Introduction to the Genocide in the CAR

          The Central African Republic (CAR) is one of the least developed countries in the world, struggling to find stability since its independence from France in 1960. According to BBC, approximately 5 million people call the CAR home. They are, and have been, in a state of political, social, and economic crisis since September of 2012, when a faction of one of the CAR’s many rebel groups known as the Fundamentalist Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP) broke the terms of an August 2012 peace accord signed by the government and various rebel factions by attacking three villages. In December of 2012 violence in the East African Nation escalated when a conglomerate of the CAR’s rebel groups known as the Séléka (meaning coalition in the nation’s native Sango dialect) launched an offensive against the government, capturing much of North, East, and central CAR over the course of a month [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13150044]. The unrest in the CAR resumed a few months later in March 2013 after a number of negotiations to reach a truce between the government and Séléka failed. After having already captured large swaths of the country, the rebel alliance renewed its offensive on 22 March 2013 and by 24 March 2013, the Séléka successfully captured the capital Bangui, overthrew the government of then President François Bozizé, and installed rebel leader Michel Djotodia as president in April (Karimi, 2013). This resulted in drastic political chaos. [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/24/central-african-republic-rebels-capital]

            Seeing that the rebels got what they wanted in March 2013, there is speculation as to why they continued to wreak havoc in CAR. The two largest reasons experts present are greed and reprisal (Karimi, 2013). Séléka’s leader has repeatedly been accused of going after the country’s minerals, and there is the fact that the rebels capitalized on the army’s weakness and used it to their advantage. They went on a rampage of rape, torture, kidnappings, looting, and other unthinkable crimes (Karimi, 2013). Vigilante groups have formed in response to the activities of the rebels and anarchy has continued to build, despite recent changes in this country’s government leaders, leaving this country at risk of genocide (Braun & Miles, 2014).

            Following the coup d’etat, the bloodshed and overall humanitarian situation in the CAR became more and more dire with each passing month. Although a small peacekeeping force known as the Mission for the Consolidation of Peace in Central African Republic, comprised of less than 1,000 Central African soldiers, existed in the country before the coup occurred, their small number and lack of willpower to intervene directly in the conflict made them effectively useless.  By October 2013, after months of inaction, the situation in the CAR became so severe that the UN passed a resolution authorizing the establishment of the African-led International Support Mission in the CAR (MISCA), a larger peacekeeping force in the CAR run by the African Union (AU). In December 2013, France followed suit by increasing its number of troops in the CAR to 1,600 soldiers. Since their arrival, French troops have been engaged in various activities, including disarming and arresting rebels, and maintaining security at the national airport and other institutions. Despite the expansion of both the African and French peacekeeping efforts there, the violence in the CAR has continued to grow in both its scale and viciousness, developing a deeply sectarian tone in the past few months between the nation’s majority Christian and minority Muslim populations that has some international experts warning of a possible genocide in the vein of Rwanda. “The list of atrocities committed by warring Muslim and Christian groups in the CAR is devastating: parents forced to watch their children murdered; gruesome, public executions, with victims thrown into mass graves; and the forcible recruitment of child soldiers. Since the start of the conflict, Muslim rebels have raped, pillaged, burned, and killed, proving particularly merciless toward Christians and churches.” [http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2014/0114/Central-African-Republic-needs-UN-peacekeepers-now]

            In terms of the situation’s relevance to global politics, one may consider the recent UN and French military involvement. The genocide continuing in the CAR requires worldwide attention. “CAR is designated by the UN as one of the top three global humanitarian emergencies, along with Syria and the Philippines. But a UN appeal has received only six percent of a $247m target. France hurriedly sent some 1,600 troops to its former colony in December. The deployment of Rwandan troops, the first of whom arrived aboard a US military aircraft on Thursday, will increase the African Union contingent to more than 5,000 peacekeepers this month.” [http://www.aljazeera.com/video/africa/2014/01/un-official-sees-risk-genocide-car-201411703459811255.html]

Sources Used:

BBC. (2013, April 11). UN warning over Central African Republic genocide risk. BBC News.      Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24800682

BBC. (2014, January 21). Central African Republic profile. BBC News. Retrieved February 19,   2014, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13150044

Guardian. (2013, March 24). Central African Republic rebels seize capital and force president to flee. The Guardian. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from                                                                        http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/24/central-african-republic-rebels-capital

United Nations Official Document. (n.d.). UN News Center. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/2121(2013)

Jazeera. (2013, March 25). Looting and gunfire in captured CAR capital. al Jazeera. Retrieved       February 20, 2014, from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/03/201332481729584103.html

Two countries, one war… U.S. / Mexico War on Drugs

Photo Source: Supply Chain Digital

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.

Article contributors: Briana Sotelo, Carlos Cortez Aguilera, Gabbi McDaniel, Gabbie Zheleznyak, and Hannah Mabry

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