CA - Latin American drug wars are our fault

[edgarshade]

Dan Gardner
The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Latin+American+drug+wars+fault/3559354/story.html

'Please allow me to put in print what an awful lot of Latin American politicians would like to say to their Canadian colleagues:

You know how the illicit drug trade has plagued the countries of Latin America for decades? You know how it spreads corruption, undermines governance, and distorts economies? You know how it stacks corpses like cordwood?

You know the carnage happening in Mexico right now? More than 26,000 people dead?

You know all that? Good. Because you are responsible.

Yes, you. None of this would be happening if the drug trade hadn't been banned -- that just handed it on a silver tray to thugs, gangsters, terrorists, and guerrillas. And you know who banned it? Your country. Canada.

Sure, it was the Americans who pushed to have drug prohibition entrenched in international law and it was the Americans who twisted arms until everyone signed on. But Canada supported the United States from the beginning. It still does.'

 

[evilthree]

I wonder how much more bloodshed needs to occur and how many more innocent people need to die in these drug wars before people realize prohibition causes this whole mess instead of culling the problem

Then again people in their cushy suburbs and gated communities could care less about the plight of innocent people and the damaging toll of the drug war, so long as it (supposedly) keeps heroin and cocaine out of their communities

 

[jspun]

I think that the solution doesn't lie with curbing the demand of drugs. I do agree that drugs should be legal and Canada is just as complicit as the US (they had worse drug laws until the late 80s in most provinces except BC). What I think is that mexicans should curb their insatiable appetite for illegal weapons.

 

[squatlover]

I wonder how much more bloodshed needs to occur and how many more innocent people need to die in these drug wars before people realize prohibition causes this whole mess instead of culling the problem

A lot more. And a picture of a pretty girl who has overdosed on heroin/ taken drugs and is on life support with an upset mum on the front page is worth 10 000 mexican lives.

 

[dankstersauce]

I'm expecting some more trouble in Columbia because of these policies.
Colombia Kills Guerrilla Chief

Same polices causing more trouble. 'They' spend billions to take out one group/cartel and all it does is create a power vacuum. I'm thinking maybe some Mexican cartels might be taking a power grab in Columbia.

I don't see the government budging on prohibition anytime soon. It's been beaten into the public's head that "we're dealing serious blows to the cartels" for the past 30 years and you rarely see any government admitting it's policies don't work...especially something where they've dumped this much money into a lost cause. When was the last time the US government went back on something as huge as the war on drugs? Obama talks about it differently than Bush but his policies are nearly identical.

 

[mnoriega]

Most dangerous is the trend to blame migrant workers

I wonder how much more bloodshed needs to occur and how many more innocent people need to die in these drug wars before people realize prohibition causes this whole mess instead of culling the problem

I don't think any amount of bloodshed will cause people to realize this. More bloodshed will only cause a harsher reaction that's more widely supported by the public which, conveniently, is exactly what the cartels want and it's exactly what the shady characters in national security & the arms/defense industry want.

For example, the trend I see happening in the Western US is to blame everything happening in Juarez, all the escalating crime in Arizona cities, etc on illegal immigration -- no matter how many studies or even police statistics show otherwise, people are being fed a line by pundits-for-hire + newspapers-for-sale that all of this would be solved if we could just keep these damned Mexicans out.

This seems pretty obviously only a shade different than racist nationalism. The suggestion is that life is worth less in Mexico because the people there 'count' less and the only problem is that we're allowed Mexicans to come here and act like that.

This is an extremely disturbing trend. I hope that everyone takes just a little time and contributes both financially and through action to support the campaign to defend the human rights of all people. -M

 

[DavisK4high247]

Sadly in Mexico and many other coutries a human life is worth less to the people of that country than in the US,Canada,Europe ,etc.. in Asia where there are so many people,an uneducated person of low status dies and they are just replaced.In Mexico the people are not "worth much" to the government except for elections or the wealthy people there. I also know some illegal immigrants who live nearby and are some of the best people I know,They will give you $5 if you are thier friend even if they only have $6..lol..none of them are drug dealers,smugglers,or drug users.They work 10-12 hour days at poultry plants etc.. and do not hurt ,rob or kill anyone.The mexican americans that moved here to sell drugs and blend in with the existing population are mostly decent people,but a lot of "bad cartel people" slipped in with the rest of the decent people...makes the whole group whether legal or illegal all look bad because of a small % of "bad ones"..