{"id":1486,"date":"2011-09-21T08:42:34","date_gmt":"2011-09-21T12:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/09\/calderon-contra-la-guerra-de-las-drogas.html"},"modified":"2011-09-21T08:42:34","modified_gmt":"2011-09-21T12:42:34","slug":"calderon-contra-la-guerra-de-las-drogas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/09\/calderon-contra-la-guerra-de-las-drogas.html","title":{"rendered":"Calder\u00f3n contra la Guerra de las Drogas?"},"content":{"rendered":"Juan Carlos Hidalgo wrote for Cato 20 September 2011,\n\nCalder\u00f3n Hints at Drug Legalization Again<\/a>,\n
\n\n<\/a>\nMexican President Felipe Calder\u00f3n seems to be experiencing a dramatic\nchange of mind regarding his war against drug cartels. Soon after a\ndrug gang set fire to a casino in Monterrey a few weeks ago killing\n52 people,\n\nCalder\u00f3n told the media<\/a> that \u201dIf [the Americans] are\ndetermined and resigned to consuming drugs, they should look for market\nalternatives that annul the stratospheric profits of the criminals, or\nestablish clear points of access that are not the border with Mexico.\u201d\nMany people interpreted that as a veiled reference to drug legalization.\n<\/blockquote>\nThe referenced story by Julian Miglierini 1 September 2011 for BBC News\nalso said the Mexican president went farther:\n\nMonterrey attack: Game-changer in Mexico’s drugs war?<\/a>\n
\nHours after it took place, the president described it “as an abhorrent act\nof terror and savagery” and later said the authors were “true terrorists”.\n<\/blockquote>\nWhen you think about the billions or trillions the U.S. and other\ncountries spend against terrorists who cause less damage than the\nMexican drug cartels, he could be indicating that priorities are\nmisdirected.\n

\nThe Cato article says Calder\u00f3n has now gone further:\n\n\n

\n\n<\/a>\nYesterday, during a speech to the Americas Society and Council of\nthe Americas in New York,\n\nCalder\u00f3n was at it again:<\/a>\n\u201cWe must do everything to reduce demand for drugs,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if the\nconsumption of drugs cannot be limited, then decision-makers must seek\nmore solutions — including market alternatives —\nin order to reduce the astronomical earnings of criminal organizations.\u201d\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<\/a>\nAnd that story, by Dave Graham for Reuters 20 September 2011,\n\nMexico president hints legalizing drugs may be needed<\/a>,\nsaid Calder\u00f3n made clear which decision-makers he was referring to:\n
\n“We are living in the same building. And our neighbour is the largest\nconsumer of drugs in the world. And everybody wants to sell him drugs\nthrough our doors and our windows,” he said.\n<\/blockquote>\nThe Cato article says Calder\u00f3n is following the precedent of his predecessors:\n
\n\n<\/a>\nHis two immediate predecessors, Ernesto Zedillo and Vicente Fox, have been\nvocal proponents of drug legalization in the years since they left office.\n<\/blockquote>\nThe big difference is Calder\u00f3n is now at least hinting while he is still\nin office.\nAnd this from the man who sent the Mexican army into the streets in 2006\nwith more than 40,000 dead since then.\nIf a head of government formerly that hard-line against drugs now\nturns against the drug war, the tide has indeed turned.\n

\n\n<\/a>\nNone of these articles mention\n\nthe 50,000 people who marched in Cuernavaca 6 April 2011<\/a>\nor the even larger number who\n\nmarched in Mexico City in May<\/a>, in what many called Mexico’s Arab Spring.\nOr this man,\n\nJavier Sicilia<\/a>,\nwho\n\nclimbed on a tank in his hometown of Cuernavaca<\/a>\nand told the Army to go home to the barracks.\nThis man, who\n\nin Mexico City said:<\/a>\n

\n\n<\/a>\n\u201cWe don’t want more dead. We don’t want more hate.\u201d\n
\n\u201cPresident Felipe Calderon —\nshow you are listening to us, and make the public safety secretary resign.\u201d\n<\/blockquote>\nEvidently Calder\u00f3n is finally listening.\nMaybe the demonstrations made the Mexican president pay attention when\nthere were more deaths.\nMaybe demonstrations work, which would explain why the corporate media\ndon’t like to mention them.\n

\n\n<\/a>\nAnyway,\nNo mas Guerra de las Drogas<\/a>.\nAnd we don’t need to fuel that failed drug war with a private prison\nin Lowndes County, Georgia.\nSpend those tax dollars on education and rehabilitation instead.\n

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