A war has been raging south of the U.S. border and has claimed the lives of over 60,000 lives in the past five years. While the words "If you don't pay, the place burns down" may resonate near the U.S.-Mexico border, the scene is much different in the southern provinces of Mexico (Huffington Post). In southern states such as Guanajuato and Querétaro, a growing auto industry has elevated Mexico to the position of the world's 4th largest exporter of automobiles. Much of this economic development is laid out in Stephanie's blog, in which she details both the bright spots and roadblocks of Mexico's development. Her main point, however, is to call for the U.S. to reform its trade, border, and immigration policies directed towards Mexico. In agreement with Stephanie, I think it is important to emphasize the significance of Mexico's economic rise, but it is equally important to recognize that drug cartels remain a large roadblock to developing stronger relations with Mexico.
Although we did not get to cover the predominantly political issues of the trafficking of drugs, people, and weapons during our International Political Economy course, the prevalence of these issues around the world is a major concern in the international community. These three deplorable and sometimes horrific businesses operate not only on the global stage but also domestically in the United States. Fortunately, the violence along the U.S.-Mexico border has subsided, and murders, kidnappings, and other violent crimes have fallen drastically in some of the war-torn Mexican states like Chihuahua. However, some experts of the Mexican drug war say that this might simply be a sign that the drug cartels are biding their time to see what the new President Enrique Peña Nieto will do (Huffington Post). Meanwhile, despite the apparent success in Chihuahua, authorities are seeing negative results in other areas where drug cartels operate.
In Ventura, California, located 200 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, Martin Madrigal, a kind of regional manager for the Mexican Mafia, has been indicted along with 26 other suspects for violent crimes, drug and arms trafficking, and extortion (LA Times). The article notes how this one guy was so feared (his nickname is "Evil") that he was able to coordinate other Mexican gangs in the area.
In a city not far from Guanajuato called Tiquicheo, the city's former mayor, a defiant opponent of drug cartels, was murdered by hitmen after a third assassination attempt on her life (Fox News Latino). The area has apparently been a hotbed for the growing of poppy for heroin and marijuana, and it has also been importing large amounts of chemicals for the production of methamphetamines and cocaine.
These incidents show a still powerful and influential criminal network that can operate within U.S. borders and cause terror for many Mexican families. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with before the U.S. opens up the border to more immigrants precisely because liberalizing immigration policy would facilitate the movement of drug cartels into the United States. Because the United States is the main source of demand for these drug cartels, the United States would likely see an increase of drug cartel members crossing the border if immigration were to be liberalized. As President Obama said in his meeting with Mexico's next President, the United States certainly wants to aid hardworking Mexican immigrants who are coming here to work (Latino Post). At the same time, however, the U.S. should not run the risk of allowing drug cartel members to immigrate.
Additionally, while many Mexicans are willing to do the menial and hard labor that other Americans will not do provide a boon for agribusiness in the United States, the many immigrants that want to bring their families may impose a stress on the already faulty and expensive healthcare and educational systems in the U.S.
So for the time being, it is more important for the U.S. and Mexico to continue their efforts to control the prevalence of drug cartels and the violence that they cause. While the cartels have not really bothered the auto producers that have enabled Mexico's rise economically, they are still disrupting everyday life for Mexican local businesses, politics, and families (Wall Street Journal). Accordingly, the Mexican authorities still have a lot of work to do, and it may ultimately be impossible to eradicate the drug cartels. In order to eradicate drug cartels, there needs to be greater cooperation among the U.S. and Mexico in terms of criminal justice and possibly regulation of the drug industry. Thankfully, California and the Attorney General of Mexico have already begun to coordinate efforts against the drug cartels by agreeing to help one another in the prosecution of transnational criminal organizations (Fox News Latino).
Despite the exciting developments of Mexico's economy, until the United States and Mexico can get the drug cartel problem under control, the U.S. should wait before liberalizing immigration on the southern border.
President of Mexico's plans for reform: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/29/us-mexico-penanieto-idUSBRE8AS0YR20121129 (Reuters)
In depth article on Mexico's Auto Industry: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444083304578018462369529592.html (Wall Street Journal)
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