Clinton: 'U.S. Shares Responsibility In Mexico's Drug War'
La Opinión, Editorial, Staff Posted: Mar 28, 2009
Los Angeles--The drug problem is a transnational challenge that knows no borders. On one side is the demand; on the other the supply that satisfies it. No solution will work that does not attack the issue on both fronts.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Mexico represents an important change in relations between the two nations on this matter. Clinton clearly communicated that the United States shares responsibility in the bloody drug trafficking war Mexico is experiencing due to the high consumption of drugs on American soil that generates money for the cartels, and pays for the flow of arms from north to south.
These are words the Mexican government has wanted to hear for years, for what they represent in the joint strategy for dealing with drug trafficking. Until now the United States has acted as if the problem were exclusively Mexico’s, helping with initiatives like Plan Mérida, but without assuming its fair share of responsibility for the problem.
It should be noted that Clinton’s words are not exclusively for Mexican consumption. The same concept of U.S. responsibility in the drug trafficking problem in Mexico was expressed first by President Obama during his press conference last Tuesday.
Now it remains to be seen what this new assumption of responsibility means in practice. It is estimated that nearly 20 million Americans use drugs regularly, generating millions of dollars for drug traffickers. At the same time, permissive U.S. laws on firearms make it possible for Mexican cartels to traffic arms as well.
This does not mean that the drug problem in the neighboring country is exclusively the fault of the United States. The problem of corruption in Mexico has existed for a long time, but has grown worse with the influx of drug money.
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In War on Drugs, Mexico’s Success Is Our Misfortune
Obama Must Look South
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