... U.S. foregin policy, unsurprisingly, making matters exponentially worse. Check out the
DPA news summary regarding recent increased violence in Mexico.
Congress passed the Merida Initiative at the end of June. This means $400 million for Mexico in 2008 and 2009, and $65 million for Central America in 2008. While significantly less than Bush's originally proposed $1.4 billion, it remains a continuation of our failed drug war efforts in Latin America. (I say failed, but really, I think the U.S. government is probably smarter than that - this has been money well spent, if meant for taking out leftist movements throughout Colombia and now more than ever in Mexico.
The fact is, this counter-narcotics aid package will not effectively combat drug trafficking. Military interdiction efforts never have - they simply push the production to new locations in what is termed the balloon effect. The Merida plan ignores U.S. demand as a root cause of the problem, and refuses to recognize poverty as a root cause of the trafficking. After 14 years of NAFTA, fifty million people in Mexico live in poverty, where even if you earn the minimum wage (many, many folks don't) that equals barely five dollars a day.
And its effects on human rights? I traveled to Colombia twice with the grassroots, non-profit organization
Witness for Peace (WFP): in 2007 to look at the
true cost of oil in the department of Arauca, and in 2006 to learn about human rights and labor rights in Barrancabermeja. WFP also has a program in Mexico, and
quotes Amnesty International as having reported that over the last ten years, it has documented "abuses committed by military personnel in counter-narcotics operations in Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Tamaulipas and Coahuila." It's very likely that this "aid" would be used to target legitimate political expression, as many Mexican groups fear. A significant portion of the Merida money would support the military forces responsible for the notorious crackdown on teachers and community organizers throughout Oaxaca.
The thing is, we've seen this policy try and fail in Colombia (or try and succeed, at least in supporting
el paraco Uribe, his ethnocide against native peoples in Colombia and the brutal repression of his political opponents). Why should we try it in Mexico?
Last week, the Senate appropriations committee proposed the next foreign operations bill with $400 million more for Merida. The House version adds $70 million on top of that - if passed, this bill would more than double Merida spending. Don't let it happen. Learn more from
Witness for Peace and their partners on the ground in Mexico, and talk to your Congressfolks to stop this imperialistic misuse of your tax dollars. If you're concerned about drugs in the United States, military interdiction abroad won't help. Improved access to effective (and voluntary!) treatment at home might.
Posted by Vera Leone