Jas Elmer
Professor Dylan Craig
SIS 105-001H
October 30, 2011
Why NGOs and IGOs are Most
Effective in Combating Drug Cartels in Mexico
One of the most present forms of
international crime which is visible today is the drug trade. The border
between the United States and Mexico is very dangerous and some “Mexican cities and regions suffer from extraordinarily high levels of
violence, higher than found in many war zones” (Reuters). The violence has also
been crossing into the United States and Texas law enforcement officials say
that “several Mexican
drug cartels are luring youngsters as young as 11 to work in their smuggling
operations” (Yahoo News). The drug trade is affecting many people and has been
putting “strains on Mexico’s relations with the United States” (Reuters). Controlling
the violence of drug cartels has become a top priority of both countries. However,
the fight against the drug trade has been unsuccessful because the methods used
against the drug cartels have been inefficient and have actually sparked more
violence. This is because the wrong actors have been fighting against the drug
cartels.
There
are five actors which can control international crime: governments, reporters,
NGOs, IGOs and business. Businesses are not equipped to handle this problem.
This is because the drugs which are crossing the border into the United States
are illegal and therefore not sold in businesses. Businesses have been able to
monitor what they are selling in order to have a positive influence in other
situations, such as ending blood diamonds, working against sweat shops, or
other businesses with unfair working conditions. However, because drugs are a
part of the black market, businesses will not be able to impact this issue in a
similar manner. Therefore we are left with four possible actors which can deal
with this problem.
There are two ways with which these
actors can fight against drug cartels. They can either fight directly against
the cartels by using legal, political or military force to weaken them or they
can target the underlying cause of the drug trade and improve the social and
economic problems Mexicans face which leads people to join drug cartels. Governments
and reporters have been fighting against the drug cartels using the first
method for many years. However, even though they have effectively captured many
drug cartel leaders, they have not been able to lessen the impact of cartels
and the impact and violent nature of these groups have actually increased. This
is not due to lack of effort or knowledge, governments and the media both have
important roles in dealing with transnational crime. However in this situation,
the use of law enforcement, the media and the government is not the most
effective way to control the issue. Achievement will only be reached through
changes in the Mexican society which can be most easily achieved by NGOs and
IGOs.
Attempts to control the cartels
through law enforcement have failed. Upon election in 2006 Felipe Calderon
declared war upon drug-traffickers. This has led to an increase in violence and
drug related violence “has become increasingly organized and paramilitary in
character, including gruesome decapitations, mutilations, mass executions and
extreme torture. More than 44,000 people have died in this surge of violence” (Reuters).
Military control of this issue does not work because of the vast impact which
these cartels have and because the cartels have more power than the government.
Because there are so many people in
the drug cartels and because so many people are still willing to join the
cartels the authorities cannot use violence against them. There are so many
people in these cartels that the “killings and
arrests of drug kingpins have done no more than shuffle the leadership of the
cartels” (Latin American Herald Tribune). Therefore the war on cartels hasn’t
actually weakened them.
In recent years the United States
government has been providing aid to Mexico because they have not been able to
end cartel violence on their own. However corruption has become more prevalent,
“new figures show 122 current or former U.S. federal agents and employees of
the Customs and Border Protection agency have been arrested or indicted for
corruption since October 2004” (ABC News). One border agent from Texas who was
arrested said that he originally began working with the cartels for security
purposes because he feared for his life and the lives of his family (ABC News).
He also believed that “the cartel was more powerful than the U.S. government”
(ABC News). He went on to say that the cartels have spies
throughout U.S. law enforcement at the city, county and federal level and that
their resources give them unlimited power (ABC News). Because the
Mexican and the US government have specific laws, such as human rights laws,
which they must abide by, many people feel more threatened by the cartels than
they do by the governments. Therefore, many people believe it would be in their
own interests and their families’ best interest in order to join a cartel for
protection. This shows that military actions are not effective in resolving
this issue because it does not target the reasons why people would want to join
a cartel. As long as Mexican society still harbors an atmosphere in which
people feel the need to join a drug cartel, military action will not yield
results. Instead both governments will grow increasingly frustrated by their
lack of progress as more people simply fill the roles of people they have
already taken out of power. Reporters are also ineffective in solving this
issue.
The main reasons which the media can’t impact this issue
is because it is dangerous for reporters, journalists and social media workers
and also because many of this media actually influences drug cartels. Due to
threats and murders against reporters “newspapers, TV and radio stations [have]
stopped reporting on drug-related violence” (Burnett). This has made people
dependent upon social media. However, bloggers and other people engaging in
social media have begun to receive threats as well (Burnett). Reporters also lack
efficiency because the reason reporters can be successful is they can inform
people of an issue and get them rallied behind a cause; the Mexican population
is already well aware of the issue. Also the majority of media includes “images
of murder, torture and even beheadings” (Burnett). Although this is used in an
attempt to show people the atrocities which the cartels are committing, it
instead instills fear in the Mexican population and urges more people to aid
the cartels in order to ensure their own safety. Although the media can
effectively weaken the image of the cartels which in many cases would weaken
their influence the media is not successful in this case because only the
second method of combatting transnational crime will be effective. The only way
to successfully fight against the cartels is through NGOs and IGOs.
The best way to combat drug cartels
is to improve the economic, social and political situations in Mexico so that
people do not want to join the cartels. One
NGO which is fighting against crime in Mexico is reintegra, which in English
means reintegrate. They discourage citizens, especially young people, from
joining cartels by improving education, providing more outlets for students to
engage in cultural, recreational and artistic activities and also by warning
youth about the dangers of addictions and of the cartels (Reintegra). If young
people are educated they will not have to join cartels to earn money and they
will not want to join the cartels because they will understand the cost of
doing so.
NGOs and IGOs have the power to
change the social issues in Mexico. In order to weaken the drug cartels we need
to strengthen education and other factors which discourage people from joining
cartels. The use of military force and the media has encouraged drug cartels
and has led to the deaths of many citizens, law enforcement personnel, soldiers
and reporters. Instead of increasing military actions, Mexico and the United
States should increase funding and expand the number of NGOs and IGOs which are
working to combat against Mexico’s social issues, thereby persuading people to
work and attend school instead of joining cartels.
Works Cited
Burnett, John.
"Mexican Drug Cartels Now
Menace Social Media." npr.org. NPR, 23 Sept.
2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
"Get Army Out
of Crime Fighting, Icon of Mexican Left Says." lath.com. Latin American Herald
Tribune, 2009. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
"Jailed U.S. Border Agent Scary Inside Look at Drug
Cartels." abcnews.go.com. ABC News, 20 Sept.
2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
"Mexican drug cartels recruiting
Texas children." news.yahoo.com. Yahoo News, 18 Oct.
2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
Reintegra. Reintegra: Sumando
Redes Para Prevenir el Delito, 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
Thank you, Jas. This was incredibly intriguing and a great analysis overall of the drug cartel issue. I have to ask though: even if the children of Mexico are brought up with information learned from NGOs and IGOs and know to stay away from the cartels, how will this influence those that are already in? And while this works in a possible long term manner to corrode the base on which the drug cartels stand, it still does not address the issue of the cartels making the people feel threatened. Are there any possible ways to address that lack of security beyond the ones you mentioned? They just seem to be running into problems and only seem to exacerbate the problem more often than not. Also how do you think the one official arrested for corruption saw the cartel as more powerful than the U.S. government? (That statement really intrigued me)
ReplyDeleteJas,
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting and insightful briefing paper. I was wondering how you thought the media should balance their portrayals of the atrocities committed by the Mexican cartels. Is it better to eliminate the gruesomeness of the acts of the cartels entirely in reports and instead focus more on statistics? The problem with statistics though of course is that some people tend not to believe statistical data. If the journalistic community instead chose to focus more on the progress being made against cartels by the NGOs and IGOs you mentioned in your paper, would this make people more likely to undermine the cartels via education programs, as you stated? Perhaps some sort of symbiotic partnership could be formed that still truthfully informed the Mexican population? People react better to good news and are more likely to ignore or get annoyed at the fear-driven images journalists have been publishing throughout the cartel wars.
Jas, this was very intriguing. Living in Southern California, I was close to the issues surrounding the drug cartel and drug trafficking. I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I was under the impression that often times businesses have a huge influence on drug trafficking. I thought that businees owners are either forces or voluntarily involve themselves in drug trafficking? Also, I found your argument that IGO's and NGO's are crucial in stopping the drug cartel in Mexico to be very interesting. Many of the IGO's and NGO's in Mexico are corrupt and are involved in the drug cartel. THerefore, it would be nearly impossible to place trust in most of the organizations (wheter part of the ogvernment or not) to stop the problems of the drug cartel. I was wondering what you thought about this, because I could be completely wrong.
ReplyDeleteWill- Honestly, I think it is very hard to reach the people who are already involved in the drug cartels. I think the only way people could effectively get people out of cartels would be to give them an education and other tools which would give them the power to relocate to a different area where the cartel they are associated with are not as prominent.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this solution does not address the issue of security as much as military forces do. But before this increase in militarization attacks on civilians, cops and government officials were less common. Obviously an active police force should still be on patrol especially in hot spots. However, I think in this case having less military would actually be beneficial because the cartels wouldn't feel as threatened.
I was also very intrigued by that article and by what this guard had to say. Obviously the cartels don't control nuclear weapons or other means of measuring power. But as far as the guard was concerned he truly did find the cartels as more threatening and powerful to his well being. There was no chance of the American government torturing him or killing his family however for many people who come into such close contact with the cartels this was a very real possibility and he therefore believed that the threat of the cartel was more persuasive than the consequences of the American government.
rbartola- I think it depends on where the news is being broadcasted. I think within Mexico statistics could be safer. But in the United States and other countries I think including the gruesome acts of the cartels could actually be beneficial. Many movies such as Blood Diamonds or Invisible Children have shown the atrocities of different groups and have actually helped foreign citizens mobilize and provide aid to people, I think more information about the drug cartels could work in a similar manner. I agree with you that people react better to good news and I think highlighting the progress of NGOs and IGOs could bring hope and progress to Mexico.
hlewis- Thank you for your comment, not living so close to the border I would definitely enjoy any insight you may have. I have heard about individuals, who may be involved in a business or corporation, engaging in activities with drug cartels. However, I haven't actually heard of specific businesses. That definitely does not mean it isn't happening though. Have you heard of businesses involved in drug trafficking and if so how?
Corruption is definitely an issue throughout Mexico and I'm sure the NGOs and IGOs are not exempt from this. However, even if an organization is giving money to a cartel or if the leaders of an organization have been forced into a cartel themselves, couldn't they still be effective if they were still offering education and other tools for children? Obviously it would be ideal if they had no connection to the cartels however I think at this point many have no ties to a cartel and others are managing to make improvements while dealing with corruption.
Great paper, Jas! I'm working on a briefing paper about how media attention on an issue affects legislation, and I thought your insight about the media's role in the cartel issue--that gruesome images actually make people feel unsafe and they rally behind the cartels to improve their security--was very interesting; it seems that the cartels have become larger than life entities that have the ability to work around the rules. Are there other examples where media attention actually inhibits action out of fear?
ReplyDeleteJas - While reading your post about NGOs influence in getting rid of drug cartels in Mexico, it brought to mind my time in El Salvador when I met with an NGO, called Homies Unidos, founded by former gang members with the mission of getting rid of gangs in El Salvador (because it is a very prominent source of violence there). Trying to stop drug cartels and gang violence is very similar because these two things essentially start at a young age, so NGOs - or even governments and churches - should step in to ingrain education into society for children.
ReplyDeleteCaroline- I think the Mexican drug cartels is a good example but I think it occurs often whenever there is violence. Gruesome images portrayed in the media over time I think have prohibited from people acting against against an entity they believe wrong in occasions such as the drug trade, gangs in general or even genocides. On a less drastic note I believe the media also prevents actions in our day to day lives from people being afraid to participate in protests after seeing police brutality or being afraid to invest in stocks after seeing the current state of the stock market.
ReplyDeleteMollie- I completely agree. I'm glad you brought up churches, it was a factor I did not mention but would be a very powerful factor in both Mexico and other Latin American countries due to the overwhelmingly Christian and Catholic populations. Homies Unidos sounds like a great organization, I'll be sure to look them up.
Jas-
ReplyDeleteDo you think that socio-economic solutions that try to keep children from joining cartels in the first place necessarily have to come from NGOs, or does it make a difference if they come from the government? This would have the advantage of more funding. While NGOs have a distinct advantage in that they are non-partisan outside players, they are also far more limited in scope than the government. In order to reach as many children as possible, it might be more effective to direct these programs through the government, in conjunction with the NGOs of course.
Sean-
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point. I think government programs could be equally beneficial if they joined NGOs in offering funding to improve socio-economic solutions. I think the most important thing is that governments avoid trying to solve this problem solely by military means.