Mexico's Ambassador On Controlling The Border
Arturo Sarukhan
Mexico's ambassador to the U.S.
The fight against drug cartels has become the signature issue of Mexican President Felipe Calderon's administration. Along with deploying the military to raid cartel shipments, Calderon decriminalized small amounts of drugs so that law enforcement would not be overextended with nonviolent drug crime, but traffickers still profit from sales to Americans. When President Obama visited Mexico City in April 2009, Calderon pressured him that about reforming gun and drug laws to curtail organized crime on both sides of the border. Mexican ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan told NationalJournal.com why Calderon's administration will not let up the pressure on Obama.
NJ: How has Mexico's approach to border security changed under President Calderon?
Sarukhan: The U.S.-Mexico border has never, ever in its history been as secure as it is today.... The violence you're seeing in Mexico today coming from organized crime is a direct result of President Calderon's decision to take on drug traffickers and organized crime in general. Not because he's in a moral crusade against drugs. But because organized crime today is the most important challenge to the rule of law and the empire of liberty in Mexico.That's why, when he came into office in 2006, he said "either we take on organized crime or it's going to fundamentally weaken Mexico's institutional capabilities, and it's going to continue corroding the social fabric of the nation." Again, if anybody thinks this is going to be achieved overnight, they're probably smoking too much of the stuff that we seize in Mexico.
NJ: Will the Calderon administration continue to press Obama on stopping the flow of guns into Mexico?
Sarukhan: We are going to continue to insist that the flow of guns and bulk cash from the United States into Mexico is providing the syndicates in Mexico with the ability to kill and corrupt. We will continue to point at the fact that since the assault weapons ban expired in 2004, the seizures of fully automatic and semi-automatic weapons in Mexico have gone through the roof. There is a direct correlation between the expiration of the assault weapons ban in the United States and the number and caliber of weapons that we're seizing in Mexico.Despite this, we will continue to underscore that we are not out to challenge or lobby or undermine the Second Amendment. That's a sovereign decision of the American people and the American Congress.... What we are asking of the administration and of Congress is to enforce what is already on the books.
NJ: What has been the result of the decriminalization that began last year in Mexico?
Sarukhan: That has two fundamental purposes. Number one, to ensure that resources are targeted where they need to be targeted -- that is, against the drug trafficker and not the person who purchase or consumes drugs And second. it is not a free lunch. If you are detained three times in a row with the minimum threshold amounts of drugs permitted now by law, you get mandatory treatment for drug addiction....It is putting the onus on dismantling the wholesale-to-retail capabilities of the drug traffickers in Mexico. And second, it is precisely trying to put in place harm mitigation, harm reduction social policies that will ensure that we can provide a breathing space for consumers who have been caught by the drug traffickers because they are creating a demand in Mexico which did not exist 10 years ago.
Responded on May 18, 2010 2:12 PM
MadMommy
Perhaps Mr. Calderon should get ready for an influx of his citizens returning to Mexico. They'll need schools, hospitals and jails for all the people returning from the US. Shouldn't we make sure the money that the US sends to Mexico is earmarked for those uses insted of to line the pockets of the drug cartels?
Get the word out to every US city. "Mexico has jobs in construction" When Mexico starts to build their cities up, the workers will go there and work. They will flock to the cities where those American dollars are really helping them. They never wanted to come here in the first place. They send almost every dollar they make back home anyway. The US is already going to send billions to Mexico. Why not give them change they ncan believe in?
Responded on May 18, 2010 2:51 PM
John Schick
The problem defends itself against easy solutions. Calderon inherited decades of entrenched corruption from the highest level of government ro the bureaucrat clerk. Obama inherited decades of entrenched corruption among legislators and lobbiests representing weapons manufacturers and money transfer systems. Calderon was smart enough and brave enough to act. Obama is smart enough but remains beholden to his corrupt government process.
John Schick,
Managing Partner
Mexico Consulting Group
Responded on May 19, 2010 11:22 PM
Victoria
President Calderon has endorsed a completely ineffective approach.
What is hurting Mexico the most is the US' insatiable demand for illegal drugs. If drugs were legalized, controlled, and regulated like alcohol and cigarettes, the cartels would have no profit motive to continue to send illegal drugs to the US.
It is simple economics that if there is a demand for a good, there will be a supply. The profit motive for illegal drug-trafficking is HUGE. Joaquin Guzman Loera, the head of the notorious Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, was on Forbes' World's Billionaires of 2009 list.
The war on drugs has proven itself to be a failure time and time again. It's time to wake up from this nightmare.
Responded on May 21, 2010 3:44 PM
Dr. John K. Press
Mr. Sarukhan is a culturist liar. And, I do not begrudge him this fact. He says that which will further the interests of his nation. And that is his job. He said, "The U.S.-Mexico border has never, ever in its history been as secure as it is today." Obvious hogwash! Under Eisenhower we had operation wetback and threw masses of Mexicans back across to their side of the border. The 125,000 immigrants from Mexico a month is unprecedented. If he was referring to the border with Guatemala, he may be correct. Including this ommission would undermine his government's handwringing about "human rights." He is nationalist and culturist. We too should be culturist. Just as Mexico has a proud history and culture, we do. Just as Mexico has a right to guard its border, we do too. It is not racist to secure our borders. We do so to protect our culture against drugs, gangs, corruption, high teen birth rates, illiteracy, poverty, and a potential divide in our population's loyalties. This is not...
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Mr. Sarukhan is a culturist liar. And, I do not begrudge him this fact. He says that which will further the interests of his nation. And that is his job. He said, "The U.S.-Mexico border has never, ever in its history been as secure as it is today." Obvious hogwash! Under Eisenhower we had operation wetback and threw masses of Mexicans back across to their side of the border. The 125,000 immigrants from Mexico a month is unprecedented. If he was referring to the border with Guatemala, he may be correct. Including this ommission would undermine his government's handwringing about "human rights." He is nationalist and culturist.
We too should be culturist. Just as Mexico has a proud history and culture, we do. Just as Mexico has a right to guard its border, we do too. It is not racist to secure our borders. We do so to protect our culture against drugs, gangs, corruption, high teen birth rates, illiteracy, poverty, and a potential divide in our population's loyalties. This is not racist, it is culturist. It is not against human rights. It is for culturist rights.
www.culturism.us
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