Mexican Drug War

A war has been raging in Mexico's border towns for nearly a decade as rival drug cartels battle for regional control and the smuggling routes to America. However, the Mexican government has declared its own war on the ruthless drug barons. Since Felipe Calderón took office in 2006, violence seemed to have run out of control as the only result from Mexico's military interventions appears to be an escalation of the killings. Drug trafficking organizations have killed police forces, engaged in kidnappings and ransom, slaughtered their rivals and increasingly claimed the lives of innocent civilians. So far the total death toll soars slightly above a shattering 50.000 murders(1).

Although drug violence had been occurring since the 1980's, the Mexican government held a generally passive stance towards cartels. That, however, changed with newly elected President Felipe Calderon, who vowed to relentlessly crack down on high profile drug kingpins. Calderon continued to escalate his striking anti-drug campaign throughout his presidential term. As of 2011, Mexican authorities and military forces have captured over 12.000 individuals who were suspected of being involved with cartels. Meanwhile the conflict began to spread to U.S. Border States, and therefore poses the greatest organized crime threat to the United States, according to the Justice Department. By now, cartels have infiltrated more than 200 major cities across the U.S. while American gangs increasingly act as enforcers for Mexican drug cartels. Mexico affects the United States unlike any other country, which is why Mexico's state officials stressed that illegal drug trafficking is a shared problem not confined to national borders at all. This inevitably leads to the question as to whether we can somehow put an end to drug violence.

Given the research I conducted in advance, I may point out that the responsibility rests only half with Mexico as the other half ultimately lies with the consumer nation, namely the United States. In 2009, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated(2): "America's insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade". A survey carried out by the World Health Organization clearly revealed that the United States lead the world in illegal drug use, despite its punitive anti-drug policies. Consequently, drug cartels derive enormous amounts of money from attempting to saturate that appetite for illicit drugs. In fact, an estimated $39 billion are taken in from drug sales in the United States each year. However, America has seemingly taken its hands off its responsibilities as the majority of drug violence still occurs outside of U.S. territories with no need for military engagement for now.

Nonetheless, it is Mexico's authorities that fail to defeat illegal drug trafficking and governmental corruption resulting exactly from such lucrative drug trade within their country.

Along the way to a stable democracy, high levels of corruption among Mexican authorities seem to have always been an insurmountable obstacle. Especially in northern border areas, police forces are increasingly bribed to either share or enforce criminal interests of drug traffickers. In addition, Mexico's government is lacking commitment to social and economic reforms to raise the country's standard of living, so that drug trafficking becomes a less ideal approach to escape poverty. Although Calderón tried hard to push through energy, education and fiscal reforms, his agenda was ultimately crushed by political infighting while the ongoing drug war greatly stymied his administration's determination.

Nowadays,