Tinfoil questions on the Mexican drug wars

The violence in Mexico/on the border reminds me of the crack cocaine/Medellin/Cali cartel 80s & the explosion of violence connected with it, & the associated CIA/contra trafficking.

Looking at the history of drug epidemics & associated rises in violence, it seems there's often backstory like this. Does anyone have thoughts on what the backstory might be in this case?

but I don't think that's what you mean... :shrug::hi:

& crime went down.

but no, i was mostly wondering about covert intelligence activities & political currents in mexico.

kind of "why *now*?" there's always been drug trafficking through mexico, so what's going on now that's increasing the violence?

That was mentioned on MSNBC last night. But I think you mean something more covert... :shrug: :scared:

When I was a teenager I went into Mexico with my Dad and my grandmother and my Dad had me carry two bottles of gin back into Arizona with me. I guess each person could carry two. I was underage and I looked fairly young, but nobody gave me a second glance. After all that, my Dad didn't like the gin, said it "tasted funny..." :D

Bush* let it expire. :-(

so I would say it's a good thing Bush let it expire.

Don't know who brought it up first, but the question was how we can stop the shipments of illegal guns to Mexico and the shipments of illegal drugs into the U.S. which have resulted in the current increase in violent gang activity.

Questions Surround the Sarkozys’ Private Visit to Mexico
“The hotel belongs to Roberto Hernandez Ramirez, a millionaire banker accused by some of being connected to Mexican drug cartels”

By Le Monde.fr avec AFP
Le Monde
March 17, 2009

...The Sarkozys arrived in Mexico on Friday, March 6, with the intention of passing a few days in a luxurious hotel complex in Tamarindo, on the Pacific coast. Two and a half days of vacations, visits, and dinners “at the invitation of President Calderón,” said the Elysée Palace .

This statement was put in doubt by the radio station RTL, which maintains, citing an anonymous Mexican diplomat, that the Mexican president did not, under any circumstances, finance a stay “outside of a State residence.” The radio mentioned Roberto Hernandez Ramirez as the presidential pair’s benefactor. Hernandez Ramirez is a millionaire banker who is accused by some of being connected to Mexican drug cartels. One of the Yucatan properties where the couple stayed during their trip belongs to him, according to the radio station.

http://www.narconews.com/Issue56/article3433.html

.. is the violence really suddenly increasing dramatically, or is it just the not news hype story of the week. And if so, why?

Chavez has already quietly reverse-engineered the AK's he received from Russia, and with the ports of Venezuela having been recently militarized, the export of these arms to the highest bidder in Mexico will be too hard to resist.

The cache of brand new shiny AK's found in a wharehouse in Tampico will be the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Though these rifles will have no arsenal marks (factory of origin) or unique selector markings, the use of acapro for the stocks will be a dead giveaway.

Only speculation of course, could NEVER happen, check is in the mail....... ;)

Now that a) the terra war has lost its ahem, urgency and b) there's probably more undocumented labor traffic going back to Mexico as coming from it, they need another reason to keep up the insane but profitable militarization of the border, which is basically more welfare for the MIC. Calderon, who was Diebolded into office, appears to be a willing "partner" in our new war on whatever.

When the Feds went after mid-range mob bosses in the '70s, there was a massive, violent struggle for power.
Calderon has done essentially the same thing. Cartels have split, and a struggle for power and money has ensued.

If anyone notices, the murder rate shot up after his "election" in 2006: from http://latamthought.org/tag/cartels/
"The astronomical murder rate in Mexico since President Felipe Calderón declared war on the cartels in his country (over 4,000 gang-related deaths since 1 January 2008), stories of horrific fighting, kidnappings, police corruption, and arrests of cartel leaders are becoming increasingly common across US media. That one of the world’s most dangerous and violent places lies just south of the Rio Grande makes for interesting and disturbing news."

I study Mexico and its peoples for a living. This is an extremely interesting time for scholars of Mexico and I just returned from 9 months of study and research there. I'm skeptical of the media-yes the border is a mess right now, but the rest of Mexico is functioning rather normally, to the point where I've told my mother she's perfectly safe going there in June.

A dirty secret as the vast amounts of money being made in narcotics is interwoven with governments and banks around the world. It washes the money that ended up in the scams of Sanford and Madoff as well as many other "offshore" operations.

I don't see it like the 80's...there's no wars in the region to directly fund, but indirectly...arming both the governments and the drug runners. We hear of the massive flow of weapons south of the border and you know whose making a nice profit on that...while on the other hand, selling weapons to the governments who are fighting them. The money flows, the drugs flow, the circle spins around and around.

Think about the current financial situation...billions have been lost and there are some looking for a way to quickly recover their losses.

President Uribe of Colombia is wealthy from the drug trade (his father) and family members of at least three recent Mexican presidents have been implicated in drugs and/or money laundering.

"The War on Drugs" is a war for control over the drug trade and it's insane profits.