Photo courtesy of the BBC
Given the most recent example of drug murders in Mexico, increasingly Cormac McCarthy’s seminal novel detailing violence along the US-Mexico border in 1980 seems to be coming to life. Though President Felipe Calderón instituted a major offensive against cartels upon his 2006 election, thus far the results have been more than decidedly mixed.
Last week recent raids in 19 states on the part of the US government captured more than 300 individuals suspected of ties with La Familia, one of Mexico’s most violent cartels. This major two-day operation is part of the much larger Project Coronado, which in its 4 year existence has resulted in the arrests of 1,186 individuals and the seizure of $33 million in drug cash, nearly 2,000 kilograms of cocaine, 2,730 pounds of methamphetamine, 29 pounds of heroin, 16,390 pounds of marijuana, and 389 weapons.
Though these events certainly suggest a positive trend, the reality remains that they represent a tiny dent in Mexico’s flourishing drug trade, as overall levels of violence in the country have increased since last year. Ciudad Juarez experienced more than 1,300 deaths in the first eight months of this year alone, despite an incredibly heavy police presence. Further hindering the process are allegations of corruption among local police. In Tijuana, for example, police lost the ability to carry arms for three weeks while the government investigated corruption charges, brought in Federal Police, and relegated local law enforcement to using slingshots.
Though the Calderón government certainly appears to be making a concreted effort, despite the impressive seizure records, drug cartels within Mexico show no appreciable signs of slowing down. In my opinion, the Mexican government is doing just about all they can to fight this war and I do not see major advances being made unless the United States dramatically steps up its involvement, a proposition I only see happening once innocent Americans caught up in the conflict start dying on American soil in large numbers.
“In my opinion, the Mexican government is doing just about all they can to fight this war and I do not see major advances being made unless the United States dramatically steps up its involvement, a proposition I only see happening once innocent Americans caught up in the conflict start dying on American soil in large numbers.”
You might want to note:
http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_4_corruption.html
Just curious, what does American involvement in Mexico mean? Financial aid, training, advisory but non-combat US military deployments (a la Plan Colombia), or something else entirely? (I am cynically waiting for somebody in the US to start arguing for Predator strikes, our new favorite solution to everything it seems)
I’m not saying that this latest variation in the drug was isn’t seeping into American soil, it’s just that corruption within agencies isn’t anywhere near as visible as beheadings on the streets of Juarez. When you have 10,000+ people dying in 8 months while just over the border in El Paso less than 20 murders have occurred and all have been solved, it’s pretty clear that the US isn’t being hit nearly as hard, possibly in part because of our more stringent legal systems. Further complicating the matter, many Mexicans believe that all of the killings are ‘just’ and thus not only aren’t that concerned for their safety but also don’t feel the need to cooperate with law enforcement.
As far as our involvement goes, I’m really not sure what it would look like. I think in terms of overall effectiveness, probably the best thing would simply be having more (non corrupt) police or other law enforcement mechanisms operating in especially dangerous regions. Even then, though, there’s only so much product and arms that can be seized. Though Calderón makes much of the seizures, claiming that he’s ‘saved’ untold millions from 700,000,000+ doses of illicit drugs, if anything that demonstrates the magnitude of the operation at hand, as that’s surely only a small fraction.
Also, to clarify, I’m not ‘advocating’ involvement; I just can’t see further appreciable gains unless the US gets involved and even then I don’t think we would make much of an impact.
Thank you for a great post, being from El Paso myself, with most of my extended family currently living in Juarez, it is frustrating to see that many people in our nation’s capital aren’t too aware of the violence is spanning right aside our country’s border.
However, I think the most frustrating aspect isn’t so much the US’ lack of involvement in Mexico’s efforts to eliminate the drug cartel. I do think there are some efforts being made, as nowadays there is much more surveillance going into Mexico than i have ever seen my whole life. The problem is that when millions of people in America do drugs, they don’t realize that they are endorsing the mass amount of killing and pain that went into making their smoking/snorting possible. In order to stop the problem of drug trafficking, what the US really needs to do is examine its domestic drug policy. While I do think it is highly important for government to take protective measures for those who live along the border (of which it has done a decent job), I don’t think the US has done a good job of connecting Mexico’s problems to its own problem of drug addiction. Only by examining and altering people’s demand for drugs can we cut the problem of drug trafficking at its roots.