Two hundred years ago,
It didn't work. Ten years later, after much blood spilt,
This
Today, decapitations have returned as a way to send a message to Mexicans. Heads are literally rolled into public squares as the drug cartels assert their power over government efforts to control them. Mutilated corpses are hung from bridges. Police, soldiers, elected officials and journalists are favorite targets.
Two hundred years after Hidalgo uttered his famous cry or "grito" to begin the insurgency against
Shocking numbers of people are being slain by the drug cartels. An estimated 28,000 people have died in drug-gang violence since President
"This criminal behavior ... has changed and become a defiance to the state, an attempt to replace the state," he said at an August session on national security in
The escalating violence has largely resulted from Calderon's decision to unleash the military into the situation, triggering fierce battles as the cartels war among themselves to maintain control of drug routes. The cartels once operated with impunity, aided by corrupt allies in the police, the judiciary and government offices. A notorious example of corruption was one of
Despite the seemingly endless bloodshed, this battle is winnable. In fact, it must be won or
It's all too easy for Americans to recoil in horror from these lurid stories, to point our fingers at
What's more, a large proportion of the guns and ammo used in
The U.S. gun lobby won't hear of it. Sorry, they'll tell you, the Second Amendment means never having to admit responsibility.
Our own hideously wasteful efforts in War on Drugs have yielded few results beyond packing our prisons with small-time users. Some argue that decriminalization of certain drugs would alleviate the crime problem associated with them. Or perhaps we could help curb drug use by making treatment more accessible to addicts. But the fact is, we need to do something to reduce demand, and what we're doing now isn't working very well.
The
Available at Amazon.com:
At War with the Weather: Managing Large-Scale Risks in a New Era of Catastrophes
- Mexico Needs U.S. Help But Not Troops
- Mexico's Narco Problems Are Our Problems, and Vice Versa
- Pro-Arizona Immigration Rhetoric Will Haunt Republicans
- We Are Playing Fidel Castro's Game
- Has the Time Come to Legalize Drugs?
- Venezuela - Colombia Spat to Pass, Return
- Hugo Chavez Might Keep Congress Despite Vote
- Reform Movement in Cuba
- Cuba's Prisoner Release No Sign of New Era
- 'Maradona Syndrome' Bad for Argentina
- Obama Wasting Opportunities in Latin America
- Obama Immigration Speech All Words -- No Action
- Obama Immigration Reform: Tell It to Us Straight
- Obama's Unclear Path to Immigration Reform
- Obama's Border Talk: Little Action
- Mexico: The New Cocaine Cowboys
- Under Santos Colombia Could Rise to the Next Level
- Autocrats' Latest Weapon: Indirect Censorship
- Latin America's Rich Should Be More Generous
- Castrocare in Crisis
- World Cup Soccer Can Have Political Impact
- Gulf Oil Spill Could Bring U.S. and Cuba Closer
- Colombia Vote Showed Social Media's Limits
- New Political Winds in Latin America
- Colombia: Moving Beyond 'Narco-Democracy'
- Is Colombia's Front-runner Too Romantic? Not Really
- Mexico has its own 'Arizona' problem
- Brazil Diplomacy Needed Closer to Home
- Hugo Chavez Ceding too Much Control to Cuba
- Cuban Cardinal Says Too Little Too Late
- The Starving Armenians
- Arizona's Anti-Immigrant Law Will Spark Hispanic Exodus
- Open Season on Latinos in Arizona
- Obama Criticism of Arizona Immigration Law Ignores Federal Incompetence
- Mexico's Big Hope: Get 5 Million U.S. Retirees
- U.S. Latin Policy: Big Gestures and Little Substance
- Latin America Must Diversify Trade With China
- Cuba After Fidel and Raul Castro
- Earthquake May Delay Chile's First World Goal
(C) 2010 Andres Oppenheimer