Summary
The Mexican War on Drugs is a conflict that has been raging since December 11th, 2006 when newly elected president, President Felipe Calderon, began to heavily crack down on drug trafficking and organized crime, sending 6500 troops to the Mexican state of Michoacán, with the hopes of ending drug violence in the region. Since then, the results have been bloody with over 160,000 casualties, including politicians, foreign journalists, and children. Furthermore, the government has had little success in accomplishing its goal of shutting down the drug cartels within Mexico, yet has no plans to stop the fighting anytime soon.
Opinion: Just or Unjust
Personally, I would classify The Mexican War on Drugs as an unjust war due to the enormous costs of the war and lack of results. Not only has it cost 71.6 billion dollars, but it has also cost the lives of over 160,000 people, mainly civilians. As well, it has created a state of political unrest in
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While not a textbook definition of a civil war, The Mexican War on Drugs can be classified as a civil war as the two combatants (The Mexican Government and drug cartels) are both from the same country. Furthermore, much like a normal civil war, the Mexican War on Drugs is a war for territory, with the cartels trying to gain land; the difference— the cartels are not trying to gain political power over the land, but rather be allowed to operate within it.
Causes of Conflict
There are two major causes of conflict visible within The Mexican War on Drugs, with the first being a “Clash of Interest”. It can be classified a such, as both combatants have opposing interests; the government wants to crack down on drugs to shut the drug industry down, while the cartels want to keep profiting from the sales of drugs. The second cause of conflict evident is “Imperialism & Economic Competition” as the Mexican government wants to expand their power in order to gain control over the drug cartels, and in-turn, shut them
In the essay “America’s Unjust Drug War” by Michael Huemer, Huemer discusses the facts and opinions around the subject on whether or not the recreational use of drugs should be banned by law. Huemer believes that the American government should not prohibit the use of drugs. He brings up the point on drugs and how they harm the users and the people in the user’s life; he proves that the prohibition on drugs in unjust. Huemer believes that drug prohibition is an injustice to Americans’ natural rights and questions why people can persucute those who do drugs.
The drug war is a war against the mexican government trying to end the drug trade with the cartels. “American officials accuse him of contributing to “the death and destruction of millions of lives across the globe through drug addiction, violence and corruption”(Neuman). Some say that America’s demand on drugs is the reason there are so many deaths, but most people just blame the drug lords in especially Guzman. El Chapo is most blamed for the crimes because he is one the most popular drug lord and two he has the biggest drug cartel in Mexico called the Sinaloa cartel. There is how ever another famous cartel group called Los Zetas. “Just months later Mexican authorities found in the same area at least 47 mass graves with at least 193 yet unidentified bodies from victims who had been tortured by Los Zetas”(Ortiz). Even tho the Sinaloa cartel does murder a lot of people, Los zetas are mainly known for torturing a large numbers of humans. Therefore Guzman shouldn't take all the blame. Many blame him for corruption of the government in Mexico. “He fought the law, and he won. He beat what many Mexicans see as a corrupt and freckles governing class”(Neuman). The citizens of Mexico know it's not the cartels fault their government is defected. They actually support Guzman in making fun of the corrupt
The drug war has caused many problem problem in many countries especially in mexico where the heat of the problem has come to be from raging war between the government of mexico and drug cartels, from many cities not being safe because of the constant violence throughout the country to economic disruption and more. More than 164,000 people had died between 2007 and 2014 because of the drug war in mexico, more than the iraq and afghanistan war zones combine.
The drug war has cost many problem problem in many countries especially in mexico where the heat of the problem has come to be from raging war between the govt of mexico and drug cartels, from many cities not being safe because of the constant violence throughout the country to economic disruption and more, more than 164,000 people had died between 2007 and 2014 because of the drug war in mexico more than the iraq and afghanistan war zones combine (Kurzgesagt).
Here lies a stale lifeless body after a drug cartel raids a small town, just south of the Texas border. In December of 2006 and still ongoing, the Mexican Drug War has resulted in the death of tens of thousands of individuals. Mexico believes that in order to put an end to the Drug Wars, America needs to control its need for drugs. The first call to action involves new policies and restrictions on the exports and imports of drugs in between the United States and Mexico.
For decades now Mexico has fought against drugs, and the trafficking of them. Endless amounts of wars have been fought, and laws have been broken. During the Echeverría and Lopez Portillo administrations around 1970-1982
This war has been going on for over ten years. The government declared a tough war on drugs and the drug cartels responded with violence beyond imagination. The killings have been happening on a daily basis something between rivals other time with innocent civilians. Between the years 2006 and 2016 there’s reports of over 186,000 deaths related to the war on drugs and another 29,000 missing persons. When is enough people need to gather and do something to stop the excessive loss of life complaining doesn’t do any good. The few people that organize the general population against drug cartels end up being corrupted and it all falls back to a worse
The United States has a long history of intervention in the affairs of one it’s southern neighbor, Latin America. The war on drugs has been no exception. An investigation of US relations with Latin America in the period from 1820 to 1960, reveals the war on drugs to be a convenient extension of an almost 200 year-old policy. This investigation focuses on the commercial and political objectives of the US in fighting a war on drugs in Latin America. These objectives explain why the failing drug policy persisted despite its overwhelming failure to decrease drug production or trafficking. These objectives also explain why the US has recently exchanged a war on drugs for the war on
The War on Drugs, like the war on Terrorism, is a war that America may not be able to afford to win. For over forty years the United States has been fighting the War on Drugs and there is no end in sight. It has turned into a war that is about politics and economics rather than about drugs and criminals. The victims of this war are numerous; but perhaps they are not as numerous as those who benefit from the war itself.
In 2006, Mexico began to crack down on drug trafficking operations in union with the United States. Why all of the sudden? In regard to that question, my paper will include a history of events leading up to this sudden crack down on drug trafficking, from its start in the 1960’s until today. After the history of the drug war, I will discuss the main states involved like the United States and Mexico itself. Along with their main goal of eliminating drug trafficking all together, although it is a very high expectation. Mexico has sent out 50,000 soldiers that are being paid less than a burrito vendor, in attempt to lessen the
The international drug trade from Latin American states is having an impact on a global scale. The trafficking of drugs along with corruptness and murder is an international conflict that is being fought daily. There are many aspects of the drug war from Mexico and other Latin American states which have effects on United States policy as well as policies from other countries that participate in the global suppression of illegal drugs.
Every day the U.S. border patrol has to constantly keep an eye out for the smuggling of drugs by Mexican Cartels. There has been much violence due to this drug problem that has left many people near the border killed and is allowing more criminals to obtain these weapons. A lot of this attention goes to the U.S. because many of the weapons utilized in the “drug war” are U.S. made and is interfering with trading relations amongst both the U.S. and Mexico. With this current violent situation in Mexico this has transformed the flow of weapons to an even larger scale.
Drug trafficking has become an increasingly growing problem in the world today. Illegal drug trade is a worldwide black market consisting of production, distribution, packaging, and sale of illegal substances. Although today’s "War on Drugs" is a modern phenomenon, drug problems have been a common problem throughout history. The market for illegal drugs is massive, when we consider the estimated global drug trade value is worth $321 billion (Vulliamy). The most drug trafficking happens on the border between Mexico and the United States. Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon said, “Our neighbor is the largest consumer of drugs in the world. And everybody wants to sell him drugs through our door and our window”
Over the past years, Mexico has experienced extreme changes due to the violent drug wars. Violence has presented itself in every neighborhood, every street corner, and even in the schools. Chalk outlines are seen drawn on various streets of homicide scenes. Thousands of people have lost their lives in the hands of drug traffickers. Life itself in Mexico, has taken a change for the worse. One may ask what the reasons are for this wave of violence. The most logical answer, of course, is to blame the criminals. It is the drug lords who are smuggling, transporting, and selling these drugs. They should be the ones held responsible, right? The answer to this question is deeply rooted in the history of corruption in the Mexican Government. The
The War on Drugs is a current conflict that has been going on for many decades. It is a movement organized by the United States Government in attempts to reduce the amount of illegal drug trafficking in the country. The War on Drugs enforced strict drug policies that are intended to reduce both the production, distribution, and consumption of illegal drugs. The term was first used by President Richard Nixon, during a press conference concerning the nationwide drug abuse issue, in which Nixon announces to the Congress that drug abuse was, “public enemy number one”. Illegal drugs are certainly dangerous; addiction and death are two but many factors as a result of drugs. However, even though the War on Drugs might sounds justifiable, in truth, it is actually making the drug issue worst in the country.