Mexican President: U.S. To Blame For Mexican Drug Violence

by Jocelyn Rousey | 4:10 pm, June 16th, 2010

» 15 comments

Drug cartels don’t cause drug-related violence in Mexico. Drug-addicted neighboring countries with lots of guns cause drug-related violence in Mexico. At least, that’s according to Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s Monday editorial that appeared in Mexican newspapers nationwide. It’s like that old National Rifle Association argument: Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

There’s plenty of blame to go around when it comes to the violence of Mexico’s Drug War. To be fair, Calderon’s editorial also cites lack of education or alternative work opportunities for his citizens. But it’s difficult not to conclude that Calderon is taking pot shots after the deadliest week of drug-related violence. He writes:

The origin of our violence problem begins with the fact that Mexico is located next to the country that has the highest levels of drug consumption in the world…It is as if our neighbor were the biggest drug addict in the world.

It’s an amazing statement coming from a president who’s has made cracking down on drug violence a major cornerstone of his administration, and who, in recent weeks, seems to be loosing control of the situation. Over 23,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since Calderon took office in December 2006 and launched his government crackdown on the drug cartels. But this June is shaping up to be one of the bloodiest months yet. From the Washington Post:

The Mexican newspapers that keep running tallies of drug-related violence reported last week that a record was set when 85 people died in a 24-hour period… But the pace of killing quickened. On Monday, El Universal newspaper reported that 96 people in seven states died, and another record was set.

Calderon’s criticism does have some traction. The Washington Post estimates that somewhere between 10 and 25 billion dollars in drug profits flow from the U.S. to Mexico each year. And that’s to say nothing of the difficult-to-estimate number of weapons spilling over the border into the hands of Mexican cartel members.

At the same time, however, the U.S. is funneling tremendous amounts of monetary aid into Calderon’s drug war, helping to fund everything from drug-sniffing dogs to efforts to reform the police force and court system. The U.S. certainly can’t deny the roll it plays in providing a market for Mexico’s drug cartels, but the irony of fighting cartels that we might in fact be encouraging is ours to deal with. That Calderon is resorting to potshots as the violence in his country continues to escalate, meanwhile, is hardly reassuring.

drug war, Felipe Calderón, Mexico, U.S.

paulmdoro

I have said it here before but I highly recommend Charles Bowden’s Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy’s New Killing Fields for a frank, fascinating and very depressing examination of this issue. Calderon needs to take a good, hard look at his own government and army before he starts pointing fingers at the U.S. The Mexican army and police forces are as corrupt (if not more so) as the cartels. What does he know about this? What is he doing about it? Obviously his “crackdown” hasn’t been very effective.
http://TheDividedStatesBlog.com Publius219

He’s right, though. Demand drives the drug trade. Where’s the demand coming from? Us. So, yeah, we certainly share in the blame. The War on Drugs has been a complete failure.
paulmdoro

Yes the War on Drugs is a complete failure and yes there is obviously demand for drugs here, but aggressively blaming us for all of his country’s ills (as far as the drug trade is concerned) is simplistic and inaccurate.
TROLLING4LIBS

Absolutely right Felipe ,

Got to cutt off the head of the snake first though right ? So more reason to build a border long high-shock electric fence to keep your thugs out !
Caryson

No wonder Obama threw Calderon a state dinner!

Calderon is indeed the Sorcerer’s Apprentice!

Just like like his master, Obama, taught him, Calderon has learned that it is always best to point the finger and blame the US.
MyKinKStar

Like him blaming US for ‘his people’ wanting to come here, right? Because OUR People don’t want to do ‘those jobs’ . . .
http://www.libertarianism.com/ Burnnotice

This guy is a complete idiot, everyone knows its Bushes fault….
Glenn.Bovine.Merrill

From the article:

“The cartels, he said, have grown rich and bold — fed with billions of dollars from the United States. Experts estimate that $10 billion to $25 billion in drug profits flow to Mexico each year from the north. About 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States passes through Mexico, which also smuggles at least half of the marijuana and methamphetamine sold in U.S. cities. Meanwhile, many of the weapons the cartels use, including grenades and military-style assault rifles, are smuggled into Mexico from the United States. “

Sorry folks, that is the truth. Plain and simple.

The money the USA drug addicts send to Mexico is close to what the Mexican migrant workers send by doing those jobs some Americans don’t want to do.

”
For the first time in years, the flow of remittances – greenbacks from Mexico’s many migrants in the U.S. – was virtually flat along what the World Bank calls the planet’s largest migration corridor. Mexico’s Central Bank reported Wednesday that it received nearly $24 billion in 2007, compared with $23.74 billion in 2006, after several years of double-digit increases. “
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/mexico/stories/013108dnintremit.3d3d0e6.html

“An analysis by the Spanish-owned bank BBVA Bancomer estimated that migrant dollars arriving to Mexico could go down by as much as four billion dollars this year, reducing the country’s annual remittance income from about $25.1 billion in 2008 to slightly more than $21 billion in 2009. Other estimates put the expected remittance total in the $22-23 billion range for 2009.”

http://mexidata.info/id2343.html

Keep making those drug lord murderers rich!
Rusty Shackelford

This guy is an idiot.If he’s that concerned he should build a fence.
http://apostrophejones.com Apostrophe jones

Hey Phil , you ignorant tick . What if we citizens of the U.S.come across the border ? Can we work there ? Can our kids go to school there ? Can we use your hospitals ? Can our criminals set up shop there ? Can we drive drunk and kill your citizens ? Can we get Mexican welfare ? Can we protest there ? Can we march and complain about your laws ?
http://lcit.co.uk/ SAP training London

These not fair. US government Should not be blame. Behind these violence there are drug mafia.

SAP training London
http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Hogan/179500970 Stephen Hogan

Calderon is right, albeit in a overly-simplified way. It is more than just our demand for them. It’s our prohibition laws and how we choose to enforce them. Drug cartels were not that big of an issue in Mexico until we shut down the Colombia drug trade and tightened up ports. After that, they just moved to our southern neighbor and set up shop. Our country has a major problem with looking at drug policy as a separate entity. It’s not, and the sooner that we get off our moral high-horses and realize that, the better off we and Mexico will be.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Val-Anderson/100000119994645 Val Anderson

Calderon has a good teacher in BO. BO’s philosophy is always blame America. So now this creep is blaming America for the drugs etc. Oh boy where were the Democrats I am surprised they did not get up and cheer Calderon when he made the stupid statement about America. How many Americans have to be killed b4 BO does something obout that border. I hope you have all noticed he has stopped having the fence built, more and more illegals are entering the US. SO when we are decimated by these people I wonder if BO will be happy then
Sunnyr

This Creep sounds like Comrade Obama’s bastard brother. They BOTH love to point fingers at the other side!! Two peas in a pod. Dirty, corrupt, slimy little Peas.
http://none pyrope

Last I heard, the AK-47, AK-74, and the MAC 10 (the firearms favored by Mexican drug scum) were manufactured in China “El Presidente.” I believe Val Anderson that you have captured the essence: Just as does Mr. -0bama, Sr. Calderon wants to blame someone else (anyone, PLEASE!) because he is an ineffective leader of a country that has some pretty decent folks who have suffered long under a string of third rate governments. OK, I make the exception, de la Madrid was a fairly decent president.