Drug War Doublespeak
Laura Carlsen | March 9, 2009
Americas Program, Center for International Policy (CIP)
americas.irc-online.org
Through late February and early March, a blitzkrieg of declarations from U.S. government and military officials and pundits hit the media, claiming that Mexico was alternately at risk of being a failed state, on the verge of civil war, losing control of its territory, and posing a threat to U.S. national security.
In the same breath, we’re told that President Calderon with the aid of the U.S. government is winning the war on drugs, significantly weakening organized crime, and restoring order and legality.
None of these claims is true. Instead they are critical elements in waging the hypocritical drug war in Mexico. Read more of this excellent article by Laura Carlsen outlining the disinformation and fear tactics used to strong arm Plan Mexico through a pliant Congress and Senate here
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Note: The Merida Initiative Round II (aka Plan Mexico) was passed by the Congress in February, by the Senate March 10th late in the evening, and signed into law by President Obama(!!!!) March 12th, 2009 (today).
We are now looking forward to stopping the delivery of as much of the military/police ‘aid’ package as we can in order to have those resources properly invested in local and regional economic development programs which recognize the Mexican, Latin American and Caribbean peoples’ right to their own form of developing their economies.
We will continue to inform our elected officials that the funding of a ‘failed policy’ (see GAO November 2008 report on lessons learned from Plan Colombia) is wasteful and – given the record of massacres and systematic abuse by the Mexican, Latin American and Caribbean military and police forces – is incredibly dangerous for the citizens of those regions.
No metrics to allow lawmakers to measure success on the stated goals of this Bush Initiative were included in the spending package guaranteeing that ‘drug war’ profiteers (consultants, security and arms corporations, and U.S. extractive industries benefiting from a more powerful (but still quite unpopular) Mexican right wing President will continue to peddle disinformation with no scientific, public policy counterweight.
We have and will continue to propose that the mainstream D.C.-based human rights organizations join the many organizations which have spoken out against Plan Mexico and take a position against the ‘war on drugs’.
