Puffed Rice… or “Heck of a job, Felipe!”
During his presidential campaign, Calderón said he would rule Mexico with a “firm hand.” That firm hand has predictably turned into an iron fist. There are currently 40,000 federal soldiers deployed in 11 states. Since Calderón declared open war on organized crime a year and a half ago,
- Over 4,152 people have died in drug-related deaths;
- 87 unresolved formal complaints of crimes against journalists have accumulated in the Mexican Attorney General’s office;
- Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission has documented 634 cases of military abuse;
- The country’s homicide rate has increased by 47 percent;
- And there have been at least 223 disappearances during Calderón’s term so far – 23-30 political disappearances and approximately 200 cartel-related disappearances.
To make matters worse, on July 1, 2008, videos surfaced showing US-based private contractors torturing police in León, Guanajuato, as part of a course aimed at preparing the cops for the war on organized crime. Mexican press and human rights organizations say the police were tortured so that they learn to torture. The courses were initiated, paid for, and defended by local officials from Calderón’s National Action Party (PAN).
Meanwhile, Condaleeze Rice has come to Puerto Vallera to shore up support from the largely irrelevant Bush Administration for the Calderon Administration’s continued “war on (some) drugs”. Apparently, the other couple of wars the United States is not fighting by proxy, the internationally condemned practice of keeping an foriegn penal colony open, and the world-wide disaster brought on by the Bushista’s decision to save bankers and investement brokers from their own stupidity isn’t important enough to keep the Secretary of State occupied during her remaining tenure. The United States has ignored the drug/gun/money laundering issue (along with the immigration issue, and the destruction done to Mexican agriculture by U.S. farm policy), so I suppose they have to pretend they’re paying some attentin to their neighbors. And, heck, if I was Condaleeze Rice, I might want to get away to Puerto Vallerta for a few days too.
Having ignored Mexico except for when the administration can sell weapons to this country. It’s a little late in the day for it to be dawning on the U.S. that this drug war is their problem:
The Bush administration increasingly sees the violent clashes in Mexico as a threat to American security…
Even though the White House successfully pushed through Congress $400 million in aid for Mexico’s antidrug effort, Mr. Calderón has complained of the need for even more focused attention from the United States. Not only is America the world’s largest market for illegal narcotics, but it also provides much of the weaponry used by Mexican cartels.
Much? Try MOST.
mexfiles.net 