Mexican Evolution

That is the name of an OpED in the 23 March 2009 edition of The New York Times.  I admit to being late in getting to this.

The author is Enrique Krauze, who is the editor of the magazine Letras Libres.  He is the author of Mexico:  Biography of Power.  (So many books, so little time.)

I found it to be an informative read.  The author plea is that we not think that Mexico is on the very of being a failed state and he gives us some examples of why Mexico maybe going through a crisis, but is not in a nose dive.

[L]et’s take a quick inventory of the problems that we don’t have.  Mexico is a tolerant and secular state, without the religious tensions of Pakistan or Iraq.  It is an inclusive society, without the racial hatreds of the Balkans.  It has no serious prospects of regional secession or disputed territories, unlike the Middle East.  Guerrilla movements have never been a real threat to the state, in stark contrast to Colombia.

Most important, Mexico is a young democracy that eliminated an essentially one-party political system, controlled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, that lasted more than 70 years.  And with all its defects, the domination of the party, known as the P.R.I., never even approached the same level of virtually absolute dictatorship as that of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, or even of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez.

Mr Krauze ends by pointing out that part of the solution to Mexico's problems is for the US to reduce its large drug consumption problem.  In that he is quite correct.  And, if I haven't said it before, the "War on Drugs" is a failure.  Compared to it Iraq and Afghanistan are outstanding successes.

I think Mr Krauze suggestion that there is a major flow of weapons from the US to Mexico may be a bit off a red herring.  This is an issue that is being argued both ways.  The part that is confusing to me is the idea that people smuggle drugs into Mexico on their way to the US.  The US border is being patrolled to stop drug smuggling.  If it is easy to get drugs into Mexico, why isn't it easy to get guns in along the same routes, rather than having to run the trade both ways at the US border?  There are lots of AK-47s and used M-16s out there, left over from various wars and preparations for wars.

Regards  —  Cliff