Mexico isn’t just for Spring Break.

This morning I talked for quite a while with one of my co-workers about the issues in Mexico right now. I didn’t realize how severe the problem has gotten with the Mexican Drug Cartels. Mexico is being completely over-run  with these drug cartels and there isn’t anything that citizens can do about it. The drug cartels want the rights over land and trails that lead into the U.S. so that they can traffic drugs and make loads of money for themselves. If you own land and they want it, you are obligated to either sell it to them (if they even offer you money) or be killed for not complying. You can’t get around giving the drug cartels what they want. Money is their main objective. If you are not on their side, you are slain. If you get in their way, slain. The numbers and numbers of bodies are drastically increasing and at this point, cannot be kept track of. Obviously the trails are being fought over to traffic the drugs, but what would the drug cartels need land for? To burn and bury bodies. My co-workers grandfather is renting his land to the drug cartels because they need it for this very purpose. If he denied them the right to pay for this land they will take it and kill not only him, but family as well. His family is in America though, so they have nothing to worry about, right? Wrong. I was informed that “they have tons of people here” for that purpose. They communicate with the drug cartels and locate families living in the U.S. and either kill them, or if they can discover a family here with money that is linked to a family member in Mexico that has not complied, they will take them for ransom.

Doesn’t Mexico have a President, a Government? Why aren’t they doing anything about it? Yes, President Felipe Calderon, and because there are no means of protection from these acts. The Mexican Government do not have aircrafts or excessive arms like we do in the U.S. Since these drug cartels have made such an act of using these trails into the U.S. to traffic drugs, why not traffic arms as well? They have, and they are. Anti-aircraft capable weapons, ammunition, 5 rifles, a grenade and part of a grenade launcher were all recovered yesterday in Mexico in association with the drug cartels. The government cannot stop these cartels with these kinds of weapons, for they do not house anything like that themselves. President Obama is set to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon this week to talk about the issue and see what needs to be done, mainly because these occurences are happening just miles away from the Mexico/Texas borders. The borders are so large that they cannot be contained yet something needs to happen. President Obama has promised that there will be more done to stop gun trafficing from the U.S. to Mexico and has pledged to dispatch 500 more federal agents to the border, along with X-ray machines and drug sniffing dogs.

There is clearly a problem. One that cannot be solved within its own country. The government is powerless to the actions and lives that are being taken. What do we do? What does America offer as a solution? Does America even offer a solution? Does America even attempt to help? At this point, being  just miles from the border, security must be locked down to ensure the complete safety of American citizens. Once that is taken care of though, what is next? Do we act to help Mexico? Do we let the country destroy itself right before our eyes or do we take action and help?

~ by hstringer on April 15, 2009.