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The topic of this blog is the US/Mexico War on Drugs. We seek to provide you with information on a very controversial issue that is constantly receiving media coverage, the Mexican “Drug War.” The “Drug War” is an ongoing conflict of arms that both the United States and Mexican governments have been fighting, since December 2006, against the drug traffickers. While both countries fight against the drug traffickers, drug cartels have fought each other for control of territory. More than 60,000 people have been killed. In 2006, former Mexican president Felipe Calderón launched a massive crackdown against drug trafficking organizations, in conjunction with the United States. His strategic planned outlined a “war” against Drugs. Although the United States has supplied funding and labor to increase Mexico's institutional capacity to address drug trafficking, the United States’ primary focus has been on cross-border policing and catching U.S. drug users. Essentially, the US/Mexico War on Drugs is composed of both countries doing everything within their power to stop drug trafficking from Mexico into the United States as well as providing a large sense of security for both countries that interests global politics.
The United States' war on drugs was declared June 17, 1971 by president Richard Nixon (NPR, 2007) and it is estimated the country pumped and continues to pump $40 billion into drug prohibition each year with dismal results (Schrager, 2013). It is not only the United States that is part of this war but also much of Latin America. Since the late 1980's, with the United States' successful dismantling of Colombia's drug cartels, Mexican drug organizations have risen to prominence. When Colombian control was dismantled Mexico's cartels “shifted from being “couriers” to wholesalers” (Rawlins, 2013). In 2006 former Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched a monumental crackdown on drug trafficking organizations with the support of the United States. This move came as a result of pressure from the US because Mexico is the largest foreign supplier of methamphetamine, marijuana and a major supplier of heroin to US markets. This has increased in the last decade. An estimated 95% of cocaine travels through Mexico into the United States, up from 77% in 2003. The US State Department found that Mexican drug cartels receive between $19 and $29 billion from US drug users each year (Rawlins, 2013).
When elected in 2006, President Felipe Calderón immediately implemented a new, and massive, military crackdown on Mexican drug trafficking. However, Calderon’s main security platform consisted of a “war” on drugs that later became a “war” on organized crime, a “war” on drug trafficking, and a force of security for Mexico. On December 11, 2006— ten days after he took office— Calderón sent in over 6,500 military soldiers into the state of Michoacán with the hope of eliminating drug plantations and combating the ever-growing drug trafficking industry within Mexico (“Operation Michoacán,” 2010). As president, Calderón immediately developed an anti-crime platform; however, during his presidential race many Mexican citizens did not see drugs as an issues and did not see security problems as the primary issues of the election. At present time, Calderón’s aggressive approach against the drug cartels has not only resulted in failure but also in thousands of innocent citizens dead. According to Mexico’s National Statistics Institute, the number of homicides has nearly tripled from 10,452 in 2006 to 27,213 in 2011. (Flannery, 2013). Although Calderón’s administration had good intentions, their actions have only resulted in the regression of Mexico’s public security and global image.
Declining in image and public security, Mexico stands in the global stage as having a large prominent issue with the war on drugs dealt with in companionship with the US. This US/Mexico War on drugs is very important not only because of its legal issues but also this so called “war” has lead to: thousands of deaths, corruption in Mexico, the distribution of US firearms to Mexico, and kidnapping on both sides of the border. The “Drug War” is an important issue in global politics for three reasons: one, the actions involved in in the “Drug War” affect two neighboring countries; secondly, it poses the question of what is war and relates to the questions of “What counts as violence? and “why do we resort to violence?”; thirdly, the issue on “how do things become dangerous?”. As seen in the example written by Amoore and de Goede, the so called “Drug Lords” in Mexico represent an organized group that also provides aid to those in which they reside. Despite seeing much of those positives however, the organized crime has impacted the stability of civil peace and has shined a light to the unstable government as well as the structure of the Mexican government. The important matter for our posts however is that the instability has caused problems with the economic relations between Mexico and the United States as well as created an increase of violence for the United States’ Southern Borders. Politicians in both the United States and in Mexico have attempted to work together on the prevention of all the key problems stated above. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, “in a 2009 speech, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged the U.S. role in fueling Mexico's drug violence, and said the United States had a responsibility to help address it”(Rawlins, 2013). Though there has been much effort to stop the war on drugs and stop Calderon’s “Drug War,” there is still a lot that has to be done to eliminate the organized crime that holds the drug cartels together. This blog will provide information on this ongoing issue by relaying different perspectives that in turn will help you understand the current situation and help you conclude what is really going on with the “Drug War.”
According to CNNs Mexico Drug War Fast Facts the major Cartels are the following:
Beltran Leyva - Founded by the four Beltran Leyva brothers, Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo and Héctor. Formerly aligned with the Sinaloa cartel, now aligned with Los Zetas against the Sinaloa, Gulf and La Familia Michoacana cartels.
Gulf Cartel - Based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Formerly one of the most powerful cartels.
Juarez Cartel - Formerly aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel, now fighting it for control of Ciudad Juarez and the state of Chihuahua.
La Familia Michoacana - Based in the Michoacan state. Possibly defunct as of 2011.
Los Zetas Cartel - Comprised of former elite members of the Mexican military. Initially they worked as hitmen for the Gulf Cartel, before becoming independent. They know battle the Gulf cartel for control of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon.
Sinaloa Cartel - Considered to be the dominant drug trafficking organization in Mexico. Led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
Tijuana/Arellano Felix Cartel - Based in Tijuana. Most of the Arellano Felix brothers have been apprehended or killed.
Sources used in this post:
Escalante Gonzalbo, F. (2013). Paisaje antes de la batalla. notas sobre el contexto de la guerra contra las drogas en México. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales, 58(218), 73-104. Retrieved from http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=42128962004
Flannery, N. P. (2013). The Rise of Latin America: Calderón’s War. Journal of International Affairs, 66, 181. Retrieved from http://jia.sipa.columbia.edu/calderons-war
Mexico Drug War Fast Facts. CNN Library. (2013, Jan 19). Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/02/world/americas/mexico-drug-war-fast-facts/
Operation Michoacán. (2010, July 14). Retrieved from http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/07/operation-michoacan.html
Rawlins, Aimee. (2013, Jan 11). Mexico’s drug war. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/mexico/mexicos-drug-war/p13689
Schrager, Allison. (2013, June 7). Drug prohibition costs the u.s. $40 billion each year. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/07/drug-prohibition-costs_n_3402782.html
Timeline: america’s war on drugs. (2007, April 2). NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9252490
I was so excited to see that there was a group that decided to shed light on this issue. On the whole, the general public in the United States tends to overlook or down play this issue because most of us aren't being directly affected. However, the United States government acknowledges the issue and as your group pointed out, has made efforts toward a solution. But these efforts have proved ineffective and new approaches need to be sought if we want to see things get better before they get worse not only for the Unites States but more importantly for Mexican civilians who currently live in fear every day of losing their lives or that of their loved ones.
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