Thursday, June 16, 2011

Is there a solution to violence in Mexico?

I came home today and found an old good friend online. It had been a long time without seeing him on the chat hence I decided to drop him a line; after exchanging salutations he shared this link with me: "Homicidios en NL a nivel histórico; 33 muertos en un día."

This news piece talks about 33 homicides—two of them personnel from the governor's security retinue, all of them related to the drug war—committed in just one day, yesterday, in Monterrey, the major city where I attended University.

A few days ago, some U.S. Senators issued a report stating that about 70% of the close to 30,000 weapons seized so far in Mexico by the Army and Security forces  in 2009-2010 originated in the U.S.

If I remember well, the latest number of deaths related to the ongoing drug war in Mexico is about 30,000 homicides in the last 4 years.

Now, I wonder when the Mexican Political Class—yes, there's such a thing in Mexico and I'm ashamed of that—will decide to take the reins of the country and pass legislation that addresses the problem of corruption in the political system, laundering of drug-related money, and all the political, economical and social issues involved in the actual mess. Oh, I forgot, that would mean that Governors, Deputies, Senators, Mayors, Judges and all public officials should be held accountable for their actions; I guess such a thing beats the idea of being the Mexican Political Class, the Lords and Ladies of our Banana Republic.

Professionals of Violence are needed, the Mexican Army and the Federal Police shouldn't be retired from the line of fire. But the efforts of all these valiant and honorable men and women—I'm hoping the majority of these valiant public servants is honorable and loyal to the idea of a state of law in Mexico—should be complemented with economical measures and foreign policy agreements; as well as social programs as an educated population could increase Mexico's role in the global economy once the state of law is recovered.

We all Mexicans have a role to play voting honest, hard working men and women to office, demanding affirmative actions from our already elected representatives, educating in our sphere of influence, and, in general, striving to reach maturity as citizens. Without such things Mexico will become a failed state.

I am really confused by those "intellectuals" that consider as an option to reach a pact with the drug warlords. It sounds to me like a come back to the times of the institutional dictatorship where mafia syndicates, drug warlords, governors, etc. were all the same thing. I would love to read a full argument because I really don't see how this could help our country. That, for me, is not a Federal Republic, but a grotesque aftermath of a warring warlords period; a failed state solution.


I concede that, compared to the average gross national product per capita of the country is $6,000.00 MXP per month,  the $8,000.00 - $12,000.00 MXP per month, the 16 to 21 year old Sicarii captured by the Federal forces say they get as a reward for risking their lives as footmen for the drug warlords, seems like a lot of money. It even seems like a hell lot of money when  one adds the fact that nowadays a freshly graduated from university gets around $6,000.00 MXP per month if he/she is lucky to find a job.

I am not gonna complain about the salary as a lot of people do;  I  find that completely useless. Without education there's no fertile ground for global enterprises to flourish. Furthermore,  violence scares investment. Without investment, there's no companies, without companies, there's no jobs. An important point is that we, as a country, became sclerotic with respect to  labor legislation—bah! we become sclerotic as a country, and that's our fault as citizens, period.

Now, in order to beat the swords into plowshares, a state of law and consequent peace has to be attained. The only way for that is to change as a whole, as a country and root out corruption for good. Bring out of our cultural baggage phrases like "to live out of the Federal Budget is to live in error" or "that who doesn't cheat does not go forward" that have been ingrained in our society for too long.

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