Feb 21 2009
Mexico, Drugs, and Violence
The violence due to the Mexican drug war has reached a new plateau this month. Now even the military are being terrorized. At the beginning of February a retired General, a man with respect and a reputation, a proven military leader, Brigadier General Mauro Tello Quinones, came to Cancun to clean up the growing problem. Within three days, he, his driver, and his bodyguard were abducted, tortured, taken to the jungle and shot. In response the Mexican military has swooped in and taken over the police force in the area, making it the 11th out of 31 states to be military-controlled. This of course raises the concern of potential human rights abuses, of which the military will probably not be held accountable.
But people are getting desperate, with even the Mexican Green party calling for a reinstatement of the death penalty, hoping that would deter some of the murders. Last year 5,400 people were killed in drug-related violence. Kidnapping is an epidemic. No matter what age, what class, everyone is vulnerable. Mexico has deployed more than 40,000 troops to fight the drug cartels, and the US has deployed $197 million dollars - part of the $400 million passed by Congress last year for the Merida Initiative. Most of the money is going to buy helicopters and surveillance equipment (American helicopters?).
So, I have to ask, what exactly is fueling the Mexican drug war? What circumstances have allowed for all these people to live in fear? The drug cartels have so much money and power, obviously more even than the government. The police are either bought by the gangs, or afraid of them. People who are normally the most progressive and humanitarian politically are asking for the most archaic of policies. Where is all this coming from? The demand. Huge demand. 90% of US cocaine comes from Mexico (as well as 90% of the Mexican gun trade ends up in the US). 7 tons of Mexican cocaine were confiscated this month, and 70 tons in total since President Felipe Calderon started fighting back in 2006.
But according to the free market, if there is demand, there is supply. The invisible hand is working against the innocent people of Mexico here. And since people aren’t going to stop buying cocaine, just like teenagers aren’t going to stop having sex, the situation must be approached from a different angle. We’ve been mixing up drugs and violence for decades. Once again, you can’t solve the same problem with the same solution. You have to find another one. And what’s takes down the force of the invisible hand? The government. Well, and taxes on a several billion dollar industry would help flip those deficit numbers around. Just a thought.
A very well thought out post. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result (hence the insanity of our last president). It is high time (pun intended) that we take a look at a different approach to drugs and drug use in America.