Trump wants a war with the cartals, and he may only get one

This raises fundamental questions. “If they will classify drug traffickers as terrorists, would they also include Americans who are part of these networks? Because we are not only talking about famous drug gangs, but also trafficking, money laundering, arms smuggling and others.” There is a tremendous complexity in determining where the cartel begins and where it ends. There is a dispersion between actors, organizations and relations on both sides of the border involved in drug smuggling. Talking about drug terrorism means talking about something mysterious and inaccurate. This term is not supported by concrete evidence, and its use is political prominently.

According to Zavala, the narration allows personalities like President Trump to use the concept of drug terrorism as a tool for intimidation, threat and extortion towards the Mexican government. “Instead of describing the facts, drug terrorism is based on spectral concepts, and on political ghosts used to force Mexico to align with Washington’s interests,” he says.

Executive order to intervene militarily in Mexico

Military intervention in Mexican territory through selective raids aimed at damaging gangs is something on the US radar screen for some time now. But analysts say this will be a strong blow to the Trump administration.

“Using the concept of drug terrorism, the United States government itself enables itself to intervene militarily in Mexico. This is very complicated, because interference in this way would cause great harm to bilateral relations, which is a very sensitive relationship. It is almost unimaginable (the idea of ​​a military aggression ), “Explain Zapala. “I think that in addition to boasting, the Mexican government was generally biased because our security policy was always subordinate and eventually violated, and even alternated by the United States.”

Mexico President Claudia Shinbom said on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. There were no details about the conversation, but she said it was a “very friendly conversation” and discussed “immigration and security issues.” Rubio said he would prefer any action and any decision that Washington made with the approval and cooperation of the Mexican government.

“Gangs are not present”

Oswaldo Zapala (Siodad Khwariz, 1975) specialized in the Mexican narration, and has an alternative vision of the phenomenon of drugs in Mexico. He believes that the image of the Cartitals power is exaggerated and sponsored by the state. author Fake drug wars between the United States and Mexico: State Authority, Organized Crime, and Political History of Migrants (1975-2012)He explains to WIRED magazine that the war against drug smuggling is generally based on fictional, contradictory and ridiculous concepts often, which gradually constitute a imagination that displays drug trafficking in an anxious way.

“The United States government has been able with great skill to create a long list of concepts, monsters and criminal actors that not only dominate the public debate in the United States, but also in Mexico. Thus, when the Americans want this, it becomes an organization or another in the 1980s, as a way For example, Cartel Guadalajara, with characters like Raphael Caro Quintero and Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo explained Zapala: “Chapo Joseman, and later Amadou Cario, today, the conversation revolves around Fntanil, and above all, Cartel Sinaloa.”

Zavala believes that the narration used by the United States government is only a way to simplify a complex problem, and to give a healthy sense of discussion that would have become more complicated without that. “If we take into account that a large part of drug consumption occurs in the United States, and that there are organizations within that country that facilitates trafficking and money laundering, and in many cases, they are the same as the seriousness of Mexican organizations or more dangerous, then the discussion is what these accounts do then is Simplifying the situation and presenting Mexico as the main enemy of the security of the United States, and by doing this, the United States government can interfere not only at the media, but also at the political and diplomatic level.

He warns, “We have to be very careful in dealing with the novels that are generated from Washington.” “It is necessary to learn how to analyze it critically and to distance ourselves from what is told us. This process is neither easy nor fast, because unfortunately, the Mexican government is not repeated only these accounts, but also the media is repeated by the media, and sometimes the institutions and other actors pay them, What makes matters more complicated is the creation of a popular culture that feeds these ideas: they already exist today race About the fentanel, on the “Shinito” and the assumed criminal empires of gangs. It is very difficult to escape from all this. “

The war that left more than 100,000 people missing

More than 100,000 people have been missing in Mexico since 1964, when the missing statistics began. The national record of disappeared and unknown persons has exceeded this number for months, which is evidence of the serious situation in the country. Most of these people have been registered as lost since 2006, when the Felipe Calderon administration, who went down to the streets to combat organized crime violence.

“Many of the most dangerous effects of the anti -drug policy that we have suffered in Mexico for decades. More than half a million murders since the beginning of militarization during the era of President Calderon, and more than 100,000 cases of forced disappearance. We know that all this violence has been unloaded says Zapala. He is surprised when people are upset with what Trump says: “Above all, against the poor and racist youth with brown skin, who live in the most deprived areas in the country.”

According to the researcher, military violence is often expressed as a form of social control, as an administration of violence. “You will not see militarization in areas such as Condisa or Roma, but on the outskirts of the city of Mexico, in the poorest areas. Violence occurs in the outskirts, in the poorest neighborhoods, where there are not even sufficient resources. Zapala says:“ Monitoring by the media or rights institutions man”.

Zavala says that what should surprise us are the very high rates of the violence we are witnessing, as the background of what is really happening, and not for something that has not happened yet. “I think we still do not fully understand that this violence is clear after my class. It is not a circular violence, but it is systematic and directed against the most vulnerable sectors in society,” he says.

The solution: disarming the country

The decision made by Calderon 16 years ago to assign the army to the responsibility of public security in many regions of the country showed us its deadly consequences. Enrique Benia Nieto and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, during their election campaign, have pledged to restore peace, security and clothing to us. However, as soon as they reach power, both of them submitted proposals to enhance the Military General Security model, through legislation and even constitutional reforms. The situation does not seem to change with the management of Claudia Shinbom.

In this way, the new heads of Mexico maintained a “peace and security” policy based on a military strategy, and justified this policy with the supposed operational deficit enjoyed by police institutions in the face of organized crime.

“I agree with the opinion that the necessity of criminalizing drugs, addiction processing, and all of this. But in my opinion, most of the violence in Mexico is not necessarily related to drug trafficking, but rather the experience of the same militarization. I think there are strong experimental statements that support this idea. Zavala explains: “We know that there is militarization” before “and” after “in Mexico.” .