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 Editorials | Opinions | October 2007 
Mexico Needs US Aid to Combat Drug Lords, Cartels
 Tucson Citizen
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| | Mexico's Deputy Public Safety Secretary Patricio Patino, center, leaves after giving a press conference in Mexico City, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007. Patino said that he expects to receive airplanes to fight criminality in the so-called 'Merida Initiative', a plan in which the U.S. government is vowing to spend US$1.4 billion to help Mexico battle drug trafficking. (AP/Alexandre Meneghini) |
Congress should approve $500 million to help Mexico combat its drug cartels, which have been terrorizing our borderlands with unprecedented violence, including killings of police chiefs in Sonora.
The proposal by Mexico, seeking to cooperate with the United States to eradicate drug trafficking, is a historic step by a nation whose military long has refused most offers of U.S. aid.
The $1.4 billion "Merida Initiative" would start with $500 million for surveillance aircraft, police training, high-tech communications gear and weapons to modernize Mexican crime-fighting.
Congress is debating the package, but any opposition is illogical, as residents of southern Arizona can attest.
While many citizens perceive the U.S. "war on drugs" to be ineffectual, the scenario in Mexico is far different.
There, gunfire erupts in broad daylight as drug lords duel for dominance. The violence has leached across our border, with gunfire between Mexican drug lords becoming far too common in Arizona.
Today's wealthy drug lords possess more powerful and lethal weapons than their Mexican law enforcement officers do.
Few Mexicans oppose the Merida Initiative, perhaps a sign of a desire that matches ours for peace and security.
Members of Congress should not oppose this effort either.
Our nation has a golden opportunity to help our southern neighbor quell its drug trafficking and violence.
If successful, the initiative could spur similar cooperation on issues such as immigration and terrorism.
Mexico certainly has demonstrated a much greater willingness to cooperate with the United States.
As drug violence has wracked Mexico, its government has changed tactics.
U.S. police aid to Mexico nearly tripled under past President Vicente Fox, from $15.7 million in 2000 to $45.8 million in 2006, the Center for International Policy reports.
Fox also extradited more drug smuggling suspects to the U.S., including a record 63 in 2006.
And in 2003, U.S. military trainers were allowed to give classes in Mexico City on counterterrorism and intelligence, and some Mexican students even trained at Fort Huachuca.
Now President Felipe Calderón is pushing even harder to eliminate drug cartels, sending troops into violence-riddled Tijuana, Nuevo Laredo and the state of Michoacán.
The evolution of Mexican governmental attitudes should usher in a whole new era in our nations' collaborations.
In this age of terrorism, with ever-climbing rates of illegal immigration and drug smuggling from Mexico, such a change is critically needed.
Arizonans especially could benefit from an end to drug smuggling into our state and the gunfire that comes with it.
We urge Congress - particularly the Arizona delegation - to enact this aid package as a key step.
The northward flow of drugs and violence must be stopped.
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