Mexico has always had a special relationship with death. The Aztecs cut out hearts of living people as an offering to keep the sun rising. This ancient root of violence resurfaced in the Mexican Revolution of the 20th century which was one of the most bloody civil wars of all times. Don't mess with Mexico.
1
"The cartels make billions smuggling heroin, cocaine and crystal meth to America ..."
It sure sounds like the law-abiding citizens of Mexico could use a big, beautiful wall along the border to reduce the power of these murderous cartels that blight their lives.
It sure sounds like the law-abiding citizens of Mexico could use a big, beautiful wall along the border to reduce the power of these murderous cartels that blight their lives.
2
The polarization brought by Republicans to US society puts us on the road to this sort of environment. They want this sort of horror to happen in America. They want mass murder and death. They desire to turn our society into one of terror and true inhumanity.
1
Excellent!!
-p-
-p-
I feel for the people put in that impossible position of being forced to help the drug cartels for fear of their life or their families. I honestly don't know what I would do if I were in my own country and had that sort of proposition. Luckily I can rely on the law - these people cannot.
3
The present "situation" in Mexico is untenable for much longer as the USA gradually wakes up to the reality of anti-American (that's anti-USA) sentiment that moves and grows at an alarming rate across the culture. This sentiment goes a long way back and now is fueled by the increasing realization that the US IS to blame for the end of the peaceful village society that once was Mexico.
That zeitgeist is fertile ground for terrorism against the US in the form of conspiracies with foreign powers that are probably right now feeling their way through "relationships" with the more violent power-hungry cartels where the sicarios are only few steps away from employ as bombers or nuclear parts traffickers.
BIGGEST PROBLEM: USA's hands-off attitude and failure to recognize the threat that Mexico's "state within a state" problem poses to the security of the western world. Let's not forget that it is Mexican drug-dealers who move their stuff on a global level around the entire planet. Their connections are everywhere and their agenda obviously includes the disruption of a peaceful sane society alive and well in the US. They ENJOY the price we pay in many more ways than one.
Sadly, the longer Mexico can fend off US involvement against the failed state the more likely a show-down will be horrendous. Will Kelly and Trump invade Mexico to take control of the "situation"? Or will the "situation" remain concealed until it metastasizes out of control in a way we hadn't thought possible?
That zeitgeist is fertile ground for terrorism against the US in the form of conspiracies with foreign powers that are probably right now feeling their way through "relationships" with the more violent power-hungry cartels where the sicarios are only few steps away from employ as bombers or nuclear parts traffickers.
BIGGEST PROBLEM: USA's hands-off attitude and failure to recognize the threat that Mexico's "state within a state" problem poses to the security of the western world. Let's not forget that it is Mexican drug-dealers who move their stuff on a global level around the entire planet. Their connections are everywhere and their agenda obviously includes the disruption of a peaceful sane society alive and well in the US. They ENJOY the price we pay in many more ways than one.
Sadly, the longer Mexico can fend off US involvement against the failed state the more likely a show-down will be horrendous. Will Kelly and Trump invade Mexico to take control of the "situation"? Or will the "situation" remain concealed until it metastasizes out of control in a way we hadn't thought possible?
The present "situation" in Mexico is untenable for much longer as the USA gradually wakes up to the reality of anti-American (that's anti-USA) sentiment that moves and grows at an alarming rate across the culture. This sentiment goes a long way back and now is fueled by the increasing realization that the US IS to blame for the end of the peaceful village society that once was Mexico.
That zeitgeist is fertile ground for terrorism against the US in the form of conspiracies with foreign powers that are probably right now feeling their way through "relationships" with the more violent power-hungry cartels where the sicarios are only a few steps away from employ as bombers or nuclear parts traffickers.
BIGGEST PROBLEM: USA's hands-off attitude and failure to recognize the threat that Mexico's "state within a state" problem poses to the security of the western world. Let's not forget that it is Mexican drug-dealers who move their stuff on a global level around the entire planet. Their connections are everywhere and their agenda obviously includes the disruption of a peaceful sane society alive and well in the US. They ENJOY the price we pay in many more ways than one.
Sadly, the longer Mexico can fend off US involvement against the failed state the more likely a show-down will be horrendous. Will Kelly and Trump invade Mexico to take control of the "situation"? Or will the "situation" remain concealed until it metastasizes out of control in a way we hadn't thought possible?
That zeitgeist is fertile ground for terrorism against the US in the form of conspiracies with foreign powers that are probably right now feeling their way through "relationships" with the more violent power-hungry cartels where the sicarios are only a few steps away from employ as bombers or nuclear parts traffickers.
BIGGEST PROBLEM: USA's hands-off attitude and failure to recognize the threat that Mexico's "state within a state" problem poses to the security of the western world. Let's not forget that it is Mexican drug-dealers who move their stuff on a global level around the entire planet. Their connections are everywhere and their agenda obviously includes the disruption of a peaceful sane society alive and well in the US. They ENJOY the price we pay in many more ways than one.
Sadly, the longer Mexico can fend off US involvement against the failed state the more likely a show-down will be horrendous. Will Kelly and Trump invade Mexico to take control of the "situation"? Or will the "situation" remain concealed until it metastasizes out of control in a way we hadn't thought possible?
What ab awful account of real murders right in front of our noses. To add insult to injury, the authorities that could minimize these killings are, instead, contributing to the mayhem. What's going on? Are the salaries of the officials so miserable that they 'have to' resort to supplement their income...by looking the other way? Or is there a generalized fear that 'to see and then say something is akin to the sealing of one'w own death? One conclusion is that there is incompetence or collusion in narcotrafficking much beyond our ability to control it...for as long as there is the demand for the illicit drugs. Perhaps we need to assess critically the failure of current policy; instead, look into legalizing them and control their use by taxing the product. In Bolivia we do not see much violence in this illegal business, partly because the government (Evo's looking the other way) has become complicit. Again, the production usually follows demand, as many of the 'cocaleros' know and try to control by some coercion short of the rampant assassinations seen in Me'jico.
1
It is not really a war, or a horrendous crime problem. The problem is the Mexican government represents a failed state. In a healthy, functioning state, the state has a monopoly on the use of force. Of course, crime occurs in a healthy state, and you may even have organized crime and gangs crop up, but in a functioning state the limits of their actions are eventually severely curtailed. When organized crime actually takes over arms of the state-- when the police or the army begin taking orders from organized crime (for example, as in the case of the Mexican drug cartels)-- you have a failed state, the government has lost the monopoly on the use of force, and you can't really say that you have a functional Mexican government. In order for the Mexican government to reassert itself, and become functional, there would have to be a crackdown that would amount to a civil war. It could be done, but at the present time, there is no indication that the Mexican government has the resolve to undertake this.
1
Nice job the US has done in exporting most of the violence that comes with prohibition. It's not only that "other" people who are dying from it, we can deny blame for ourselves, and of course, create many thousands of jobs for the DEA and the alphabet soup of other agencies that are solving this problem. I read an article recently about Holland supplying pharmaceutical heroin for older, long-term and probably out-of-reach addicts. The number of new addicts there has plummeted. But sensible and caring programs like that are in short supply here.
1
Heroin, cocaine and crystal meth are prohibited in Mexico and Holland as well as the United States. The Netherlands investigates and prosecutes the sale and use of hard drugs just as other countries do. The penalty for trafficking heroin, cocaine and crystal meth in Holland and other Dutch states is 12-16 years in prison.
Thank you for Mr. Grillo for writing this and exposing the terrifying reality. Would that U.S. policy toward Mexico was enlightened and that our country and other countries who've dealt with similar problems provide real support and aid to help Mexico turn the corner. Real jobs and a host of other reforms would surely help.
1
Heroin, cocaine and crystal meth are illegal in Mexico as well as the United States. However, there are no large U.S. cartel smuggling these drugs into Mexico. Mexican cartels are smuggling these drugs into the United States. Mexico as well as the United States has drug addicts. Much of the killing Mexico is over the neighborhood distribution of illegal drugs.
The symbiosis between the Mexican government and the drug cartels is at the heart of this story. When I was spending time in Mexico the police would helpfully start forest fires to create distractions big enough to allow the drug cartels to move their products through the territory.
The question in Mexico, as in much of the world, is how to unravel the bonds of corruption and institute good government. Can this be done short of a revolution?
The question in Mexico, as in much of the world, is how to unravel the bonds of corruption and institute good government. Can this be done short of a revolution?
7
if ever there was a hegemony of global wealth that conspired to oppress an entire nation, it is Mexico. We should not build a wall; rather we should insist upon reforms that promote civil justice in Mexico that destroy the "Jim Crow," ad-hoc system of corrupt croneyism that defines the Mexican legal system today.
We must demand institutional reforms that enable the righteous underdog to prevail in a cilvil court and perforce, sweeping Mexican financial revolution will rapidly ensue.
Doing so is the only path that ensuring a politically and finanially stable ally to our south. (Of course, many 0.05 percenters on both sides of the border will resist.)
"You read it here last"
Yugo Furst
We must demand institutional reforms that enable the righteous underdog to prevail in a cilvil court and perforce, sweeping Mexican financial revolution will rapidly ensue.
Doing so is the only path that ensuring a politically and finanially stable ally to our south. (Of course, many 0.05 percenters on both sides of the border will resist.)
"You read it here last"
Yugo Furst
3
I think our ability to "demand" anything of Mexico internally is quite limited. But you get a gold star for good intentions.
1
This article actually said that Mexicans make billions of dollars importing heroin into the US. And I thought calling Mexicans drug smugglers was a form of bigotry !
4
It's the appetite for drugs that drives the whole process. When will Hollywood stop glamorizing cocaine? Cocaine users have blood on their hands.
1
And does it then make sense to oppose a border wall and support open borders, so the perpetrators can freely walk over?
7
Your question is ambiguous since you do not supply us with the underlying assumptions you seem to be expecting us to infer for you.
As a rule drugs get smuggled into the US by shipping them in legal containers and means. Very little is actually "smuggled" by sneaking smugglers at the borderline.
As a rule drugs get smuggled into the US by shipping them in legal containers and means. Very little is actually "smuggled" by sneaking smugglers at the borderline.
6
Open borders.........a recipe for more disaster.
4
True. And our so-called President wants to cut funding for the Coast Guard; one of the protections against drugs entering the country.
Rest assured America these "cartels" are International Corporations and the GOP intends to let loose American Corporations to run themselves in exactly the same way among us.
8
Did you read the article? Disagree with the cartel and you are buried, leaving your family to wonder what happened to you. The 'cartels' are monsters.
3
This is silly hyperbole. Get back to me when Apple starts murdering hundreds of Procter & Gamble employees. That's exactly what those rascally Republicans want.
2
México should sue US.
CNN:
"We Americans must own this problem. It is ours," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated bluntly during a news conference.
"We know what we own, and we as Americans must confront that we are the market. There is no other market for these activities. It is all coming here. But for us, Mexico wouldn't have the trans-criminal organized crime problem and the violence that they're suffering," Tillerson said. "We really have to own up to that."
CNN:
"We Americans must own this problem. It is ours," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated bluntly during a news conference.
"We know what we own, and we as Americans must confront that we are the market. There is no other market for these activities. It is all coming here. But for us, Mexico wouldn't have the trans-criminal organized crime problem and the violence that they're suffering," Tillerson said. "We really have to own up to that."
23
Thank you for that from Tillerson!! Finally an 'adult in the room' voice of reason.
1
Do all those bodies have all of their organs?
2
Hard to believe
The U.S. has given Mexico $234.79 million in assistance over the past five years, or roughly $46.9 million per year.
The U.S. plans to provide Mexico with $134.6 million in the current budget year, none of which has yet been spent.
The biggest chunk of the planned 2017 spending, $78.9 million, is devoted to democracy, human rights and governance programs, including supporting civic institutions.
An additional $43.8 million is devoted to promoting peace and security, including counter-narcotics operations and combating transnational crime.
The smallest piece of the 2017 package, $11.9 million, is for environmental and climate change programs.
The U.S. has given Mexico $234.79 million in assistance over the past five years, or roughly $46.9 million per year.
The U.S. plans to provide Mexico with $134.6 million in the current budget year, none of which has yet been spent.
The biggest chunk of the planned 2017 spending, $78.9 million, is devoted to democracy, human rights and governance programs, including supporting civic institutions.
An additional $43.8 million is devoted to promoting peace and security, including counter-narcotics operations and combating transnational crime.
The smallest piece of the 2017 package, $11.9 million, is for environmental and climate change programs.
5
I wonder if there are some lessons from Sicily here. The citizens got fed up with unending lawlessness, corruption, smuggling, etc. of the Mafia and started to put their foot down and say 'no more'. My understanding is that the situation there is getting better. It does take a great deal of courage.
5
I have lived in MX for 10 years. The main misunderstanding in the States is that we think that the problem is the cartels and drugs. The whole government and the cartels are married to each other. The number of mayors, journalists etc. that have been killed in the last 5 years makes it one of the most dangerous countries to live in.
An excellent article was in the New Yorker several years ago-Gold or Lead. If you do not accept a bribe in the governement, then your whole family runs the risk of being killed.
Another good source of insight about MX is Midnight in Mexico-recently written by a MX/American journalist that had to leave as his life was threatened. I think it is very important that Loan Grillo is writing these articles so that we don't come away from his work thinking the whole problem could be settled by legalizing drugs.
Many call MX a failed state. There is no law and order as we have come to understand it in the US.
An excellent article was in the New Yorker several years ago-Gold or Lead. If you do not accept a bribe in the governement, then your whole family runs the risk of being killed.
Another good source of insight about MX is Midnight in Mexico-recently written by a MX/American journalist that had to leave as his life was threatened. I think it is very important that Loan Grillo is writing these articles so that we don't come away from his work thinking the whole problem could be settled by legalizing drugs.
Many call MX a failed state. There is no law and order as we have come to understand it in the US.
10
Article after article in the NY Times about women coming over the border, requesting sanctuary, saying their husbands beat them, threatened to kill then, that their 13 year old daughters were threatened with rape by gang members.
Then when Donald Trump said "Build a wall and keep the bad people out of the USA"...........all we read from the NY Times was how wrong Trump was and how wonderful Mexico was.
Now (and for years) the mass graves.
Appears an apology is due Mr. Trump.
Then when Donald Trump said "Build a wall and keep the bad people out of the USA"...........all we read from the NY Times was how wrong Trump was and how wonderful Mexico was.
Now (and for years) the mass graves.
Appears an apology is due Mr. Trump.
5
By law and order as you understand it, do you mean police killings of unarmed civilians in the US?
1
Consumer society ... an American invention ... supply and demand ... but it is somewhat dangerous when the demand for drugs has the provider at its own backyard.
3
America did not invent capitalism or avarice or greed. Everyone consumes everywhere.
The "demand for drugs" you allude to was created by the supplier it would be impossible for it to have been created by the consumer since they would have to have access to drugs to know of them and demand them.
It was always and is always the dealer who is the problem not the consumer/victim.
The "demand for drugs" you allude to was created by the supplier it would be impossible for it to have been created by the consumer since they would have to have access to drugs to know of them and demand them.
It was always and is always the dealer who is the problem not the consumer/victim.
4
America is a great country, but we did not invent capitalism. As for the drugs, they also go to Europe, and other places. I'm in favor or drug legalization. It would be tough, but I think we would all be better off if we could purchase our drugs from the local CVS and have FDA over sight, for purity concerns. Even if that were to happen, Mexico would still be a mess.
Talking about a brute scale of consumption... from the 1950s
Who invented the stupid size?
About demand for drugs... here is an example to fill the puzzle:
Coca in Bolivia is legal and just kicked out DEA.
The same plant used for millennia as food and treat ailments in Peru... but an anti-narcotic story driven by US consumption of drugs.
Call it a different consumer habits... for some of them coca is a way to trick hunger... for some other is a way to trick their minds.
Who invented the stupid size?
About demand for drugs... here is an example to fill the puzzle:
Coca in Bolivia is legal and just kicked out DEA.
The same plant used for millennia as food and treat ailments in Peru... but an anti-narcotic story driven by US consumption of drugs.
Call it a different consumer habits... for some of them coca is a way to trick hunger... for some other is a way to trick their minds.
1
The lack of comments on this (very well written and fascinating) piece is quite telling. Americans will ignore this as long as we possibly can. But one day, eventually, Mexico will boil over and the US will find itself a major player in a hemispheric war that's probably been a long time coming.
7
Yes the Mexican army may attack.
2
Gracias Senor Grillo for this article. Mexico is a beautiful country, and one with a long amazing, but also violent, history...starting with the conquestadors who tortured, converted, executed and even committed genocide against their Natives and their own political rebels.
The paradox of Mexican violence and corruption...is the paradox of a country manipulated by Spanish conquests, violent occupations. the exploitation by elites (gringos and some non gringos) ; racist gringos with supremacists attitudes and beliefs throughout history ; cruel misogynistic hierarchical Catholicism and its institutions and "exploitative policies of Americanos next door".
The War on Drugs is a never ending war that has become profitable to many in government, all kinds of business and the cartel. Why would they solve the problem when keeping it alive, and receiving funds of millions, is lucrative?
Last, but not the least, is Latino machismo...that sometimes works and maybe even be cute and harmless. But when machismo is not harmless it is deadly. It ends in murders after murders. It is what some Hispanic women call "Machismo Murder MerryGoRound" (It never stops...and is full of revenge, retribution, punishment, feud, ego expression, on and on).
There has to be a good sociological and psychological analyses of this...not just a political and economic one. The US needs to take responsibility for some of this also, because this reality is moving up north to the land of the Americanos.
The paradox of Mexican violence and corruption...is the paradox of a country manipulated by Spanish conquests, violent occupations. the exploitation by elites (gringos and some non gringos) ; racist gringos with supremacists attitudes and beliefs throughout history ; cruel misogynistic hierarchical Catholicism and its institutions and "exploitative policies of Americanos next door".
The War on Drugs is a never ending war that has become profitable to many in government, all kinds of business and the cartel. Why would they solve the problem when keeping it alive, and receiving funds of millions, is lucrative?
Last, but not the least, is Latino machismo...that sometimes works and maybe even be cute and harmless. But when machismo is not harmless it is deadly. It ends in murders after murders. It is what some Hispanic women call "Machismo Murder MerryGoRound" (It never stops...and is full of revenge, retribution, punishment, feud, ego expression, on and on).
There has to be a good sociological and psychological analyses of this...not just a political and economic one. The US needs to take responsibility for some of this also, because this reality is moving up north to the land of the Americanos.
4
You seems to have forgotten that the "natives" conquerors themselves were engaged in Human Sacrifice. The Spaniards weren't good people but they did the human race a service by destroying the Aztecs.
3
So, you think killing an entire community because few male leaders in the community committed human sacrifice is a good thing? That is like saying, "Lets wipe the whole of the South (in the US) because few men there bomb women's reproductive centers, or lot of men there practice domestic violence".
Does that make sense to you?
Does that make sense to you?
1
MEXICO'S Slaughter of many millions of its citizens is an example of what happens when syndicated crime and militarized police take over. If you find it terrorizing, then you must start demanding that the militarization of police in the US stop immediately. Because we've already started dangerously down the slippery slope that will ultimately result in mass graves and disappeared citizens. It's not so far-fetched. Just last week, a man with a history of mental illness and violence, allegedly murdered 4 young men and attempted to bury them. The legal definition of "mass shooting" in the US is 5 or more deaths by gunshot. We must do everything in our power to prevent a slide into violence and chaos. Local governments must feel the pressure to retrain police and inform citizens about how to engage in nonviolent interventions when problems arise.
3
Thankfully, Johnny, our police are a long way from behaving as police do in Mexico. So please don't suggest a problem or parallel where none exists.
If you don't like the policing in America move somewhere else. Maybe Mexico?
If you don't like the policing in America move somewhere else. Maybe Mexico?
Wars need to be declared. American's Civil War II has already started.
3
So where does all the money go that these drug cartels are bringing in? If the demand was so high for the drugs here in America one would think with that many customers there would be plenty of business for each cartel that rivalries between them wouldn't be necessary, they can all be rich. The logic of gluttony escapes me.
5
Americans have money, or can get it. Mexicans, not so much.
1
Everyone on the planet should be issued nuclear weapons. That way, no one will be afraid.
2
That was obamas theory for giving Iran the bomb. Read it in Foreign Affairs.
1
What bomb? We stopped Iran from building a bomb. Even Trump agrees that they're in compliance.
1
End the war on drugs and this goes away.
6
I agree with you, but it would not go away. There are other markets for drugs and the lawlessness would continue. It's the corruption of civil society that is a big problem too.
To the comments that say we should legalize drugs to end drug gangs and drug related violence and corruption, I agree in part, at least with regard to marijuana. But what about drugs like fentanyl and crystal meth? Could we legalize all currently illegal drugs without doing more harm to our society than does the costs of drug related crime and the cost of trying to fight it?
5
we will never know if we refuse to even consider it.
of course, here is the histoy of Prohibition.
at least we got 21 out of that.
of course, here is the histoy of Prohibition.
at least we got 21 out of that.
6
The Mexican mass grave problem rests in the American chronic drug, gun and money addiction.
Of the 33,000 Americans who die from gun shots every year about 2/3rds are suicides and 80% are white men.
About 33,000 Americans die from opioid overdose every year. And until they were white while misusing legal prescription drugs along with illegal drug users this was a criminal justice problem for black and brown mass incarceration.
I was born and bred black and poor on the South Side of Chicago where we were caught between the corrupt criminals in blue with a uniformed armed badged licensed to deprive us of our life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the thugs in various colors with their arms who can do likewise. You learn to adjust and survive by keeping your mouth shut and ears closed and eyes averted along with having a very poor memory. A handful of bad cops and bad thugs make life hazardous for all.
Of the 33,000 Americans who die from gun shots every year about 2/3rds are suicides and 80% are white men.
About 33,000 Americans die from opioid overdose every year. And until they were white while misusing legal prescription drugs along with illegal drug users this was a criminal justice problem for black and brown mass incarceration.
I was born and bred black and poor on the South Side of Chicago where we were caught between the corrupt criminals in blue with a uniformed armed badged licensed to deprive us of our life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the thugs in various colors with their arms who can do likewise. You learn to adjust and survive by keeping your mouth shut and ears closed and eyes averted along with having a very poor memory. A handful of bad cops and bad thugs make life hazardous for all.
25
So the takeaway is white men deserve suicide and to get shot & become addicted to opioids? I don't get it. This growing up poor and black on the south side line is getting old, and a lot of us who are otherwise empathetic are getting tired of hearing it. Non-black Americans have had family and personal tragedies for decades as well yet there are no funds for treatment, no social programs or assistance for daily life for us either.
I don't really care about where or how you grow up. I have my own family to worry about and take care of now.
I don't really care about where or how you grow up. I have my own family to worry about and take care of now.
11
Heart-rending and painful. No one should have to live with that kind of threat and violence hanging of their heads. This is a national disgrace we all need to own as well as the resolve to help find life-serving and life-saving answers that work.
Why do we all need to own it?
How ironic that the Times, which has been banging the drum with incessant articles about the evils of opiates and opioids for several years now, should then publish this piece about the evils our neighbor to the South is suffering due to our idiotic narcotics laws. Currently, any US citizen who wants to destroy his or her life with drugs can do so with relative ease, our 46 year "war of drugs", and the expenditure of tens of billions of dollars each and every year notwithstanding. Sure, I'm sorry for the parents whose kids succumb to addiction, but as we saw with alcohol, only legalization will end the concomitant violence in Latin America, not to mention a great many communities of color here in the US. With the money we waste every year on ineffective policing, not to mention incarceration, every addict in the country could receive gold plated rehab and counseling. Regulated, licensed sales would generate enormous tax revenue, put criminal distributors out of business, and assure unadulterated, dosage controlled products are available to users. We cannot "police" our way out of this problem, only full decriminalization and retail availability will work.
21
This carnage is the result of the toxic neighbor in the north, the USA millions of addicts and their hunger for drugs and the schizophrenic conclusion that we, Mexicans, are responsible for American sickness and that we have to wage a lost war in drugs killing each other for control of the trade, pushing our army also to do the dirty job, while the USA trade on arms to the cartels flourishes and the DEA agents keep their jobs. All in order to take care of the "mental health" of the American people! There was never such a killing in Mexico until the USA decided we have to fight this unwinnable war while many of the USA states have already legalized its use. Yes this is a war of Mexicans against Mexicans on behalf of the USA. The perfect way to corrupt and destroy a country and its people.
14
If you guys every figure out how to create a legitimate economy with real opportunity and without the 30% la mordida, you might stand a chance.
As long as you are corruptible, you will be corrupted.
If Mexico was not a failed state, you could deal with this and all the crime would move somewhere else.
As long as you are corruptible, you will be corrupted.
If Mexico was not a failed state, you could deal with this and all the crime would move somewhere else.
4
U.S. policies are also a contributor. Worth investigating.
1
The solution to end the crime and corruption in Mexico, India and other countries where the population is no longer armed is to re-arm their population.
I have not personally done business in any of the African nations, but some of my employees have, and they state that doing business in Nigeria makes my doing business in India look like amateur night in Dixie.
If the current proposals to ban handguns become law in the USA, then we could awake to a situation similar to India, Africa, Russia, Bosnia, Mexico, or Syria.
Many New York City residents have since been licensed to carry firearms, and my NYC friends tell me that this probably is the main reason or maybe the only reason for the demise of the protection businesses in New York City.
I have not personally done business in any of the African nations, but some of my employees have, and they state that doing business in Nigeria makes my doing business in India look like amateur night in Dixie.
If the current proposals to ban handguns become law in the USA, then we could awake to a situation similar to India, Africa, Russia, Bosnia, Mexico, or Syria.
Many New York City residents have since been licensed to carry firearms, and my NYC friends tell me that this probably is the main reason or maybe the only reason for the demise of the protection businesses in New York City.
4
Your argument is so stupid I would laugh if it weren't for the 30,000 deaths by gunshot in our country every year. The solution in all the countries you cite is the rule of law, not arming the populace.
12
Clearly I've missed something! What proposals to ban hand guns? How about some references.
7
this may sound reasonable in TX, but here in reality it sonds exactly like what it is: crazy.
7
Another thought...
if drugs were to be legalized, political stability would be enhanced in many countries such as Mexico. That in turn would indeed provide greater security and safety in affected nations. Kids wouldn't be getting shot down in the streets. But the overall death toll from drug abuse and related health problems would skyrocket.
Look at alcohol and tobacco. How many millions of people across the planet die every year from alcohol or tobacco related illness or behavior? Only difference is, it isn't cartels of alcohol or tobacco peddlers who are murdering each other. Rather, it is the consumer who is dying sooner or later.
if drugs were to be legalized, political stability would be enhanced in many countries such as Mexico. That in turn would indeed provide greater security and safety in affected nations. Kids wouldn't be getting shot down in the streets. But the overall death toll from drug abuse and related health problems would skyrocket.
Look at alcohol and tobacco. How many millions of people across the planet die every year from alcohol or tobacco related illness or behavior? Only difference is, it isn't cartels of alcohol or tobacco peddlers who are murdering each other. Rather, it is the consumer who is dying sooner or later.
5
i think that Alcohol and Tobacco are simply more lethal than many other drugs, especially if given predictable dosing. The opiod crisis I believe is not mainly due to use, but rather to dosing problems with street drugs of unknown potency as well as fake pills manufactured with Fentanyl and analogues. From a 'harm reduction' standpoint, the current policy of cracking down on pills has failed. Perhaps in the distant future it will decrease addiction but how many lives will be lost in the meantime?
6
I agree with you that alcohol and tobacco are more lethal than many other drugs. Regardless, in my opinion (which is based more on anecdotal evidence than scientific research) there is no way that drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine or heroin can be legalized in a way that would reduce the overall death toll. It just is not the nature of those beasts.
2
Ever hear of Darwin? The consequences of certain types of drug use, including alcohol and tobacco are well known. If you want to use, go ahead , but don't be surprised at the end result. Free country, right?
1
Legalizing all of these drugs would vastly improve and save the lives of so many people and save money to boot (and be a new source of revenue for the government just as it is with the biggest killers of all -- alcohol and tobacco). I think most resistance to legalizing drugs stems from irrational fear of drug use and a belief that once the harder drugs are legal significant segments of the population will all of a sudden become coke, meth and heroin addicts. That is of course preposterous. It is very easy to acquire almost any drug already. Chances are, you're not going to start smoking crystal meth just because it became legal. If you had a burning desire to become a crystal meth, heroin, etc. addict, you could make that happen today.
7
Mexico was a wonderful place to vacation 50 years ago before the Mexican government disarmed their citizens.
Elimination of the US people's individual right to protect themselves with firearms would result in total corruption similar to that experienced in Mexico and/or other countries that have disarmed their populations.
I was 62 years old when I decided to join the NRA. The NRA group is the only organized opposition to the advocacy of disarming the U. S. population.
I do not want this country to become criminally corrupt similar to India, Mexico, Russia, Yugoslavia, Central America, Africa, China, or New York City before Gun Licensing of NYC citizens.
Without an armed population the USA will end up with a criminal dominated society such as Mexico.
Elimination of the US people's individual right to protect themselves with firearms would result in total corruption similar to that experienced in Mexico and/or other countries that have disarmed their populations.
I was 62 years old when I decided to join the NRA. The NRA group is the only organized opposition to the advocacy of disarming the U. S. population.
I do not want this country to become criminally corrupt similar to India, Mexico, Russia, Yugoslavia, Central America, Africa, China, or New York City before Gun Licensing of NYC citizens.
Without an armed population the USA will end up with a criminal dominated society such as Mexico.
2
US drug policy was written by avarice, infected by Prohibition Use Disorder Syndrome. The cure for P.U.D.$ is fairly taxed and regulated drugs and ending the profit from the cartels not only in Mexico, but the one's that exist within our own Department of Justice. The DEA mowed down a water taxi full of innocent civilians in Honduras a few months ago, then lied to their mothers and called the victims traffickers. In Chicago we bury victims of the drug war almost every day. Our CIA and USAID toppled Democratically elected leaders in Guatemala and El Salvador causing corporate and drug war exploitation to this day. But neither the media or the government call those who seek asylum drug war refugees? US drug policy has created a mass grave out of entire nations.
Join the resistance;
Drug Policy Alliance
NORML
MPP
Law Enforcement Action Parternship
National Election Defense Coalition
ACLU
Join the resistance;
Drug Policy Alliance
NORML
MPP
Law Enforcement Action Parternship
National Election Defense Coalition
ACLU
6
Does this remind anyone of 1920's Chicago and Al Capone? It is the illegality that drives the violence and corruption. Legalize. Check out https://lawenforcementactionpartnership.org/ This is a group of current and former law enforcement (police, prosecutors, judges, wardens) who have seen the damage resulting from the War on Drugs and want to legalize in order to regulate. "Legalization" is a scary word. It has connotations of approval. Rather it means "stop using the criminal justice system as the one and only tool for managing problematic substances." Legalization is a prerequisite for regulation and management.
21
Thank you for sharing the link, but I have two criticisms.
First, the title of the organization seems like it contains a broad cross-section of "law enforcement." When I reviewed the Board of Directors, I saw they come from California, New Hampshire, Maryland, Oregon, and one member from England. The board members either ran for office or they are political appointees in deep blue states. Law Enforcement Action Partnership is not a neutral organization.
Second, the comparison of Prohibition to the War on Drugs is faulty. Unlike Prohibition, the War on Drugs still has support in large areas of the country. Additionally, Prohibition intensified US criminal networks, which were already engaged in gambling, prostitution, bank robbery, and kidnapping for ransom. The end of Prohibition only partially answers what reduced the lawlessness of the 20s and early 30s. The founding of national law enforcement organizations, especially the FBI, greatly reduced bank robberies and nearly eliminated kidnapping for ransom as revenue streams for organized crime. Additionally, law enforcements' approach utilized changes in prosecuting criminals by using the tax code.
In the end, a reduction in Mexico's violence requires a killing of the cartels' main revenue stream (ending the war on drugs) along with reforms in the Mexican State. If not done in tandem, the cartels will probably adapt to new methods.
First, the title of the organization seems like it contains a broad cross-section of "law enforcement." When I reviewed the Board of Directors, I saw they come from California, New Hampshire, Maryland, Oregon, and one member from England. The board members either ran for office or they are political appointees in deep blue states. Law Enforcement Action Partnership is not a neutral organization.
Second, the comparison of Prohibition to the War on Drugs is faulty. Unlike Prohibition, the War on Drugs still has support in large areas of the country. Additionally, Prohibition intensified US criminal networks, which were already engaged in gambling, prostitution, bank robbery, and kidnapping for ransom. The end of Prohibition only partially answers what reduced the lawlessness of the 20s and early 30s. The founding of national law enforcement organizations, especially the FBI, greatly reduced bank robberies and nearly eliminated kidnapping for ransom as revenue streams for organized crime. Additionally, law enforcements' approach utilized changes in prosecuting criminals by using the tax code.
In the end, a reduction in Mexico's violence requires a killing of the cartels' main revenue stream (ending the war on drugs) along with reforms in the Mexican State. If not done in tandem, the cartels will probably adapt to new methods.
3
the main point on which I agree is that TX is a large part of the United States.
1
Why are Mexico's mass graves a paradox? Isn't that what they do in Mexico? C'mon now, with the drug lords running everything and all the corruption it would be a paradox if there weren't any mass graves.
It's a surprise nobody has created a board game patterned after Mexico, it would sell like hotcakes.
It's a surprise nobody has created a board game patterned after Mexico, it would sell like hotcakes.
3
It is time to end the "War on Drugs." We must legalized drugs and control them, treating people who use them humanely, to stop innocents from being killed.
8
I live in the state of Oaxaca which until recently escaped the killings described in the article. Mexico is a big country, and people felt that what was happening elsewhere was affecting the local tourism industry. Now the killings have reached us, even here in Puerto Escondido.
I lived and worked as a reporter in Buenos Aires during the dirty war, and I am struck by the similarities in the local response - they must have done something to deserve it.
I lived and worked as a reporter in Buenos Aires during the dirty war, and I am struck by the similarities in the local response - they must have done something to deserve it.
13
The drug wars... will they ever end? Of course not. If anything Americans are ramping up their devotion to getting off their faces, as the Britishso colourfully term it. Until the day arrives when Americans no longer need to alter their realities, this war will go on. But how do you cure the individual mental torments of 300 million people? How do you plug the hole that drugs fill in all those needy lives? Impossible. American society is imperiled, that much is obvious. And Mexico is catching the fall-out of that disease. Maybe that wall between the countries isn't such a bad idea after all? Hey, nothing else has worked.
6
Those who naively believe Mexico was a fuzzy and warm place prior to the arrival of evil 'gringo' money, try doing two things:
First, read Bernal Diaz de Castillo's 'Conquest of New Spain'.
Second, go to the exhibit at the base of the pyramids of the Sun, Moon, and Feathered Serpent at Teotithuacan and look at the ritual homicides (read: mass burials) that accompanied the initiation/construction/expansion of these magnificent structures. Ritual murder and cannibalism have been part and parcel of Mexican cultural since the Olmec.
Not that this isn't awful -- it is horrible. But it is nothing new to MesoAmerica.
First, read Bernal Diaz de Castillo's 'Conquest of New Spain'.
Second, go to the exhibit at the base of the pyramids of the Sun, Moon, and Feathered Serpent at Teotithuacan and look at the ritual homicides (read: mass burials) that accompanied the initiation/construction/expansion of these magnificent structures. Ritual murder and cannibalism have been part and parcel of Mexican cultural since the Olmec.
Not that this isn't awful -- it is horrible. But it is nothing new to MesoAmerica.
18
A good statement on the corrupting influence of the drug business is a film called Days of grace or Dias de gracia very well done , showing on Netflix .
4
This is a ridiculous and insulting oversimplification of Mexican culture and Mexican people. Let's turn that around for perspective: Those who naively believe the United States was a fuzzy and warm place prior to the arrival of evil [fill in the blank] try doing the following: consider Nazi Germany and the holocaust, where the vast majority of white Americans come from, consider the brutal genocide of indigenous Americans by the United States government, consider the English Civil war, the Goths, the brutality of ancient Rome. It just doesn't work and is frankly insulting.
7
The Spaniards exaggerated to justify their genocide.
3
To the heroin, meth, and cocaine trade Attorney General Sessions now appears poised to add marijuana (by enforcing federal prohibitions on medical and recreational marijuana in states permitting them). By increasing profits to be made in narcotics trade the US encourages it, thereby reinforcing the belief in Mexico that the most influential cartel is the "Cartel of the Potomac", that array of lobbyists, lawyers, promotors, and politicians benefiting from keeping narcotics illegal but flowing. Analysts know most drug trade by land comes through the commercial ports of entry, not on foot through the desert. In this respect the wall is just a sham, a manufactured illusion of being "tough on drugs". And increased profitability in the drug trade will lead to increased smuggling of arms from the US to Mexico, further increasing levels of violence. in this respect Mexico is not so much a failed state as one where civic institutions are undermined and overwhelmed by forces on both sides of the border seeking to profit from both narcotics and the exploitation of Mexican labor. The expansion of cartel violence in 2007 followed the decision by new president Felipe Calderon to send the army to clamp down on cartel activity. But the cartels were not the target; political unrest following his disputed election in 2006 so unsettled Calderon he wanted the army in the streets as a public warning. The cartels were a handy foil. Now Sessions and Trump will reinforce them for political gain.
11
Speaking of crime waves or domestic war -
So far this year, there have been 8,473 gun deaths in the US.
So far this year, there have been 8,473 gun deaths in the US.
10
In Mexico the citizens are now essentially prohibited from ownership of firearms in the last 40 years, so the politicians and criminals are now all armed and the criminals "shake down" the unarmed Mexican Citizens similar to the protection Rackets in New York City before the citizens in NYC were allowed to own and carry firearms.
5
This is a very misleading statistic. Roughly half are suicides. 1/4 are from grang related violence. The murder rate is down dramatically in America despite a large increase in gun ownership
4
So let me see if I understand you argument. . . . The solution to a problem that will kill the equivalent of a small town through gun violence is. . . . more guns?
Really?
You do realize that we kill more people each year through gun violence than were killed in the Afghanistan & Iraq wars combined? 16,000+ gun deaths US / year - versus - 7,983 US war deaths.
Really?
You do realize that we kill more people each year through gun violence than were killed in the Afghanistan & Iraq wars combined? 16,000+ gun deaths US / year - versus - 7,983 US war deaths.
"...at their doorstep was a mass grave akin to those left by the Islamic state."
A haunting and keen observation.
Growing up in south Texas, we would commute in and out of Mexico freely by car - driving everywhere from central Mexican cities to southern coastal towns that tourists and networks like HGTV are especially fond of.
Even by speaking Spanish with a Mexican dialect and altering our dress to not reflect such an "American" image, which sounds like an over-generalization but believe me, this archetype exists, we still managed to give our American citizenry away and for that reason we were horribly treated.
In 2010, the downtown hotel we were staying at was raided and as a boy of 16 at the time, that fear was burned so deeply into my psyche that I have not dared nor desired to go back to Mexico. Which is really a shame because there is an undeniable mystique and beauty to the Mexican tapestry - a colorful, lush culture set on the most magnificent backdrops of land...
For as much languid complaining that some Americans exhaust, let a firsthand-testimony to some of the horrors this article touches on about the Mexican underworld remind you to appreciate this country.
A haunting and keen observation.
Growing up in south Texas, we would commute in and out of Mexico freely by car - driving everywhere from central Mexican cities to southern coastal towns that tourists and networks like HGTV are especially fond of.
Even by speaking Spanish with a Mexican dialect and altering our dress to not reflect such an "American" image, which sounds like an over-generalization but believe me, this archetype exists, we still managed to give our American citizenry away and for that reason we were horribly treated.
In 2010, the downtown hotel we were staying at was raided and as a boy of 16 at the time, that fear was burned so deeply into my psyche that I have not dared nor desired to go back to Mexico. Which is really a shame because there is an undeniable mystique and beauty to the Mexican tapestry - a colorful, lush culture set on the most magnificent backdrops of land...
For as much languid complaining that some Americans exhaust, let a firsthand-testimony to some of the horrors this article touches on about the Mexican underworld remind you to appreciate this country.
28
If you've ever traveled in Mexico, you know it's a WAY different country from the one depicted in our media. Essentially, NOTHING gets reported about the actual activities by gangs, the Federales, the local police, etc. The first time I was there, in the 70s, I was told about the daily fighting in the mountains between (at the time) communist rebels and the army. Nothing of this was ever reported on in the U.S. press, and, as I've since become used to, it just ISN'T. When the occasional sensationalist story surfaces, it's typically met with horror and revulsion "up here", but it is, and has been "business as usual" south of the border. Travel outside tourist areas at your own risk. You've been warned.
20
Think it has . However if you're looking for reports from Mexican journalists , you won't find much because they're kidnapped , tortured and murdered by the cartels just like Putin does to his press who dare to report the truth.
4
I watched a conference called "Convergence" a few years back--sponsored by the Defense Department. It was all about these deadly, global blended threats. I hid under my bed for a week afterward. Here is the free online publication from National Defense University: http://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/Books/convergence.pdf
3
For Mexican officials, the option is take the bribe or die. Hard to see how that system can ever be reformed without an outright, open civil war to purge this aspect of the culture.
19
Seeing the havoc and turmoil that the drug trade has wrought in much of Mexico, it becomes understandable how Rodrigo Duterte with his very extreme (lawless) anti-drug policies was popularly elected to become the President of the Philippines. A true "no holds barred" response to trafficking becomes understandable when mass graves with hundreds of bodies are being located in working class neighborhoods throughout a country. Just food for thought...
7
Legalize the drugs, and the violence will stop.
No one is killed in the alcohol or tobacco trades, because they are legal, and the merchants and manufacturers operate with legal protection.
Just because something is bad, doesn't mean it should be illegal.
No one is killed in the alcohol or tobacco trades, because they are legal, and the merchants and manufacturers operate with legal protection.
Just because something is bad, doesn't mean it should be illegal.
52
I agree with you 100 percent. But if the drug trade isn't there, they will extort money from restaurants, shops, and kidnapping. The government has to apply a zero toleration to cartel (mafia) activity, which will not be easy.
3
The collusion between the drug cartels, the army, the police, and the government is an open secret in Mexico. The violence is a major factor driving illegal immigration into the United States, yet gets practically no coverage here. It is not paranoid to suggest this is at least partly by design: as noted in the article, if the U.S. were to recognize that migrants were fleeing government-sponsored violence, it would be obligated to grant them refugee status. And besides, it would be a major embarrassment to the United States, which has for decades sold the public on the notion that we are collaborating with Mexico in a War on Drugs south of the border.
But the mass graves don't lie. And they didn't get there without the government and police knowing about them.
But the mass graves don't lie. And they didn't get there without the government and police knowing about them.
17
The United States cannot afford to take in 10s of millions of Mexican's caught in the cross-fire of their corrupt government. The end result is that 10s of millions of Mexican's are poor, disenfranchised, and targets or recruits of their dysfunctional society.
4
so what are you suggesting? that the US, a wealthy, majority "Christian" nation, simply watch 10s of millions of our neighbors live in misery, with an outrageous percentage being murdered?
2
Sally, if the alternative is open borders, the answer is yes.
Under your calculation, why would the obligation stop at Mexico? Isn't Darfur equally worthy of our attention? And why admit only those Mexicans who sneak in, who tend to be young, male and healthy, and have the unearned advantage of geographical proximity? Are they more deserving than the South Sudanese, who by unfortunate accident are thousands of miles away? What about those who would love to live in this country but lack the health and finances to make the journey? Are they less morally deserving than the healthy 22 year old Mexican males? Are we obligated to seek them out and transport them to the US?
Under your calculation, why would the obligation stop at Mexico? Isn't Darfur equally worthy of our attention? And why admit only those Mexicans who sneak in, who tend to be young, male and healthy, and have the unearned advantage of geographical proximity? Are they more deserving than the South Sudanese, who by unfortunate accident are thousands of miles away? What about those who would love to live in this country but lack the health and finances to make the journey? Are they less morally deserving than the healthy 22 year old Mexican males? Are we obligated to seek them out and transport them to the US?
A terrible tale.
However, the article somewhat obscures the point. This type of violence and abuse of others does not spontaneously arise from peaceful town trying to merely get on with their lives. That is a myth.
Instead, the problem is deeply cultural, stemming from both the nature of the conquerors (the Spanish in the name of the Crown and the Church) and the conquered (the Aztecs, who brutally and systematically took tribute from all they could). This nearly unholy matrimony exists to this day.
The most singular problem is that Mexico has weak civic institutions, both in concept and in fact. This generates weak communities, weak laws, and corrupt businessmen, union, police, and politicians. It is endemic to the country of Mexico, and everyone is in on it and accepts it as 'normal'. Ni modo is the favorite expression.
Arguing that this is one 'side' against another 'side' is like arguing that the heart is in battle with the lungs and brain over oxygen.
However, the article somewhat obscures the point. This type of violence and abuse of others does not spontaneously arise from peaceful town trying to merely get on with their lives. That is a myth.
Instead, the problem is deeply cultural, stemming from both the nature of the conquerors (the Spanish in the name of the Crown and the Church) and the conquered (the Aztecs, who brutally and systematically took tribute from all they could). This nearly unholy matrimony exists to this day.
The most singular problem is that Mexico has weak civic institutions, both in concept and in fact. This generates weak communities, weak laws, and corrupt businessmen, union, police, and politicians. It is endemic to the country of Mexico, and everyone is in on it and accepts it as 'normal'. Ni modo is the favorite expression.
Arguing that this is one 'side' against another 'side' is like arguing that the heart is in battle with the lungs and brain over oxygen.
14
I agree but no different than the USA Today with our open corruption.
The US President openly flaunts the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution and takes bribes and other kickback payments from foreign governments and lobbyists.
In the USA, we translate "Ni modo" into "but what about Hillary."
Most countries are corrupt including the USA and Mexico.
The US President openly flaunts the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution and takes bribes and other kickback payments from foreign governments and lobbyists.
In the USA, we translate "Ni modo" into "but what about Hillary."
Most countries are corrupt including the USA and Mexico.
Legalize and regulate drugs. No more cartels.
10
"Yet at the same time, for many Mexicans, life goes on in apparent normality ...".
As it does for Americans as well, refusing to take seriously (or too selfish to care about) the connection between their use of imported drugs from Mexico and the dollars that flow into the hands of the cartels (and government) that fuel the violence. Without those dollars, probably 90% of the problem would go away. Since American users are not likely to give up their drugs and the war on drugs has failed (in both the U.S. and Mexico), the only option would appear to be legalization.
As it does for Americans as well, refusing to take seriously (or too selfish to care about) the connection between their use of imported drugs from Mexico and the dollars that flow into the hands of the cartels (and government) that fuel the violence. Without those dollars, probably 90% of the problem would go away. Since American users are not likely to give up their drugs and the war on drugs has failed (in both the U.S. and Mexico), the only option would appear to be legalization.
35
Decriminalization is not the same as legalization, but recognizing drug use and abuse as a HEALTH issue, and transferring resources from law enforcement to health services, would be a monumental first step in healing our peoples and our societies. Portugal did this in 2002, with great results. Apparently, news of that action has been blocked here.
37
Might I add, that history, especially as told through artifacts, tells us that there has always been an audience for drugs. And this desire is never going to go away because it is the penchant of humans to seek feelings of escapism and mental and physical "release," if you will.
This is not so much an American issue as it is a global one. US proximity to Mexico is the only reason why this issue is favorably pinned on the American demand for drugs. The US would probably be sending drugs to Mexico, too if our society was as dystopian and corrupt as Mexico's because it generates money and fast.
This is not so much an American issue as it is a global one. US proximity to Mexico is the only reason why this issue is favorably pinned on the American demand for drugs. The US would probably be sending drugs to Mexico, too if our society was as dystopian and corrupt as Mexico's because it generates money and fast.
2
Miguel writes, "it is the penchant of humans to seek feelings of escapism and mental and physical "release," if you will."
But the majority of us do not use narcotic drugs, legal or illegal.
The issue, or the question, is what to do about the people who do use narcotic drugs.
But the majority of us do not use narcotic drugs, legal or illegal.
The issue, or the question, is what to do about the people who do use narcotic drugs.
1
"In June, the mothers found yet another mass grave in Veracruz State, after somebody sent a map to one of them on Facebook."
Shouldn't it be easy to find out exactly who sent the map in this fashion?
Shouldn't it be easy to find out exactly who sent the map in this fashion?
5
"In June, the mothers found yet another mass grave in Veracruz State, after somebody sent a map to one of them on Facebook."
Shouldn't it be easy to determine who this was?
Shouldn't it be easy to determine who this was?
4
Nothing is simple in Mexico. As someone in my family told me the first time I went to Mexico:
There is truth truth.
And there is Mexican truth.
There is truth truth.
And there is Mexican truth.
2
I.G. doesn't get out in the world enough. This is what third-world, undeveloped, lawless countries look like. The weak have no rights, people disappear, and whenever has the most power gets to control everyone else.
People joke that this defines Hillary's world view, but it is the constant story in Mexico and other places that only pretend to be civilized. The shallow patina of religiosity saves individuals but is not strong enough to control the violent people that always rise to the top whereever there is no real law.
Perhaps the U.S. was supposed to establish some sort of colony in Mexico when we had the rights to all of it in the mid-1800's, but that wasn't what Americans did. Perhaps we could have brought in the British or French to run the place and bring Mexico into the modern world.
People joke that this defines Hillary's world view, but it is the constant story in Mexico and other places that only pretend to be civilized. The shallow patina of religiosity saves individuals but is not strong enough to control the violent people that always rise to the top whereever there is no real law.
Perhaps the U.S. was supposed to establish some sort of colony in Mexico when we had the rights to all of it in the mid-1800's, but that wasn't what Americans did. Perhaps we could have brought in the British or French to run the place and bring Mexico into the modern world.
2
I find it interesting that NYT editorials about Mexico typically draw fewer than 100 reader comments while any opinion about Trump regularly draws over 1000. Americans seem to know little about their Southern neighbor and the impact of our US Drug wars, and sadly care even less. The US could have policies in place to foster healthy change in Mexico, instead we provide the weapons for the current criminal government to act with impunity.
33
Yes, it is a war.
It is reported differently than other wars, because the reporters do not see it as the same. But the facts are very similar.
In Iraq, live goes on, children play, just like in Mexico.
In Mexico, the Army patrols and takes heavy casualties. So far, the rebels are not using IED's, they are using rocket launchers and grenade launchers and machine guns. But that is a tactical choice.
They might use IED's if they were losing straight up fights with US Army patrols. As it is, some of the best of the Mexican Army goes to work for the rebels, rather like our mercenary companies recruit from the US military. They can win against the Mexican Army because some of them are themselves the recent best of the Mexican Army.
This is an important question. We say we are fighting them in Afghanistan so we don't have to fight them here. Meanwhile, they are fighting here, right along the Rio Grande border. Some even shoot over the border sometimes, and some cross over to do executions here.
Reality is unwelcome. It is simply ignored. It is reality all the same.
It is reported differently than other wars, because the reporters do not see it as the same. But the facts are very similar.
In Iraq, live goes on, children play, just like in Mexico.
In Mexico, the Army patrols and takes heavy casualties. So far, the rebels are not using IED's, they are using rocket launchers and grenade launchers and machine guns. But that is a tactical choice.
They might use IED's if they were losing straight up fights with US Army patrols. As it is, some of the best of the Mexican Army goes to work for the rebels, rather like our mercenary companies recruit from the US military. They can win against the Mexican Army because some of them are themselves the recent best of the Mexican Army.
This is an important question. We say we are fighting them in Afghanistan so we don't have to fight them here. Meanwhile, they are fighting here, right along the Rio Grande border. Some even shoot over the border sometimes, and some cross over to do executions here.
Reality is unwelcome. It is simply ignored. It is reality all the same.
26
Am I wrong in seeing a causal link between the violence in Mexico and the appetite for illegal narcotics and cheap undocumented labor in the USA? Would the stakes be so high for the cartels, would they even exist if they didn't feel the proximity of that multi-billion market to the North?
I'm not a Bible-thumping person, but somewhere in the Good Book it says that the lust for money is the root of all evil. Clearly that is a major factor here. The lure of access to untold riches eats away all moral strictures and brings man closer and closer to the basest life-form.
If the proximity of the American market of drugs)buyers (and gun-sellers!) is a factor, it would behove the US government to act. Trump being President pretty much closes that door, however.
It is for anthropologists to determine whether, in addition to all the above, there is something of the Aztec blood-thirst at play here, as well. Recent finds seem to indicate that their desire for slaughter was even greater that hitherto accepted. Death on a cosmic scale.
I'm not a Bible-thumping person, but somewhere in the Good Book it says that the lust for money is the root of all evil. Clearly that is a major factor here. The lure of access to untold riches eats away all moral strictures and brings man closer and closer to the basest life-form.
If the proximity of the American market of drugs)buyers (and gun-sellers!) is a factor, it would behove the US government to act. Trump being President pretty much closes that door, however.
It is for anthropologists to determine whether, in addition to all the above, there is something of the Aztec blood-thirst at play here, as well. Recent finds seem to indicate that their desire for slaughter was even greater that hitherto accepted. Death on a cosmic scale.
8
Yes, money drives the fighting, fuels it and motivates it.
However, as the fighting goes on, like all wars the motives will expand. In WW1, it is well documented that the "war aims" of the sides never stopped changing. That is normal.
This could easily morph into a fight for political power, outright control of Mexico. In some places it already has, in the strongholds of the cartels.
However, as the fighting goes on, like all wars the motives will expand. In WW1, it is well documented that the "war aims" of the sides never stopped changing. That is normal.
This could easily morph into a fight for political power, outright control of Mexico. In some places it already has, in the strongholds of the cartels.
5
It is a fair question whether Mexico would be a more just and fair place were the 20-35 million Mexicans missing from their society (because they are up here) were at home living a life and trying to keep neighborhoods socially connected.
6
Mexico has been an agrarian culture. Parents had many children to help with the farm work. Attending school was not necessary to do farm work so education was not a priority. As of a few years ago, the average adult in Mexico had only a 6th grade education.
Now Mexico has to enter the modern era where education is a necessity. There are not enough jobs for undereducated Mexicans. As a result, many join drug cartels to make enough money to survive. Some transport drugs to the U.S. and others have moved here to sell them. Some Mexicans, who moved here in hopes of finding honest work, have been unable to support themselves, and so, have ended up working for the cartels. They do not have enough education to do much else in our modern economy.
And, paradoxically, most of them continue to have many children and place little value on education. Here in the U.S., Hispanics have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and school drop-outs of any ethnic group.
Now Mexico has to enter the modern era where education is a necessity. There are not enough jobs for undereducated Mexicans. As a result, many join drug cartels to make enough money to survive. Some transport drugs to the U.S. and others have moved here to sell them. Some Mexicans, who moved here in hopes of finding honest work, have been unable to support themselves, and so, have ended up working for the cartels. They do not have enough education to do much else in our modern economy.
And, paradoxically, most of them continue to have many children and place little value on education. Here in the U.S., Hispanics have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and school drop-outs of any ethnic group.
12
NAFTA made this worse in Mexico. It caused a rapid failure of the rural economy, as cheap American farm products wiped out inefficient small farmers of Mexico. Sure that made economic sense, but it did not make political sense. They were left with nothing, and so they turned to the cartels as the only thing on offer.
12
As one who has lived and worked in Mexico for 25 years and dealt with all levels of society, I can assure you could not be more wrong.
If not for trade with the U.S. in general, and NAFTA in particular, Mexico would look more like Guatemala than the U.S.
The massive transfer of wealth to Mexico in large part through NAFTA has caused a spectacular boom in the economy of Mexico. Cities like Monterrey, Guadalajara, Puebla, Chihuahua, Hermosillo, and Mexico City have become transformed through the influx of money. They are much nicer places than they used to be.
It is true that collapse in corn and coffee prices has made rural life more difficult, but the same thing could be said about farming in New England in colonial times: there are better ways and places to grow food.
If not for trade with the U.S. in general, and NAFTA in particular, Mexico would look more like Guatemala than the U.S.
The massive transfer of wealth to Mexico in large part through NAFTA has caused a spectacular boom in the economy of Mexico. Cities like Monterrey, Guadalajara, Puebla, Chihuahua, Hermosillo, and Mexico City have become transformed through the influx of money. They are much nicer places than they used to be.
It is true that collapse in corn and coffee prices has made rural life more difficult, but the same thing could be said about farming in New England in colonial times: there are better ways and places to grow food.
6
But , as in all capitalist societies, that trade money goes first and thereafter to the already rich. Nothing changes for the already poor.
5
"The pattern of killing is perhaps most similar to that of the death squads of a dictatorship." Government collusion, Mr. Grillo suggests. How high up does the collusion go, and does it extend beyond Mexico's borders?
4
The defining characteristic of death squads is that they murder the unarmed, those unable to resist.
When the ones they wish to kill are armed and organized, it is a fight. In Colombia and the Philippines, the fighting was the past victims of death squads armed and fighting back. It is a transition. Mexico is moving through that transition.
When the ones they wish to kill are armed and organized, it is a fight. In Colombia and the Philippines, the fighting was the past victims of death squads armed and fighting back. It is a transition. Mexico is moving through that transition.
3
Mexicans have been gunning each other down since they had guns. The Mexican Revolution was a grotesque affair. Mexicans have been gunning each other down for many decades. It is just that before people weren't paying as much attention.
2
The simple answer is "to the president of Mexico" and "of course".
The tremendous wealth that drives the criminal organizations in Mexico comes from willing, law breaking US consumers. This funds the corruption of Mexican institutions. The flood of weapons flowing south over the border comes from US profiteers. This provides criminals the means to kill and intimidate on a massive scale. We need to face our own complicity.
63
That is certainly how it started. It is so well established now that it is grown into more. Now the armed groups won't just quit and go home if one market is cut off to them. We made a problem with our drug laws and illegal immigration, but the problem is now bigger than what it was when we started.
4
It's this thinking that buoys Trump's wall fantasies. It's not the US consumer who sells guns to Mexico. Mexicans, not Americans, are responsible for the insidious corruption that is Mexico. As for blaming US drug consumption for Mexico's cartel wealth and violence, this is the same justification given by the British during the opium wars. Mexico is a failed state. Period. The cultural tradition in Mexico to place all blame for every problem on the US allows everyday citizens to live alongside mass graves while looking the other way. After all, they have someone to blame, and it's not themselves.
5
Perhaps if children were taught to understand the beautifully functioning workings of their bodies, the only thing that allows us to interact with this world, and how to treat their bodies respectfully with attention and with care, drug use would not be as popular. Care and respect for ones own body also goes along with care and respect for the external environment and care and respect for other human and non- human lives. Respect, care and attention negate the need for drugs and increase the ability of a child, or anyone, to enjoy their life with confidence, free of artificial enhancement- which is now suicidally dangerous, and lethal.
Also, the human mind is programmed by attention. If attention is centered on drugs and the world of drugs and violence, it automatically becomes the center of one's world. If the attention is centered on health, physical activity and interesting external pursuits, the mind becomes filled with this. You are unlikely to improve life by being centred on the bad aspects, you have to pay attention to the good aspects of life and allow that to take over your daily activity and your mind and your awareness, bit by bit.
Grandparents all over the world understand this. It is best to try to live as normal a life as possible regardless of the circumstances.
Also, the human mind is programmed by attention. If attention is centered on drugs and the world of drugs and violence, it automatically becomes the center of one's world. If the attention is centered on health, physical activity and interesting external pursuits, the mind becomes filled with this. You are unlikely to improve life by being centred on the bad aspects, you have to pay attention to the good aspects of life and allow that to take over your daily activity and your mind and your awareness, bit by bit.
Grandparents all over the world understand this. It is best to try to live as normal a life as possible regardless of the circumstances.
3
Mr. Grillo ably describes the Mexican local and national governments’ collusion with the drug cartels, but goes astray when he suggests that the Mexican situation is in a “paradox”: Mr. Grillo asserts that “The truth is that the conflict is neither just crime nor civil war, but a new hybrid type of organized violence.” Unfortunately, there’s nothing “new” about the cause and nature of violent deaths in Mexico over the last years. The evil paring of government and private enterprise jointly engaging in mass extermination of a select group has many historical precedents. Here are two examples: In the 1800s the US Government engaged in the mass slaughter of Native Americans for the sole purpose of benefiting white economic exploitation of their lands. In the late 1930s the German Government’s policy of confining Jews to concentration camps included confiscating their considerable wealth and exploiting them as slave laborers for private enterprises until they died or were exterminated. The lives of ordinary Americans in the 1800s went on normally as did the lives of pre-WW II Germans...”no tanks, no aerial bombardments”...all the while the government sponsored mass slaughter was in progress. Today the US Government is killing thousands of civilians in the Middle East for the benefit of our oil companies...and life goes on as normal in the US. The lesson we Americans apparently haven’t yet learned is that allowing private enterprise to control government is always a bad idea.
16
"The evil paring of government and private enterprise jointly engaging in mass extermination" happened all over Central and South America during the Cold War.
Paramilitary groups linked to government and "police" rampaging were met with armed groups fighting back. It is still happening.
Colombia is only now beginning to end it.
Honduras just had a new explosion of it when the US enabled a coup there during Hillary's term as Sec of State, when here State Dept was the lone defender in the world of the coup and consequences.
The war in El Salvador was one of the ugliest, and was entirely this.
The Contas in Nicaragua were different only in that the US was on the other side, against the government instead of helping it.
Paramilitary groups linked to government and "police" rampaging were met with armed groups fighting back. It is still happening.
Colombia is only now beginning to end it.
Honduras just had a new explosion of it when the US enabled a coup there during Hillary's term as Sec of State, when here State Dept was the lone defender in the world of the coup and consequences.
The war in El Salvador was one of the ugliest, and was entirely this.
The Contas in Nicaragua were different only in that the US was on the other side, against the government instead of helping it.
7
The unfortunate Mexicans are caught in a double bind imposed by US. Our government insists they fight drug cartels and pays them well for it. Meanwhile our citizens pay huge amounts to support the cartels. There are no airplanes or tanks in use but you could call it a guerrilla war. But it is actually a proxy war between US government and residents.
8
"There are no airplanes or tanks in use"
There are helicopter and armored vehicles and drones in use. Though so far the drones are not armed we are sure they are used because some have crashed across the border in the US.
The reality is that using F-15E fighter bombers to kill a guy on a motor scooter or in a pickup is vast overkill. The US Air Force is now looking at planes to down grade into the old COIN roles, so they don't end up chasing individuals with F-35's.
There are helicopter and armored vehicles and drones in use. Though so far the drones are not armed we are sure they are used because some have crashed across the border in the US.
The reality is that using F-15E fighter bombers to kill a guy on a motor scooter or in a pickup is vast overkill. The US Air Force is now looking at planes to down grade into the old COIN roles, so they don't end up chasing individuals with F-35's.
It is pathetic that many of the commenters, mostly from blue states, try to blame Trump in particular and the United States in general for the lawlessness in Mexico. Mexico has never functioned as a normal country; ever. Most of the murders discussed in this article occurred when Obama was president and Loretta Lynch was attorney general.
Legalizing addictive drugs is a ridiculous idea most probably promoted by drug users. The US Government must strengthen our defenses on the southern border. There is no greater threat to the United States than the unrestrained importation of illegal drugs and other contraband over the border of Mexico. The total disfunction of Mexico is a continuing threat that requires our continued proactive vigilance.
Legalizing addictive drugs is a ridiculous idea most probably promoted by drug users. The US Government must strengthen our defenses on the southern border. There is no greater threat to the United States than the unrestrained importation of illegal drugs and other contraband over the border of Mexico. The total disfunction of Mexico is a continuing threat that requires our continued proactive vigilance.
10
Legalizing drugs would work. It has nothing to do w/ Trump. When Switzerland set up clinics to allow users to shoot up w/ clean needles, rates of ODs and deaths went down. When marijuana was legalized in certain US states, the cartels lost millions of dollars, which is why they turned to heroin and partially created the heroin/opiate crisis in Appalachia and New England. Legalizing drugs *does* work. Strengthening borders along the southern US does nothing but put more desperate immigrants at risk, who are just trying to give their families a better life and escape the violence that our country has helped create.
8
Kindly define "normal country." A country like the US that actively disenfranchised its black citizens until 40-odd years ago? A country like Germany? A country like China? Uganda? Cambodia? Syria?
The opioid epidemic in your country is self-inflicted. Blame the pharmaceutical companies if you must.
The opioid epidemic in your country is self-inflicted. Blame the pharmaceutical companies if you must.
3
Trump has made no changes to the problem, that has gone on to get worse and worse for decades. He's President now. He is tasked with making changes, finally. If he does not, that becomes his fault.
Ioan Grillo " The truth is that the conflict is neither just crime nor civil war, but a new hybrid type of organized violence. We will never understand its nature until Mexico truly investigates how these mass graves came about. And that investigation includes the role of the state itself."
In the first sentence of the paragraph above, Mr. Grillo gives a powerful insight into the Mexican people's martyrdom, particularly the role played by the ruling political elite.
What is going on in Mexico? the first word that comes to mind is 'pogrom' defined by Webster ' as an act of organized cruel behavior or killing that is done to a large group of people because of their race or religion.'
What are the causes? Mexico's bloody history blended with contemporary politics, close proximity to the US homeland and huge demand for illegal drugs have created a lethal cocktail.
The undeclared truce between politicians and narcotrafficking groups ended in 2006 when President Felipe Caldron declared war on drugs.
The role of politics is fundamental to understand Mexico's complex reality.
The ruling elite and the various criminal groups have the same objective i.e., to make money and stay in power at any price.
As long as politics and crime seek common objectives and converge, the Mexican people will continue their long Calvary of suffering and mass graves.
In the first sentence of the paragraph above, Mr. Grillo gives a powerful insight into the Mexican people's martyrdom, particularly the role played by the ruling political elite.
What is going on in Mexico? the first word that comes to mind is 'pogrom' defined by Webster ' as an act of organized cruel behavior or killing that is done to a large group of people because of their race or religion.'
What are the causes? Mexico's bloody history blended with contemporary politics, close proximity to the US homeland and huge demand for illegal drugs have created a lethal cocktail.
The undeclared truce between politicians and narcotrafficking groups ended in 2006 when President Felipe Caldron declared war on drugs.
The role of politics is fundamental to understand Mexico's complex reality.
The ruling elite and the various criminal groups have the same objective i.e., to make money and stay in power at any price.
As long as politics and crime seek common objectives and converge, the Mexican people will continue their long Calvary of suffering and mass graves.
23
My husband and I made a decision years ago to never step foot in Mexico again in this lifetime. We vacationed once in Puerto Vallarta, a vile mess of a place; I went to Rosario once in my 20s, and went to Tijuana from San Diego once on a Super Bowl Sunday in my 30s. Our TJ taxi driver tried to drive us into the courneyside. We lept out. That is officially enough.
17
I have a house inSan Miguel de Allende, #1Conde Nast place to visit in the world.I was given rohipnol in a cafe and assaulted. I now have a trained attack dog, that goes with me everywhere. Mexico has to decide how important expats and tourism is to their economy.
7
I am a US citizen. I have lived in Mexico City as a permanent resident for ten years and intend to make it my home till my time is up. I feel safer living here than I did in the States in Philadelphia, PA. I've never been to Puerto Vallarta, which I've been told is a lovely resort town and where a good friend of mine, a Canadian resident of Mexco for many years, is getting married in September. He's no fool, so I'm sure that nowadays PV is not "a vile mess of a place". When were you there? I know nothing about Rosario or Tijuana, so I won't make any comments about them. Sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience with the taxi driver.
Never forget that government by death squad is primarily a phenomenon of countries unlucky enough to exist within the US sphere of influence.
7
As a mother whose son was kidnapped in 2013 and founder of the Colectivo Solecito -the group of mothers responsible for discovering this clandestine cemetery (we've been working on the site for a year now-funding it ourselves), I would like to share our experience with you and if possible, with your readers. Thank you for your article. Lucy Diaz.
13
I'll forget it because it is not true. The US doesn't have monopoly on corruption.
8
Unless, of course, one dares to consider Chechnya, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Egypt, Iraq,...
8
This country is a lawless pit. It's citizens stream over to the US in an effort to escape it. Drug cartels run entire towns with impunity and have the police on payroll.
Nothing can be done because the will doesn't exist.
Lost cause.
Nothing can be done because the will doesn't exist.
Lost cause.
17
Just as there is no will to put an end to the drug addiction epidemic that has been going on in the US for over 50 years now. Americans are the consumers of most of the drugs that are at the root of the problems in Mexico. Lost cause too?
13
If the business of drug use is the cause, why, then, is the U.S. not a lawless country with hundreds of people 'disappearing' and nothing being done about it?
The problem with violence and lawlessness in Mexico is deeply cultural and goes back thousands of years, with the Spanish adding their own pernicious variety during and after the conquest.
The problem with violence and lawlessness in Mexico is deeply cultural and goes back thousands of years, with the Spanish adding their own pernicious variety during and after the conquest.
4
The sad part of this is the extra-generational effect, the same seen with our own Italian mafia. Even if we do somehow take away their drug profits, the organizations with all their money made will find a way to corrupt the societies they are in for generations to come.
11
Wish we would stop importing this violence and that we would stop ginning up the illegal market. Would that US citizens liked reality. Would that substance abuse would be met by treatment and legalization.
10
>>>
This is a direct result of the DEA's failed war on drugs, full stop.
The only winners of this war are DEA budgets and DEA agents with their $150K salaries and gold plated pensions.
Everybody else loses big time, including the traffickers, who have only become more violent as the old timers have been killed off or locked up and the young and crazy Sicarios have moved into upper management.
This is a direct result of the DEA's failed war on drugs, full stop.
The only winners of this war are DEA budgets and DEA agents with their $150K salaries and gold plated pensions.
Everybody else loses big time, including the traffickers, who have only become more violent as the old timers have been killed off or locked up and the young and crazy Sicarios have moved into upper management.
42
Not everybody else loses big time. US drug consumers have had a steady, relatively accessible, supply of drugs for the past 50 years or so. Next time someone smokes a joint, inhales a line, or pops up a pill, s/he should think about all the people who die in Mexico and other countries, in order for them to enjoy their drug habit.
11
Heroin is cheaper now than it was in the 80s.
I like your idea about having the person who smokes a joint, inhales a line, or pops a pill thinking about the people who die in Mexico and other countries so they can 'enjoy' their drug habit.
But the addict doesn't care about the people in Mexico. The addict doesn't care about his/her children, parents, siblings, friends. The addict is totally self-centered - and centered on the next fix.
But the addict doesn't care about the people in Mexico. The addict doesn't care about his/her children, parents, siblings, friends. The addict is totally self-centered - and centered on the next fix.
1
The paradox is staggering. On the one hand, as Ioan Grillo says, there are parts of Mexico that are modern, with fantastic culture, world-class restaurants and tourism. But the other Mexico, that of unspeakable crime, injustice and impunity is huge and growing. How can we stay silent against the darker side? How can long can the two Mexicos live together before the cracks bring the whole thing down?
Until when the world community will turn a blind eye, and continue to finance this mounstrousity because the yield for international investors is attractive?
Until when the world community will turn a blind eye, and continue to finance this mounstrousity because the yield for international investors is attractive?
18
Thank you...
4
Your first paragraph is dead-on.
Your second paragraph could not be further off. Mexico's problems are homegrown, and until Mexico as a whole takes full responsibility for the failure of their own institutions this will continue.
Foreign investment in Mexico has made the country vastly more prosperous and stable than it would otherwise be. If not for NAFTA we would probably be facing a Lopez Obrador dictatorship south of the border a la Hugo Chavez.
Your second paragraph could not be further off. Mexico's problems are homegrown, and until Mexico as a whole takes full responsibility for the failure of their own institutions this will continue.
Foreign investment in Mexico has made the country vastly more prosperous and stable than it would otherwise be. If not for NAFTA we would probably be facing a Lopez Obrador dictatorship south of the border a la Hugo Chavez.
4
Who wouldn't want to escape from Mexico's dysfunctional government run for and by the drug cartels? The scenarios outlined in this article are one reason for illegal immigration. If government in Mexico "worked" for the Mexican people there wouldn't be a need for Mexicans that want to work, to leave Mexico.
6
Shockingly, Mexico's 23,000 homicides in 2016 ranked only behind Syria and ahead of Iraq and Afghanistan in countries considered to be in "armed conflict". The corruption spawned by drug trade dollars indelibly stains the fabric of Mexican politics and law enforcement. That odium can never be excised, as long as the insatiable American demand for drugs exists. The resultant drug cartel carnage and insidious intimidation is a brutal and permanent opportunity cost levied daily on the Mexican people with absolutely zero chance of abatement.
21
What happens if you report a crime in Mexico -- Do they always create a permanent police file of the report or not?
I've had a long running dispute with the City of Steamboat Springs Colorado, which I think is corrupt. What I found is that I report a crime that appears to be related to government corruption they don't create a police report or create one that is very misleading.
I've had a long running dispute with the City of Steamboat Springs Colorado, which I think is corrupt. What I found is that I report a crime that appears to be related to government corruption they don't create a police report or create one that is very misleading.
2
My father told me that some of the other suburbs of Detroit were so corrupt that his police department simply would not have anything to do with them. The cops know which towns are corrupt. There is no mystery. The problem is there has been no will to do anything about it.
3
The United States is complicit in these murders for continuing to prosecute and coercing other countries to continue to prosecute the hypocritical and miserably failed "war on drugs." The cartels, the corrupt officials and cops, the prison industries keep getting richer, while the innocent lose their lives and the drugs keep flowing. There are more illicit drugs available now than before this pathetic ruse of a war began.
11
It is a corporate dirty war and exposed to the world by mothers, much like the Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo in Argentina.The US government helped the generals drop opponents out of helicopters (indirectly, of course) and like any corporate undertaking, this one has, been supported by customers, indirectly here in the US. President Trump, fortunately was seen at a Made in America rally where I wish he would cry out that Americans only buy American drugs. One of the benefits of the oxycodone craze is that these addicts are not supporting foreign drug terrorists. Much of our opoid epidemic is contained within our borders where it should only be felt. Colorado, Washington and California are doing their part to save Mexico from the rest of our drug-crazed society.
5
Once again we see the effects of 'American Exceptionalism'; in this case America's exceptionally voracious and unquenchable appetite for drugs.
40
Don Wilson portrays the narco wars in his books "The Power of the Dog" and "The Cartel." Rather than threatening and demeaning Mexicans, Trump should be apologizing for U.S. policy that exacerbates the demand for narcotics. U.S. citizens fund the violence with an insatiable demand for narcotics and our government policies force the drug trade underground and set the conditions in which violence thrives. Now, Trump and Sessions are set to double down and make matters worse by escalating the war on drugs. The mess is the fault of the U.S.
22
The " drug cartel" ruse is wearing thin. Politics cannot be factored out. After Mexico became a fully functioning democracy and the PRI got kicked out in 2000, and almost went full-on socialist in 2006, the "cartels" appeared out of seeming thin air, most of them headed by military officers with training in the US. Of course the fact that the first waves of victims were on the "wrong" side of the fence politically ( or simply wanted a just democracy ) has of course been conveniently overlooked for years by American media, which only goes to underscore who these killings really serve. The busload of disappeared students who made the news several years ago were on their way to protest another mass killing. But this is what happens with "free trade". Witness the fact that in the 2 years after Hillary Clinton signed the free trade agreement with Colombia, more labor activists got assassinated there than in the rest of Latin America combined ( not counting Mexico ).
6
Wrong.
As horrible as the crime was, the 43 students who disappeared in Guerrero were not 'innocents' simply wanting a 'just democracy'. These students were studying to be full-scale activists whose main work was to extort Mexican citizens at large through blockades, protests, occupations, fire-bombings, public and private transit robberies, and vandalism, until they were paid of by local government (narcos or not). There was absolutely nothing noble about their cause, capped by a hijacking of a public transit bus.
Free trade is the ONLY thing that is keeping Mexico from imploding. Take away NAFTA and the country would be far more violent.
As horrible as the crime was, the 43 students who disappeared in Guerrero were not 'innocents' simply wanting a 'just democracy'. These students were studying to be full-scale activists whose main work was to extort Mexican citizens at large through blockades, protests, occupations, fire-bombings, public and private transit robberies, and vandalism, until they were paid of by local government (narcos or not). There was absolutely nothing noble about their cause, capped by a hijacking of a public transit bus.
Free trade is the ONLY thing that is keeping Mexico from imploding. Take away NAFTA and the country would be far more violent.
5
I live here and I´m scared.In my neibourhood,everyone has been robbed.my house has been looted twice this year.Nobody reports to the police;the logic being that they are as corrupt as the theives.We are living in fear.This is truly a failed state.
78
I am Mexican-American and I have many family members in Mexico.
I served in the US Army for 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mexico scares me more than Afghanistan and most parts of Iraq.
I served in the US Army for 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mexico scares me more than Afghanistan and most parts of Iraq.
1
It should be clear that some among us will, for whatever reason or lack thereof, find drug use of some sort helpful in dealing with a life which often presents no other personally viable escape.
So long as no physical harm is brought to another person, drug use and all its' related effects should, like life's more acceptable pursuits be tolerated. There is no right way for an individual to walk through life and the last thing anyone, who functions with a so called free will, may want is advice on how to live his or her life.
Those who are involved with trafficking drugs and employing violence do so because there are monstrous profits to be had. Eliminating the profit would not eliminate the use of or addiction to drugs, but it would eliminate the violence and enslavement associated with their use.
The question of morality will always be raised, but morality is an individual rather than social consideration. Unfortunately, many minds are clouded by assuming we have a responsibility as our "brother's keeper" when in fact the role of advisor is as close to this assumption as truth can allow.
It was impossible to accept the literal truth of this until my own much younger brother descended and never returned. At this point, I have accepted the man I love as a son stepped on a path from which, thanks to the criminalization of his personal and private actions, there is no social redemption.
He is a victim not so much of his drug use as the attached social stigma.
So long as no physical harm is brought to another person, drug use and all its' related effects should, like life's more acceptable pursuits be tolerated. There is no right way for an individual to walk through life and the last thing anyone, who functions with a so called free will, may want is advice on how to live his or her life.
Those who are involved with trafficking drugs and employing violence do so because there are monstrous profits to be had. Eliminating the profit would not eliminate the use of or addiction to drugs, but it would eliminate the violence and enslavement associated with their use.
The question of morality will always be raised, but morality is an individual rather than social consideration. Unfortunately, many minds are clouded by assuming we have a responsibility as our "brother's keeper" when in fact the role of advisor is as close to this assumption as truth can allow.
It was impossible to accept the literal truth of this until my own much younger brother descended and never returned. At this point, I have accepted the man I love as a son stepped on a path from which, thanks to the criminalization of his personal and private actions, there is no social redemption.
He is a victim not so much of his drug use as the attached social stigma.
20
"The question is not merely academic — it affects real-life decisions, like those of judges who decide whether people fleeing the violence can be classified as refugees."
And I assume these judges are in Guatemala and Honduras. The purpose of this opinion piece is to lay the groundwork for a new argument for unrestricted immigration across America's southern border. The US should simultaneously try to halt the funding of violence by confronting our drug problems while assisting the Government of Mexico to provide for its people within its borders.
And I assume these judges are in Guatemala and Honduras. The purpose of this opinion piece is to lay the groundwork for a new argument for unrestricted immigration across America's southern border. The US should simultaneously try to halt the funding of violence by confronting our drug problems while assisting the Government of Mexico to provide for its people within its borders.
1
Prohibition was essentially a "war ion alcohol." It resulted in the rise of organized crime, and did not have much effect on alcohol consumption.
The "war on drugs" has generated similar results: well-funded criminal gangs, no effect on drug use. Mr. Session's desire to bring back the war on drugs seems more of a public relations gambit than an effort to solve a problem. Lots of splashy publicity events, which don't solve the underlying problem.
The "war on drugs" has generated similar results: well-funded criminal gangs, no effect on drug use. Mr. Session's desire to bring back the war on drugs seems more of a public relations gambit than an effort to solve a problem. Lots of splashy publicity events, which don't solve the underlying problem.
69
While it may not have had any impact on drug use, the war on drugs definitely succeeded in achieving it's intended purpose - to put cold hard cash in the hands of law enforcement officials, weapons manufacturers, and for-profit prison owners. If you can make more money by locking impoverished people up with tax dollars than by allowing them work minimum wage jobs, then you don't even need to consider the fact that they are human beings - just make that money! Why should the impoverished get to collect welfare checks when that tax money COULD be going to prison owners??
3
Poor Mexico! so far from God and so close to the United States! (Attributed to Porifirio Diaz, dictator of Mexico from 1877 to 1911). And equally poor America whose citizens are so mired in their reality that they must use Mexican drugs to escape.
46
I'm sure a lot of drugs come to Canada from Mexico too via the U.S.
1
The key point here is surely concealment - in order for the state to persuade everyone that there's nothing to see, move along now, vast numbers of bodies have to be hidden in ways that would have been impossible without substantial involvement of state resources and local elites.
As with the victims of e.g. the Spanish Civil War and US-sponsored violence throughout South and Central America in the 1970s and 1980s, concealment and the Hole of Forgetfulness are strong socio-political forces deployed to determine 'acceptable' history and development, as for instance the UK does routinely with its treatment of our legacy of colonial and post-colonial atrocities.
In Mexico, however, the 'War on Drugs' and the fragmented and corrupt nature of the state have developed in tandem with forces of external intervention to the extent that random violence and atrocities necessitating disappearance have become a normal part of civic conduct; this phenomenal level of violence at all levels of society *can* only be maintained through massive efforts on the part of illegal, judicial, military, federal and social elites to conceal it... Concealment enables and empowers the violence from which elites simultaneously profit and are at least risk from.
As with the victims of e.g. the Spanish Civil War and US-sponsored violence throughout South and Central America in the 1970s and 1980s, concealment and the Hole of Forgetfulness are strong socio-political forces deployed to determine 'acceptable' history and development, as for instance the UK does routinely with its treatment of our legacy of colonial and post-colonial atrocities.
In Mexico, however, the 'War on Drugs' and the fragmented and corrupt nature of the state have developed in tandem with forces of external intervention to the extent that random violence and atrocities necessitating disappearance have become a normal part of civic conduct; this phenomenal level of violence at all levels of society *can* only be maintained through massive efforts on the part of illegal, judicial, military, federal and social elites to conceal it... Concealment enables and empowers the violence from which elites simultaneously profit and are at least risk from.
50