Violence in Mexico

You undoubtedly hear lots about violence in Mexico. US newspapers are full of the wild west type of goings on in the border areas of Mexico. Top police officials being assassinated, gangs riding in and shooting up a town for several hours, etc. It’s clear that part of the reason for all the violence is that the new Mexican president is trying very hard to root out corruption among Mexican police and enforcement officials. However, no one comments on the real cause of most of this; it’s just left implied that ‘Mexico is so corrupt.’ In my view, the real cause of this is the demand for illegal drugs in the US and the American government’s war on drugs. The supporters of the war on drugs put the blame on the producers and suppliers of the drugs. However, the producers have few other choices for producing something that they can sell. The American government subsidizes US farmers so heavily that they can’t compete in producing ‘legitimate’ products. Making supplying the drugs illegal means that this profitable activity is perfect for criminals. The more the US government ramps up the war on drugs the higher the profits for the criminals who then have the means to bribe and build powerful, ruthless organizations. However, the NY Times had a long article on a growing number of agents in US agencies (Border Patrol, Immigration, etc.) who are working for and helping the Mexican smugglers and criminals.

You really wonder if humans learn anything from past experience. The US went through the same thing in the 1920s with the prohibition of alcohol; as soon as they legalized selling alcohol, the gangs got out because the profit was gone and the authorities were finally able to break up some of their networks. Unless you can reduce the demand for a substance with addictive properties, it is useless to try to cut off the supply. If we completely banned the sale of tobacco, we would soon have the same development of criminal gangs to supply it. In Canada we have enough brains not to ban tobacco outright. The approach has been to raise taxes; that works to some extent, especially with teenagers and there has been a decline in teen smoking. However, because American cigarette prices are lower, there has developed a considerable smuggling traffic from south of the border, especially by Indians who straddle the border in Ontario/New York and Maine/New Brunswick. If Canada doesn’t lower cigarette taxes, then we will turn our Native people into smugglers and criminals. Canadian governments (both federal and provincial governments) should lower the taxes. Other measures, such as banning smoking in almost all public places, seem to be having a significant effect in reducing smoking without creating an opportunity for criminals. In Canada, it means that people have to go outside in the freezing cold and rain to smoke. The point is that even when there are very good reasons, such as public health, to stop consumption of some substances, authorities still have to use their brains and try to find ways that are not counterproductive. The US war on drugs is a prime example of the worst possible and most counterproductive approach. I could go on at much greater length, but I’ll curtail my rant.

The point is that there are powerful and ruthless criminal gangs in Mexico. It is not as bad as in Columbia, but very serious. They are corrupting American as well as Mexican enforcement agents. The war on drugs is as counterproductive in stemming the drug trade as the invasion of Iraq has been in stemming terrorism. However, it is important to keep perspective. Most large Canadian cities have criminal and youth gangs who perpetrate serious crimes and kill innocent people. Mexico is not unique. Sorry that this is more serious than other posts, but it is no good skirting the issue. I’m sure many of you have been thinking as I rave about many things here, “Yes, but what about the violence and crime?” Well apples still have worms, even in the Garden of Eden.