We've Got Our Guns Back, We Promise!

After the semi-succesful meeting between President Obama and President Calderon, Obama stood behind the fact that the United States had successfully "recovered" 90% of the assault weapons that had crossed the Texas-Mexico border, helping to quell the violence and shows the United States dedication to helping it's southern neighbour; however, the 90% is only out of firearms registered with the United States. The true percentage is about 18%.

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Obama Lays the Smack Down

"Stop, in the Name of the Border Security"

Obama has officially decided that the Mexican violence gotten too far out of hand, and is now spilling over into the United States at an alarming rate.

Unsurprisingly, he advocated a "reduction of demand for illegal drugs" and a restriction of arms sales near the border, to curtail violent outbreaks and gang organization.

He reminds the US that the violence is a "two way street", referencing the bi-directionality of the border and not-so-subtly warns us that the violence is just a matter of crossing over a line on a map; there is no invisible wall that separates Us from Them, the only division is our ideological feeling of security that threatens our very tangible, atrophying physical security.

"President Barack Obama says the violence spilling over from Mexico's fight against drug cartels has gotten out of hand and is a serious threat to U.S. border communities."

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Obama Goes Where You Shouldn't

"President Barack Obama's scheduled visit to Mexico in April will be an opportunity to align the priorities of the two countries with the interests of the new U.S. administration and to smooth over a number of problematic areas."

The list of problems is stacked high for Mexico: infrastructure-threatening drug wars, unstable state government, the looming economic recession, and poor public image. The United States, enter stage right. President Obama is planning a diplomatic trip to Mexico to talk to Mexican President Calderon to cover the aforementioned issues. In addition, Obama is going to hold a conference to discuss the "threat" of immigration, and the recently instated 20% tariff against the United States.

This meeting is a good example of the importance of 'good neighbours' in government policy; the Obama/Calderon meeting is not hostile, but rather seeking resolve on key issues in public policy.

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Turns Out, People Don't Want to Die

The recently blogged about decision of the United States travel agencies to declare the majority of Mexico a "Go at your own risk" location, Mexico's tourist industry is bracing for the worst. As simple as this seems, the economic challenges that Mexico faces right now can only be exacerbated by foreign (negative) speculation, especially for key markets like tourism.

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Mexico is in Free Fall

Mexico's drug cartels goal is to tame and control the Mexican state, not just the border. It's state institutions are under attack in a way they haven't been for decades, or so this article claims. Journalists are more afraid to go to Mexico than anywhere in the Middle East even experienced war zone reporters.  The cartels target important officials without fear: Jose Felix, co-coordinator at the national centre for planning and analysis to combat organized crime;  Edgar Gomez, the highest ranked federal police official ; Juan Mournio, the national security adivsor, crashed in a plane under mysterious circumstances; Mauro Quinones was tortured and killed a week after recieving the positon of anti-drug chief in Cancun. The United States has in the past only paid lip service to foreign relations with Mexico despite this being a time when Mexico needs as much help as it can get.

It is terrifiyng to realize the implications of these targeted murders.  The drug cartels are confident that they don't have to worry too much about anyone. They have the power. People listen to them and fear them. Without help, it is uncertain whether Chalderon will be able to keep a handle on this already out of control situation.

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All signs point to the United States

It appears the drug wars in Mexico, and their violent nature, could hold root in the United States. With the United States' large demand for drugs from our Southern Neighbour, and the fact that they are considered crimes instead of public health problems, this creates a large "underground" trading networks which are the infrastructure of the modern cartel. In addition, the increasing use of Assault Weapons imported from the United States is a direct result of Congress not renewing a ban on the same weapons. It is interesting to see how various public policy choices of nations decide the fate of those around them.

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Mexico's Calderon slams anti-army street protests

President Calderon has condemned the protests against the military involvment in the drug war. He and the police claim the protests were orcheastrated by the largest drug cartel, Gulf Cartel. The Gulf cartel handed out bags full of books and school school supplies to poor families to encourage them to protest. The protestors marched to the northern city of Monterrey, blocking bridges and routes to the United States, and many wore colored cloth to hide their faces. 

Calderon is not only struggling against the people's lack of legitimacy for the government , but also against the insidous power of the drug cartels which turns the people against the drug war (because the drug war creates death) and infilitrates the police. I don't know if Mexico will ever be able to rout out all of the drug problems from their country simply because it is such an uphill battle. The people just want to be left alone, and the drug cartels have infilitrated the tools Mexico is using to remove them.

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In Mexico, 21 killed in burst of Chihuahua violence

Before dying in a shootout Gunmen abducted 9 people and killed six in one of the deadliest areas of Mexico: Chihuahua. There has been an ongoing turf war in the area between rival drug-trafficking groups. The area reported 2,000 drug trafficking related deaths in the past year. President Feliz Calderon has deployed 45,000 men to crack down on organized crime, but the crack down has caused the violence to escalate creating a record number of deaths.
Some have objected to the military's involvement in drug wars, but the President claims it is temporary, allowing local and regional officials and policemen time to clean up and improve.
This articles seams to make it appear that the President has become willingly to do even more to stop drug violence, but unfortunately people do not seem to have faith in the national military to do its job and not cause further pains. I would venture that perhaps the people have a weak sense of legitimacy for their national government.
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You May Want to Reconsider Your Vacation Destination

With the massive increase in drug activity combined with tough economic competition throughout Mexico's entirety, over 200 American citizens have been murdered since 2004 alone, making for a dangerous vacation location that warrants reconsideration.

"More than 200 American citizens have been killed since 2004 in Mexico's escalating wave of violence, amounting to the highest number of unnatural deaths in any foreign country outside military combat zones, according to the U.S. State Department."

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Mexico City to turn Green with New Recycling Plan

Mexico is planning to build 4 new recycling and waste processing centers to burn and compost eighty-six percent of trash(from the current six percent). This will place Mexico City in line with cities such as San Fransisco, and first among developing cities. The largest landfill in Mexico City will close this month, and the city is taking a hard look at the amount of trash it produces. The city has required its citizens to sort trash for several years, but the city's infrastructure has not been able to handle it.

I think this really interesting because it shows that despite the rampant drug wars and other issues Mexico City is facing there is a push to help the environment even if it comes out of slight interest of wanting the city to not be surrounded by landfills and horribly trashed. A real push for an improvement in how the city's government handles this also shows a huge change perhaps because of the international focus recently on not further hurting the environment (greenhouse gases etc)
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