Mexico's Drug War, Fully US Loaded
| Tue Mar. 24, 2009 11:20 AM PDT
Guest blogger Mark Follman writes frequently about current affairs and culture at markfollman.com.
The raging drug war in Mexico is about to command even greater attention inside the United States. It's not just the gruesome tales of drug cartel violence to the south; the US is far more caught up in the maelstrom than many north of the border may care to realize.
Today at the White House, Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano laid out an Obama administration plan to throw additional money and manpower at the problem, amid mounting fears about "spillover" of violence and corruption into the United States. On Wednesday, Napolitano will go to Capitol Hill specifically to address the crisis, while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to arrive in Mexico.
The administration is deploying big guns like Napolitano and Clinton with good reason. As the Wall Street Journal reported recently, "The government is girding for a possible Katrina-style disaster along the 2,000-mile-long Mexican border that would involve thousands of refugees flooding into the US to escape surging violence in northern Mexico, or gun battles beginning to routinely spill across the border." A recent story from international reporting start-up GlobalPost shows how joint US-Mexican operations have been implicated in the spreading violence, on both sides of the border.
Some relatively obscure testimony by senior officials from the ATF and DEA to a Senate subcommittee last week contains stark details about our country's role in the predicament. Simply put, the US is serving as a vast weapons depot for the drug gangs.
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Because firearms are not readily available in Mexico, cash-wielding drug traffickers have gone north to obtain many thousands of them. According to the law enforcement leaders' testimony, 90 percent of traceable seized weapons have come from the United States. The ATF reports disrupting the flow of more than 12,800 guns to Mexico since 2004.
The weapons aren't just coming from the US border region. The law enforcement leaders cited a case from April 2008 in which 13 warring gang members were killed and five wounded: "ATF assisted Mexican authorities in tracing 60 firearms recovered at the crime scene in Tijuana," they said. "As a result, leads have been forward to ATF field divisions in Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle."
Sources of the weapons, they said, "typically include secondary markets, such as gun shows and flea markets since—depending on State law—the private sale of firearms at those venues often does not require background checks prior to the sale or record keeping."
Military weapons are also a growing problem: "In the past six months we have noted a troubling increase in the number of grenades, which are illegal to possess and sell, seized from or used by drug traffickers, and we are concerned about the possibility of explosives-related violence spilling into U.S. border towns."
Given that the global war on drugs is a proven failure, there was another striking aspect of the testimony: The top revenue generator for the Mexican cartels isn't cocaine, heroin or other hard stuff. It's... marijuana.
Napolitano's message today included the assertion that the Obama administration is "renewing our commitment to reduce the demand for illegal drugs here at home." That comes on the heels of Attorney General Eric Holder's announcing that the federal government will no longer prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries in California and other states where they are legal under state law. With the prospect of a day trip to Ciudad Juarez looking increasingly like a visit to Kabul, and with the violence ricocheting northward, perhaps those who have been advocating fundamental changes in the nation's marijuana laws will start to see some political traction for their ideas.
Mark Follman is a journalist based in San Francisco. You can read more of his writing about current affairs and culture at markfollman.com.
Comments
Fully US Loaded or Mex Government propaganda
Submitted by Rick-KCMO (not verified) on Wed Mar. 25, 2009 9:49 AM PDT.
I remember reading an article months ago about drug gangs obtaining hand grenades, RPG's, and machine guns from US gun shows. I knew the article was BS because none of the items listed could be legally purchased here. No, you cannot buy a machine gun or hand grenade at a gun show. Now it seams the Mex Gov has refined their message by giving the ATF a small list numbers of serial numbers of confiscated weapons to "prove" that it is the evil US fueling their drug war and not the corruption or incompetence of the Mex. Gov. They are also using this as an excuse to get more money from us. When the Mex. Gov. turns over all the serial numbers and we finally get an accurate picture of what is happening, then I will believe them. The article forgot to mention the LA Times article "Drug cartels' new weaponry means war" March 15, 2009 where they describe how guns and hand grenades are flowing into Mexico through Guatemala. Think about it, how many articles have you read where they talk about guns coming from the US and mention hand grenades and RPG's in the same article? If the drug dealers have the ability to get this true military hardware, why would they waste their time with only semi-automatic weapons from the US?
I think the best thing for everyone involved would be to legalize marijuana here in the US. It would greatly cut the flow of money to the drug cartels and their ability to arm themselves and corrupt the Mexican government.
Drug War
Submitted by Common Knowledge (not verified) on Wed Mar. 25, 2009 12:31 PM PDT.
Our best offense is to close off the border like the Bush Administration wanted. We should also legalize Marijuana use because it will drop it's value overnight. The main way the DEA has been prosecuting dealers has been through tax evasion. Tax it as a legal substance and offer with prescription. It's value will fall apart and the cartel's moneymaker will have very little value which will slash their income off it.
The biggest thing parents need to do is teach their children that it is not a good thing and it's use should be for critically ill.
The guns the Mexicans want us to believe come from the US aren't legally sold by anyone in this country and until they give total proof then we aren't going to take the blame. Nor will the people in this country stand for Obama giving them money to fight their problems.
Mex Government propaganda, Brady Campaign propaganda
Submitted by DaTruth (not verified) on Wed Mar. 25, 2009 12:45 PM PDT.
Additionally, the “90 percent of traceable seized weapons” figure mentioned here needs to be put in perspective. That number comes from an ATF briefing and they only trace weapons with a high probability of coming from the US. Meaning that of all the weapons found, they picked those most likely to have come from the US and 90 percent of those did indeed come from the US. Furthermore in the recent Senate Judiciary subcommittee meeting, officials in the ATF stated that they did not believe the 90 percent number to be true and that the real number would be much, much lower.
Much of this is information that is being spread by forces within the US that want to ban all firearms at any cost. It’s akin to saying that there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq so be afraid and let us attack. There’s no real truth there but if enough sources quote them, then it must be true. Limiting the rights of law abiding Americans will not solve this problem. We only have to look at the prohibition of alcohol for the answer. Make drugs legal and the money and violence will stop.
I think that it is time
Submitted by Clarence D. Smart (not verified) on Wed Mar. 25, 2009 1:29 PM PDT.
I think that it is time for the US citizens to realize that it is their dependence on the "drugs" that fuels the war. Liquor is a drug and it has killed millions of innocent people over the years...involved in automobile accidents, domestic violence and other ways; but as long as the State gets their tax money, they put all of the blame on the individual...The State acts like they haven't any responsibility in the death and destruction that drugs cause.
The world is going to hell anyway, so I say make everything legal. Hold nothing back. Show your patriotism; buy a gun! Remember the child that rang the doorbell on Halloween and was shot because the homeowner thought that he was going to be buglarized. The parents who have had loved ones killed in this manner and still insist that we all ought to be well armed and ready to fight...must want to go back to the days of the old west...type of justice.
Legalize all of the drugs; government is just a "sham" anyway. The poor people are treated as cattle by the rich and the poor don't know that they are cattle...so they do the bidding of their rich masters who laugh at them without fear of reprisal.
So, I say to hell with it all...the sooner they kill themselves, the sooner the addicts overdose the Earth will be the better for it.
Mexico's Drug War, Fully US Loaded
Submitted by A beautiful person (not verified) on Wed Mar. 25, 2009 1:03 PM PDT.
Legalize all drugs ASAP.
Stop the hypocrisy and sheer madness of the unwindable war against drugs.
http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm
The war that has cost TRILLIONS OF $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
60 Million Americans can't get by without their "Prozac" ???????
Prescription Drugs Kill 300 Percent More Americans than Illegal Drugs
http://rinf.com/alt-news/busines...gal-drugs/4837/
As Keith Richards said "I've never had a problem with drugs. I've only had the problems with the police".
So lets please legalize all drugs ASAP.
Prohibition has not and will not ever work ---------------.Period.
http://rinf.com/alt-news/busines...gal-drugs/4837/
It always the people who don't have anything to do with "drugs" always want to prohibit them for the rest of us ???
The fact is that any drug, legal or illegal can be obtained without too much trouble by almost anyone wanting it.
The junkie or recreational drug dilettante suffers from the waging of the drug war more than the drugs.
As it is now they either go to prison or die from health issues related to drug use.
They don't go for help for their addiction because it costs to much or because they fear being put into prison.
There are jobs a junkie could do that can contribute to society and still indulge in in drug use. Its not $35K/year its 55K/year for a year spent on a prison cell.
Guns in the USA
Submitted by Rodion Raskolnikov on Wed Mar. 25, 2009 1:17 PM PDT.
Rodion Raskolnikov: Many people in Canada would like to see us legalising marijuana here, but there is always pressure from south of the border not to do it. If, as the article says, there is more pressure from within the US, this could help move things along to a saner drug-policy.
However could someone please explain to a poor foreigner the American obsession with guns. It is the only country in the world where the population has unrestricted access to guns. The old saw of 'Second Amendment rights' is not good enough, since there is ambiguity in the interpretation of the words of the amendment. Many of us see this obsession as America's greatest weakness; as the thing that will eventually undermine 'the last great hope' of mankind.
First of all, if you want to
Submitted by CNS (not verified) on Fri Mar. 27, 2009 8:13 AM PDT.
First of all, if you want to know about a country's gun policy, or any other policy, learn the facts. We don't have "unrestricted access to guns". Guns are one of the most heavily restricted products in the nation, with thousands of laws effecting their possession, sale, and use.
Second of all, the debate about the second amendment wording is pretty much over. polls have shown over 70% of the American people believe it's an individual right to bear arms, both mainstream political parties have endorsed it, and on June 26th, 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that the second amendment does protect an individual right to bear arms. So really, only a handful of extremists are left who cling to the absurd "right to arm a militia" interpretation.
Finally, while you may consider our right to bear arms a "Weakness", most here consider it one of our greatest strengths. We are one of the few nations who respect the rights of all lawful citizens to defend themselves rather then simply get slaughtered while waiting for the police to arrive. This has resulted in tens of thousands of lawful citizens defending themselves with firearms every year. I bet you didn't know that.
If you want to learn about our gun policies, you can't just look at bad things like gun death. You have to look at the positive things too.
I hope that clears things up for you.
No Guns No Pain
Submitted by fgr1111 on Wed Mar. 25, 2009 1:21 PM PDT.
Ever since I came to this country - 1980, I remember the US government through its sound boxes - Main Stream Media, has been crying wolf about Mexico's involvement with drug cartels.
Mexico does not allow firearms of any sort. All drugs are also illegal. So who is/are the providers and the customers?
Could it be that the US stands to make a little profit by selling weapons around the world?
Who's better off - The US with no gun control, but anyone is allowed to buy ANY killing device they choose? or Mexico who bans any form of firearms.
Is crime in Mexico worse than in the US? - I think not. The Media sound boxes would like to make you think so. THIS is how you can prove complicity.
I have several dozen relatives in different states in Mexico and no one, not 1 has ever even seen anything like the media reports. Not that they don't happen; but if you are not involved in drugs and/or arms dealing, you have nothing to fear.
Check out LEAP.
Submitted by JimRinX on Wed Mar. 25, 2009 3:01 PM PDT.
I've been at the forefront of the 'Insurgency to Legalize Medical Marijuana' ever since the first of the NINE Doctors who've owned up to the FACT that it's, simply put, the Very Best Medicine that I could possibly take for both Chronic Neuropathic Pain (Note: I did NOT say the Pain caused by my Arthritic Inflamation - you'll still need aspirin for the swelling) and Chronic Depression, in 1986.
To this end; though I'd never had any problems with Law Enforcement Personel before an L.A. Cops son tried to rip me off in 2002 - and then called them on me; I've been propagandizing Cops - starting with the four he brought to my door, all of whom expressed some real regrets about, "Having to mess with people they didn't consider to be doing anything wrong," when they could be, "Fighting Real Criminals, instead."
That's why i'm glad to have discovered LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; who promote a policy that is even more radical than mine!
I hope those four Cops wrote their Union Stewards - and demanded that the Union stops spending their Dues on PACs that lobby for more Laws that they don;t want to enforce; just like I suggested!
Be Nice to Good cops, kiddies; they're not all Pigs.
JimRinX
Mexico's Drug War, Fully US Loaded
Submitted by Harvey (not verified) on Wed Mar. 25, 2009 5:38 PM PDT.
Harvard economist: Prohibition creates violence, legalize all drugs:
"If we only did marijuana we would only have a small impact on the violence and corruption and disruption of other countries that is caused by U.S. prohibition of drugs and the U.S. forcing prohibition of drugs on other countries."
Miron's proposed solution to ending the cartel war along the US-Mexico border is both simple and enormously complex.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Harvard_economist_Legalize_all_drugs_to_03...
1920's Prohibition
Submitted by uk visa lawyer (not verified) on Thu Mar. 26, 2009 6:57 AM PDT.
Didn't work then, just like the war on drugs hasn't worked over the last two decades.
The result of both - very well funded criminals.
Now, that funding has been used to build up arsenals of weapons - shortly those weapons will effect innocent lives on both side of the border.
A great shame.
gernades.... RPG s ....
Submitted by jim jones (not verified) on Thu Mar. 26, 2009 9:46 AM PDT.
gernades.... RPG s .... these r foreign manufactured weapons they cant be purchased in the US!!!!!!!!!! the mexican r lying ill bet 90 % of those weapons r coming in thru thier ports an southern boarders sleezy clintion is betraying her own nation she s lying also [ for the hispanic votes}
we protect the boarders of other countries without reguard of what the other countries say why r we afraid of the crooked drug soaked mexicans . is it because there r 20 to 30 million of them here now?
we americans who made this country what it is should no longer have to feed, house, educate. medicate the citzens of other countries let them take care of thier own!
we fought world war two with appox one hundred fifty million people the r now three hundred million plus here now we have to ask the basic question
HOW MANY CAN THE BOAT HOLD?
Mexico , Friend or Foe
Submitted by Taco on Thu Mar. 26, 2009 12:58 PM PDT.
Will Boys and Girls here we go , Obamas team just now said that the crime from Mexico has come to the good old US of A ( Drug Cartels ) what about all the gangs we have in all our citys and the shootings we have had to put up with over the years , and the drug sales , They the illegal
only take jobs we dont want and thats not true at all , we have over 4 million unployed and I know a lot of guys who would love a job that pays $10.00 a hour , if you got ride of all the illegals , places like Jack in the Crack and micky Ds would have to pay a little more and that mite cause a few of them to close there doors ,
we dont need a fast food on every corner , But we need the jobs for our American kids and the people in our country who did not go to school but still need to live and pay there own way .
The drugs that come out of Mexico cause more crime like break ins , car jacking and worst of all is they are selling the drugs to our kids .
I have heard the Mexicans say many times that they want Calif. back and if enought of them move here that they can take the land back by overwilming nunbers . when they move into a Black neighborhood they run the Blacks out .
If you want a job as a trash truck driver you will not get hired in Orange co. unless your Latino.
1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.
Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77
2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/ TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML
7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.
Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html
9. $200 Billion dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSC RI PTS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML
10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html
11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border.
Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl.Com/t9sht
12. The National policy Institute, estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period.'
Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf
13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances to their countries of origin.
Verify at: http://WWW.rense.Com/general75/niht.htm>
14. 'The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One million sex crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States .'
Verify at: http: // www.drdsk.com/articleshtml
The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR AND IF YOU'RE LIKE ME HAVING TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY; IT IS $338,300,000,000.00 WHICH WOULD BE ENOUGH TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY FOR THE CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY.
Prohibition is Prohibition -- PERIOD And it STILL Doesn't Work!
Submitted by Anonymous Bosh (not verified) on Fri Mar. 27, 2009 8:46 AM PDT.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Mexico this week. She's from the U.S. Federal Government and she was there to help. She promised . . .
* More taxpayer money to fight Mexico's war on drugs
* Gun control laws here in the U.S.A. . . .
. . .to stop the flow of guns to the Mexican drug cartels.
Ms. Clinton seems to think that gun prohibition is the way to enforce drug prohibition. She's right about one thing. Drug prohibition and gun prohibition are the same issue.
Now, you might think drugs are bad. You might believe them to be so harmful you'd never use them. But you probably expect the politicians to keep their hands off your firearms.
On the other hand, you may think guns are evil. You might believe they're so dangerous, you'd never own one. But you think you have every right to choose what substances you take into to your own body.
Both positions are correct. Guns and drugs are both dangerous to people who don't use them prudently. But prohibition laws mean that no one is allowed to use them prudently. And the one form of prohibition ends up being used as a justification for the other, as Ms. Clinton made clear in Mexico this week.
We think it's time to put the special pleading aside. Drug prohibition and gun control aren't two separate issues, they are the same issue, and should be governed by the same principle. The only thing that should be prohibited is government prohibition in all its forms.
We don't need to renew the Assault Weapons Ban, or give money to Mexico to fight the war on drugs.
What we need is LESS government coercion, not More.
Some See thru Gov't & Media Hype. Why Can't MoJo?
Submitted by Machine Guns, Grenades & RPGs (not verified) on Mon Mar. 30, 2009 12:55 PM PDT.
The L.A. Times seems to be capable of the sort of Smart, Fearless Journalism necessary to recognize that all the gun control noise coming from Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has absolutely Nothing to do with cutting off the Mexican cartel's access to their weapons.
It was a brazen assault, not just because it targeted the city's police station, but for the choice of weapon: grenades.
The Feb. 21 attack on police headquarters in coastal Zihuatanejo, which injured four people, fit a disturbing trend of Mexico's drug wars. Traffickers have escalated their arms race, acquiring military-grade weapons, including hand grenades, grenade launchers, armor-piercing munitions and antitank rockets with firepower far beyond the assault rifles and pistols that have dominated their arsenals.
Most of these weapons are being smuggled from Central American countries or by sea, eluding U.S. and Mexican monitors who are focused on the smuggling of semiauto- matic and conventional weapons purchased from dealers in the U.S. border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.
There are even more ominous developments: Authorities reported three thefts of several hundred pounds of blasting material from industrial explosives plants in Durango during a four-day period last month...
Grenades or military-grade weapons have been reported in at least 10 Mexican states during the last six months, used against police headquarters, city halls, a U.S. consulate, TV stations and senior Mexican officials. In a three-week period ended March 6, five grenade attacks were launched on police patrols and stations and the home of a commander in the south-central state of Michoacan. Other such attacks occurred in five other states during the same period.
Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-arms-race15-2...
Sure, MoJo. Americans are just going down to Don's Guns to pick up a case of grenades, a dozen M60 machine guns and a few RPG's, then smuggling it right on across the border to the cartels. The same way we smuggle the cocaine and weed to them.
It's perfectly obvious that turning the honest American citizen with a legally purchased AR15 rifle into a criminal is just the thing America needs to do to give the Mexican government that 'leg-up' on the cartels.
And to think..., you guys figured this all out on your own!!
Stop Plan Mexico
Submitted by Harry (not verified) on Wed Apr. 8, 2009 9:06 AM PDT.
good piece, hope it leads to action by the readers. Contact congress TODAY and tell them to stop funding the Merida Initiative. See more at: http://friendsofbradwill.org
Brad Will
Submitted by Jennifer Rivera (not verified) on Wed Apr. 8, 2009 9:09 AM PDT.
Clinton: Ask About Brad Will and Juan Manuel
Human Rights Advocates Dismayed At U.S. Military Funding to Mexico
CONTACT: chavaATriseup.net
NEW YORK, NY - Human rights organizers in the United States are
encouraging Sereatary of State Clinton to ask about
are
disappointed by the U.S. House of Representatives February 25, 2009
vote to approve $300 million in military aid to Mexico under the
Merida Initiative, also known as Plan Mexico.
"Plan Mexico is a disaster for human rights in Mexico, Central America
and the Caribbean," says Robert Jereski, a member of Friends of Brad
Will. "It means further aid to armies and police forces that have been
widely implicated in grave human rights violations. But it further
energizes our networks for our upcoming Day of Action on March 11 in
Washington, D.C."
Friends of Brad Will is an organization formed in 2006 following the
murder of NYC-based video-journalist Brad Will in the state of Oaxaca,
Mexico while he was documenting a teachers' strike and popular
movement for democratic change there. Will was one of 27 people killed
by Mexican government paramilitaries during state-wide protests
against corruption, impunity, and immense poverty. While those who
shot Will have been clearly identified as police and local government
officials, the Mexican Attorney General recently arrested and charged
anti-government protester Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno for the murder
of Will. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and
Physicians for Human Rights, as well as the Mexican government's own
National Human Rights Commission, have vigorously disputed the
Attorney General's claims.
Friends of Brad Will is participating in an International Day of
Action on March 11. The Day of Action is demanding freedom for Juan
Manual Martinez Moreno as well as demanding an end to Plan Mexico.
Activists from around the country are organizing caravans to
Washington, D.C. to meet with elected officials about Martinez's case,
to seek justice for Will, and to urge them to oppose Plan Mexico.
"We are heartened that dozens of lawmakers now oppose Plan Mexico as a
result of the Mexican government's corruption and impunity," says
Friends of Brad Will member Salvador Pantoja. "We have already seen
this aid being directed not against drug traffickers but instead
against democratic and non-violent social movements in Mexico. If more
aid is sent by U.S. taxpayers, the criminalizing of dissenters and
other pro-democracy forces will only increase, while no actions are
being taken to address the roots causes of corruption and drug
trafficking."
Defensores de derechos humanos en EE.UU. continúan consternados por la
financiación militar a México
NUEVA YORK, NY - Organización de derechos humanos de la ciudad de
Nueva York están decepcionados por la votación de la Cámara de
Representantes de los EE.UU. del 25 de febrero de 2009 para aprobar
300 millones de dólares en ayuda militar a México en virtud de la
Iniciativa Mérida, conocido también como Plan México.
"El Plan México es un desastre para los derechos humanos en México,
América Central y
el Caribe ", dice Robert Jereski, miembro de Amigos de Brad Will." Eso
implica una mayor ayuda a los ejércitos y las fuerzas policiales que
han sido ampliamente
implicados en graves violaciones de los derechos humanos. Pero
energiza aún más nuestras redes y trabajo para nuestro Día de Acción
el próximo 11 de marzo en Washington, DC "
Amigos de Brad Will (friends of Brad Will) es una organización formada
en el 2006 tras el asesinato del video-periodista Brad Will de la
ciudad de Nueva York en el estado de Oaxaca, México, mientras fue a
documentar una huelga de maestros y el movimiento popular por el
cambio democrático allí. Will fue una de las 27 personas asesinadas
por paramilitares del gobierno mexicano durante todo el estado de
protestas contra la corrupción, la impunidad, y inmensa pobreza.
Mientras que los que dispararon han sido claramente identificados como
policías y funcionarios del gobierno local, el Fiscal General Mexicano
recientemente arrestó y acusó al manifestante contra el gobierno Juan
Manuel Martínez Moreno por el asesinato de Will. Los grupos de
derechos humanos como Amnistía Internacional y Forenses por los
Derechos Humanos (Physicians for Human Rights) , así como la del
propio gobierno mexicano su Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, han
disputado enérgicamente reclamando al Fiscal General.
Amigos de Brad Will está participando en un Día de Acción Internacional el
11 de marzo. El Día de Acción exige la libertad de Juan Manuel Martínez
Moreno, así como el fin al Plan México. Activistas de todo el país
están organizando caravanas a Washington DC, para reunirse con los
representantes electos sobre el caso de Martínez, para buscar la
justicia para Will, e instar a oponerse al Plan México.
"Nos alienta que docenas de legisladores ahora se oponen al Plan México como
resultado de la corrupción y la impunidad del gobierno mexicano", dice
Salvador Pantoja un miembro del Grupo de Amigos de Brad Will. "Ya
hemos visto que esta ayuda es
dirigida no contra los traficantes de drogas, sino contra los
movimientos sociales democráticos y no violentos de México. Si se
envía más ayuda de los contribuyentes de EE.UU. , la criminalización
de la protesta y otras fuerzas pro-democráticas
sólo aumentará, mientras que no se están tomando medidas para hacer
frente a las raíces
y causas de la corrupción y el tráfico de drogas ".
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