Lawyers, guns and money… take two

Bill Weinberg in WW4 Report:

The government of Mexican President Felipe Calderón has issued a formal request to the US Congress for a huge increase in military aid to combat narco-gangs. The request came in a recent US-Mexico Inter-Parliamentary Meeting held in Austin, TX, and was revealed to the Mexican daily La Jornada by Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), leader of the House Intelligence Committee. La Jornada called the request a “Plan Colombia” for Mexico, although without an actual US military troop presence. (La Jornada, June 8 )

The revelation comes amid growing concern about the militarization of Mexico since Calderón took office late last year. Miguel Alessio Robles, Gobernación Sub-secretary for Human Rights, accused Amnesty International of “exaggerating” in a new report about the lack of basic guarantees in Mexico, saying the situation is “ten times better than in any other period in the country.” (La Jornada, June 5 )

Ricardo Ravelo, who writes for Proceso, and knows more about the drug biz than anyone, does not think this is a good idea. He was interviewed in today’s Austin American-Statesman by Jeremy Schwartz:

What do you think of President Felipe Calderon’s strategy of sending in the military to confront the cartels?

What we’re seeing in Mexico is a faithful copy of what happened in Colombia during the 1980s and 1990s when there was a struggle to eliminate the cartels of Cali and Medellin. Even though this was accomplished, what’s also certain is that by mobilizing the army, the extraditions (of drug bosses to the United States) and all the deaths in Colombia, the fight against drug traffickers was a failure because Colombia currently has more drugs and more trafficking activity than it did in that era.

If I could give an image, it would be that the Mexican government is spraying with a shotgun instead of shooting with precision. The strategy is focused on the streets . . . but not against money laundering or arms trafficking.