To the Editor: Re "Mexico's New Blood Politics" (Sunday Review, Jan. 17): Ioan Grillo's conclusion that the United States (and American taxpayers) "should use its drug-war aid to push harder" for anti-corruption and judicial reforms is off base. As a political analyst living and working in Mexico for the last three decades, I have watched with horror how the United States-Mexico drug war strategy has led to the explosion of violence and criminal activity here. The deep-rooted complicity between government officials and security forces on the one hand and cartels on the other means that the training, equipment and firepower given in aid and sold to the Mexican government fuel violence on both sides. [continues 95 words]
After months of talks, President George W. Bush finally announced the "security cooperation" plan for Mexico. On October 22, he sent a request for $500 million in supplemental aid for 2008 as part of a $1.4 billion dollar multi-year package. No surprises there. The Bush administration has been negotiating the package with President Felipe Calderon's administration for months. In the lead-up to the announcement, both governments marshaled studies and statistics to support the dual --and contradictory-- thesis that the drug war in the United States and Mexico has reached a crisis point and that current efforts on both sides of the border have been very successful. [continues 1969 words]
