In this commentary I fully agree with Garza. I also believe that Mexico could use a little help from the US in all the drug wars and deaths caused by this horrific problem. I mean sure they've captured many drug lords, but that still hasn't fully resolved the problem. From experience, the streets in Mexico are like those of a ghost town. People are having to hide out in their homes and quit their jobs or close their businesses so that they won't be killed nor asked for money from the drug lords. Mexico has never been too safe to walk the streets, but now it's gotten way worse. You can't even walk the streets in plain daylight. People shouldn't have to live in fear everyday because Mexico is ran by a President not by drug lords, right? Like Garza has mentioned, bringing our two Presidents together to join forces in fighting the drug lords would create a pact between these two countries and this would benefit us down the road. It might not benefit us right now, but it's good to have allies because you never know what could happen. I say we help Mexico if we are able to and feel accomplished in saving the lives of people in Mexico.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Help in Mexico
A lot is going on with our Southern neighbors at the moment. After reading Don't Lose Faith in Mexico's Recovery on the Austin American Statesman by Antonio Garza, US citizens should re-think negatively about us helping Mexico. Garza mentions how the drug war in Mexico is not so much the US' biggest threat. With that being said, Garza also believes that it wouldn't hurt to offer a little assistance by bringing the US President and Mexico's President together to somehow better this drug war. The author says that the Mexico's recent President has already captured many of the drug lords, which has had a significant change in the amount of deaths as well. The author is trying to convince the citizens of the US that read her commentary, that Mexico not only needs our help, but it would also bring a strong bond in the future between these two countries.
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ReplyDeleteAs Marina Rodriguez discussed in her commentary, Help in Mexico, help is needed indeed. The United States and Mexico have had their issues over the past centuries. As noted in our textbook, nobody knows that more than the state of Texas originally named Tejas y Coahuila.
ReplyDeleteHere in the past few decades there have been a number of issues between Texas and Mexico, most notably immigration. How does this tie into the Mexican cartels? That is quite simple and can be summed up by two words: supply and demand. Mexico picked up on the vacation resort idea and ran with it. Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Acapulco, Mexico City have all realized the amounts of money that can be made from American tourists and will sell anything that isn’t nailed down. You want an all inclusive package, done. You want a cruise, sure no problem. In fact, we’ll create a cruise that stops in several tourist towns so that you can spend your dollars here. The crime rates aren’t skyrocketing in those towns. As Antonio Garza, the former US ambassador to Mexico notes, the violence is typically trafficker-on-trafficker. It’s the areas that don’t have tourism to rely on and lack economic growth that are in peril, like Ciudad Juarez near El Paso. (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/mexico/drug_trafficking/index.html) As mentioned in this article the bloodshed is mostly between the Sinaloa cartel and Los Zetas.
Another perspective to bring light to the issues is that the US requires an extensive process to legally immigrate into this country. A great percent of those that immigrate illegally do so because they simply cannot afford to embark on the extensively time consuming and financially draining if not completely unaffordable process. The time, energy and money required are just not realistic. Lack of jobs in their area cause them to move into areas like Texas, Arizona, Nevada and California where they can find jobs until they are booted and sent back to Mexico. In the meantime, those drug cartels have found a very lucrative way to sustain their living. As long as the demand for drugs is high in the United States, the supply will continue its steady stream. The violence and killings, reported as high as 47,515 drug related deaths since 2006, are a direct result of the cartels ridding themselves of completion and livelihood. In the end, it all boils down to the need for jobs and economic growth. The problem involves both countries and US and Mexican government need to both be part of the solution.