Cooperación: Acknowledging the U.S. role in combating the War on Drugs

As I stepped onto the House floor, I followed the line of fellow staffers ahead of me. We slowly wrapped around the perimeter of the room, and as I peered through the crowd of Senators, Members of Congress, and Mexican diplomats, I smiled with delight at my first glimpse of the Vice President and Speaker, positioned stoically at the podium ahead.  As I anxiously waited for the joint meeting to be called to order, I began to wonder whether Mexican President Felipe Calderon would address the Congress in Spanish or English, with me hoping the latter, as my Spanish language abilities were no longer as strong as they once were. As I was thinking, I saw a gentleman with an earpiece walk towards me. He advised me to follow him, where he led me to an empty seat in the second row. Fifteen feet in front of me was the Vice President and the Speaker, who were engaging in a conversation that I was able to hear with my own ears! Wow. “Pinch me now,” I thought.

As the Speaker banged her gavel and called the Joint Meeting to order,  members of the President’s cabinet entered, led by Secretary Holder, followed by Secretary Salazar, and reared by Secretary Napolitano. Senate Majority Leader Reid walked alongside one of Illinois’ finest, Majority Whip Senator Durbin, accompanied by Senator Kerry, House Minority Leader Boehner, and Senate Minority leader McConnell. Margarita Zavala, the wife of the President of Mexico preceded her husband. Entering the chamber, he walked down the center aisle, smiling and shaking hands with the various dignitaries he greeted. As Mexican President Calderon assumed his position at the podium, I stood there, smiling and filled with great appreciation and excitement for the moment in which I found myself encountering. Mr. Calderon expressed gratitude to the Congress for the opportunity to address the legislative body and immediately began to tackle a variety of issues, from the broken immigration system in the U.S, to the recovering Mexican economy, to the controversial Arizona law, to narco-trafficking, an issue I was most interested.

Within the last year, I have become  engaged in this issue, from questioning the effectiveness of US-funded efforts like the $1.4 billion Merida initiative to acknowledging the insecurity and instability that is all too prevalent in many Latin American cities and towns, realities that threaten the rule of law and weaken democratic institutions in these respective nations. President Calderon called upon the U.S. Congress to reinstate an automatic weapons ban that expired in 2004, a decision which has resulted in the transfer of deadly arms to drug cartels throughout Mexico and much of Central America. The weapons allow these drug traffickers the means to wage full-out war on the Mexican state, resulting in the deaths of 23,000 Mexicans since President Calderon assumed office in 2006. As the violence continues to spill over into the U.S., we acknowledge that this is not only a joint Mexican-U.S. problem, but one that the U.S. has created with our insatiable demand for illegal drugs. I always believed that if more Americans maintained a stronger connection with his or her Latin American neighbor, we might just think twice before we decided to smoke our pot. If we had any idea what it felt like to have our cities taken over by cartels, or to have family members caught in cross-fires and incidents of mistaken identities, we might just chose contrary actions. As President Calderon spoke this past Thursday morning, I recognized that I was a witness to history, a small snippet in this long and painful narrative known as the War on Drugs. I can optimistically declare that we will win this effort, yet, only if the US, Mexico and the rest of Latin America continues to work as mutual partners, each acknowledging the unique responsibility one another plays. If we fail, we will only guarantee continued violence, death and instability in a region where democracies are young, economic equity proves challenging and social conditions are less than encouraging. In our increasingly globalized world, we as Americans recognize that these realities will continue to have real negative implications on our own national security. The decision is obvious but the path is less clear. Will Americans step up to the plate? I simply find no other option.

To view President Calderon’s address, please visit the following site.

Advertisement