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May 5th 2012- 49 people are found dead on the side of a San Juan highway in Mexico many of
whom had their feet, hands and heads cut off (Agren). Not only killings, but mass killings are
becoming far too frequent in Mexico. Over the last 7 years, Mexico has been the grounds to over
60,000 casualties (Mexico Drug War Fast Facts). What is the cause of such an enormous casualty
rate? Geography. Mexico is doomed by their geography.
Mexicos former President Felipe Caldern addressed the problem Mexico faces with geography
in 2010. We live next to the worlds largest drug consumer, and all the world wants to sell them
drugs through our door and our window (Mexico Drug War Fast Facts). The worlds largest drug
consumer he was referring to is none other than The United States of America. When a country is
wedged between a surplus of drugs and the biggest drug consuming country in the world, a gateway
for opportunity exists. Quite simply The United States of Americas estimated narcotics market per
year sits at a whopping $60 billion, according to the United Nations (Kelley. BY THE NUMBERS).
To try and combat the high levels of drug smuggling and profiting off drugs, then President of
Mexico, Felipe Caldern called upon militant actions against organized crime groups or cartels in
December 2006 (Mexico Drug War Fast Facts). Since December 2006 however, Mexico has
experienced a deadly civil war.
Mexican cartels benefit quite handsomely from the roles they play in the overwhelming operation
of handling drugs and smuggling them into The United States of America. CNN reported, Mexican
drug cartels take in between $19 and $29 billion annually from U.S. drug sales (Mexico Drug War
Fast Facts). The Justice Department estimates this annual number as high as $39 billon between
Mexican and Columbian cartels (Kelley. BY THE NUMBERS). With that much money at stake,
competition occurs. Since not a single dollar of this grotesque lump sum was made legally by
cartels they do not compete for it legally.
The cartels have a reputation of being excessively violent with each other and anyone else brave
enough to stand in their way. Killing someone is an act of evil. Decapitating innocent people and
leaving their bodies on the side of a highway is nothing short of a violent war crime. Such violence
led former president of Mexico Felipe Caldern to employ military tactics against these already
hostile, fully-armed cartels in 2006 (Mexico Drug War Fast Facts). Since 2006 over 60,000 people
have been murdered according to a report from Human Rights Watch (Mexico Drug War Fast
Facts). 60,000 people dead. Almost all innocent. However, even through this unimaginable violence
the Mexican people have largely supported Calderns actions. On August 24 2012 the results of a
pew poll demonstrated that 83 percent [of those polled] support Calderns strategy of using the
army to fight the cartels (Mexico Drug War Fast Facts). Who would ever think such a high

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percentage of people would support a war that has claimed so many lives and in doing so has torn
apart a very proud country? Well, when the other option is to lay down and let criminals steal
control of the country, such unimaginable actions for citizens of peaceful countries may be
warranted.
Felipe Caldern is no longer in power in Mexico but the war rages on. In one of his final
statements as President he turned the spotlight on America for giving criminals unlimited access to
weapons (Mexico Drug War Fast Facts). Along the American/Mexican border there are
approximately 6,700 licensed firearm dealers on The States side on the Mexican side only 1. The
United States of Americas role in supplying Mexican criminals with firearms cannot be denied.
CNN reported, [nearly] 70% of guns recovered from Mexican criminal activity from 2007 to 2011,
and traced by the U.S. government, originated from sales in the United States (Mexico Drug War
Fast Facts). Very little has been done on the United States part to lower this number or overall
lower the violence in a neighboring country. Their best effort has been [requiring] gun dealers in
California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to report the sales of semi-automatic rifles under
certain conditions (Mexico Drug War Fast Facts). Under certain conditions isnt good enough nor
should it be seen as acceptable. The United States of America needs to do more to stop the ongoing
violence and drug war in Mexico. The United States of America needs to stop focusing solely on
themselves because clearly that hasnt been working.
Mexicos other neighboring country, Guatemala, has looked into options of preventing violence
over the illegal handling of drugs. Guatemalas President Otto Prez Molina is calling for the
legalization of recreational drugs (Kozloff). He has the support of many other South American
leaders. He does not have the support of the United States leaders however. Without the United
States support, drug legalization would be utterly useless. The United States of America is the
number one drug consuming country in the world violence and fighting over the control of drug
supply will still occur in Mexico and likely other parts of South America as well. Im not sure that
legalization of drugs will help Mexicos position. I fear that cartels will still fight for territory and
ultimately money, and an abundance of it. However, the United States long lasting anti-drug policy
at all costs is not helping. Michael Kelley of Business Insider writes, Since Richard Nixon made
drugs public enemy No. 1 in 1971, the over $1 trillion spent to combat the global drug trade has
led to overflowing U.S. prisons and a devastating drug war in Mexico without stemming the amount
of drugs being trafficked (Kelley. The Secret Service Sex Scandal Overshadowed Another Aspect
of Obamas Trip To Latin America). If a recorded trillion dollars spent over the last 40 plus years
has not even began to make a dent in the amount of drugs being imported and ultimately consumed

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in the United States of America better use of money and resources should be used instead of
mindlessly shelling more money into a failed program that may at best only make the citizens of the
United States of America feel that progress is somewhere over the horizon while their southern
neighbors continue to suffer through a civil war.
Mexico is and has for some time now been doomed by their geography. Other countries need to
step in to lower the levels of devastation occurring in Mexico. Mexico has been hit the hardest by
drug related conflict. Something has to been done. The time for planning should have taken place
long ago. The time for action is now.

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Citations:
Mexico Drug War Fast Facts. CNN. N.p., 2 Sept. 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/02/world/Americas/mexico-drug-war-fast-facts/?
c=&page=0>.
Kelley, Michael. BY THE NUMBES: Why The Mexican Drug War Should Keep You
Awake At Night. Business Insider. Ed. Michael Kelly. N.p., 18 June 2012. Web. 3 Nov.
2013. <http://www.businessinsider.com/Mexican-drug-war-statistics-2012-6>.
Kelley, Michael. The Secret Service Sex Scandal Overshadowed Another Aspect of
Obamas Trip To Latin America. Business Insider. N.p., 16 Apr. 2012. Web 7 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.businessinsider.com/talk-of-sex-and-drugs-dominated-obamas-recent-trip-tolatin-america-2012-4>.
Kozloff, Nikalos. The Summit of the Americas, WikiLeaks and the failed war on
drugs. www.aljazeera.com. N.p., 13 Apr. 2012. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. <http://
www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/04/20122413115618939119.html>.
Agren, David. "Authorities find 49 bodies dumped on Mexican highway."
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://
usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-05-13/monterrey-mexico-bodies/
54936080/1>.