Friction between US & Mexico

[privado]

New York times- New problem just before Obamas visit this week

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/world/americas/friction-between-us-and-mexico-threatens-efforts-on-drugs.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0

[Mainecoons]

Mexico needs to opt out of the U.S. impossible war on drugs.

This was a good read and find, thanks for putting it up.

I still believe there's a certain logic to denying these cartels the publicity for their grisly and highly public demonstrations of mayhem which seem designed to generate fear and intimidation through publicity.

[Travis]

I read a different version of this same article somewhere else on the internet this morning. This article is better. Thanks for the link.

[snowyco]

"Americans are coming to grips with a scaling back of ... American drones flying deep into Mexican territory ..."

[privado]

"Americans are coming to grips with a scaling back of ... American drones flying deep into Mexican territory ..."

I have a Mexican friend who is a classmate -upper middle class-married 2 kids, lives in a very high end Coto with security in Zapopan near Andares Mall About 1 yr ago came to class and told this experience-

Family was asleep about 2 am- dog starting barking loudly- Then pounding on front door,told kids to get under beds, husband went down opened door- the Mexican Army --had surrounded their house, trucks ,machine guns ,demanding entrance-

WHY-- looking for Drug Cartel member who drove a white BMW exactly like husbands car parked in their garage-

Husband who is a businessman and US citizen, asked Why do you think it is me?? Reply- Army Watching and tracking the coming and going of a white BMW in this Coto- ARMY got the wrong house! (this was after the death, carried out by the Army, of a famous Cartel Leader in a neighborhood 1/2 mile away, rumored to have been located by AIR surveillance) Luckily, they were able to provide enough ID's etc and Army left- Very Scary!!!

[bennie]

"dont talk the talk" by carlos puig, new york times april 18th 2013, latitude section-views around the world. another good read.

[Hud]

Using Google Earth, in 2 different cities in Mexico, I have located a house and number, only to discover when I arrived that the actual house address I wanted was about a block away. The house numbers in Mexico can really be messed up, and there can even be 2 with the same address a block apart. I can understand how police/military can easily get the wrong house here if they are looking for an address.

[Hud]

Mexico needs to opt out of the U.S. impossible war on drugs.

I agree, and the US needs to keep all those funds, etc. that they are supplying Mexico with to fight the cartel operations that are established in the US.

[cookj5]

The War on Drugs in both the US and Mexico is an utter failure. Illegal drugs of all kinds are more available in the in the US, and at lower prices, than they were when Pres. Nixon launched the War on Drugs 44 years ago. Countless of billions of tax dollars have produced a worse situation than when the “war" started.

US prison systems bulge with drug offenders at huge cost. There is no significant legal deterrent when addicts need rehab, not imprisonment. The very illegality of drugs makes them irresistibly lucrative.

Calderon's drug war cost 50,000+ lives with no perceptible slowing of the trafficking. Capturing or killing cartel leaders leads to internal cartel power struggles or wars between cartels over territory. The more successful we are at going after cartel leaders, the greater the violence. Mexicans are fed up with this approach.

We need to legalize drugs, regulate distribution, tax the transactions, and fully fund rehab and drug education. Stop moralizing and start being realistic. People will use drugs, regardless of the legal status, mostly without bad results. Some will get addicted and need rehab. We need a public health, not a criminal justice, approach.

Our insatiable US demand for the drugs on the one hand, and our moralistic criminal laws on the other, have made the drug trafficking so lucrative that massive criminal organizations have arisen to handle the trade. We have created our own problem. We need to fix it, in the only sensible way.

[Mainecoons]

Mega dittos to JNC's post!

[satnrose]

I agree, jnc. I think there is a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel in the US. Change is very slow. Hopefully the impact of Anslinger's, et al propaganda war will fade away and the younger generations will see things more clearly.