(Goodman, 2011)

Mexico. Poor wretch.
A PUT-UP JOB
Barbara Wigman How to write a paper 9/20/13

LECTURER: W.G. GOLDMAN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES OF ARNHEM AND NIJMEGEN

MEXICO. POOR WRETCH.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 2 Part I: Origins of the war ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Part II: Government versus government ................................................................................................................. 3 Part III: A put-up job? .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Part IV: enclosure .................................................................................................................................................... 4 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................................ 5

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INTRODUCTION
The war-on-drugs is a widely known phenomena all over the world. When pinpointing the war-on-drugs, Mexico is mostly the first country which comes to mind. Poor wretch, or not? It is no big secret that the greatest drug dealer of the world is Mexico, and that his neighbour; the United States of America (US), is the greatest narcotic consumer of the world. Is this a coincidence? Obviously not! No doubt that these two influence each other big time. The question remaining is: Who was first; The chicken or the egg? In this paper a reflexion will be given upon the relation between the greatest drug dealer and the greatest narcotic consumer. The war-on-drugs has already claimed a lot of lives, especially in Mexico. The drug-problem already exists. Figuring out whose fault it is or where it started will not change the violent atmosphere of the drug cartels in Mexico or the desperate need and million-dollar-market for narcotic substances in the US. It matters how the two governments deal with it now. There is no doubt that Mexico suffers under the violent atmosphere of the drug cartels. To get a clear understanding the paper is divided up in four pieces: Part one will be a brief explanation about the origins of the war-on-drugs and why it started (I). Part two will give further information how the governments are dealing with the war. Has the Mexican government lost control of its own territory? A cheeky question, but fierce and vivid (II). Who is fighting a war against who? The real question is whether there is an actual fight against the drug trade or whether too many parties earn too much money from the drug trade. Is this a put-up job (III)? In the last part a short enclosure will be given to conclude and comment on the previous discussed subjects (IV). The research of this short paper is done by means of literature already published about the war-on-drugs. The most important source was Wellinga (1999). The bibliography can be found on page 5.

HOW TO WRITE A PAPER. BARBARA WIGMAN

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PART I: ORIGINS OF THE WAR
A junky had to come into contact with narcotic substances first before he became a junky. Once you become a junky, you’ll only want more and probably do anything for this. The consumers in the US spend approximately fifty billion dollars on these drugs, making the US responsible for fifty per cent of the global usage on narcotic substances. Not to forget that the US is also the largest supplier of weapons in the world. Mexico on the other side is responsible for sixty per cent of the trade in Colombian cocaine and the greatest producer of marihuana, heroin and other synthetic drugs (Wellinga, 1999). Approximately ninety per cent of the cocaine consumed in the US reaches the US through the southern border. The term ‘war-on-drugs’ was not widely used until President Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 1974 to announce the fight against drugs (Suddath, 2009). In the eighties President Reagan of the US piled it up by declaring war to all drug producers, -traders and –consumers (Wiering, Berio, & Oudheusden, 2010). When President Calderón was elected as new Mexican president in 2006, he declared open season on drug cartels sending a troop 0f 6500 soldiers to squash the killing between two rival drug cartels. President Calderón ordered his forces to end the power of the drug cartels with all means necessary. In 2007 his public security minister also removed 284 corrupt federal police commissioners. The cartels responded to the actions of President Calderón with an endless stream of violence (Suddath, 2009). The homicides related to the drug trade has taken up to 47 515 lives between December 2006 and September 2012 according to the Mexican government (ANP, 2012).

PART II: GOVERNMENT VERSUS GOVERNMENT
The greatest consumer of the world; the US, is also responsible, due to the war-on-drugs, to hand out a report on a yearly bases with certifications and decertifications concerning the measures taken by countries against the war-on-drugs. A conspicuous occupation for the greatest consumer of the world. If a country receives a decertification, investments and permits of import and export are subdued. Even more conspicuous is the fact that the greatest drug dealer in the world, Mexico, has never received a decertification. Probably due to its position ‘Poor Mexico, So of being the second trading partner of the US. The Mexicans think the whole decertification project far from God and is hypocrite anyway, because in their opinion the drug problem is caused by the consumers. Acso close to the US’ cording to them the drug problem will be solved as soon as the demand for drugs disappears. Even (Wellinga, 1999) worse, as the Mexican president Zedille once said: ‘Decertificate us? The US should compensate us for the severe consequences of the demand for drugs they have! (Wellinga, 1999). Drug related violence in Mexico has gotten so bad that Arizona, the state next to Mexico, has also suffered several drugrelated incidences of violence. The US spends $630 each second in the war-on-drugs and arrest one person of a drugrelated suspicion every twenty seconds. Also every day 117 persons are send to prison for at least five years due to a drug-related offense. Resulting in approximately two million prisoners in the US related to drug-crimes (Wiering, Berio, & Oudheusden, 2010). The US blames the Mexican government of having lost control of its own territory. Where Mexico responds that they share their border with the biggest consumer of drugs in the world and the largest supplier of weapons in the world (Suddath, 2009).

PART III: A PUT-UP JOB?
Let’s face it, the drug trade does not only bring misery to Mexico: it offers approximately 350 000 jobs in a country where jobs are scarce. Besides, the drug industry also provides complementary wages for the underpaid officers and soldiers in charge of the war-on-drugs. It is no big secret that the Mexican authorities are corrupt and that the politicians and officials gladly look the other way as long as they get paid (Wellinga, 1999). The war-on-drugs has until this day not resulted in a decrease of the usage of drugs. The war is a never ending game of narcotic whack-a-mole, the dip in the use of one type of drug almost automatically leads to a rise of another (Suddath, 2009). The most important result of the war-on-drugs is the fact that more money is made due to the war-on-drugs. It has become a vicious circle where too many parties are involved and too much money is made. For instance: the police has, instead of being a crime fighter, become a successful entrepreneur in arresting every potential drug criminal and dispose the convict of all his money and belongings. Also the privatised prison sector is earning a lot of money with the two million drug-related prisoners. Not to forget the rehab clinics and other treatment centres, who tries to keep convicts out of prison by treatment and helps junkies to get up on their feet again. And naturally happily welcomes the junk again after a relapse, obviously against a good price tag (Wiering, Berio, & Oudheusden, 2010). A question which rises here is what is more important? The war-against-drugs or making a huge profit out of the drug trade. One thing is undeniable, as long as the US and Mexico don’t stop pointing at each other and start to work together, no solution will be found and the war will continue in a never ending stream of violence.

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PART IV: ENCLOSURE
The war-on-drugs is a very interesting subject with juicy stories to it. The US and Mexican government are so far entangled that it is difficult to see where their real intention is. The US and Mexico blame each other for the problem. The US blames Mexico of having lost control of its own territory and letting the drug cartels do their jobs unpunished and Mexico blames the US for not being able to solve their own problem of being the greatest drug consumer of the world and also the largest supplier of weapons in the world. It seems like the war-on-drugs is profitable on both sides. However, it still costs a lot of lives and the more Mexico is fighting, the more bloody it gets. It’s as if Mexico is trapped in a spider’s web, the more it fights, the more entangled Mexico gets. But calling Mexico a poor wretch would be unfair though. Both countries carry their share of guild. Mexico should stop the drug cartels by stop being corrupt, however this is impossible if the US doesn’t cooperate by punishing the abuse of drug harsher. The border between Mexico and the US should be stricter on both sides. The only way to end the war in the favour of the government is by shaking hands and work together.

Source: http://www.myfoxla.com

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

ANP. (2012, Augustus 20). Verdrievoudiging moorden Mexico sinds 2005. Retrieved from Nu.nl: http://www.nu.nl/buitenland/2888870/verdrievoudiging-moorden-mexico-sinds-2005.html Goodman, A. (2011, June 15). The war on drugs bitter blowback. Retrieved from Theguardian.com: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jun/15/mexico-war-on-drugs-guns Suddath, C. (2009, March 25). A brief history of the war on drugs. Time World. Wellinga, D. K. (1999). De 'versoaping'van Mexico. Symposium Spaans in Onderwijs, Onderzoek en Bedrijfsleven, 6785. Wiering, F., Berio, C., & Oudheusden, O. (2010, February 17). De War On Drugs 1. Retrieved from Tegenlicht.vpro.nl: http://tegenlicht.vpro.nl/afleveringen/2002-2003/de-war-on-drugs-deel-i.html

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