Bloodshed On the Border

Decriminalize and legalize cocaine and marijuana. With all the money the government will be making from the exorbitant tax we can educate the populace better. The government will also be saving billions with less people in the prison system.

The legalization will also take out the stigma of drugs as something exotic. Less people will want to try it if you take away the mysteries of it and just show people what happens when you do take it. Look at countries like Canada or the Netherlands where the drugs are decriminalize. You do not see rampant drug abuse.

Assuming that the Mexican government is impotent, and it is incumbent on the U.S. to address the problem (a good assumption), the solution to the Juarez/El Paso situation is simple, obvious, and terrible. Close the border for 5 years, and the cartels will move elsewhere. In the meantime prepare a re-opening solution that will be more effective in regulating border traffic. The illicit cross-border trade cannot survive that long, and will seek different ground quickly.
Unfortunately the downside is too painful for politicians to accept - mainly the 2.2 billion dollars in El Paso trade that is at risk, and secondarily the family ties that would be severed by this action. Juarez would shrivel, and so would El Paso. The commercial impact is huge, but at the end of the day we need to decide whether El Paso is a Mexican city or a Texas city. An unpleasant choice, but one must prioritize.
The upside is that a 5 year closure could be tolerated by family and the local economy could be supported by special federal aid. A second-grader could figure this out - but then second-graders don't have constituencies.

mgallardo

So, what do you think the cartels would do if marijuana were legalized in the U.S.?

I am a current resident of Juarez Mexico who is extremely afraid and angry about the situation in Mexico. I am glad to see an article like this one publishing a story about what is happening right now in Juarez. Most of this story is accurate, however, I would like to clarify a few things about the military involvement in this matter. I have firsthand experience with the violent military attacks that are occurring in this city. Not only will our own Military illegally enter a home without a warrant, but they will proceed to search, steal, and kidnap anyone they choose in that household as well. Innocent people are being taken against their will and subjected to both physical and psychological torture and if they're lucky are released. Local citizens are fearful of the drug cartel, the police, and now our own military who were supposed to protect us. The sad reality is that honest, hard working, responsible citizens are having to flea from their own homes in order to find safety. Yes there is bloodshed in Juarez, but what about those who are still alive and have no more livelihood? Is it fair that upstanding citizens are having to leave behind their jobs and family all because of the recklessness of others and lack of concern from their own government? Because of articles such as this one, international awareness of the tragic situation in Mexico can hopefully ignite much needed change.

I am a current resident of Juarez Mexico who is extremely afraid and angry about the situation in Mexico. I am glad to see an article like this one publishing a story about what is happening right now in Juarez. Most of this story is accurate, however, I would like to clarify a few things about the military involvement in this matter. I have firsthand experience with the violent military attacks that are occurring in this city. Not only will our own Military illegally enter a home without a warrant, but they will proceed to search, steal, and kidnap anyone they choose in that household as well. Innocent people are being taken against their will and subjected to both physical and psychological torture and if they're lucky are released. Local citizens are fearful of the drug cartel, the police, and now our own military who were supposed to protect us. The sad reality is that honest, hard working, responsible citizens are having to flea from their own homes in order to find safety. Yes there is bloodshed in Juarez, but what about those who are still alive and have no more livleihood? Is it fair that upstanding citizens are having to leave behind their jobs and family all because of the recklessness of others and lack of concern from their own government? Because of articles such as this one, international awareness of the tragic situation in Mexico can hopefully ignite much needed change.

aizak23

What do you think the cartels would do if marijuana were legalized in the U.S.?

Hey I'm a proudly resident of Juarez and the Aztecas are gone, I don't know where they told him that the Aztecas still had some power here, but the truth is that the Sinaloa and Juarez cartel are the ones fighting. the leader of the Juarez cartel (J.R.) is the one burning local businesses because the owners prefer the SInaloa cartel (el chapo). Ironically, we DO have law here, there are tons of soldiers driving around the city.

Thank you Newsweek for finally getting off your Obamamania and actually doing your jobs.....reporting to the American public about events that are significant to our well being....Finally!!!! Thank you!

sadly, unprincipled criminals take advantage of the border to further their interests. Certainly they fill a nyche (like quiche) that our penchant for drugs creates, but they also represent a huge problem north and south. Just look at the enormous profits the pharmaceutical companies reap alongside of them and you can see the potential for abuse whether legal or not. Drugs are not in and of themselves dangerous, but obviously become so when allowed to be controlled by cartels of producers/transporters/distributors.

We can never stop drugs. Give it up, tax it and use the revenue. why waste the lives of our Law Enforcement in a war that will never end and can't be won? While I'm at it, our government has never considered it a problem in looking the other way and sometimes even encouraging drug trade with those we use to battle the regimes we hold as enemies. We lament the Afgans growing poppy but we could destroy those fields whenever we wanted. As far as weed goes, it should be street legal to anyone of drinking age with the same restrictions as it pertains to operating a vehicle. A FRIEND WITH WEED IS A FRIEND INDEED!

A friend of mine works for Delphi in Juarez, he was approached by a motorcycle cop to pull into a deserted location, my friend refused. Telling the moto cop "for what reason should I go there". The cop pulled his gun on my friend and robbed him of his wallet. My friend walked away unscathed yet traumatized. I believe it is only a matter of time before our re-active government will step up and begin protecting America citizens working for American companies called Maquilas located in Juarez.

Its time for the U.S. Government to turn its attention back to Mexico in its War on Drugs. They should start by labeling these Drug Cartels terrorist organizations and by sending in Delta Force(read Killing Pablo) to track and kill all the heads of these drug organizations. These types of acts in sending hit sqauds into our country to kidnap and murder in the past would have been deemed an act of war. This is unreal! We have to wake up America and ask ourselves, How do we see this ending?

WE SHOULD HAVE TO SECRETARY OF STATES ONE FOR THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE AND ONE FOR THE OTHER SIDE. A SPECIAL POST SHOULD BE GIVEN TO RICHARDSON SO HE CAN DEAL WITH THIS SIDE OF THE HEMISPHERE, WHICH NEEDS A LOT OF WORK.

The solution to this problem is so simple, but the U.S. corporate/government junta will stop at nothing to keep the people from seeing it. It is found in this line of the article:

"Going back to Prohibition, Juarez has helped sate the ravenous American appetite for contraband. "

Alcohol prohibition created the huge problem of crime and corruption personified by the ruthless Al Capone. This was the primary reason we ended it. So, how much simpler to end marijuana prohibition when every major government study has shown it is non-addictive and far less harmful than alcohol? Nothing else will solve the problem. More prohibition and "enforcement" just creates more violence. Marijuana prohibition is the gangsters' greatest friend.

This article ends with this line:

"Residents on both sides of the border share his disgust--and his dread that the violence will never let up. "

It won't until we end marijuana prohibition. Are we concerned enough to do the right thing yet?

Folks,

We in Mexico have already come to a few realizations regarding our internal war against organized crime:

1) Regardless of how horrific and illogical it seems to US citizens, this is a necessary evil. We do not have a choice, this war has now been declared, the body count is mounting, it will grow, and we all must have the stomach for it. The alternative is a failed state like Somalia. In essence, there is no alternative.

If the USA was able to lose hundreds of thousands of dead during WWII alone, Mexico lost millions during the Revolution, then we should now buckle down, and accept that this is our, (Mexico's), own version of the Great Patriotic War (as the old Russia ended up calling their version of WWII). IT IS TIME TO PAY THE PIPER. IT IS TIME TO TAKE BACK THE COUNTRY AND FIX EVERYTHING WE DESTROYED THROUGH DECADES OF "NOT CARING WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DID...PERIOD!!!

We in Mexico, have unfortunately let this grow to this point, many people made money, and even more people looked the other way. It took 70 years to create a system, as well as a society, that did not question government, and or whomever had the power. In today's case we are being confronted by the realization that after 70 years of complacency, and a ONE PARTY SYSTEM, we gave impunity, corruption, and an utter disregard for the rule of law a chance to flourish to such a degree that it created the perfect storm for organized crime.

It is also important to realize that the largest market for drugs is the USA, as well as the largest provider of guns to Mexico. This does not help what so ever. Even if we took these 2 points off the table, the problem is Mexico's, at the moment, due to it's history. The USA must act according to its conscience, and philosophy, outside of these two things. The US has its own issues to deal with and we hope our neighbor is succesful.

2) We in Mexico know we are alone; the USA has it's own issues, and unfortunately, after reading most of the comments in a variety of periodicals throughout the USA and Europe, North Americans have little if any interest in what happens to Mexico or it's people; I am not sure why, but the level of hate towards us from your populace is unlike I have ever experienced. You think more highly of your WWII enemies who killed so many of you, and are quicker to forgive them for what they did, than you are for what we as Mexicans have to done to ourselves (and indirectly affected you).

From what I read, most people up north wish we would just sink to the bottom of the ocean. Even if we did not have this crime problem, and or immigration problem, this is how North Americans think, and that will never change. We are not perfect, but remember that we are also not the enemy.

Regards.

ANYTIME YOU DECLARE WAR ON SOMETHING YOU ARE ALREADY ADMITTING DEFEAT. THE ONLY PROBLEM WITH MEXICO IS THAT ITS NEXT TO UNITED STATES. MEXICO WILL ALWAYS BE A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY. ITS TIME FOR PANCHO VILLA TO COME FROM THE HILLS TO FIX ALL THESE PROBLEMS.