Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Tyranny of the Majority: U.S.-fueled Instability in Mexico and the Case for a North American Economic and Security Community

Posted by El Profe from Small Wars Journal by Bryan Baker

 

“...we as Americans must confront that we are the market. There is no other market for these activities. It is all coming here. But for us, Mexico wouldn't have the trans-criminal organized crime problem and the violence that they're suffering.”  Sec of State Rex Tillerson

 


 A majority taken collectively may be regarded as a being whose opinions, and most frequently whose interests, are opposed to those of another being, which is styled a minority. If it be admitted that a man, possessing absolute power, may misuse that power by wronging his adversaries, why should a majority not be liable to the same reproach?[i]
                                                - Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
Rule of Law vs. State of Nature
In a well-governed State, there are few punishments, not because there are many pardons, but because criminals are rare; it is when a State is in decay that the multitude of crimes is a guarantee of impunity.[ii]
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract
The social contract has been breached in many Mexican states. Instead of rule of law, impunity reigns. Crimes go unreported, uninvestigated, and unpunished. Life, liberty, and property are no longer secured by the state.[iii] Government forces have lost their monopoly on coercion and citizens are left with little to no protection from the violent and anarchic state of nature. The situation is reminiscent of the breakdown in society that Thomas Hobbes recorded after watching armed bandits rampage through Europe during the Thirty Years War:

Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time or war where every man is enemy to every man, the same is consequent to the time wherein men live without other security than what their own strength and their own invention shall furnish them withal. In such condition there is... continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.[iv]
Sadly, this, “continual fear and danger of violent death,” is fueled by demand for narcotics in the United States. This is because drug sales in America create “illicit external income”[v] that Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) use to corrupt government officials, and to purchase weapons. Yet, the U.S. government has failed, and continues to fail, to adopt policies that could effectively reduce this demand. This is tragic. Mexico is a new democracy, and it is still mired in the exceptionally difficult and vulnerable process that is democratic consolidation.[vi]-[vii] In this essay I argue that the United States’ failure to effectively reduce domestic narcotics demand has, in Mexico, facilitated the breakdown of the rule of law, and reversion to the state of nature that Rousseau and Hobbes mentioned. This severely undermines democratic governance in Mexico. Because U.S. and Mexican societies have become deeply interconnected,[viii] I contend that the U.S. is thus guilty of exercising the tyranny of the majority over her weaker southern neighbor.

Narcotics: We Are the Market

The overwhelming majority of Mexico’s internal instability- the violence, corruption and impunity- is funded by drug sales in the United States. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently addressed this issue bluntly:  “...we as Americans must confront that we are the market. There is no other market for these activities. It is all coming here. But for us, Mexico wouldn't have the trans-criminal organized crime problem and the violence that they're suffering.”[ix] Likewise, then-Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly recently admitted that U.S. demand for drugs brings, “...a level of violence to [Latin America] that make them the most violent nations on the planet. Our drug use has reduced some democracies in our hemisphere to nearly failed narco-states.”[x]

The U.S.-addiction funded violence that these officials refer to is, according to Brookings, “...more intense than many civil wars and insurgencies around the world.”[xi] From 2007 to 2015 over 164,000 civilians died in Mexico due to criminal activities- this is more civilian deaths than those in Iraq and Afghanistan combined during the same time period.[xii] This violence is funded by the $19-$29 billion in profits that Mexican cartels reap from U.S. drug sales annually.[xiii] After selling narcotics on American streets, straw buyers representing Mexican TCOs frequently use their profits to buy firearms- without a background check- which they then smuggle to Mexico.[xiv] According to a U.S. government study, 70% of all guns recovered at Mexican crime scenes originated in the U.S.A.[xv] Furthermore, the University of San Diego estimates that around 250,000 firearms were trafficked from the US into Mexico between 2010 and 2012; this represents $127 million in profits for the U.S. firearms industry.[xvi] The firearm issue represents just one way that American narcotics demand fuels instability in Mexico.

But what can the U.S. do to reduce the market for illegal narcotics? According to Brookings, hardcore drug addicts- as opposed to casual users- consume 80% of illegal narcotics in the U.S.[xvii] This demographic is the key to reducing U.S. demand. Historically, U.S. administrations have pursued harsh punishments- including extended prison terms even for non-violent users- for these offenders as a deterrent to drug use. These methods have not reduced use, and they have caused serious social harm to those imprisoned, which exacerbates the problem.[xviii] Yet despite the failure of these law and order strategies, President Trump is currently doubling down them.[xix]-[xx] Because it is unlikely that the U.S. will pursue strategies that have been proven to reduce addict use- such as providing mild and swift punishments, along with rehabilitation[xxi]- Mexico is forced into a reactionary response to U.S. drug policy, which is attempting to counter the violence it breeds with brute force. This has resulted in the militarization of the police in Mexico,[xxii] and a drastic rise in the crime-related death toll in Mexico.[xxiii] Both of these effects of U.S. inaction severely undermine Mexico’s democratic consolidation.

Tyranny of the Majority

America has not taken drastic measures to reduce narcotics demand because the effects of current U.S. drug policies do not negatively affect the average American voter in a way that is obvious to them. Therefore, they do not put pressure on their political representatives to take action. If these hundreds of thousands of homicides had occurred on U.S. soil, the issue would become a priority and sensible solutions would be implemented. However, the death and destruction has only affected a minority of the North American population, thus, no action is taken. This trampling of minority rights in a shared society- the tyranny of the majority- was a major governmental concern for James Madison:
It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part...If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure...Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society...In a society under the forms of which the stronger faction can readily unite and oppress the weaker, anarchy may as truly be said to reign as in a state of nature, where the weaker individual is not secured against the violence of the stronger.[xxiv]
I contend that U.S. failure to reduce the demand for narcotics is a clear example of America exercising the tyranny of the majority over Mexico. Critics of my thesis may argue that Madison only meant this doctrine to apply to the internal affairs of one country, and conclude that I thus cannot apply this tyranny of the majority doctrine across the U.S.-Mexico border. To answer this critique I would point out that at the time of writing, America was governed under the Articles of Confederation, which was simply “a firm league of friendship” between thirteen sovereign republics.[xxv] Madison and the other framers wrote the Constitution in part as an attempt to resolve the majority tyranny issues that existed under the Articles government.[xxvi]-[xxvii] Thus, according to Madison, the doctrine itself transcends borders, especially when society also transcends borders.          

The U.S. and Mexico share a society that transcends the international border due to 1) integrated commerce, 2) the large numbers of Mexican-Americans residing in the U.S., and 3) the convergence of U.S. and Mexican cultures that has occurred in the American Southwest especially. Over a billion dollars in cross-border trade occurs between the U.S. and Mexico every day due to NAFTA; six million American jobs depend on this trade.[xxviii] This commercial relationship- albeit not on this scale- has existed for over a century. In times past Mexican workers easily crossed the border to engage in a pattern of circular migration between the US and Mexico.[xxix] This migration to the U.S. established Mexican roots in America even deeper than they had been previously.[xxx] As of 2012, over 33 million persons of Mexican descent resided in the United States; 22 million of which were U.S. citizens. Millions of these people retain familial ties in Mexico.[xxxi] This makes them transborder stakeholders. Furthermore, Mexican migration to the U.S. has resulted in a convergence of cultures.[xxxii] Anyone who has spent time in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Houston, or countless other cities has likely seen this convergence of culture in music, food, sports, education, religion, families, and in countless other areas. The aforementioned economic integration, combined with the transborder nature of migration, familial ties, and culture all combine to create a shared society between the U.S. and Mexico. While this shared society may comprise many groups under different governments, so did the early American society that James Madison refers to.[xxxiii] Therefore, the U.S. and Mexico do share a society and the narcotics demand issue can be viewed through the tyranny of the majority lens.

Recommendations

Though the United States is exercising the tyranny of the majority over Mexico, this researcher does not believe this tyranny is intentional. It is the product of the American public’s lack of knowledge concerning this problem set, and the U.S. government's preoccupation with other parts of the world. This tyranny is passive. Nevertheless, something must be done to resolve this issue. In the above quotation, Madison claims that if the stronger party in a society is not prevented from exercising the tyranny of the majority over the weaker party, society will return to a Hobbesian state of nature. This is exactly what has occured in parts of Mexico where the lives of some citizens are, “...poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” due to the breakdown of the rule of law.[xxxiv]
To counter majority tyranny, Madison recommended increasing the size and scope of the American republic:
Extend the sphere and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be more difficult for all who feel it to discover their own strength and to act in unison with each other.[xxxv]
While it would be impossible for the U.S. and Mexico to pursue political union to the degree that the American republics did in 1787, a small degree of integration could significantly reduce majority tyranny. Therefore, I believe that the best method for solving this issue would be the creation of the North American economic and security community that has been advocated by David Petraeus and Robert Zoellick’s Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on North America. Such an organization would not need to go so far as to require each nation to surrender any sovereignty to the community. A formal, public debate and discussion between representatives of the three countries alone could powerfully prevent majority tyranny by eliciting news coverage of North American issues, and by cultivating a North American perspective amongst the countries populations. Non-binding votes on transcontinental issues could also give member states moral incentive to adopt policies for the good of the continent, while still retaining sovereign control over their policies. While serving as an ideal platform to solve the North American narcotics issue, this organization would also be well placed to prevent future enactments of the tyranny of the majority. Lastly, it would facilitate the integration and cooperation that will make North America a unified, powerful force in the world.
In the words of the Council on Foreign Relations task force:
Consider the assets of North America: a population of almost half a billion; the potential for energy self-sufficiency and even exports; a wealth of human and mineral resources; peaceful and friendly neighbors; and markets for agriculture, manufacturing, services, technology, and innovation that account for more than a quarter of the world’s economy. If the three democracies of North America work closely together, they will be the principal force in the world for decades to come.[xxxvi]
While the above recommendation would be the ideal method for solving the majority tyranny issue, the current populist U.S. administration is unlikely to pursue greater North American integration. Therefore, in the short term, three actions should be taken in America that would strike severe blows to Mexican TCOs: 1) legalization of marijuana, which would cut an estimated 17% of Mexican TCO profits,[xxxvii] 2) the closing of loopholes that allow firearms to be purchased in the U.S. sans background check, and 3) rehabilitation, instead of long term prison sentences for hard core drug addicts. While the current U.S. administration is also unlikely to adopt these reforms, the individual American states could take unilateral action in these areas to varying degrees.  These reforms, however, would only be a starting point. This issue ultimately requires a North American response from all three of the continent’s democracies.[xxxviii]

For sources, refer to Original Article

51 comments:

  1. No legislation/law or for that matter anything can be done to stop drugs. Not a material amount. In a free society you have to take the good, and the bad as a cost of freedom. I'll take back my comment. If the drugs were legalised it could make a significant impact, but that will never happen. The problem is on both sides of the border and it's dishonest to blame one more heavily than the other. And no I'm not trying to be politically correct.

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    1. For soms reason some people believe tjat there was a time when society was "drug free" . Back in the early 00s an 8 yo kid could go to a local pharmacy and buy an ounce of heroin and cocaine over the counter . All the drug using hysteria is nothing but a consequence of prohibition and the existential crisis many people faced in a consumerist society

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    2. The drug problem is due to both nations it benefits the US with pharmacudicles and I'll gained profits that are taken rather than them (CIA, DEA, so on) doing it themselves who would feed the phemes is druglords didn't hmmmmm hard to guess....

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  2. Another attempt to blame the unit s states for the savagery and corruption is Mexico.

    Mexico was, is and will be a shithole country because of Mexicans!

    It’s been that way since inception. The drug problem in the U.S. is due in part BECAUSE of the failure of Mexico to police its people and governmental corruption!

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    1. Oh so the USA forcifo its druh policies to the entire world is mexicos probabem. Heck i bet Iraq/Syria sitiatisi was their own fault. Poor USA and its imperialistic tendencies.

      No wonder the rest of the world hates the american arrogance

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    2. Also 12:25pm or trump bot. The cartels buys the guns here and return the earnings in mexico. A lot of innocent in mexico are dieing because of the countries demand of drugs or buying guns. The sellers are domeasses just like u By selling it to the wrong hands.

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    3. 2:50 The rest of the world hates American arrogance ? Really . Is that why they try and get on car inner tubes and try to float across the ocean to get here ? The USA has made a sharp decline since the early 80's but why does the world hate us for trying to save ourselves ? Mexico has allowed these gangs to get big and powerful . Splintering them cause more conflict . I don't get it . Nobody wants anything done . Everybody says it was better like it was . All the pro illegal immigration people say the wall wont work but argue hard against building it . We all seen the video of the little skinny kids with backpacks climbing over . Means nothing . There are people that live through shootouts . That don't mean bullets don't work .
      Trump is gonna build the wall . Mexicans can blame whoever they want for their problems .

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    4. @ 12:25pm

      I’m glad to know there are people that can still see where the real problem is, and that is in Mexico. FACTS!

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    5. 12:25 and 2:50 you guys are silly.Let me take a really wild guess-12:25 you are American and 2:50 you are Mexican.You see this all over the world,Pakistan vs. India,Venezuelans vs.Columbians and Peruvians vs. Braizlians!

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  3. Yea . Bullshit . How about we stay on our side of the line and Mexico stays on its side . Wouldn't that solve some problems ? You cant get straight crime statistics here in the usa because of political correctness ,but it is guaranteed mexico is well represented in the American prisons. Who were the first ones shot and killed in Texas when the law was passed to use deadly force to protecting property against criminals ? Believe those incidents were in Houston tx . Don't get me wrong . I am not stereo typing because I know a lot of good Mexicans . But if the usa's relationship to mexico is so detrimental for mexico why continue ? Talk to any psychiatrist and learn what kind of people always blame some body else for their problems . In my opinion , this splintering up is what has saved mexico from powerful groups taking TOTAL control of every aspect of mexico . Just forget about it and sing your songs that romanticize these criminals . It will be ok Uncle Sam will save Mexico as a whole .

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    1. JusJ like uncle sam saved south vietnam from evil communists ? Just how uncle sam gave freedom totIraq? Yea, you're the worldwo hero IN HOLLYWOOD maybe.

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    2. "But if the usa's relationship to mexico is so detrimental for mexico why continue ? "
      ...Uh because we are neighbors and have a labor dependency amongst other reasons, ya know like the article says
      I agree with you that "tyranny" is an overstatement, I'd say more like gross negligence and indifference, but you can not deny that the US has a big share of the blame, even trump-appointed Tillerson acknowledged that "we are the market". and what does this shit about mexicans (people of mexican descent?) being shot in Houston have to do with this article? but I'm glad you managed to find a few good mexicans, maybe the can help Uncle Sam save mexico like he saved iraq and afgahnistan or the banks

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    3. Mexico export 280 billion worth of goods to the USA every year, that's the underline of the Mex/USA relationship. Good for Mexico, as that money is the majority of the Mex GDP, and good for the USA, arguably, because USA gets a lot of products made very cheaply, which benefits USA citizens.
      Mexican immigrants, legal and illegal send 29 billion dollars back to Mexico every year. That is equal to the entire drug trade Mex/USA so that is important in contribution to the Mex economy.
      Mex/USA will always share a close relationship, and all neighbors have problems with each other occasionally.
      As an outsider, I think the benefits outweigh the negatives.

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  4. I agree, we all bear responsibility for this problem. The problem is admitting that we actually have a problem. As the U.S. we, for some reason, believe we are flawless in all things; an arrogant attitude that blinds us to the truth. Not to mention our political divides are so strong that they also blind us from reasoning or coming to the realization that we need to work together to combat this. It's unfortunate that the cost of all this is lost life and the dehumanization of all society. The dead, the affected, the addict, the families that hurt, etc... they're all numbers to us, not human.

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    1. Is a problem that transcends abstract concepts like lines made on a map or borders.

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    2. American engineer Edward Deming: "90% of the problems are caused by about 10% of the people in any organization..."
      If you start OBSERVING you get to recognize the wheat quicker and develop methods for separating it from the chaff.
      We are not all guilty, simply because we are not deciding to rob or steal, or to be drug traffickers or corrupt government profiteers or drone bombers murdering other people to make coin out of their countries, that is why when one of us commits a crime our society tries to clear the case and administer some justice on the guilty, not on all of us...
      Good luck on your trip.

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  5. Back in the late 1800 early 1900 someone in congress changed the laws governing the use of coca leaves in Coca Cola, the use of various other substances using Heroin and the use of Marijuana oil.
    Up until then these drugs where legal. After the law changed they could be had by prescription, this incurred doctors fees, for those who could not afford it, they went to the black market.

    Later on during the same time period a Mafia gangster was told to take a holiday in Tijuana, because of some problems in Las Vegas. At the same time the Chinese immigrants were refused access to the US so many of the moved into Mexico.

    The gangster teamed up with the Chinese because the new how to grow the poppy for Heroin production

    During that time the mexican smugglers were moving products from the rich North to south, such as TV fridges and so on for the rich.
    now the same people could move the heroin and marijuana north.

    From what i have just said it looks like a US instigated problem where sharp eyed people saw a chance to turn a Buck!!

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    1. On the 1800s and the 1900 there was no TVS or fridges, but in the 50s or 60s secretary of commerce Raul Salinas Lozano was an ambassador to Russia, a minister of commerce in mexico, after graduating from Harvard and he was a Cuban sympathizer always looking for a way to strike it rich, trafficking on household appliances was the start of Pablo Escobar and Don Juan N Guerra until younger capos decided to abandon the trafficking in cham er pots go all balls for the drugs and kick their Godfathers out of the way, by then "El hombre de Agualeguas NL" had a lot of money and levers to pull to be designated "presidential candidate", El Chamuco Mayor Carlos Salinas de GortarI has been mexico's day and night nightmare, and his buddies help bunches, he was a dressage horse rider when he was younger, went to Colombia for some "competitions" with colombia's horse specialists, the Family of Don Fabio Ochoa, the son of Rafael Caro Quintero is another Olympic horse riding competitor and has competed in China Olympiad AND in CULOMBIA...

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  6. Part One:

    Look man, I’ve been a BB reader since 2010 but have never written before. I’m a lurker, as many of you are, but this article really got me, so here goes my .02 centavos…

    Though I think the author made some good points with this article, I think he misses the mark entirely about what really afflicts Mexico in its current condition. He goes on to quote some great minds like Alexis de Toqueville, Rousseau and Madison, et al, but he takes their statements wholly out of context and using sleight of hand, 3-Card Monty type word tricks, tries to fool us into his globalist, left-leaning ideology that Mexico’s homicide woes are caused by US drug consumption! There’s some truth to it, no doubt, as we are the number one consumer, but it’s reeks of the same old argument the Left has been making for years – if only we amend or get rid of the 2nd Amendment, the senseless killings will stop! But, as all dictators know, once you disarm the citizenry, then rebellion becomes an easy-peasy matter to stop!

    I contend that what makes the USA different from any other country is our Constitution and The Bill of Rights, and its 27 Amendments. The Bill of Rights in general is a guaranteed list of what the govt can’t do to us as citizens! Of importance to Patriots (Liberals, not so much…) is the 2nd Amendment (the right to keep and bear arms), as that is arguably one of the most (if not the most) important right that we as citizens enjoy that other countries unfortunately and regrettably do not. Currently, only USA, Guatemala and Mexico have that right (according to Google), but only in the USA is that right honored or recognized without the severe restrictions that the other two countries place upon it. Consider that the US Revolutionary War was won because Patriots were fed up with draconian British rule over them (a bunch of putos they were), so Patriots banded together, drank some Samuel Adams and smoked some good Virginia sinsemilla, and then took up arms to do something about it, not just theorize and debate it – but lock and load and play Whack-A-Mole with the nasty Red Coats! In other words – they put their anger into action! In life, nothing changes until someone gets pissed off or at least fed up with the current status quo and then decides to do something about it.

    If Mexico had included the right to keep and bear arms when Carlos Salinas amended the Constitution under Articles, 3, 5, 24, and 130 (religious articles) and 127 (land reform), I pretty sure that Mexicans (being Tough Hombres) would not have allowed some methed up, narco vato locos to go around committing atrocities like what happened to the 300 people in Allende in 2011, the missing 43 students at Iquala in 2014, and the 72 murdered migrants at San Fernando in 2010 that turned into 193 bodies after exhumation in 2011, not to mention the 49 human torsos found in a clandestine grave in Cadereyta! My point is that the body count wouldn’t be 200,000 (far more than is reported by this author), the truth is no one really knows because, as he admits – crimes go unreported. My simple point is if someone is trying to break down your front door in the middle of the night, a 12 guage shotgun, or some such weapon, would certainly make for a fairer fight – as opposed to no gun at all! We all know that when seconds count, the police are only minutes away! Hell, the Japanese thought twice about invading the mainland US during WW2 when they realized how many guns those crazy rednecks had! Hari Kari was a better option for them, I guess. Look, there’s people in Guerrero (Autodefensas), politicians and liberals call them “vigilantes” – people like Dr. Mireles that were fed up with their govt not providing security to the people, so they took matters into their own hands! Same thing I would have done! Thing is, had they had more weapons and more assistance, instead of govt resistance, they’d have succeeded! The will was there, but the govt came down harder on them than it did the cartels?! Go figure…

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    1. Your post looks so out of place here because of all the correct grammar, spelling, syntax, punctuation, etc.

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    2. Well, a while back when Chivis and BB were looking for volunteer writers I almost raised my hand out of a sense of obligation for being such a long-time reader, but since I tilt to the right ideologically, I figured this isn't the forum to state my opinions as the audience presumably might not appreciate my view of things, for obvious reasons of course. Regardless, I stay neutral and objective and just call balls and strikes, at least from my perspective anyway. I'll post some more when another article grinds my Granny gear like this one did. Man, this guy had me looking like David Banner right before he turns into the Hulk with anger at the BS he was spewing...

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    3. @11pm, why didnt you volunteer to do translations? That would have obviated the need to lend a political slant to the left or right to your articles.

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    4. for 3:30, 3:42, 11:00
      I posted your comments in a post. I hope we are still friends. :) I thought it appropriate as a counterpoint to this post.

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    5. Part 1

      Chivis,

      Hola, que tal amiga! I’ve got nothing but love for you girl and for all you’ve done for BB, and for your causes working with the children. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading your remarks throughout the years and don’t pay too much attention to my right leaning remarks. This isn’t a political forum and I apologize for giving off that bad vibe of politics as it doesn’t define me and surely doesn’t belong here. I appreciate what you did by putting my post up to the front of the que, but in truth – I’m not seeking the attention. I’m like every other person on here, just looking around to see what the latest is going on in Mexico with regard to the drug war.

      Individually, we all have our own stories to tell about how the drug war has affected us. Collectively, we come here to empathize with each other and seek solace in the hope that life in Mexico will one day return to normal pre-drug war days, or however you wish to define it. I know, I know, if wishes were horses beggars would ride…

      Back in 2010, my cousin Aurora was killed by a policeman as she and her friend were walking back home from a night out on the town in Juarez. They were stopped by a policeman who asked Aurora to give him $20. She told him no and started walking away when the cop got her and started beating her with his Billy club. He was mad that she denied him the money he felt he was due and simply took it too far and beat her to death over the head with the club – for 20 damn dollars! Her friend saw the whole thing and was lucky enough to run away and not get caught. She went and told my Aunt, but they were helpless to call the police as they were the ones who killed her.

      When my mom told me what had happened – I couldn’t believe it? How could my cousin have been killed by the cops? I was stunned with disbelief! After the funeral, I heard more shocking news that didn’t make any sense to me either at the time. My other cousin, Aurora’s sister (I’ll leave her name out), told my mom that they had to leave back to El Paso before it got dark as there was a curfew in place. My mom asked why and she said that the streets go empty and only the narcos run the streets at night, and that it just wasn’t safe. My mom was shocked to hear that – as we had always driven home at night when visiting them to maximize our stay. However, that was back in the 80’s and I had gone off and joined the Navy and hadn’t been back since. When Mom told me this I couldn’t believe: 1) that a dirty cop had killed my cousin and 2) that you couldn’t drive at night in Juarez in 2010. My cousin later told me about all the women that had been killed in Juarez in 2010 and it shocked me to my core.

      Since I didn’t follow the news of what was going on in Mexico, I couldn’t make any sense of it. I loved Aurora and couldn’t believe that she died under the circumstances that she did. I worked with a guy at work who had also been in the Navy and was originally from a small town in Guerroro. He told me 2008 was the last time he had driven to Mexico to see his dad but that the situation was getting pretty bad with road blocks and things like that. Again, I was stunned but intrigued, and wanted to learn more about all the corruption and dirty deeds going on in MX. So he said, “Hey, you ought to check out this site called Borderland Beat, it’s a pretty cool site where you’ll learn about the ‘shit’ going on in MX.” So I did and at the time the Z’s were gearing up to break from the CDG and I learned about all the heavy players and the shit going on. Everyday back then it was like a dark novella hearing about all the stuff that was happening across the border. So I initially came for the daily updates, but I stayed because I was dumbfounded that the US mainstream media wouldn’t write about the horrific atrocities that were being committed daily back then. Like Winston Churchill said: “It’s a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” He was referring to Russia, but you get the point.

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    6. Part 2

      By lurking, I became knowledgeable about the plight of the Mexican people – good, hard-working, honest and innocent people who were being tormented by cartel and gang violence and by their own govt’s inability to provide basic security needs. I’d read the daily blogs and just couldn’t square it with reality! The atrocities became common daily occurrences with no end in sight, so the people were basically suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and were letting the bad guys do as they please (as if they had any other choice).

      For the uninitiated, life in MX is more complicated than fake platitudes or good intentions could ever sooth, and I truly believed that the power of the US and international media could make a positive impact if they could only shed a spotlight onto what was occurring there. I figured if they would only show the graphic pictures of the San Fernando bodies piled up high that it would shock the world into action! But it never came to pass.

      At that time, it was astonishing how the govt of Felipe Calderon was going after certain groups with Blitzkrieg efficiency, yet other groups were getting away with it? Juarez was inundated by a full-blown war with daily murders in the high teens! It was a nightmare that the people were enduring like hammer blows! Whole towns were being displaced by armed groups, and those places where it was safe haven to go to – they went – an exodus compared in biblical terms.

      2010 to 2015 truly was a nightmare – a pure, unadulterated nightmare! Consider in the US, a city of 1 million might have 100 murders per year, at least in my town. That is considered normal, year per year, but if you turn on the local news at night, they would have you believe we were living in Syria! I swear all they report is who killed who, but they never give names and they don’t even show faces anymore around here. Not sure why… Don’t pay attention to the man under the curtain, they tell us. Wow, talk about out of touch with reality! In 2010, Juarez, with a population of about 1.5 million, had 3,000 murders – ten times the rate of 2007 (300). For comparison, Chicago, with a pop of 2.7 million, in 2016 had 771 murders, and 650 in 2017. In the US, murders are reported per 100,000. So even though Chicago had more murders, Detroit’s 303 murders in 2016 gives it a higher murder rate (2016 pop 677,116). Trying to find valid data for murder rates per city is something the FBI doesn’t seem too keen on giving out. They bury it deep in double-speak with table after table until you just give up trying. Uhm, I wonder why? Can anyone help me out here? I’m looking at the ucr.fbi.gov info and it is a PC nightmare. Perhaps the LEO who commented on my piece that had a lot of good Texas history knowledge can bring us up to speed on why the FBI’s uniform crime stats are so PC and hard to extract to elemental facts. Perhaps I’m not looking in the right place?

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    7. Well I am happy we remain friends. I second guessed my action, after all you had no say, I felt badly. But I think the discussion is a good one. Being political, still has to be addressed. is not something that should be entirely overlooked. It is an integral element. We frown upon too much politics because people choose sides and it can get ugly.

      The "stockholm syndrome" is such a perfect description. I have eye witnessed examples first hand. especially in that horrific season of violence when z's split with cdg. I saw Bad guys and bad things everywhere but no one seemed to see...but me. I remember when Lalo Moreira was executed, those three police thrown in Bravo and one floated to across grande onto del rio where BP picked him up. he was wanted for lalo's murder. he was "killed" because everyone knows dead men can't talk. after I confirmed his identity i called the FBI, too late, the guy was deported back to Mex via acuna and vanished for a few months. he was eventually arrested in monclova. the point is, no where was this even written about. People don't want to know. They go on with their lives wearing blinders. If You want to make a Mexican uncomfortable in 5 seconds, ask about narcos. You will hear little nervous laughter.

      People feel there is no help, there are no options, there is nothing they can do. SO they concentrate on themselves, their family, their inner circle, their homes. and outside that perimeter, it is just to frightening. They become accustomed to being ok with things that shouldn't be ok. Like getting money, giftcards and prizes in exchange for votes. Since nothing can be said or done to change these elements of corruption, they figure, "I may as well get mine"

      I am truly sorry about your prima. That is not only sad but compounded by who the perp was. That is another thing no one understand. You can't call police they are in collusion. Especially municipalities. state are just a little better.

      as for the murder rate, let me check also. I have never had a problem. I think the UN intentional homicide rate is good and current. its the UNODC list.

      Laters

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  7. Part Two:

    So back to the articles main points:

    1: Legalizing marijuana would cut Mexican TCO profits by 17%. True, but also true is that had HSBC Bank been stopped, or fined a realistic number rather than the measly $1.9 billion (follow the money), from the Obama, Holder DOJ regime back in 2012 (HSBC admitted it, but the fine was only 2 months profit – so it was written off as a cost of doing business), then the cartels wouldn’t be able to launder their money with impunity like they do now either! See, I can play what if’s too!

    2: Closing of loopholes that allow firearms to be purchased in the U.S. sans background check. Where there’s a will – there’s a way! Just look at Chicago with its strict gun laws – do they apply to criminals who don’t care about consequences? Strict gun laws are in place in Mexico as well – do they apply to cartels too? Because they certainly don’t give a shit about them!

    3: Rehabilitation, instead of long term prison sentences for hard core drug addicts. Three strikes, many times even more! Depending on the city and state, our laws are very lenient nowadays – except for hard-core drugs. This is an internal and personal issue. In a free society, no one makes anyone do drugs – it takes a willing participant. Don’t want to go to jail or do time – then don’t commit crimes! This guy is just regurgitating the liberal orthodoxy that there’s too many people in prison for drugs. I can tell you this, 100% of them were found guilty either by a jury of their peers or by a judge who had to follow the law. We’re all free men and women, we have free will! Exercise better judgment – listen to that little guy on your shoulder who goes by the name of “Conscience” and hangs around with a guy named “Gut” when they tell you something just ain’t right.

    But please spare us the lecture about globalizing the Western Hemisphere by calling it the “majority tyranny issue” as if that’s the silver bullet to the drug war! Does sovereignty mean anything anymore to this guy? For me, it rings too close to what some high and mighty Mexican politicians said after they lost the Mexican-American War of 1848: "The true origin of the war, it is sufficient to say that the insatiable ambition of the United States, favored by our weakness, caused it. No – sorry to break it to you buttercup, but Mexico started a fight with the USA after only two decades from winning independence from Spain, and then grossly misjudged the USA as an adversary – and so, with regard to all the land the USA got for its troubles, as the saying goes: to the victor goes the spoils.

    Give Mexicans the right to keep and bear arms – and then see what happens to the drug war and the kidnappings, beheadings, extortion, and all that other pendehadas that is only happening not because of US consumption, but because the people can’t fight back fair and square! Did you ever consider that?

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    1. Nicely said. Strong bullet points buddy. I like the part where you said “buttercup”. Reminds me of someone I once knew. - Sol Prendido

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    2. Excellent post!
      Imo, the corrupt Mexican power elite would be the first to go "if" the honest and decent people were armed to the teeth and made a true Democracy.

      Mexico-Watcher

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    3. Hola titling right lurker
      I really enjoyed your thoughtful post. If I can extend a bit of criticism, I would study the Mexican Constitution, which is patterned off of the U.S. constitution. it isn't the constitution that stinks, it is the lack of law and order and abounding/pervasive corruption and total disregard of rights that is the issue.

      Mexicans can bear arms. Look at article 10 [i think] among others. it is limited in caliber but some exceptions for rural areas exist. Best way is to join a gun club.

      Dr. Mireles used the constitution for his fight. it should have sufficed. instead they locked him up until his mind was not the same. But he has a constitutional rights to self defend.... the constitution has some solid provisions to protect citizens. but there is no accountability or honest oversight.

      Nos vemos, fellow right titling

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    4. That is bullshit. Please stick to facts and not make up points because you think it is that way. if you buy the caliber permitted and from the one store in all of mexico, the Mexican army, it is registered, then you have nothing to worry about. for self defense changes in the article 10 now says they must stay on your property. not concealed on person or vehicle . long guns for hunting and the most popular and are transported only with permission, you have to prove where you are going. same with Americans they must get authorization BEFORE crossing the border. trying after crossing with it, will get you in jail. must be before. you will have to carry your documentation to show at checkpoints. again proving where you are going to hunt, and an inspection going and leaving.

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    5. Well, in Mexico unarmed people have been killed for hiding in the bathroom with their 3 month old kids, of course, unregistered weapons were found on the scene of the crime where this woman ambushed "the representants of the law"
      Other people have been shot because their beautiful brand new looking truck looks like it is being driven by narcos,
      You go to mexico, good luck, I won't, that is my prerrogative

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  8. Mexico is a violent country because it's a Latin American country, and, among even Latin American countries, Mexico has high levels of impunity and corruption. So even without any of the drug problems with the US, Mexico would still have high levels of violence.

    As the US goes down the path to drug legalization, which has begun with marijuana in many US states, we see and can expect to see in the future, higher levels of violence in Mexico as criminal groups (still incorrectly called "narco cartels") move into other areas of criminal activity, mostly affecting the Mexican population.

    Also, J has a story above, showing how Mexico is just now at the beginning of a horrible addiction problem. These guys selling drugs locally in Mexico are the same guys who behead. This will get even uglier for Mexico, regardless of what the US does with drug laws.

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  9. Just stating what's written as fact. How do Mexican cartels make between $19-29 Billion dollars off drug sales? I mean 300 million Americans are we all really getting that high? I'm really confused adding this up.

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    1. Do the math 150,000,000.00$ estimate half the population recreational once in a while addict beginning bout to overdose multiplied by let's say 200.00$ a month 50.00$ weekly per user 2400.00$ yearly average so 150,000,000.00 times 2,400.00$ equals 360,000,000,000.00$ yearly average my guess. and that's low balling even at 100,000,000 users times 2,400.00$ yearly 240,000,000,000.00$ ako-Godzilla the hormigo

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  10. 5:36 Couldn't agree with you more!I would just like to make 1 point about the citizens being armed.Just make sure you got it on you at all times preferably in a holster and you don't have to run to the bedroom night table to get it and your 4 year old beat you to it as the 4 convoys with 24 armed men pull up outside to get you.OK point made.

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  11. The news promoted on this site alone proves in spades the need for a wall. If it was just a drug trafficking issue it would be different. The daily beheadings, mutilations, murdered children, etc, etc, are the issues. Not to mention the 90% of appalling crimes that go unpunished. Mexico is a 3rd world narco state. End of story. It's a shame it can't be cut away from the American continent and floated over to southeast Africa and attached to Yemen or Somalia where it belongs.

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    1. 5:12 if the wall is so badly needed to protect some US capitalists from the people they have defrauded and murdered all over the world, they sure can squeeze the 30 billions they want from the trillion and a half dollars they just stole.from the US treasury under guise of "tax reform".
      1 500 000 000 000.00
      - 30 000 000 000.00 leaves 1 470 billion dollars in the pockets of the rich, I think they can afford to make a wall with Canada too and on all the shorelines with all those billions of dollars. Including walls around Hawaii and alaska, I wonder how many Russians will be left out of those walls.

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  12. Dont buy this propaganda,markets are made and fed,its two sided. Its a cosy blanket to blame the US,individuals make up a collective, you have to take responsibility for your own actions in a society. Bad articles like this do nothing but promote antagonism in the believers

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  13. The easy thing to do is blame it on the Americans. But when crooked Mexican officials are taking bribes and protecting the cartels, who is left to stop the violence and drug trafficking in our great country of Mexico? This is not intended to be a political statement. It's just the truth. The truth should be posted.

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    1. Google "the consequences of reinforcing and supporting Latin American police departments and the military"

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  14. I like the informative article, but there 2 things the author omitted (did not include) USA spends millions per year, to help the governments fight against drugs. And it's not only that the drugs are headed to USA. Cartels are getting it out world wide.

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  15. Ok here we go.... Mexico doesn't sell drugs to only the USA.... why isn't Everyone else in the world to blame??? I was in Argentina and dope was there too... dope sells itself and drug dealers push it onto us, The sheep... the wolves push a easygoing substance on the youth of all countries in this world. It takes a sheepdog to handle this problem. Break the law pay the price. We all have to live by rules whether it is GODS rules or the rules of society. But alcohol and drugs should be banned and every one on this forum knows thAt calling it your job don't make it right, jefe.... yep cool hand Luke.... don't sell drugs because if you do you are taking advantage over another human and helping to destroy...... another plagiarism Mexico is far from GOD but so close to the United States....

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  16. Can liberals cut the bullshit and educate themselves a little before repeating silly lies about firearms. No one is buying guns bound for Mexico without a background check. They are called straw buyers, and almost all are caught very early in their gun running careers, as flags are raised early when purchasing a dozen of the same gun. And most guns used in Mexico aren’t from the US. It is just the guns they can trace, as most are not traceable, meaning no serial numbers or no numbers that coincide with the guns produced here. Just like the left crying racist, sexist, homophobe every time they don’t have a superior argument/idea, those key words are shouted in order to cow the receiver of such abuse into not fighting the forced redistribution of hard earned resources from those who are productive, and hand it to single mothers (after incentivizing fathers out of the family structure in low income families) and the third world unchecked immigration in order to buy votes and allegiance at the cost of all children’s financial futures. All politicians tend to lie, but the left does it blatantly under the guise and lies of caring, when all leftists in power are hypocrites who simply want to use our earned resources to buy off voters who are generally unable to compete in a free market (low iq etc..). You think Schumer or Pelosi give a shit about you. They are wealthy, and don’t want others to be able to build wealth, at least rich conservatives aren’t hypocrites pretending to be the joe blow down the street paying out the ass for a shit obamacare plan. Every gunfight video I’ve literally ever seen on this site or any other, from Mexico, involved automatic weapons, which do not come from the US! There are too few, which are ridiculously highly regulated and monitored, and they are damn near all antiques (pre 86) without readily available replacement parts. Also sick of the sky is falling bc of trump. Quit over reacting, he isn’t nuts, he’s a business man, and every pet minority’s the left seeks to keep downtrodden, dependent, and in their pocket is experiencing capitalism put more money in more people’s pocket than could ever happen under these thinly veiled socialist/communist sycophants. The left is a religion, and it’s all a big lie, just like this article. Of course, there is nothing culturally that could help precipitate this insane brutality and violence is there? It’s just sad, bc the Mexican government can still placate the people by doing what they have for a hundred years or more, just blame the Yankees. Nothing will change until that is no longer the all encompassing excuse.
    Finesse

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    1. 9:50 calling others "liberals" is a crude attempt at demonizing them, you should cut your own crap because it it getting harder and harder, weapons dealers on the US are experts at concealing their illegal weapons sales, even if the ATF IS NOT ENABLING THEM ANYMORE because people caught up with their pantominas.
      Take white supremacist Richard Spencer seduced and captivated by the writings of the NRA neo-fascist director Wayne LA Pierre.
      Other followers have gone and murdered in school shooting massacres like the New Mexico school shooter.

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  17. I think Bryan Baker is full of hot air. Sure the US is the closest market and perhaps the biggest market but these TDO’s are operating all over the world. I agree with Lurker.....what’s he doing throwing great minds into his pos article, it is nonsensical.
    A few good thoughts twisted up with a bunch of words, it’s downright bizarre.
    And why do always have to draw a line in the sand over Left and Right , conservative and Progressive when there is and always will be 50 shades of grey. There is never one thing to blame or one correct answer to anything.
    I can’t get the neighbors to agree to put their ancient sick , blind and half dead horse down because they are “ attached to it “ and they want it to die “ a natural death “ aka SUFFER to death. I keep guns around for animal emergencies but wouldn’t hesitate to save myself if push came to shove. Humans !
    Everything is complicated, but not THAT complicated. Mexico is a mess, thanks to all the greedy corruption narco crapola políticos , impunity etcetc blablabla.

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    1. 9:56 I guess "bla bla bla" means the US support to reinforce the Mexican police state and melitary is what caused crime inexico to spike, also the dein in OXY MARKETS has driven the Sackler family owners of OXY and its derivates to diversify selling their crap all over the third world with great success, China is a big market too, but I am sure meth has a ig market there, as Blackwater/China needs to inspire their private armies to fight around the world for china's supremacy, 5he US has not been able to feed erik prince some Corporate Queen Contracts and a man has to do what a man has to do... Benghazi in Afghanistan? Forget about the retired US military, the Chinese are the "it boys" because they are much cheaper, and they won't be tried for shit on the US, how''s about that, Sol?

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  18. My good friend own a business in the state of Sinaloa . He has nothing but problems with his employees high . Meth within the popules of mexico is rampant. Cities in mexico have large heroin addiction problem

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    1. That has certainly come to pass........I have watched it happen in a short generation. Sad they are swallowing their own poison. Too bad there is no way to cut the supply of a lot the chemicals they use to make this crap, but so many are readily available for legitimate uses.



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    2. Well, the OXY market got tight on the US, we have to diversify, and the addled bonus is there won't be nobody dragging our arses to court or Congressional Hearings as on the US.

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