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The Mexican Drug War and Its Consequences

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The Mexican Drug War and Its Consequences
The Mexican Drug War and Its Consequences Despite President Felipe Calderon’s good intentions and determination to eliminate the drug cartels in Mexico, the Mexican government has not been able to stop the drug cartel’s operations (smuggling drugs, people and weapons to and from the USA) for many reasons. The drug cartels have proven to be powerful, well connected politically, well trained, well- armed, and manipulation of the masses. Therefore, it has been impossible for the Mexican government to stop cartels like La Familia from operating, and now the cartels have become a problem for the Unites States too. The Mexican cartels have proven to be unstoppable for the Mexican government. President of Mexico Felipe Calderon’s decision to send fifty thousand soldiers and twenty thousand federal police has not been enough to stop the cartel’s indiscriminate killings. According to the University of San Diego Trans-Border Institute of Analysis and Data, since January of 2007, 28,228 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico (Sandiego.edu).Going muscle to muscle with the cartels has proven to be the wrong decision. Sending all those troops and federal police has only served to increases the death toll. Cartels like La Familia are well armed and trained. According to intelligence, members of La Familia must complete three to six month training camp in Michoacán, conducted by ex-members of the Colombian or Mexican Special Forces. La Familia uses equipment, weapons, and uniforms similar to those of the Federal Investigations Agency, therefore operating without being detected in cities and on highways (La Familia Michoacana fact sheet, DEA). It is a fact that La Familia is well armed with weapons that come from the United States. La Familia has the connections and the money to buy these weapons; Calderon continues to send more troops to combat the cartel, but this military effort will not work. La Familia cannot be stopped since


Cited: Executive Office of the President of the United States. Web. 7. Nov. 2010 “Guns Without Borders” The New York Times. Web. 6. Nov. 2010 James Mckinley, “U. S. Stymied as Guns Flow to Mexican Cartels”, The New York Times, April 15, 2009 “La Familia Michoacana Fact Sheet”, DEA. Web. 5. Nov. 2010 Sandiego.edu. Web. 6. Nov. 2010 William Finnegan, “Silver or Lead”, The New Yorker, May 31, 2010, 40, 48 2008 National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Web. 6. Nov. 2010
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