HispanicVista Columnists

The War Is Getting More Violent

By Richard N. Baldwin T.

    
   
No, this is not about the Mideast war. I am talking about another bigger war in the Northern Hemisphere. One with direct deaths in the US of over 10,000 per year and 20,000 "collateral" deaths. Responsible for over 16% of the total inmates in US prisons with the annual "cost to society" of about $100 billion dollars. I am talking about the drug war.

Evidently the US feels that it can live with this as the voracious drug market in the US continues. And after all of the hoo-ha in recent years, the street cost of drugs is stable which indicates that the drug supply has not been interrupted.

There are three factors in any business . . . supply, transit and market. The US is the market which is driven by a $65 billion a year direct expenditure. The supply is coming from mainly Columbia and some other South American countries. Columbia has been fighting an almost continuous war in that country for years and is heavily subsidized by the US. But, alas, the production just keeps rolling along. Too much market power to overcome.

México is the main transit element in this triad. Let's look at recent news to see what this business is doing to México. Remember that México, at this stage, is a frail democracy with weak institutions that are vulnerable to corruption with the vast amounts of money available. We are talking about a LOT of money.

Las Palmas prison, located in central México, has had two high profile assassinations over the    last few weeks. Complete with smuggled-in high-class arms.

The federal government discovered that the major drug cartels were continuing to conduct their  business from inside the prison. The matter was so out of hand that the Mexican Army took over the  prison. The army found cell phones, computer equipment and weapons that were removed. They shipped leaders to other prisons to split up cartels. Other army prison takeovers are probable.

In December, six prison employees were executed outside the federal prison in Matamoros. A highly organized team that was probably "Zetas" did the job. This was a special Mexican army force, highly trained to fight the drug business. One of the cartels simply paid them enough money to change sides. This feared group has been responsible for many killings and act as "enforcers" for the cartel.

In the Matamoros area, 20 people were kidnapped by Zetas and three were executed in January.

Last year, another mass killing went on in the Vera Cruz area . . .  again, drug related. And the former governor of Quintana Roo is now in jail as being part of the drug business.

What is happening here is a stepped up competitive "turf" war between the Mexican drug cartels. A lot of people being killed and these cartels are literally taking over entire sectors of our government. For months now, bodies have turned up in the trunks of cars, abandoned lots and homes along the border. At last reports the war is crossing the northern border.

Our prison system is almost being run by the cartels now. Obviously, there is major infiltration in the legal system. (Remember our first Drug "Czar", a highly respected army general, now in prison, who was found to be on the take? The episode was enshrined in the movie Traffic.)

Look at our prison/legal system to see how vulnerable México is. Probably one half of the inmates in prison have not even been sentenced yet! They are still awaiting trial, usually for years. The system has a population of 150,000 prisoners, and is 30% over capacity. To understand this situation, remember that under Mexican Mickey Mouse law, you are presumed guilty. Therefore, if arrested, you are considered guilty and go to jail. And the overloaded, under funded and inept judicial system takes years to bring a case to trial. A lot of these people waiting for trial are in for minor offenses.

México allows family visits to the prisons. This is necessary because a prisoner is likely not to survive imprisonment without outside support . . . for things like food, clothing and money to bribe guards for humane treatment. Even for necessary medicine. Of course, if you have enough money, things are not so bad. In one northern prison recently, it was found that moneyed inmates had gone so far as to build little homes in the central yard so that they could live with their families. The little village was torn down after publicity.

The daily throng of visitors to the prisons carrying loads of food and necessities for inmates make a huge security problem. I recently learned from a Mexican that had had experience in both Mexican and US jails that "In the US, jail is paradise! Not only do they feed you, but if you get sick, they even give you treatment!"

México is loosing control of their country in this war. With the amount of money generated by the US market, we are fighting a war that we cannot win. But the key for shutting down this system is in closing down the market, which the US does not seem to be able or care to do.

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Richard N. Baldwin T., a HispanicVista.com (http://www.hispanicvista.com/) contributing columnist, lives in Tlalnepantla, Edo de México. E-mail at: R1041643422@aol.com