Six Reasons the Drug War is Disastrous for Latin America

by (Ret.) Detective Russell Jones

The American War on Drugs has contributed mightily to the violence and poverty individuals, families, and children must endure or escape just to survive in Latin America.  The region will never achieve full political and socio-economic stability until the US changes its policies at home. 

   1. The drug war is responsible for thousands of deaths each year.

The War on Drugs causes violence between criminal organizations, and drug prohibition creates a violent underground market in which the lives of both civilians and officers are endangered. In Colombia, 15,000 people were killed in a 20-year war against cartels, while the Mexican government’s war against cartels has led to more than 120,000 Mexican deaths and disappearances since 2006. Nevertheless, drug addiction rates in the U.S. have remained about the same.

photo credit: Yuri Cortez/AFP/GettyImages

    2. The Balloon Effect: Hard-line prohibition forces the illegal drug market into new areas.

“The Balloon Effect” explains why cartels are still powerful despite the military-grade pressure put on them: Squeezing one side of a balloon makes the balloon burst from the other side. Similarly, if the U.S. cracks down on drug production in one part of Latin America, the market will simply move to a new area, where it will cause long-term socio-economic damage. For example, in the early 2000s, the U.S. poured billions of dollars into Plan Colombia, and Colombia’s cocaine production dropped, so the production market moved to Peru and Bolivia.

3. Police corruption leads to devastating lawlessness.

Cartels flourish in parts of Latin America with underfunded and poorly trained criminal justice systems because they corrupt the police with bribes and threats. In Mexico, it is estimated that 92% of crimes go unreported. In Colombia, the same police that have received billions of dollars in U.S. aid have long-standing ties to counter-revolutionary militias fueled by drug money called ‘paramilitary’ groups. As a Honduran pastor quoted in the New York Times said, “You never call the cops. The cops themselves will retaliate and kill you.”

4. Latin American children unable to seek refuge elsewhere are trapped. 

Indiscriminate aerial fumigation under Plan Colombia hit one family five times. Their eleven year-old boy, Javier, recalled the incidents, “You see the planes coming—four or five of them—from far away with a black cloud of spray behind them. They say they are trying to kill the coca, but they kill everything. After the fumigation, we’d go days without eating. Once the fumigation spray hit my little brother and me…. I was sick for a long time and my brother was sick even longer.” Cartels also recruit young children in schools, who are easily lured by the prospect of a high income and sense of community. In Ecuador, U.S. policy promises aid in return for a certain number of drug arrests, which has led to an increase in police targeting of low-level female drug mules. Because imprisoned mothers in Ecuador often bring their children to take care of, spikes in the populations of women’s prisons mean more children are living behind bars.

5. The drug war makes drugs more profitable, and for the wrong individuals.

In Colombia, as Javier explains, people starve to death and there are no government assistance programs. People do not want to grow coca, but prohibition has ironically made illegal drugs the most lucrative crops. High value, low-weight processed coca is easier to transport through the underdeveloped road system, especially during the rainy season when produce trucks are easily stuck. “I know that if I was offered support, a government program that allowed me to farm and survive, I wouldn’t go back to coca,” says Javier.  Unfortunately, not many programs exist to help Latin Americans struggling with poverty. 

photo credit: Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images

    6. Catching the big fish doesn’t work either. 
The notorious Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman recently escaped from a maximum-security prison in Mexico for the second time, once again proving the level of power and influence that cartels have over law enforcement and the government, and ultimately the futility of the drug war. He is guilty of many crimes and should certainly be behind bars, however his detention proved so ineffective not just because he escaped, but because the flow of drugs didn’t slow while he was locked up. Arresting drug consumers clearly hasn’t worked, so one might deduce that targeting producers is more effective. But if the goal of prohibition is to curtail the drug market, and arresting a man who sells more drugs than Pablo Escobar at the height of his infamy didn’t topple his empire, then why does prohibition continue?

Thankfully, the War on Drugs is also being fought from a more compassionate side, and we know there are successful alternatives to prohibition. Cartels are already being weakened economically by legalizing medical and recreational marijuana in a handful of U.S. states. Drug policy reform advocates across the globe are fighting for policies that prioritize treatment instead of punishment to ultimately reduce criminal activity and profits for cartels and their destructive impact on Latin America. 

Detective Russell Jones (Ret.) is a retired narcotics detective from New Braunfels, Texas, with 40 years of experience in enforcing the War on Drugs, and is now a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). LEAP is a group of police and other criminal justice professionals working to end the American War on Drugs and the disastrous effects it has had in areas like Latin America. LEAP advocates for replacing prohibition with drug legalization, regulation, treatment, and education as a long-term solution to society’s drug problems. 

"Security" in Mexico doesn't apply to many human rights defenders

by Maggie Ervin

Felipe Calderón, president of Mexico from 2006 to 2012, had a way of talking that sounded a bit like George W. Bush, which is to say unapologetically bellicose. As soon as his term started, he declared a War on Drug Trafficking, and quickly put it into full military action. By the end of his term, the results were staggeringly tragic: more than 60,000 Mexicans dead, more than 20,000 disappeared, more than 150,000 displaced, and still plenty of drugs flowing to the U.S. and Europe. The current president, Enrique Peña Nieto has shifted the discourse, avoiding the words “war” and “combat” all together, and instead focusing on what he calls a “national security policy.” Additionally, his attention has been divided as he's been busy promoting and passing a series of constitutional reforms. Unfortunately, though, neither of these factors has meant that respect for human rights has necessarily improved under his administration. By a few measures it has, but by others it's actually gotten worse.

Comite Cerezo Mexico was founded 13 years ago and works in the
defense and promotion of human rights of victims of political repression.  

A report issued last week by Comite Cerezo Mexico, “La Defensa de los Derechos Humanos en Mexico: una lucha contra la Impunidad” (in English, “Defending Human Rights in Mexico: a struggle against impunity”), revealed that forced disappearances have increased under Peña Nieto. The report points out that towards human rights defenders alone, this particular crime against humanity has gone up 60% during his administration. 29 human rights defenders have been disappeared in just eighteen months, as compared to 24 during the same time period of the Calderón administration. On August 30, International Day of Victims of Forced Disappearances,the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called this situation in Mexico “critical.” 

A public act of remembrance of the disappeared in Mexico. As stated in the report, 
Peña Nieto has tried to "make invisible and diminish violence in his official rhetoric 
as well as through the media...and tried to put forth a message of security and peace." 

During this same year and a half, arbitrary detentions and harassment of human rights defenders have increased as well. Both of these tactics, the report argues, go hand in hand with the implementation of Peña Nieto’s political agenda. His reforms passed over the last year cover many dimensions of Mexican life - labor,fiscal policy, education, telecommunications and energy -  and are complex and extensive. Generally, though, their common thread is an unrepentant move towards privatization. Public opposition to the reforms is fierce and widespread, resulting in protests and blockades and the like by Mexican citizens. Meanwhile, the government has been resorting to repressive measures to quell such protests and to discourage participation. As the report states: “the great majority of those arbitrarily detained… were [detained] because of their political positions and disagreement with the neoliberal policies that are being applied in Mexico.”

Francisco Cerezo presents data from the report,

which covers from June 2013 to May 2014. 

Additionally, despite a less warlike rhetoric than his predecessor, Peña Nieto has hardly scaled down the militarization first initiated by Calderón. Just two weeks ago he launched a new 5,000 strong police force called gendarmerie, a new branch of the Federal Police (a force known for human rights abuses). The U.S. has been more than willing to support this militarization. Since Congress passed the Mérida Intitiative (also called Plan Mérida) in 2007, 1.2 billion USD have been delivered to Mexico, largely in the form of military equipment and training, and all in the name of fighting the War on Drugs. 

But much like its predecessor Plan Colombia, it's done very little to stop the flow of drugs. And yet there are no plans to terminate it. In Fiscal Year 2013 alone, more than 3,000 Mexican military personnel were trained at NORTHCOM in Colorado (an increase of 44% from FY 2011). And the Obama administration has requested 115 million dollars more for the Initiative in its FY 2015 budget proposal. So where do human rights come in? Despite the fact that the Mérida Initiative includes “Respect for Human Rights in Mexico” as part of its second pillar, this assertion has proved rather hollow. A mere 15% of its funds are conditioned on meeting human rights standards. And considering that increased human rights violations in Mexico coincided with the distribution of Mérida Initiative funds, the question becomes: Is the U.S. not complicit in these violations? 

This week, Peña Nieto gave his second State of the Union address. In it he announced the construction of a huge new international airport partly in Mexico City and partly in the State of Mexico. Curiously, in 2006, while governor of the State of Mexico, he ordered the massive repression of protests which had sprung up in response to a similar airport project. The result: two dead, 207 arbitrarily detained, many tortured, and 26 women sexually assaulted. Considering both his past and recent record on human rights, there is reason to be concerned about how the president will respond to the protests that are already springing up.

"Land Yes, Planes No!" reads this 2006 sign.

December 1: Mexican Presidential Power Transitions from one Human Rights Violator to the Next

by Carlin Christy, Mexico Team

Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto. Photo from lamendigapolitica.com

This December 1^st, it might have been possible for Mexicans to breathe a collective sigh of relief. The day will mark the official end of President Felipe Calderón’s 6 year term. His presidency is commonly referred to as “el sexenio de la muerte” or ‘the six year term of death,’ given the murders of around 80,000 people which began after Calderón launched a militarized war on drugs shortly after taking office in late 2006.  However, a respite from the massacres, kidnappings, disappearances, and human rights abuses does not seem to be on the horizon, as the presidential power will transition to Enrique Peña Nieto, a member of Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) which ruled Mexico for 71 consecutive years until the year 2000. 

Peña Nieto comes into office under questionable election results and with an already tarnished human rights record from his time as governor of the State of Mexico from 2005-2011. Certain actions he has taken since winning the July election also seem to indicate he won’t stray too far from the course of Calderón, or Mexico’s financial and strategic partner in the war, the U.S. government and military contractors. 

Although he has stated he will no longer seek to confront cartels head on by taking out capo leaders, Peña Nieto plans to create, strengthen, and professionalize a unified 40,000 strong police force, continue the use of the army until no longer necessary, and expand prisons. He will continue to cooperate strategically with the U.S. and just this week met with President Obama to discuss the continued economic and security integration of Mexico and the U.S.   

Considering Peña Nieto will not drastically alter the approach to fighting organized criminal groups, it is worth looking at the impact this militarized drug war has had on Mexican society under Calderón, with support from the U.S’s Mérida Initiative.

Statistics from Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) recently shared in a meeting with the Senate’s Human Rights Commission paint a dismal picture. The CNDH cited information compiled from January 1, 2005 to July 31, 2012. Five out of the seven and a half years were under Calderón’s administration. 

CNDH data reveals:

·         Cases of torture have increased 500% (In 2005 only 1 torture complaint was received, compared to over 2,000 complaints of torture and cruel treatment in 2011)

·         9000+ complaints of arbitrary detentions, which demonstrates that this is a recurring practice utilized by security forces. Arbitrary detentions increased 121% during this time period.

·         5,568 complaints were received about officials failing to follow required procedures in issuing or executing search warrants

·         2,126 cases of forced disappearances are under investigation and in general, forced disappearances saw massive increases

·         24,091 people are reported as missing

·         46,015 documented murders

·         15,921 bodies remain unidentified

·         1,421 bodies were found in mass graves

·         34,385 complaints against federal security forces were received by the CNDH. (An increase of 84% in the last three years.) Complaints mainly centered around illegal searches, forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial executions, and torture.

 For me, you were “The Employment President.” 

(image taken from Mexicambio on Facebook)

In addition to data from the National Human Rights Commission, a recent national survey on the perception of citizen security indicated that 55% of Mexicans believe Calderon’s strategy to fight organized crime “was unsuccessful”. Eighty percent indicated that insecurity was worse this year than in 2011. Just 31% of those surveyed were in agreement of the use of military operatives to combat organized crime- a ten percent drop from the start of Calderón’s presidency. 

Yet behind all of the data, statistics and numbers are stories of mothers searching for their disappeared children, families mourning their murdered loved ones, communities fighting to demand justice for crimes committed by security forces. Mexico’s social fabric has been torn apart over the last six years. The pain and suffering of people like Maria Trujillo Herrera, who has four disappeared sons, is indescribable. Yet she and many other victims continue to speak out, at the risk of their own lives, against the absurdity of fighting a war on drugs. 

Another woman who speaks out against the violence and impunity endemic to the Mexican state is Paty Torres. She is among the 26 women who were arrested, tortured, and sexually abused during the violent police repression of the town San Salvador Atenco in 2006.

Paty Torres, survivor of sexual assault by Mexican Police forces in 2006.

Photo by: Liliana Zaragoza Cano  courtesy of website: http://miradasostenida.net/ 

In 2001, the community located in the State of Mexico was the site of protest by a group of farmers opposed to the expropriation of their land to construct an international airport.  Opposition to the plan was so strong it was cancelled. When a conflict broke out over a highway blockade in May 2006, the state government, some say seeking revenge for the 2001 protests, responded by sending in thousands of federal police, armed with firearms and teargas.

Over two hundreds civilians, including members of the campesino group and their supporters, were arbitrarily detained and brutally beaten. Two young people were killed and women in particular were subjected to verbal and psychological abuse as well as sexual torture.  Several detainees remained imprisoned up to four years after the attack. 

The operation in Atenco, characterized by human rights groups as the ”excessive and indiscriminate use of force” occurred under Enrique Peña Nieto as governor. To date, no state or federal police officer or official involved in the attack has been brought to justice, despite a recommendation from The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to investigate and bring to trial those responsible. 

Twelve of the 26 women, including Paty Torres, have brought their case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, after failing to receive justice in the Mexican judicial system.

The Atenco case represents the flagrant abuse of human rights, criminalization of social protest, and total impunity authorized and employed by Peña Nieto while governor. Give this history, many civil society groups, activists, and human rights organizations believe the landscape for human rights in the next Presidential administration looks bleak.

The naming of Colombian General Oscar Naranjo as his top security advisor is further cause for concern. Gen. Naranjo is the former head of the Colombian National Police, and is seen as a key figure in the dismantling of Colombia’s major drug cartels.  However, Naranjo is accused of using back room dealings, favoring certain cartels over others, and utilizing corrupt DEA and U.S. Customs officials to achieve his aims.  In addition, the naming of Naranjo signifies Peña Nieto will be favorable to the U.S.’s agenda of military intervention into Latin America as a whole.

This December 1^st, instead of exhaling a sigh of relief that should have come after six years of unimaginable violence and insecurity, Mexican citizens may have to inhale even deeper, in order to face the next six years. Or instead, they can do as so many have done throughout the country’s history—organize, resist, and struggle against the powers that for so long have marginalized and repressed those who dare to demand justice and equality in Mexico.