Speech - Walt Finch (including works cited)

Why It Is Failing

          I want to start by asking you what you think of when you think about success.  Is it a lawyer? An engineer?  A business person?  Odds are that many of you aspire to be whatever it is that you think of when you contemplate what it means to be successful.  In Mexico, kids don’t aspire to be the same things that we do.  They aspire to work for the drug cartels, to be “narco’s”.  And it’s not simply because of cultural differences.  No, it’s because through our foreign policy we have created an environment, where the only successful people are the narcos.  When your foreign policy creates aspirations by a nations youth to be and do what you are trying to stop, there is clearly something wrong.  This is why America needs to change it’s policy on the Mexican War on Drugs.

            You might say why would any logical person want to work for a drug cartel?  Well the answer is simple.  Kids want to grow up to be what they see as rich.  They want to be successful.  Well in America there are so many jobs that provide a substantial income.  But in cities like Juarez, Mexico, these jobs and opportunities just don’t exist.  Also, the people that have money, are the narcos.  They are seen as “modern day Robin Hoods, taking money from the rich Americans and giving it to the poor.”  So why would a kid want to be a police officer, making a low income, when they can be a narco, and easily become rich?  It’s just common sense.           

            We can also see this respect for these “modern day Robin Hoods” through the popularity of, “corridos”.  These are songs that honor the narcos, they are ballads about the horrible things that they do, but they are sung happily, as if they are great deeds.  One of the more popular of these songs is “El Mas Buscado”.  It is about Sinaloa Cartel leader, “El Chapo” Guzman.  One lyric threatens, “He will continue to rise in case you don’t know, so others will have to disappear.”  Other songs are not so discrete with their threats.  These are songs honoring the deeds of Cartel assassins, songs of murder, and songs of torture.  The reason these songs are popular is again, because the people they honor, are seen as successful.  But how do the cartels become so successful, and make so much money?

            They make their money through the high prices the American people are willing to pay for drugs.  This profitability of the drug trade has caused the violence that is shown on the news.  The 80 or so smaller cartels fight each other for resources and smuggling routes to get their product into the states, which allows them to maximize their profit.  The tactics that are used to battle the cartels is to seize the drugs before they can be used or to take out the cartel leadership.  Both of these tactics just don’t work. 

The profitability of the drug trade means that having a shipment seized every once in a while barely damages a cartel.  The other method, of taking out cartel leadership, is a main cause of all the violence that is prevalent in Mexico today.  In 2006 Mexican President Filepe Calderon launched the policy of using military units to take out cartel heads.  This created a lack of leadership which caused the splintering of the cartels into the 80 cartels we see today.  These cartels now fight, all the time.  Under the new President, Pena Nieto, there has been a policy change, to focus on stopping the violent murders and kidnappings, instead of simply taking out Cartel leadership.

            The degree to which Nieto is actually focusing on this though is in question.  Nieto has been accused of blindly throwing resources at the Cartel issue, and instead focusing on education, energy and labor reforms.  But all of these reforms are meaningless unless they can be implemented, which is impossible as long as the cartels are still seen as successful.  The US has provided the resources to train police and military forces to defeat the cartels, but Nieto has not effectively used them.  He has instead given up on the Cartel issue, allowing 98% of reported crimes to go unpunished; a figure that will never help to dissuade people from helping or joining the cartels.

            There are also people that question if Nieto actually wants the Drug War to end.  The US support of the war provides billions of dollars in support that can be pumped into the Mexican economy, and keep the government on its feet.  The cartels also open shops and clubs that provide businesses, as well as pumping all of the currency from the drug trade into the economy.  Without the drug war the drug trade would not be as profitable, and the Mexican government would not receive the economic support, which would drive the country into an economic depression and leave the country in shambles.

            The Mexican people are starting to realize the inadequacy of Nieto’s policy towards the Cartels.  On November 20, riots broke out protesting the accused handing over of 43 students to a Cartel in the Iguala Region, who later killed them.  Nieto has appeared indifferent about this incident, which has angered the Mexican people.  This incident highlights the power of the Cartels, and the failure of Nieto, which reflects the US’s policy on the Cartels.

            We know that what we are doing in Mexico is not working.  It is creating violence; it has created a subculture honoring the cartels, who are the people we are trying to stop.  It has also created a government, and economy, that is completely dependent upon the United States.  It has made the Cartel’s even more powerful, and with 98% of crimes going unreported, these modern day Robin Hoods are almost untouchable.  So what is the solution to all of this?  Honestly, I don’t know.  What I do know is that our policy, and tactics for the Mexican Drug War needs to be seriously looked at, and a great variety of changes should be considered.  Because what we are doing now, is simply not working.

 

Annotated Bibliography

·         Will Mexico's Government Be Overthrown. Perf. Trace Dominguez. Youtube / Will Mexico's Government Be Overthrown. Testtube / Discovery, 13 Dec. 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEBNxF4AQXE&list=UUgRvm1yLFoaQKhmaTqXk9SA>.

·         Narco Cultura. Dir. Shaul Schwarz. Ocean Size Pictures, 2013/2014. Netflix. Web. 29 June 2014. <http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70267837?trkid=13573466>.

·         Stout, Robert J. "Do the United States and Mexico Really Want the Drug War to Succeed." Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine 1 Jan. 2012: 34-44. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 30 June 2014. <http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f038e52f-a2c7-4e3d-a6da-b0212a5d2a59%40sessionmgr198&vid=7&hid=101>.

·         Nuño, Ariel, and Los Rivales. El Mas Buscado. Ariel Nuño. Estudio Norteño, 2012. Youtube. Web. 30 June 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFCTQESd-bA>.

·         Lee, Brianna. "Mexico's Drug War." Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, 5 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 June 2014. <http://www.cfr.org/mexico/mexicos-drug-war/p13689>.

·         Steinberg, Nik. "End Mexico's Disastrous "War on Drugs" Once and For All | Human Rights Watch." End Mexico's Disastrous "War on Drugs" Once and For All | Human Rights Watch. The Financial Times, 2 Dec. 2013. Web. 01 July 2014. <http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/12/02/end-mexicos-disastrous-war-drugs-once-and-all>. Seen on the human rights watch website.