Mexico and drugs: Thinking the unthinkable

[Maria_Vanessa]

After making drug eradication the center of his presidential candidacy and spending so much money fighting the drug cartels, why now?

The first thought that popped into my head us that he only has a couple more years left with his term, so maybe, in this mind, this would be perfect political timing. In this mind set, he can always claim after his term ends and beyond that he fought the "drug problem" to other international leaders, especially American, and still maintain influence within his own party.

Yes, I would have to say that this has everything to do with politics and absolutely nothing to do with drugs.

Amid drug-war weariness, Felipe Calderón calls for a debate on legalisation
Aug 12th 2010 | MEXICO CITY

THE nota roja, a section reporting the previous day’s murders and car crashes in all their bloodstained detail, is an established feature of Mexican newspapers. It is also an expanding one, as fighting over the drug trail to the United States inspires ever-greater feats of violence. Last month in the northern state of Durango, a group of prisoners was apparently released from jail for the night to murder 18 partygoers in a next-door state. A few days later, 14 inmates were murdered in a prison in Tamaulipas. In all, since Felipe Calderón sent the army against the drug gangs when he took office as president almost four years ago, some 28,000 people have been killed, the government says. There is no sign of a let-up, on either side.

So it came as a surprise when on August 3rd Mr Calderón called for a debate on whether to legalise drugs. Though several former Latin American leaders have spoken out in favour of legalisation, and many politicians privately support it, Mr Calderón became the first incumbent president to call for open discussion of the merits of legalising a trade he has opposed with such determination. At a round-table on security, he said this was “a fundamental debate in which I think, first of all, you must allow a democratic plurality [of opinions]…You have to analyse carefully the pros and cons and the key arguments on both sides.” It was hardly a call to start snorting—and Mr Calderón subsequently made clear that he was opposed to the “absurd” idea of allowing millions more people to become addicted. But it has brought into the open an argument that appears to be gaining currency in Mexico.

The president spoke despite some recent success for his military campaign, with several important mafia bosses captured or killed. The latest was Ignacio Coronel, whose killing last month when the army raided his house was important for the government, which has been accused of giving the Sinaloa mob an easier ride than other gangs. (A car-bomb last month in Ciudad Juárez, on the border with the United States, may have been planted by rival traffickers to draw in America as a “neutral referee”, speculates Stratfor, a Texas-based security-analysis firm.) Half a dozen government agencies are said to be searching for Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Sinaloa’s boss and the country’s most notorious trafficker. Officials claim success in strengthening the police and bringing recalcitrant state governors into line.

Yet kicking the hornets’ nest has provoked stinging turf battles, increasing the body count. In Cuernavaca, a pretty town near Mexico City that is popular with foreigners learning Spanish, a drug lord was killed by the army in December. Since then a spate of hangings around the edge of town has indicated that a gruesome succession battle is under way.

Many Mexicans are starting to weary of the horror. Four days after Mr Calderón’s cautious call for debate, Vicente Fox, his predecessor as president, issued a forthright demand for the legalisation of the production, sale and distribution of all drugs. Legalisation “does not mean that drugs are good…rather we have to see it as a strategy to strike and break the economic structure that allows mafias to generate huge profits in their business, which in turn serve to corrupt and to increase their power,” he wrote on his blog. Ernesto Zedillo, Mexico’s president from 1994 to 2000, last year jointly authored a report with two other former heads of state, Brazil’s Fernando Henrique Cardoso and César Gaviria of Colombia, calling for legalisation of marijuana (ie, cannabis). Mr Cardoso later said the same of cocaine.

It is easier to be radical in retirement than in office. As president, Mr Fox backed down after George W. Bush’s administration protested against his attempts to decriminalise possession of drugs. (Last year Mexico decriminalised possession of small quantities, a change designed mainly to limit the scope for police to demand bribes.) But it is striking that all these former leaders are middle-of-the-road moderates, not wild-eyed leftists.

Some in the United States are now pushing in the same direction. Californians will vote in November on whether to legalise and tax the sale of marijuana to adults (it is already legal to buy and sell pot for medical complaints, which some liberal doctors consider to include insomnia, migraines and the like). The initiative may fail: polls show opinion evenly divided, and it would also have to survive scrutiny by federal authorities. Although Barack Obama’s administration has stopped prosecuting the sale of “medical” marijuana, it is opposed to legalisation.

But were the proposal to pass it would render Mexico’s assault on drug traffickers untenable, reckons Jorge Castañeda, a former foreign minister. “How would you continue with a war on drugs in Tijuana, when across the border grocery stores were selling marijuana?” he asks.

The problem is recognised by the politicians too. Nexos, a Mexican magazine, recently asked six likely contenders for the presidency in 2012 whether Mexico should legalise marijuana if California did. One said no, but four answered yes, albeit with qualifications. Enrique Peña Nieto, the early leader in the polls, said carefully: “We would have to reconsider the view of the Mexican state on the subject.”

Since marijuana provides the gangs with up to half their income, taking that business out of their hands would change the balance of financial power in the drug war. But curiously, polls suggest that one of the groups most strongly opposed to the initiative in California is Latinos.

The Americas

 

[trichrider]

I believe it is all politics, but maybe they are beginning to see the truth! The legalization of cannabis will destroy profit motive, and violence will dwindle to insignificant porportions.

"Latin American governments spend billions of dollars a year to battle the drug cartels.
In Mexico and Colombia, the armed forces have been deployed in the drug war,
and for decades the United States has provided generous military assistance to
South America. Nevertheless, the economic strength of the cartels remains unbroken.
They have corrupted police officers and soldiers, bought off politicians and
judges and even subverted entire countries, like Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico.

Indeed, three respected former presidents have declared the Washington-
supported drug war to be a failure. Former Brazilian President Fernando
Henrique Cardoso, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and former Colombian
President César Gaviria now say they support the controlled decriminalization of
narcotics.

But no Latin American country will be able to solve this problem on its own.
Cooperation with the United States and other large consumer nations in Europe will be
necessary.

In the US, some of the resistance to relaxing the drug laws comes from the prison
system, which is partly privatized, explains Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, the director
of the Global Drug Policy Program at the Open Society Institute, based in Warsaw,
Poland. "The lobby of prison operators is blocking such a program.""

There are signs that the Obama administration could be ready to abandon the tough
approaches taken by previous administrations. It has not raised any objections yet to
the attempts by Latin Americans to liberalize drug possession. California recently
legalized the production of marijuana for "medical use." And after her last visit to
Mexico, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested searching for alternatives in the
war on drugs."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,676861,00.html

 

[sac beh]

Citing human rights concerns, agency cuts $26 million from drug war program

In an unprecedented move, the US State Department has decided to cut $26 million from a $175 million payment that will be used to wage the drug war Mexico.

The money is part of the Mérida Initiative (Plan Mexico), a $1.4 billion security agreement passed in 2008, in which the United States provides training and equipment to Mexican law enforcement and military personnel.

It is the first time that the State Department has denied funds from the security pact due to human rights concerns. The agency claims it made the decision based on human rights abuses committed by the Mexican military.

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/no...9/sate-department-withholds-funds-plan-mexico

This is an important aspect also. As long as the US gives millions of dollars to support a corrupt military in its drug war, the violence will continue, whether its over marijuana or other drugs. Political and judicial corruption needs to be addressed.

As Narco News has reported, there have been more human rights complaints against the military during Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s administration than every before. Out of the 4,035 complaints that have been reported since 2006, 56 members of the military have been disciplined since that time.

 

[binaryfission]

He is taking out the competition.

Lets be realistic. We, Americans, live on the northern border of the World's largest Narco State. The Billions of dollars headed south has infiltrated that country's political system.

Vincente Fox's wife has connection to the cartels. The previous president.

Calderon is no better. Reported links to the Zetas. He is more connected to the paramilitary organizations no the traditional cartel land owners.

Not very much reporting on this stuff but i'll try and find links. Point is these people are ready to come into the 21st century. The Supreme court's decision to allow unlimited campaign donations from foreign corporations could be the straw that breaks prohibitions back. A global cannabis market vaults these countries out of poverty. The tax revenue could rebuild/revolutionize south and central america.

Imagine if we could get all of afghanistan to grow cannabis for hashish production.

 

[VWFringe]

what a fucking world we live in,
People are buying organic produce, not because it's better for you, but because they want to boycott genetically mutated food and Monsanto for raping the American farmer.
The Veterans Hospitals looked like they were recognizing Medical Marijuana, when actually they were just stopping the inhumane policy of cutting off people from pain medication if they tested positive for marijuana (but only in the states where MMJ is legal, everyone else gets cut off!).
Mexico is going to legalize drugs, just to take the profits out of the drug cartells.
So, instead of the US legalizing marijuana because they shouldn't have made it illegal in the first place, they'll end up doing it for economic reasons, too bad we can't do anything straight these days.

 

[GrinStick]

its obvious that we are all indignant over the way things played out for our culture and our precious plant, we recognize that.
What are a couple thousand personal and professional growers concerns amid the horrendous atrocities the govern/corp. perpetrate against less fortunate ones? you know...the ones who want to escape to the US so they can be the 'fortunate ones'.

 

[purpleberry]

It wouldnt really change anything, Marijuana doesnt create the drug cartels, The drug caretls are looking for the easy money, and they will just deal in meth, coke, heroin, ect
If you legalized weed all over north and south america I bet the supply of other drugs would go way up.

 

[HillBillMt]

if the 'war on drugs' was actually fought by both sides in the same manner the 'war' would be over..... ...... start pushin back and politics would not be a factor for very long....most are just a passive slave hoping they are overlooked...... ya dont get nothin yer not willin ta fight for ...... HHB

 

[GrinStick]

It wouldnt really change anything, Marijuana doesnt create the drug cartels, The drug caretls are looking for the easy money, and they will just deal in meth, coke, heroin, ect
If you legalized weed all over north and south america I bet the supply of other drugs would go way up.

i'd like to disagree with the notion that an increased supply of cannabis would lead to an increase of all the other drugs, it just does not compute.
This is an attitude perpetrated by the insane propaganda that nixon/anslinger began, and an example of its effectiveness.
Those who would have you believe that legalization would 'destroy the fabric of society', or 'lead to more drug use', want you to continue thinking like that.
There is no such thing as "abuse" of marijuana, and it will not lead to harder drugs. Allowing marijuana to be consumed freely will most likely reduce use of other inebrients, simply because it will be available, effective, and best of all SAFE!!

 

[sac beh]

All of the fantasies about bad things that could happen if cannabis were legalized evaporate on presentation of the scientific evidence showing it to be a mostly harmless, medicinal herb..

 

[binaryfission]

It wouldnt really change anything, Marijuana doesnt create the drug cartels, The drug caretls are looking for the easy money, and they will just deal in meth, coke, heroin, ect
If you legalized weed all over north and south america I bet the supply of other drugs would go way up.

i disagree but for a different reason.

Why? Mexico has produced some of the best weed the world has ever known. Think hippies.

This is because of the geographic nature of mexico.

Point is they'll make far too much money selling weed and hash to American's to care. If prop 19 passes in the world's 8th LARGEST economy, California, then there will be world wide questions asked, rethinking old norms.

Namely, allowing IMF and world bank money to go to countries with cultural ties to illicit drugs. The markets become more free and less manipulated. Jamaica can claim with out fear of UN Sanctions that its main export is cannabis. Afghanistan could start producing hashish and lessen their reliance on opium.
And
Since cannabis ultimately only as good as where it grows; it exhibits the same terroir that wine does. Our beloved plant could eliminate an often used parental phrase all over the world, make parenting easier, per se. Money would now grow on trees, almost literally.

Basically, i think once they can breed openly and the product doesn't get compressed coming over the border and you are going to have a bunch of happy baby boomers.

Just go look into the DJ Short Forum if you don't believe me. its a great place to learn stuff, dude. lmao :

salad mix got me stupid. i hope that makes sense.

 

[draco]

It wouldnt really change anything, Marijuana doesnt create the drug cartels, The drug caretls are looking for the easy money, and they will just deal in meth, coke, heroin, ect
If you legalized weed all over north and south america I bet the supply of other drugs would go way up.

i have seen estimates that pot is 60% of cartel biz. with all the payola required for business as usual, losing 60% of revenue would effectively put the cartels out of business. can be done with a stroke of a pen...

coke and heroin markets are pretty saturated now - not much room for expansion there...

 

[sac beh]

i have seen estimates that pot is 60% of cartel biz. with all the payola required for business as usual, losing 60% of revenue would effectively put the cartels out of business. can be done with a stroke of a pen...

coke and heroin markets are pretty saturated now - not much room for expansion there...

I really hope you're right. But I think its going to take more than cannabis legalization to get Mexico out of the shitter its in. Its sad, its a beautiful country. But for profound political, economic and cultural reasons--as well as for drug trade--organized gang violence is spreading more.

 

[BlueMonk]

Legalization would definitely hurt the Mex cartel's cash cow. Not smart enough to know if it would put them out of business. But it would be major blow -- even Wall Street Journal mentioned this a few months ago.

 

[binaryfission]

I really hope you're right. But I think its going to take more than cannabis legalization to get Mexico out of the shitter its in. Its sad, its a beautiful country. But for profound political, economic and cultural reasons--as well as for drug trade--organized gang violence is spreading more.

not trying to be argumentative but why?

Imagine if their say $30billion marijuana industry's profits could go to schools and mass transit systems? Look what it did for Medellin (money going to the schools i mean).

That is enough to effect some serious change. Their GDP is Around $900bil. So a three percent increase in GDP 'over-night?'

The political problems are the same in this country. Too much money in the political system. Mexico is littered with tribes related to drug money. Eliminate the need for that, and more importantly free the individual farmer to leave the umbrella of the cartels and capitalism will grow into an economy based on contracts and ultimately some sort of democratic system.

Ultimately people want to get involved. The easier it is for them to do so, the more democracy increases. Well this is my observation any way. Empirical proof: the united states of america in the beginning, during the civil rights movement, and in every gang infested-poverty-stricken-neighborhood. Give em hope that they can change and most will grasp for it. (Free the colonists, free the slaves, and free the neighborhood. good things happened.)

,


PEACE

 

[sac beh]

not trying to be argumentative but why?

I mean to say that solving the violence problem in Mexico, which is why the cartels are a problem, is a more complex issue than just the drugs themselves. I certainly think broad legalization is a step that will deliver a blow. But unlike a legal business that goes under when the economy gets bad, the cartels operate outside of the law and their origin is in economic and social problems. The hundreds of thousands of employees of this illegal business won't just lay down their arms once CA passes 19. As long as the Mexican government is ineffective and the social and economic issues aren't addressed, they'll continue to do business.

Human trafficking is increasingly becoming a worse problem than the drugs. They don't deal in human trafficking and secuestros just for the sake of drug business, its a good business on its own.

But I'm in no way saying that CA 19 and legalization in general won't help, just that Mexico has a long road ahead after legalization.

 

[desert fox]

as skip would say.....legalize it....

 

[sac beh]

An interesting video demonstrating the complexity of the issue. There are really economic and social problems underlying the whole drug trade, and its incredible that no one admits how NAFTA and trade relations in general come into play, given that drugs have become one of the biggest economic forces in Mexico.

http://www.narconews.com/nntv/video.php?vid=17

 

[binaryfission]

Mexico is the world's largest narco state, IMO. the drug money is the beginning of the devastating cycle of corruption.
that money facilitates everything else.
America's collective demand is the causality.

Whats the strategy to fight terrorism? Politicize them. Bring the rebel groups into the political structure and let them use that instead of guns (Iraq and Afghanistan; Compton and Harlem)
Put cannabis,hemp and hashish on the commodities market and give the farmers a chance to earn without the threat of violence. That plus millions of aging baby-boomers on cannabis centered tours of Mexico's natural landscape. The pyramids and all the ancient things they have there...

Problem solved. not overnight but in a generation, maybe two.