How to Transform Drug Policy in Mexico: Suggestions to the Next President
The upcoming presidential elections in Mexico may provide an opportunity to break from the failed policies of the ongoing “war on drugs” and pursue an alternative, rights-based, and public health-centered drug policy. After discussing the social costs and self-defeating rhetoric of the “war on drugs”, this paper offers some hope that a change is in the air, and makes several concrete policy recommendations for the incoming president.
Fueling Conflict in Colombia: Land rights and the political ecology of oil palm
Biofuels have been presented as a solution to many social and economic problems, and have attracted equally strong criticism. In Colombia, palm oil production has been suggested as an alternative to coca, however, as Olivia Gilmore explains, the scheme may cause as many problems as it solves.
Mexico’s “War on Drugs”: A Successful Strategy?
Researcher Pamela Huerta offers a nuanced review of Mexico’s anti-drug policy and untangles some of the many socio-economic, political, and institutional factors that have led to heightened levels of violence in the country. As the author demonstrates, the Mexican case sheds light on the larger questions of violence in the region and around the world, especially as they relate to highly profitable and illegal economic activities.
Political transition in Mexico and the growth of corruption and violence
Recently, Mexico inaugurated a new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, on the 1st December 2012, who promised to boost the economy, and reduce organised crime. The return of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) after a 12 years absence has not been a welcome change for the whole population. Mass protests against Mexico’s new president have been organized, and dozens of protesters have been imprisoned for voicing their opposition.
The presence of the PRI in the Mexican presidency in 2012 is a complex phenomenon, which shows that the consolidation of democracy was incomplete, and the National Action Party, PAN, failed in leading the democratic transition.
In July of 2000, Mexico got a new President, coming from a different Political Party for the first time in 71 years of the ruling PRI. The arrival of the candidate of the PAN, Vicente Fox (2000-2006) to the Presidency marked a new moment in the history of the country. Fox was the result of a long political process, which was known as a Democratic Transition. Many expectations were opened not only in terms of Democratic practices among the political parties, institutions, and entrepreneurs, but also in hope to improve the quality of life of the millions of Mexicans that live in extreme poverty.
However, after a few months of Fox’s government, corruption and violence appeared in different parts of the country. Even, Fox would be involved in many scandals of corruption. Later in 2006, another candidate of the same party arrived to the presidency, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (2006-July 2012) who also promised to accomplish the project of the Democratic Transition, and a few months after, he launched “the war against drugs”, deploying more than 50,000 troops, and since then more than 47,500 people have been killed. Violence, impunity, abuse of power and corruption in all institutions has flourished around the country: police, army, politicians, teachers and doctors have been connected with corruption and narco-trafficking. In this context, the following questions are raised: Why the change of the political party in power since 2000 did not end corruption, despite the campaigned promises of the National Action Party, PAN? Was it the lack of political will or structural reasons? Why do corruption and violence flourish in a country with more democracy in place? What is wrong with the democratic process that causes the increase of social instability and violence? This article attempts to explore these questions. As well as presenting a general picture of the backlash of the democratic transition with the return of the PRI to the presidency in July 2012 and the challenges of the new Mexican president to achieve a solid democratic consolidation.
The Argentine Transition to Democracy: Half-Steps, Breakdown and Revival
Miranda Ronghi offers deep analysis into the precedent-setting truth and reconciliation process as experienced in Argentina’s decades-long transition to democracy following a violently repressive military dictatorship.
The Summit of the Americas: An Overview
The Summit of the Americas: An Overview Author: Benjamin Hess Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on: 11/17/2005 While the most enduring images of the fourth annual Summit of the Americas will be those of anti-U.S. rioters looting businesses and clashing with police on the streets of Mar del Plata, the annual meeting […]
The Perfect Storm: Impunity and Violence against Women in Guatemala
The high levels of violence in Central America are often experssed as gender-based violence against women. This article discusses the use of violence against women as a weapon of war, as well as its presistence long into times of “peace”. By adressing the problems of femicide, domestic violence, and other forms of brutality directed at women and girls, we can also address the culture of violence more generally, in Guatemala, and beyond.
Why Honduras matters to Chavez
Why Honduras matters to Chavez Author: Will Grant Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on: 07/07/2009 As the situation unfolds at pace in Honduras, state television in Venezuela is not letting up on its coverage. It interviewed President Manuel Zelaya live from his airplane as he tried to return to Honduras on Sunday […]
Women in the Nicaraguan guerilla movement
Key Words: Nicaragua, Samoza Dictatorship, Latin America, central America, Revolution, Gender Analysis, Violence, Non-Violence
Victory Does Not Give Rights: The Colombian/US incursion into Ecuador
Marco Rossi discusses the recent invasion of Ecuador’s national sovereignty in light of the tension between military activities justified by the war on terror and the established principles of international relations embodied by the UN and the OAS.