Lately, we have been hearing a lot on the news about the problems in Mexico which have been affecting US citizens as well, turning into a national security issue. The US Government has even issued warnings to our people about the risks of simply vacationing there--especially important now that it is spring break season, when college students often make Mexico a popular spot. Much of the reason for all of the violence is that drug traffickers are "melting down in terms of capabilities [because they] are losing the ability to produce income," according to an Attorney General in Mexico. This does not reflect the actual power of the gangs, he claims, and therefore they will be defeated.
US and Mexican governments, according to this article, are "winning" these drug wars (although it may not seem that way to us). The problem here is that this "win" has been at the cost of thousands and thousands of lives: 90% of the deaths are believed to be linked to drug trade, as are many of the kidnappings. These issues are slowly spreading across the US border.
Can we really consider this a win, especially when it is believed that problems will get worse before they get better? Something else to consider: though this seems to be a terrible trade-off, do we really have a choice? It does not seem so, from what I read here at least.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29620369/
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I is hard to say whether or not this is a "win" because we do not have the full story. Since we aren't in Mexico, following the drug wars, we only have the stories the media shows us to base our beliefs off of.
ReplyDeleteI was in Acapulco, Mexico last week and spoke to several locals about the US news coverage of these drug wars and was surprised that each one of them said that drugs are not a big problem, at least in Acapulco.
This made me wonder, are are getting the whole story? Is it being sensationalized?
I was just reading an article on USA TOday called "the drug war next door." Alot of people havent really thought about this situation, especially while planning their vacations, but the fact that about 10,000 people have died and there have now been kidnappings and murders on this side of the border should spark peoples interest in what is going on. Just as bad, gun dealers in the USA are arming the Mexican cartels. U.S. and Mexican officials estimate that 90% of the guns used by Mexican narco-traffickers come from the U.S. I dont see this problem getting any better for some time to come?
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