeat you, and that message extends to anyone considering coming across that border illegally whether a smuggler, a human trafficker or an unlawful immigrant seeking work."
Again, immigrants--many of whom leave Mexico because of the disastrous economic and employment situation created by policies like NAFTA--were lumped in with drug and human traffickers. Although Napolitano stated support for comprehensive immigration reform, she praised record deportations and announced that detention facilities would be greatly expanded as the Secure Communities program swept more immigrants into its net and into the lucrative private centers.
The Secretary interpreted the surge in organized crime violence in Mexico as "seeking to undermine the rule of law, especially in Northern Mexico" with no recognition that the surge correlates directly to the launch of the disastrous drug war model by the Calderon administration. There was no indication whatsoever of the responsibility that the United States has in causing and perpetuating this violence against Mexican citizens through the Merida Initiative, of the pain of El Paso residents whose families live the horrors of the drug war's laboratory, nor of the deep-rooted problems of impunity and corruption on both sides of the border that have created the crisis for cities like Ciudad Juarez.
Nor did she address the U.S. role in consumption, corruption and domestic drug trafficking. She mentioned efforts at controlling the flow of guns, but noted that laws leave little room for successful prosecution even when it's known where cartel guns come from. At the same time as her talk, the ATF announced a cutback in funds for the gun-runner program.
Napolitano created a huge contradiction when she at once emphasized that the border communities are among the safest in the country--a fact backed up by statistics and that goes back decades-- and in the same breath stated that "We must guard against spillover effects." The rundown of security build-up on the border made no sense in the context of the low levels of violence and yet she promised to dedicate even more resources to beefing up border security. Absent was any suggestion that instead of spending the $600 million on SWBI and additional $150 million on Operation Stonegarden, perhaps the nation could better attend to the high levels of poverty: in El Paso one out of every four residents lives in poverty and the mayor recently stated that three of every ten children go to bed hungry.
What kind of security is that?
I expected a clash of realities. The Obama administration has unconditionally adopted the Calderon government position that together they are winning the drug war and all that´s needed is to stay the course. Both governments avidly support militarization, of the border and of Mexico, as the means to confront organized crime. Both governments write off human rights concerns and the bloodshed that the war on drugs has caused as a necessary cost.
Even so, I wasn't prepared for Napolitano's outright contradictions and utter lack of compassion for the tragedies being played out on both sides of the border. Not once did she mention human rights, the rise in hate crimes and discriminatory laws and practices against latinos, violations taking place in detention centers, families pulled apart, or the deaths in Mexico as a result of the U.S.-supported drug war--despite the fact that hundreds of people demonstrated that same weekend on the Ciudad Juarez-El Paso border calling for an end the violence.
Instead, she dished out praise for the Southwest Border Initiative and some tough talk to Mexico. "I say to the cartels: Do not even think about bringing your violence and tactics across the border. You will be met by an overwhelming response. And we are going to continue to work with our partners in Mexico to dismantle and defeat you, and that message extends to anyone considering coming across that border illegally whether a smuggler, a human trafficker or an unlawful immigrant seeking work."
Again, immigrants--many of whom leave Mexico because of the disastrous economic and employment situation created by policies like NAFTA--were lumped in with drug and human traffickers. Although Napolitano stated support for comprehensive immigration reform, she praised record deportations and announced that detention facilities would be greatly expanded as the Secure Communities program swept more immigrants into its net and into the lucrative private centers.
The Secretary interpreted the surge in organized crime violence in Mexico as "seeking to undermine the rule of law, especially in Northern Mexico" with no recognition that the surge correlates directly to the launch of the disastrous drug war model by the Calderon administration. There was no indication whatsoever of the responsibility that the United States has in causing and perpetuating this violence against Mexican citizens through the Merida Initiative, of the pain of El Paso residents whose families live the horrors of the drug war's laboratory, nor of the deep-rooted problems of impunity and corruption on both sides of the border that have created the crisis for cities like Ciudad Juarez.
Nor did she address the U.S. role in consumption, corruption and domestic drug trafficking. She mentioned efforts at controlling the flow of guns, but noted that laws leave little room for successful prosecution even when it's known where cartel guns come from. At the same time as her talk, the ATF announced a cutback in funds for the gun-runner program.
Napolitano created a huge contradiction when she at once emphasized that the border communities are among the safest in the country--a fact backed up by statistics and that goes back decades-- and in the same breath stated that "We must guard against spillover effects." The rundown of security build-up on the border made no sense in the context of the low levels of violence and yet she promised to dedicate even more resources to beefing up border security. Absent was any suggestion that instead of spending the $600 million on SWBI and additional $150 million on Operation Stonegarden, perhaps the nation could better attend to the high levels of poverty: in El Paso one out of every four residents lives in poverty and the mayor recently stated that three of every ten children go to bed hungry.
What kind of security is that?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)