I have been following the trends of crime that has spurted out of different countries, conflicted by the presence of drugs and thereafter, the cartels. It is difficult to not witness what is happening, with social media being such an integrated part of society, that inevitably means that the modern cartels will also have an appearance in it as well. I follow a page called “Hoodsite”, a page that brings current events and news throughout the world, but on the contrary of normal news, it’s the graphic and sensitive news that most people can’t talk about. So, when I scroll through the monotony of social media, the troubling news comes up of the violence that is present and very much disturbing society today. The news of a new death, whether it may be that of a rival cartel member or innocent people caught up in the midst of violence that they had no stake in, inevitably appears and I can’t help but ponder why? It appears that the violence will always be a response to the demand of power in the never-ending war on drugs.
The article, “Undermining Mexico’s Dangerous Drug Cartels.” delves into the topic of the various drug cartels present today in Mexico. It is highlighted for the government to take notice of the presence of the cartels and the violence they represent. Unfortunately, they also highlight the Mexican government’s corruption that allowed the criminal organizations to grow to the extent that they are at now. Within the article, the author uses factual statements backed by the current day government of the rise of crime and as a direct effect, the violence. They source cartel beheadings and their crimes of extortion, kidnapping and trafficking of humans and drugs as the source of violence within the states of Mexico. The authors purpose is to inform that the presence of these cartels is becoming more negatively impactful on the innocent people caught in the midst of this war.
The article, “Mexican Drug War.” Is another perspective into the behind-the-scenes of the drug war occurring within Mexico. Rather, this is a more empathic approach to people for the understanding of the violence linked directly to the trafficking of drugs within its country. The author supports her position with the introduction of factual statements that source the introduction of Mexican cartels after their fall out with the cartels of foreign countries. Rather than maintain its position as the drug traffickers, Mexico took upon the role of drug manufacturer and exporter. With this came the violence of rival cartels and the demand for power and fear that resulted in multiple gruesome executions and heinous crimes throughout the country. The author uses vivid imagery to display just how gruesome these acts. The moment that engages our hearts is the moments described of unnecessary pain and suffering inflicted on the people that are caught and extortion for the profit of the cartels. The author emphasizes their innocence yet the gruesomeness of their consequences for not complying with the demands of the cartels. Trapped between a rock and death.
The article, “The Logic of Violence in the Mexican Drug War.” Emphasizes the use of violence by the cartels as a manner of maintaining control over people. They source violence as their driving force in their struggle to become the largest drug cartel in the nation and by association, the richest. The author cites that the levels of violence are directly associated with the level of illegality being dealt with. With the higher demand for drugs around the world, Mexico has cemented itself as one of the largest drug trafficking nation in the world. Yet with that title, comes the exact ranking of violence. The author backs his position with the factual statistics and crime rates occurring within the nation. It shows that after the Mexican cartels began to emerge in the 1920’s, the rates of crime rose further and faster as the years past. He compares Mexico to Colombia, to show a relatability between the rise in crime in Colombia during the reign of Pablo Escobar, as to the rise of crime in Mexico in the wakes of multiple cartels.
The article, “Bringing the State to the Slum: Confronting Organized Crime and Urban Violence in Latin America.” is a report from government officials in Mexico examining the rise in violence directly associated with the expansion of cartels within the Americas. The authors are not biased towards any side, but rather have gathered up factual evidence to support their statements in an orderly report to the Mexican government. The authors site the interactions between foreign Hispanic countries that opened Mexico to the profits of the drug trade. Upon the downfall of the Mexican traffickers and the South American suppliers, the formation of cartels within Mexico began to occur and the corruption of the government then that aided its growth. They source that the consumption and demand for the drugs in America is the driving force behind the cartels. They traffic anything that gives profit. The author cites the traffic of drugs, good and humans as their primary source of income. The secondary source is cited to be extortion of local exporters and their properties. A rise in the profits but also in the violence projected onto innocent people.
Work Cited
Carpenter, Ted. “Undermining Mexico’s Dangerous Drug Cartels.” Cato Institute. N.p.. Web. http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/undermining-mexicos-dangerous-drug-cartels.
Smith, Phillip. “Mexican Drug War.” StopTheDrugWar.org. N.p.. Web. http://stopthedrugwar.org/topics/drug_war_issues/source_countries/mexican_drug_war.
Lessing, Benjamin. “The Logic of Violence in the Mexican Drug War.” Mitacs, , www.mitacs.ca/en/projects/logic-violence-mexican-drug-war.
Felbab-Brown, Vanda. “Bringing the State to the Slum: Confronting Organized Crime and Urban Violence in Latin America.” Brookings, Brookings, www.brookings.edu/research/bringing-the-state-to-the-slum-confronting-organized-crime-and-urban-violence-in-latin-america/.Lessing, and Benjamin.
“The Logic of Violence in Criminal War: Cartel-State Conflict in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil.” EScholarship, University of California, 20 Sept. 2013, escholarship.org/uc/item/03m9r44h#page=124.
Benjamin, Kooning. “Logics of Violence in Criminal War – Kooning Benjamin, 2015.” SAGE Journals, journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022002715587100.Violent Corruption and Violent Lobbying: The Logic(s) of … assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a09ddbed915d622c001c09/60730_Kooning_Violent_corruption.pdf.
I had seen a movie before called ‘The City of God’, which followed the story of the group of youths from an impoverished city called The City of God in Brazil. In that movie, you get an inside view of the lives of these delinquents and the people surrounding them, the tales of murder, stealing, the drug trade, and the inevitability of death when someone is in that business. Highly recommend it. This movie inspired me to take time to research what is the actual causes powering the drug trade forward in these countries, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, and if it is possible to find a solution to end it once and for all. My process will go through a similar rundown of each place and then comparatively discuss their individual cases. First, identifying the main cause of people beginning to get involved in the drug trade, from the manufacturers, to the low-level sellers, all the way to the heads of the cartels. Secondly, I will discuss how it has not only affected them but inevitably, the innocent people within the radius of that war zone. Finally, to comparatively discuss the commons of these three places, and ultimately, if it can be stopped. There’s simply a side of the story that I wasn’t getting through the properly documented reports and researches proposed on why the drug trade was still at large in these countries. I’ve researched interviews with people involved with the cartels at all levels and people that are not, simply victims of the trade occurring in their homes. I’ve also researched the governments perspective on what is occurring. They provide an outside perspective of why the drug trade is occurring, what they are doing about it, and the possible solutions that they have to combat this threat. While the problem is the same, all three sides have a different solution to these situations. It’s a quite a lot of information and right now I’m organizing it to spearhead my first draft of the inquiry-based essay. I figured that the reasons behind the drug trade would have a common ground of poverty and abandonment from the government, which is a common ground that the drug trade is based on. The different governments are taking different solutions to this problem, but the common struggle that leads me to believe that the drug war won’t be able to end, as a personal opinion, is that the demand for drugs will never end, and if the demand for drugs never ends, there will never be a lack of supply. Someone will always step forward to take over the lucrative business that is drugs.
