Best columns: Mexico’s drug wars: Can the gangs be beaten?
Drug gangs in Mexico still have the upper hand in spite of the crackdown launched by President Felipe Calderón when he became president.
Mexico’s drug war is growing ever more violent, said Jorge Ramos Avalos in Miami’s El Nuevo Herald, as rival cartels battle for control of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana smuggling routes across the northern border. In Tijuana, over the border from San Diego, troops locked down the hospital at which eight injured gang members had sought treatment—to keep them from being either rescued or finished off. In Juárez, on the Texas border, where the local cartel is being challenged by the nationwide cartel run by the notorious Joaquin “El Chapo” (Shorty) Guzman, everyone has a story to tell—from the car dealer who watched as his neighbor’s throat was cut in front of the man’s 4-year-old daughter to the tourists who mistook the sound of “executions” next to their hotel for fireworks.
There have been 4,500 killings in the 18 months since conservative President Felipe Calderón was elected to office and promptly launched a crackdown, said Cuauhtémoc Ramos Escobar in Mexico’s El Universal. No doubt the police and army have done serious damage to the gangs: Hundreds of middle-ranking operatives have been seized, along with vast stashes of drugs, arms, and cash. But the leaders are still at large. Shorty Guzman, for example, has evaded capture by constantly changing his appearance and never using a mobile phone more than once.
The gangs may not have been beaten, but Calderón nevertheless looks like a winner, said Jacobo Garcia in Spain’s El Mundo. Calderón won the 2006 election by a hairsbreadth, and for a while his position looked shaky. But he has shown an unexpected streak of toughness, passing crucial tax and pension reforms and making a priority of beating the drug traffickers. Now his approval rating is 64 percent, the highest on
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
the continent.
Bully for him, but the gangs still have the upper hand, said Richard Mack in The Arizona Republic. Mexico is paying the price of sharing a long and porous border with the world’s biggest consumer of illegal drugs—the U.S. As always, the proposed solution is “more money, soldiers, and guns.” A $1.4 billion package to help Calderón is now moving through Congress. But as a former police officer who served on the front line of the drug war, I know this is only a feel-good solution that solves nothing. Let’s face it: The only long-term remedy is to legalize the drug business. Ending Prohibition cut off the profits of the criminal syndicates controlling the flow of booze. The same would happen with drugs, if only the politicians had the guts to try it.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Big Tech's answer for AI-driven job loss: universal basic income
In The Spotlight A new study reveals the strengths and limitations
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
'I will not be silent' on Gaza, says Kamala Harris
Speed Read In a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harris supported Israel's right to defend itself while expressing a desire to end Palestinian suffering
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
'How long can TikTok dominate as a social network?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published