In recent news, Mexico is having an internal war. This is a war about drugs. It is a war about who gets to sell drugs into the United States. In order to have a good war, you need guns. Guns are not legal in Mexico, so only the bad guys and the "military" have them (bad guys are often and the military are not always mutually exclusive in the 3rd world). The firepower it takes to have a serious drug war though, is allegedly available in the United States, across the border in Arizona and Texas. One only needs an Alien Firearm Registration to purchase a gun in those states.
The powers that be in Mexico are throwing a fit because the guns are finding their way across the border and into the hands of the Narcos. Sounds like Mexico needs to step up its border procedures. The answer is not to restrict fire arms sales to American Citizens. That is an abrogation of our rights.
Mexico needs to get its shit together. I believe it is a sign of naivete or willful disregard on the part of the Mexican government when narcotics traffickers can field armies of 100,000 troops.
I understand that the US has an insatiable appetite for drugs, and if there was no demand, this would not be a problem, but 80% of the worlds commodities are traded every day without violence, so honestly folks, find a better way.
In a nation where 800 people a day flee the country illegally, is it any wonder that sectors of the population are turning to the transportation and production of illegal substances? Especially when the economy in said nation is less than stellar?
Now, there is a way that us Americans can affect the situation, and it does not involve violence or curtailing our rights as citizens. It is fairly simple. Buy organic, fair trade, or locally produced drugs. As consumers, we have a choice. Speak with your wallet.
All kidding aside, banning American guns will be a drop in the bucket. First of all, if you are running a major drug pipeline, I assume you could probably find a way to buy guns from arms dealers who deal in quantity. You might even be able to cut down your overhead if you bought directly from the underemployed military officials in former Soviet satellite nations.
The simple fact of the matter is if Mexico wants to get a handle on this, the demand for drugs will have to be reduced and the Mexican Government will have to take responsibility for its interior affairs.
If we simply banned our firearms on the whimsy of some questionably stable Latin American government, we would be spitting in the face of American tradition. Americans do not enact restrictive legislation because Mexico tells us to. In addition, if we quit selling guns to Mexican citizens, they would be in an uproar about their civil rights in the US.
Mexico has a unique symbiotic relationship with the US. Without the US buying its oil and products, and without the capital sent into the country by its American diaspora, Mexico would have a hell of a hard time functioning.
Mexico also has another factor to remember. They are Mexico. We are the United States. We call the shots in this hemisphere, and it is awfully presumptuous to think that they can just boss us around. Especially with their complete lack of leverage. If we actually shut our borders to illegal aliens, this would lead to a revolution in Mexico. Illegal immigration is a safety valve for Latin America. If your poor and unemployed go somewhere else, they are less likely to start a Marxist revolution and upset your crooked little apple cart.
What I am baffled by is the fact that they are trying to blame us for this whole mess, when a plurality of the Mexican government is on the payroll of the Narcos. Honestly, when you quit taking the suitcases of hundred dollar bills, from the back of a 1992 Ford Bronco in the middle of the desert at midnight, we might take you a little more seriously.
Now, I have an offer for Felipe Calderon, the "President" of Mexico. Pay attention. Quit sending illegal aliens into the US, and we will quit sending guns to Mexico.
No knee jerk reaction is going to solve this problem.
Point of order:
ReplyDeleteYou say:
I believe it is a sign of naivete or willful disregard on the part of the Mexican government when narcotics traffickers can field armies of 100,000 troops.
The reality is:
The Mexican Government is not naive with respect to the problem of the narcotraficante gangs nor does it engage in "willful disregard" of their existence. To say so is underinformed and disparaging.
The reality is that the government in Mexico cannot simply stamp out these drug gangs in the expedient manner which you seem to demand. Drug cartels in Mexico are estimated to collect revenues of up to US $38 billion anually. For the sake of argument, assume that the various cartels are one entity for budgetary purposes. The result? A cocaine-fueled, armed gang with monetary resources a little higher than the GDP of Oman or Tunisia and a smidgen lower than the GDPs of Syria and Lithuania. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal))
You try fighting cartels that would be, assuming the $38B number is accurate, around the 70th largest economy in the world. And you do it with the infrastructure and resources available to the Mexican federal government. I bet you'd start looking really naive.
That is a relevant comment.
ReplyDeleteHowever, they are not one entity for budgetary purposes. They are a group of drug gangs.
In response to the naive comment, I am going off of the fact that president Calderon admitted that he "Did not know the problem was that big." I apologize for the fact that I was not entirely clear.