Can Anyone Fix Mexico's Image?
That's the question Malcolm Beith poses in his well written article on some of the issues facing Mexico. Beith writes "Mexico's economy is growing, tourism is rebounding, security in some parts of the country has never been better, and the middle class is continuing to expand. So the key question going into 2012 is: Can anyone put back together Mexico's broken image, both on the world stage and at home?" It's a question many who live in and love Mexico are asking. Here's the entire article. Enjoy. Labels: Felipe Calderone, Malcolm Beith, Mexican Politics, mexico, Narcotraficantes |
posted by Dave Miller at 10:05 AM
Comments on "Can Anyone Fix Mexico's Image?"
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Tim said ... (1:10 PM) :
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Dave Miller said ... (1:18 PM) :
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Tim said ... (5:27 PM) :
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dmarks said ... (7:22 PM) :
post a commentThis is a tough nut to crack. I think it was a mistake to let the army loose on the drug cartels. I think that they should seriously take a look at legalizing drugs and regulating it. I did not appreciate Calderone saying that it was America's fault because of our "insatiable appetite" for drugs, and demanding that we do something to help defeat the cartels. I have not been down there in about 15 years, but seriously 40,000 deaths just is like a neon sign telling tourists to stay away until they get this thing sorted out.
This is a big issue. Lots of Americans were pretty pissed off at those comments.
I wonder if it had more to do with location than reality?
The fact is, if Americans do not use drugs, Mexico has no real drug problem. The majority of folks there are more focused on getting the $$$ together than buying drugs with their non existent money.
In all my conversations with people from across the spectrum in Mexico on the army, and the fight against the cartels, no one has a different idea.
You could legalize drugs in Mexico, but unless we do that here, how will that change the metrics of the situation?
It is just devilishly perplexing.
I will say this though... by and large, Mexico is very safe for tourists, if you use common sense. Otherwise I would not encourage people to travel with me and see how incredible the place is...
Certainly it can't be any worse than Detroit. It seems like there are so many drive by shootings, backyard party arguments that turn into shootings, metal detectors and police in the Detroit Public Schools (they actually have their own department)and it all mainly revolves around the drug culture.
Just like the 1920's we have seen that prohibition does not work. Then, it was booze from Canada, and now it is drugs from Mexico. I really think that if drugs had been legal in the 1960's, we would not have seen the crack cocaine, followed by the methamphetamine scourges of today. I see no other answer to this problem. Even in countries like China, where they have the death penalty for even the tiniest amount of cannabis, there are users there. In my opinion the focus should be on treatment and rehabilitation and not law enforcement. This would lower the profit and eliminate the violence.
Tim said: "I did not appreciate Calderone saying that it was America's fault because of our "insatiable appetite" for drugs, and demanding that we do something to help defeat the cartels."
I completely agree with the first part of the statement. Calderone was right. American drug abusers are the root cause of this problem, and if we cracked down on them effectively, Mexico would have a lot less of this problem also.
With legal drugs, we'd see a LOT more crack and meth. All limitations to the abuse of them would be gone, and industries would be able to market them openly. I oppose legalizing drug abuse, because we need less of it, not more. Law enforcement reduces drug abuse.
But this would not stop us from focusing on treatment also.