Mexico's Bloodiest Week

Several American news organizations note that Mexico just had its most violent week ever. About 350 people have died in one week as a result of the fight with organized crime (mostly drug syndicates) in Mexico.

Mexican President Calderon has blamed the problem on demand for drugs like marijuana and cocaine in America and to a growing degree home grown consumption in Mexico. Both of these could be solved by decriminalizing, regulating, and taxing recreational drug use. Prohibition didn't work back in the 1930s, and it doesn't work in the twenty-first century either.

The Mexican President also says that the Mexican mafias have been able to overpower the authorities because of all the guns being brought in from the U.S.A. This part I dispute. Criminals will always have guns whether owning guns is against the law or not. The Mexican criminals are getting their guns from America just because it is nearby and handy. If the American guns were not available then AK-47s would be coming in by the ocean going container load from many countries all over the world. They are readily available and not expensive.

The reason that the Mexican authorities including the police and military have not been able to deal with their organized crime problem is because of the rampant corruption in Mexico. The concept of rule-of-law is not a part of the Mexican culture. Bribes are paid to all government workers in Mexico on a daily basis. In many cases paying a small bribe is the only way to get routine paperwork handled by the government. Now that there is a genuine battle going on against the drug lords, the Mexicans find that this sort of corruption and infiltration by the bad guys reaches to the very top levels of government and law enforcement.

My conclusion? The Mexicans are screwed.

LINK: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/15/AR2010061503174.html?hpid=moreheadlines

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