MEXICO CITY - Mexico's outgoing president, Felipe Calderon, was never much loved. His election in 2006 was overshadowed by claims of fraud by a leftist challenger. He then struggled with a deep recession brought on by the global financial crisis. And throughout his term he sponsored an army-led "war on drugs," which has left a death toll variously estimated at between 65,000 and 100,000. Little wonder that most Mexicans are eager to see him leave office on Saturday. [continues 831 words]
Mexican president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto will be visiting Canada this week. Uncomfortable, but crucial, human-rights concerns must be at the centre of talks between him and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. These include inconvenient truths such as the following: "I heard a man scream many times. They kept asking him: 'Where are the guns, where are the drugs?' A bit later I heard: 'Take him away and bring me the next one.' I heard them open a door. They put a wet cloth over my face. It became difficult to breath. Then I felt a stream of water up my nose. I tried to get up but couldn't because they held me down." [continues 670 words]
To the Editor; Two years ago, I wrote a letter to the Daily Times in which I tried to get people to see the connections between the demand for illegal drugs in the U.S. and the horrific violence rocking Mexico. I wrote that letter the morning after then Mexican President Felipe Calderon had given a powerful speech to the people of his nation urging them not to give up hope in the face of such violence and mayhem. President Calderon, in that speech, also called on the U.S. government and the American people to take responsibility for the fact that it was the huge demand for illegal drugs in the US fueling the violence in Mexico. [continues 457 words]
Drug Strategy Should Be Part of Conversation When voters in Colorado and Washington recently legalized the recreational use of marijuana, their actions left Mexico President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto wondering whether tracking down pot growers in Mexico is a futile strategy. It's an understandable question for Pena Nieto to ask directly when he visits President Barack Obama at the White House today in a traditional postelection meeting of leaders. At the prodding of the United States, Mexico spends billions of dollars annually to fight violent and wealthy paramilitary drug trafficking organizations. Yet the U.S., which also lays out billions of dollars to curb marijuana and other drug use, remains the main destination of marijuana produced in Mexico. [continues 354 words]
Our panelists examine the possible choices Canada faces after Colorado and Washington states legalized recreational marijuana earlier this month Continue Status Quo Colton Carrick, ArtSci '16 With the recent legalization of marijuana in the US, many Canadians were left in awe at the decision made by our traditionally more conservative neighbour. For decades we Canadians have considered ourselves substantially more progressive on issues such as gay marriage, abortion, healthcare and until now - drug use. However with America's decision, we are now looking to our own drug laws and questioning their relevance and effectiveness in our modern age. Is the legalization of marijuana the right move for the Canadian government? Absolutely not. [continues 1877 words]
Call it the Marijuana domino effect. Less than two weeks after Washington and Colorado voted to legalize and regulate cannabis, lawmakers in five other states say they are considering similar bills. In Latin American, Mexican President Felipe Calderon says Uncle Sam now has lost the "moral authority" to ask other nations to maintain the cannabis prohibition and combat trafficking. A fundamental change has occurred, he added, that requires the rethinking of public policy in the entire Western Hemisphere. Calderon joined the leaders of Belize, Honduras and Costa Rica on Monday calling for the Organization of American States to study the change, and saying the UN General Assembly should hold a special session on the prohibition of drugs by 2015. [continues 632 words]
The Real Victims of Mexico's Drug War Not all who die at the hands of the cartels are criminals-and not all who work for them do so willingly. With voters in Colorado and Washington state approving the legalization of marijuana use on Tuesday, there is hope that the U.S. may be at the beginning of the end of the long, tortuous and fruitless federal war on drugs. If the U.S. Constitution means anything, the federal government was never granted the power to regulate intrastate drug use. That prerogative belongs to the states, though Barack Obama's Justice Department has already announced that it plans to defend the Beltway's nanny-state view that the feds have to protect individuals across the country from themselves. [continues 736 words]
Officials Rethink Their Anti-Drug Strategy After Colorado, Washington Legalize Marijuana. Mexico City - The decision by voters in Colorado and Washington state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana has left President-elect Enrique Pea Nieto and his team scrambling to reformulate their antidrug strategies in light of what one senior aide said was a referendum that "changes the rules of the game." It is too early to know what Mexico's response to the ballot measures will be, but Pena Nieto's top aide said the incoming administration will discuss the issue when he heads toWashington this month for meetings with President Barack Obama and congressional leaders. The decision, however, is expected to spark a broad debate in Mexico about the direction and costs of the U.S.-backed drug war here. [continues 394 words]
Legalization Alters 'Rules of the Game' Review of Washington-Backed Drug War Is Likely MEXICO CITY - The decision by voters in Colorado and Washington state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana has left Mexican President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto and his team scrambling to reformulate their antidrug strategies in light of what one senior aide said was a referendum that "changes the rules of the game." It is too early to know what Mexico's response to the successful ballot measures will be, but a top aide said Pena Nieto and members of his incoming administration will discuss the issue with President Obama and congressional leaders in Washington this month. The legalization votes, however, are expected to spark a broad debate in Mexico about the direction and costs of the U.S.-backed drug war here. [continues 683 words]
MEXICO CITY - The main adviser to Mexico's president-elect said Wednesday that votes legalizing recreational marijuana in the U.S. states of Washington and Colorado will force Mexico and the United States to rethink their efforts to halt marijuana smuggling across the border. Luis Videgaray, head of incoming President Enrique Pena Nieto's transition team, told Radio Formula that the Mexican administration taking power in three weeks remains opposed to drug legalization. But he said the votes in the two states complicate his country's commitment to quashing the growing and smuggling of a plant now seen by many as legal in part of the United States. [continues 302 words]
WHENEVER I've interviewed Mexican cartel killers, the aspect that I've found most disturbing about them is that they appear to be sane. Even though they have described to me such unfathomable actions as hacking off the heads of still-living victims, it is something other than mental illness that drives their violence. Their sanity is disconcerting because, if they were simply mad, it would be easier to accept horrific actions like leaving piles of headless corpses in town squares. [continues 794 words]
In just over a week's time, thousands of people across Massachusetts will be taking time out of their day to find a nearby polling station, to cast their vote in the 2012 presidential election. There will be a few things on their minds, namely, who should be the next president of the United States. But there is another pressing issue concerning many residents of Massachusetts. Question 3 on the state ballot will determine whether marijuana ought to be legalized for medical purposes. If passed, it would be a significant step towards total legalization of marijuana for recreational use. [continues 767 words]
Smith: Coloradans Should Pass Amendment 64 What do Hector and Yeira Beltran, Enrique and Bethsaida Cisneros, and Ivan and Claudia Vasquez have in common? They are victims of our drug war. They live on the Mexican side of the U.S. border in the pathway of the billions of dollars in drugs that come northward to meet the demand in this country. In all the debates about legalization - marijuana and Amendment 64 in Colorado - their story is the one you never hear, the story of those who have to survive in countries that we have destabilized by our desire for drugs. [continues 679 words]
Regarding Bret Stephens's "The Weekend Interview with [Mexican President] Felipe Calderon" (Sept. 29): There are several additional facts worth considering about drug consumption and policy in the U.S. First, cocaine consumption in the U.S. has declined significantly by every measure. New data on drug use recently released from the Department of Health and Human Services found that 1.4 million Americans in 2011 were current users of cocaine-about 0.5% of the population. Compare this to 2006 when 2.4 million people were current cocaine users (about 1.0% of the population). [continues 217 words]
UNITED NATIONS -- Latin American leaders at ground zero of the war on drugs called for a new approach Wednesday, saying the current drive to crush powerful cartels has failed to reduce consumption. The presidents of Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia all spoke at the U.N. General Assembly of the need to find a new approach to the global war drugs. "The premise of our fight against drugs has proven to have serious flaws," said President Otto Perez of Guatemala, who in the past has advocated legalizing drugs to wipe out the profit motive for traffickers. [continues 170 words]
(AP) - The leaders of three Latin American nations hit hard by drug trafficking called on the membership of the United Nations on Wednesday to promote a debate on alternative ways to combat drug trafficking. In an unusually energetic address to the annual opening of the U.N. General Assembly, Mexican President Felipe Calderon insisted the world body must do more if developed nations that use "tons and tons of drugs" cannot reduce consumption. More than just analyze the problem, the United Nations should head "a profound international debate" about ways to cut down on trafficking, he said. [continues 246 words]
WASHINGTON - The Caravan for Peace arrived in Washington, the last stop on its tour of the United States, during which families of the victims of violence on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border have marked "an end and a beginning" with their condemnation of the war on drugs. After traveling more than 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles) and stopping in 26 cities, the 110 participants in the caravan led by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia arrived in the United States capital. [continues 434 words]
Mexican 'Citizen-Diplomats' WHO Lost Loved Ones to Drug Violence Heading to City Their task is titanic, but so is their determination to end the war on drugs. The Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, a group originally composed of 110 Mexican fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, sons and daughters - 49 of whom lost loved ones to the violence of the drug war - arrives in our city tomorrow. One of those mothers is Margarita Lopez, whose daughter, Yahaira Guadalupe Baena Lopez, 19, was taken from her home in Oaxaca by an armed group on April 13, 2011. She joined the caravan at its inception. [continues 556 words]
Chicago: Sunday morning. One man dead after taking three bullets - one to the head, two to the chest. Cocaine clasped in hand, and more found near his body, police said. Mexico City: Last year. Six found bound and choked or suffocated to death. Bags over their heads. The murderers were likely drug traffickers, police said. Murders and shootings are up in Chicago. They are up in Mexico. Gun laws and the war on drugs are pivotal to those deaths, said a group of Mexican activists, almost all of whom have lost family members to drug violence, who are traveling across the U.S. to heighten awareness of the problem. On Sunday evening, the activists' Caravan for Peace arrived in Chicago. [continues 501 words]
Javier Sicilia's words still ring of poetry, though he says he's stopped writing it. A renowned novelist, essayist, and poet - winner of Mexico's top poetry prize three years ago - Sicilia told mourners gathered at his son's funeral in May 2011 when he read his final poem: "No puedo escribir mas poesia ... la poesia ya no existe en mi." It's no longer in me. The murder of his son Juan Francisco last year, an innocent 24-year-old university student found along with six of his friends bound and shot by drug traffickers in Cuernavaca, shook Sicilia's world. With deep anguish also came conviction. With the rallying cry "!Hasta la madre!" Sicilia became the unlikely front man to a people's movement across Mexico, leading peace marches throughout last year to publicly denounce the violence, the cartels, and the government corruption that's allowed the problem to fester. [continues 1201 words]
