Pubdate: Sat, 11 Feb 2012
Source: University Times, The (Ireland Edu)
Copyright: 2012 The University Times
Contact:  http://www.universitytimes.ie/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5330
Author: Conor O'Donovan

DEATH, DRUGS AND LEGALISATION: HOW MEXICO IS GETTING DESPERATE

On New Year's day, six bodies were found in different parts of Mexico,
a relatively peaceful day, if Mexican newspaper La Reforma's usually
more metronomic 'Ejecutometro' (execution meter) is considered.
Revered Mexican author Carlos Fuentes, a man noted for coy narrative
('to be interpreted by the reader with no endorsement from the
teller', according to the New York Times), recently addressed the
issue of drugs. He was, for once, quite forward.

'Sometimes we win, sometimes they win', stated the former diplomat.
While there have been slight improvements in infamous areas such as
Ciudad Juarez, the corpses hanging from bridges, a cartel signature,
are spreading into other areas. Areas near Mexico City, once thought
to be an oasis for diplomats, corporations and the wealthy, such as
Acapulco and Cuernavaca, have suffered recently. A burned out vehicle
containing two decapitated bodies was discovered at the entrance to an
expensive Mexico City shopping centre.

As the carnage looks set to infiltrate the capital, Mexico must
reevaluate its handling of drug crime. Thus far the authorities have
targeted the linchpins of cartels. This has yielded some limited
success, as the Gulf Cartel has struggled since leader Osiel Cardenas
Guillen's arrest in 2004. Turf wars with Los Zetos, who split from the
Gulf Cartel in 2010, have also influenced the situation, however. In
2010, the army managed to kill Ignacio Coronel, leader of the Sinaloa
Federation. Joaquin Guzman stepped in swiftly.

Overall, the strategy of targeting the top has left weak
municipalities unable to cope with those carrying out operations. The
cartels have almost free reign in many areas with, perhaps, the
exception of a few bribes. During the past 6 years, there has been an
estimated 50,000 drug related deaths, with three in every four murders
linked to drugs.

The only way to alleviate Mexico's now chronic drug crime problem,
according to many and affirmed by Fuentes, is to legalise drugs. This
November, Mexico will hold its general elections which have assumed
particular significance. They mark six years since Felipe Calderon's
war on drugs and his deployment of the Mexican army against cartels.
Now, at the end of his tenure, only 18% of Mexicans believe the
government is winning this war amid speculation that the Sinaloa
Federation is involved with the ruling National Action Party.

Some believe legalisation would have a similar outcome to the repeal
of prohibition in America. Prohibition in America was a politically
driven movement involving groups ranging from industrialists hoping to
damage the German brewing economy during WWI to the Ku Klux Klan. The
drugs industry in Mexico is not a political movement, but a group of
coordinated and violent factions. Though there was an unprecedented
rise in organised crime during prohibition, the key difference is that
Mexico's problem is an ingrained social issue, rather than a result of
its own misinformation.

The idealised notion that united legalisation would lower crime rates
both sides of the border is an equally flawed concept. The collapse of
the mobs post-prohibition was due to the existence of established,
potentially legal, tenders and distributors of alcohol. The cartels
will not recede in the same way. For one thing, where are ethical,
licensed, marijuana wholesalers going to come from? Also where is the
murderous competition between cartels going to go? Furthermore, the
cartels have survived thus far despite their illegality and the
attention of the Mexican army. Their ingenuity cannot be
underestimated.

A recent scheme saw rigorously vetted holders of the hard sought
SENTRI pass turning up with rucksacks of marijuana at the Mexican
border. A network of spies, established by Texan citizens Jesus Chavez
and Carlos Gomez, observed the models, colours and registration of
cars crossing the border, and the driver's routines. The two men then
had keys cut for their targets by a contact in Texas. What the plan
lacked in subtlety, it made up for in originality. It took a Supreme
Court judge to spot the pattern of models, colours and bewilderment on
the part of innocent drivers.

Another issue with the proposed legalisation is that produce will
almost certainly still be illegal in the US, the market's chief
consumer. The US accounts for the consumption of 90% of Mexico's
cocaine. Methamphetamine, the latest commodity in a market whose
staples are marijuana, cocaine and heroin, also makes its way North in
significant quantities. Many of the cartels have a significant
presence in the US with a 120-hectare Sinaloa marijuana growing
operation being uncovered in California.

This is hardly surprising, as California is the main champion of drug
legalisation in the US and therefore a key market. It came to light in
October, however, that , leader of the prominent pro-drug group , is a
target for Federal officials. Regardless of possibly questionable
motives behind such targets, it illuminates the attitude of Federal
Government towards marijuana and the low likelihood of a joint
legalization with Mexico.

Unfortunately for Mexico, there are few other options available to
them. This is part of the reasoning behind drastic measures. Even if
the strategy of targeting perpetrators rather than leaders is
employed, the death toll will rise before it falls. Those affected by
drug related murders (which is a broad dynamic) will not care how
encouraging the new approach is. Also there are always countless
disaffected youths marginalized by Mexico's school system waiting to
replenish the ranks of cartels.

Indeed, addressing education could be more plausible as a starting
point. The constant presence of the drug trade and crime on the
political agenda highlights how cartels have ingrained themselves in
Mexican society. Brutalised corpses left behind by cartels are
horrifying, but they also make violence, as well as drugs, a part of
everyday life for impressionable youths in disadvantaged areas.
Claiming this effect is intended would be slightly far fetched.
However, if the government can reach these youths before they are
indirectly indoctrinated, they may have a realistic chance of denting
the death toll.

Negotiation with cartels is another option that has been explored.
However, the split between the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas illustrates
their fickle and volatile nature. The Beltran Leyva Organisation was
head of security for Sinaloa until joining Los Zetas in 2006. La
Familiar Michoacana, a former anti-drugs group, announced their entry
into the fray in no uncertain terms, tossing five disembodied heads
onto a crowded dance floor. Entry into any sort of dialogue would be
very dangerous. It would also acknowledge and legitimize even the
illegal presence of the cartels in Mexico.

Many of Fuentes' narratives concern the Mexican revolution. Francisco
Madero liberated Mexico from long time autocrat Porfirio Diaz. Ten
years later, Alvaro Obregon was inaugurated as President. Today,
Mexico is in the grips of a similarly complex struggle. Its oppressor
is not one entity, but the violent, self-destructive hydra, the
cartels, much like the factions of the decade between Madero and Diaz.
While Mexico craves peace once again, legalisation is no more than
surrender to the Northern American peninsula's destructive drug habit.
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.