The U.S. has “finally admitted” its guilt, said Mexico City’s El Universal in an editorial. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during her visit to Mexico last week that Americans’ “insatiable” demand for illegal drugs and the U.S.’s inability to prevent illegal gunrunning to Mexico were two major causes of Mexico’s bloody drug war. It’s about time. More than 6,000 people were killed in the drug conflict last year, mostly in the area near the U.S. border. Yet U.S. newspapers barely cover the bloodshed, and until now, American officials deflected any suggestion of American culpability. But Clinton’s statement, while welcome, is just a first step. To win the U.S. war on drugs, the Obama administration will have to convince Congress “to invest money in this country,” both for helicopters and other technology we can use to combat smugglers and to create employment, so drug cartels find it harder to recruit. The American people need to be told that “to help Mexico is to help themselves.”
Hillary could be that messenger, said J. Jaime Hernandez, also in El Universal. She has always been a friend of Mexico. Ever since her time early in her career as a community organizer in Texas, Hillary has been a “strong advocate of Hispanic voting rights.” Some of her closest friends are Latino politicians and activists. She refers to the U.S.-Mexico relationship as “a family relationship,” and many Mexicans really do think of her as family. If anyone can navigate the “disagreements and misunderstandings” between the two countries, she can.
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