Mexico+Drug+War

Mexico Drug War Fact Sheet Created By: Laura Lake February 10, 2009 Source CQ Researcher A violent drug war between the Mexican government and vicious drug gangs is escalating just over the border in Mexico and causing concern among U.S. law-enforcement officials and lawmakers. The cartels already effectively control significant stretches on the Mexican side of the border, and now they're expanding activities on the U.S. side, including kidnapping Americans. More than 5,300 people gangsters, soldiers, police, journalists and other civilians have been killed this year, more than double last year's toll. Some victims have been beheaded. The Bush administration has stepped up security assistance to Mexico, but so far the aid hasn't dented the gangs' firepower, which largely depends on smuggled U.S. weapons. Some prominent foreign-policy experts say the ultimate solution is preventing drug abuse in the United States, not expanding the Mexican government's arsenal. Pro: According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), about 90 percent of the firearms recovered in Mexico come from the United States because high-powered weapons, such as .50 caliber rifles, are much easier to purchase in the United States than in Mexico. This means we'll have to dedicate more funding to dismantling the weapons trafficking networks supplying these arms and enhance international cooperation in tracing the sources of weapons seized in Mexico. To this end, I have introduced bipartisan legislation that would enhance Project Gunrunner, a small-but-successful ATF effort focused on disrupting southbound arms trafficking. The bill would authorize the hiring of additional ATF special agents to assist Mexico in conducting weapons-trafficking investigations. If we're ever going to end drug-related border violence, it is essential for the United States to help stop the flow of weapons being trafficked into Mexico. ** Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.  **  Sponsor, Southwest Border Violence Reduction Act. Written for CQ Researcher, December 2008    Con: the Mexican government has been getting upset because of southbound smuggling of guns. Its preferred solution: The United States should abolish the right to keep and bear arms. Mexican officials want to have their cake and eat it too. They want an open border for Mexicans to go into the United States whenever they want. But they don't want Mexicans in the U.S. to buy weapons and bring them back into Mexico! According to members of the Mexican Congress, it's because of corruption in the Mexican Customs Department. The cartels have infiltrated their people into Customs, and they help their cartel companions get the guns into Mexico. If you really want open borders, you'd better be prepared for who and what comes across them, and for whatever reason. ** Allan Wall **   An American teacher living in Mexico who blogs at   [|www.allanwall] . net. From VDARE.com, a Connecticut-based organization that advocates restricting immigration, December 2008  
 * Should the United States do more to cut firearms smuggling into Mexico? **
 * <span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #0c354b; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">2000-Present || <span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #0c354b; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">End of Mexico's one-party system enables traffickers to expand their power. ||
 * **<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #3477b0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">2001 ** || <span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Administration of new President Vicente Fox arrests army officers for colluding with traffickers. . . . Kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo (Shorty)" Guzmán bribes his way out of high-security Mexican prison. ||
 * **<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #3477b0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">2002-2005 ** || <span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Fox continues strikes against traffickers and their government accomplices, arresting 25 army and federal officers and disbanding an elite federal anti-drug unit. ||
 * **<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #3477b0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">2006 ** || <span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Traffickers' civil wars kill an estimated 2,000 gangsters and police. . . . Newly inaugurated Mexican President Felipe Calderón orders 5,000 troops and federal agents to his home state in crackdown on drug gangs. ||
 * **<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #3477b0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">2007 ** || <span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Calderón sends troops to Tijuana and elsewhere. . . . Government extradites about 30 alleged traffickers to United States. . . . Calderón and President George W. Bush map out "Mérida Initiative" anti-drug aid package. . . . Death toll for year rises to about 2,500. ||
 * **<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #3477b0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">2008 ** || <span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">U.S. Congress passes first phase of "Mérida" with $400 million in aid for Mexico. . . . Assassination of a Ciudad Juárez reporter brings death toll of Mexican journalists to 25 since 2000. . . . Blue-ribbon U.S.-Latin American commission urges revamping of U.S. drug policy to cut drug demand. . . . Death toll in 2008 rises to about 5,300 gangsters, civilians and police. ||