Drug Cartel Violence, Lack of a Reliable Government, and Poverty in Mexico

The Three Horrors of Mexico

Throughout the history of the United States of America, immigrants have been flowing in and out constantly adding to the nation’s melting pot. The United States is continuously troubled by the large number of immigrants that are coming into the country illegally from south of the border – Mexico. Every year, millions make their way into the U.S. in search of the “American Dream”. To many this dream is having the opportunity of moving up in the socioeconomic ladder and being able to provide a better life for the many generations to come, through the basic principle of hard work. What makes this “dream” so important that people are willing to uproot themselves and begin a very difficult journey? What is making them flee their own country? The conditions in Mexico have made it impossible for some people to live comfortably in their humble homes, so they leave their native country in search of something better that will allow their families to live peacefully. The violence and chaos from the Mexican drug cartels, the lack of a reliable government, and the poverty that engulfs Mexico have all been the leading causes of people abandoning their homeland in search for a better life.

Due to the life-threatening violence from the drug cartels many Mexican natives are leaving their country. The terrorism of the Mexican cartels causes fear to consume the lives of the innocent people of Mexico. The drug cartels have a significant influence, aided by special military training, force, and power, which is used to intimidate and coerce others to meet their demands. The main goals of these cartels appear to be power and money; their industry is worth billions of dollars. Last year, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman—a Mexican drug lord—was placed on Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires; on Forbes’ current list of ‘The World’s Most Powerful People’, there are sixty-eight successful people represented from all over the world. Among these most powerful is El Chapo, the kingpin for El Cartel de Sinaloa (Forbes). His renowned status of having the sixtieth slot on the Forbes list is one predominantly due to the wealth he has attained through drug trafficking and other illegal conquests, but his ability to recruit many followers and gain such a large influence in Mexico, and countries surrounding it, also makes the significant feat more remarkable. According to Elmer Mendoza, in 2009 there was an average of twenty three drug-related murders each day all around Mexico; altogether about 30,000 people have been killed since Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war on drug traffickers in 2006 (Finnegan). The war on drug trafficking had the intention to end the violence and control the drug cartels have had on the country, the public declaration of this war has instead resulted in growing fury and power of the cartels.

The photograph above is just one of the many that depict the gruesome deaths caused by the drug cartels; there are bounded corpses piled on top of one another, people barefoot, men and women strewn across the street. The Mexican drug cartels are merciless; they kill anyone that gets in their way. Those being killed are, like Mexican Senator Rosario Ibarra stated, “the civilian population unrelated to any political social conflict of the narcotraffic…The majority…are executions of the civilian population, of youth, both men and women, and the poor” (Cockcroft 6). It seems as if when President Calderon declared war on drugs the drug cartels responded by declaring a war on innocent Mexican people. The constant threat of death would make any person want to escape; and it is not just death, but rather the slow, agonizing torture before death that elicits this fear as well. Just like life is not promised, death should not be either. Watching the horror others have to suffer gives the Mexican people two difficult options: staying where they are now and risk the possibility of torture, or embarking on a perilous journey to cross the United States/Mexico border. Although the risk may mean death, the odds of a better life makes the sacrifice worth the possibility.

Another result of having a country driven by drugs is poverty. Poverty has always been a problem in Mexico, but just recently the amount of people living in poverty has increased significantly. “Since 1997, the number of people living in extreme poverty – defined as workers earning less than $2 a day – has grown by four million, or twice the growth of the population” (Millman). The information states that as the rate of population grew the rate of poverty increased by twice as much; if this pattern continues, the percentage of the impoverished will continue to grow. Currently, about twenty five percent of Mexico’s population cannot afford basic necessities (Rich). These necessities range from food and clothing to healthcare. “At a [Mexican] health clinic…many of the illnesses they dealt with resulted from malnutrition and other dietary problems” (Sanders). When Bernie Sanders visited the home of a woman in Juarez, Mexico, he described the home as, “the dilapidated shack of a young mother: one light bulb, a dirt floor and no healthcare available for her sick child.” What Sanders depicts is not an uncommon scene in Mexico; as the majority of the Mexican population becomes poorer, situations like these will become a norm. Simple necessities that are taken for granted in America are unavailable to many people in Mexico; among these necessities is running water and electricity. Poor living conditions like the ones Sanders describes is what many Mexicans are leaving behind when they set their journey for America. In Mexico, there are a plethora of “Mexicans without salaried jobs [who] enter the vast off-the-books economy as street vendors or kiosk operators or even juggling three balls at street corners for drivers stopped at red lights, a not uncommon sight” (Uchitelle). The citizens of Mexico have very few options when it comes to employment, and since everything costs money, the only way to survive is to find any way of making money. In 2000, thirty-three percent of Mexico’s working population was making less than $4 per day (Rich). Jobs in Mexico pay very low and have little to no benefits for the employees, and that results in the large quantities of people living in poverty. Since NAFTA –which allows for the importation of cheap, subsidized U.S. corn – was enacted in 1994, 1.3million jobs have been lost in the Mexican industry of agriculture (Sanders). Farmers find it impossible to compete with the low prices of the U.S. and this agreement has resulted only in less job opportunities for the already-struggling Mexican population. Mexicans are unknowingly hoping for something that may never come; hoping for a better life, or trying to seek a better life, when there may not be another. They have little to look forward to in their own country because there is no hope for change, for things to get better, or to ever leave.

Not only do Mexican citizens have to be weary of the drug cartels and be concerned by their plight of poverty, but they have an unreliable government to fall back on. Many Americans do not truly understand what it is like to not have any support, which is what most Mexicans have to live with daily. Describing Mexico Dennis Blair, U.S. Director of National Intelligence, said “Basic security is undermined and instability marked by crime, corruption, and ingovernability is growing” (Cockcroft 5). In other words, there is no sense of security, not even an illusion of security that can make them feel comfortable, in Mexico. The government is polluted with so much corruption that its residents stand alone against the wrath of the drug cartels. The Central Intelligence Agency has named Mexico one of the most unstable nations in the world; this lack of stability results from Mexico being a “state of ‘failed law’” (Cockcroft 5). Mexico’s corrupt government has had a long hold on the country and even the Mexican military has been condemned for its “shameless corruption” (Cockcroft 6). The absence of a stable government has led to an increase in violence because criminals know there are little to no consequences to their gruesome actions. As James Cockcroft states, “Hardly ever is an assassin or kidnapper ‘found’, much less charged!” (6) Mexico does have laws and a government much like in America, but the majority of the time those laws are neither obeyed nor enforced.

The Mexican law enforcement departments are “filled with underpaid, undertrained officer [and] are heavily infiltrated by criminal organizations” (Archibold). Mexican policemen see a fight against the drug cartels as impossible; the police lack the skills, firepower, and intelligence to combat against these offenders, so they would rather join them. In Tijuana alone, 2,600 members of the police were believed to work for the narco-traffickers (Archibold). Because police offers are underpaid and undertrained to fight off the cartels, many drug cartels secure the services of the law enforcement by offering them hefty wages. In a nation engulfed in poverty, the temptation of money is extremely hard to resist, especially when it comes with other benefits; for example, not only are the policemen getting paid to not do their job, but they are also guaranteed their safety. “Normally, in Mexico, narco-traffickers don’t tolerate aggressive law enforcement. Local police chiefs who annoy them are simply killed” (Finnegan). One police chief was murdered with fifty shots to the face and chest; another was gunned down at his home along with his family (Finnegan). In Sinaloa, fifty “poorly armed and ill-outfitted federal and state police” were killed by the drug cartels (Mendoza). Randal C. Archibold states, “Several [Mexican mayors] spend the night in the United States out of concern that the local police cannot protect them.” If the mayors – the supposed law enforcement and citizen support – do not feel safe in their own county, how can the poor majority of the Mexican population feel? If the government cannot put an end to the drug traffickers and their actions, how are Mexican citizens expected to sit back and watch the bloodbaths continue?

Evidently, there exist difficult problems in Mexico that seem to be taking over the entire country. Deaths of innocent people keep rising each passing day, corruption has overtaken the government, and the immense poverty that the majority of the population lives under is increasing. The Mexican people have extreme difficult circumstances with very little options. They are pressured by the vicious drug cartels, their failed government, and their crumbling economy. It would be more appropriate to call these immigrants from the south “refugees” for they come to America to find a safe haven; yet they only find a “Keep Out” sign metaphorically posted on the door. Mexicans are willing to spend entire days walking for hours, without any food or water, carrying nothing but a backpack, across a dry desert, under the scorching sun, past dozens of “booby traps” set up by Americans to keep them out; they are willing to sacrifice their life for a sad, desperate hope for something different than what they have – a chance for a better life.

Works Cited

Archibold, Randal C. "Mexico Seeking Unified Police." New York Times 2 Oct. 2010: A1(L). Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Nov. 2010. .

Cockcroft, James D. "Mexico: "Failed States," New Wars, Resistance." Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine 62.6 (2010): 28-41. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 15 Nov. 2010.

Finnegan, William. "In the Name of the Law." New Yorker 86.32 (2010): 62-71. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 15 Nov. 2010.

"Forbes - Joaquin Guzman Loera." Forbes.com - Business News, Financial News, Stock Market Analysis, Technology & Global Headline News. Mar. 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. .

Mendoza, Elmer. "In Mexico, Scenes From Life in a Drug War: Ground Zero in Sinaloa." New York Times 17 Oct. 2010: 9(L). Academic OneFile. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. .

Millman, Joel. "Is the Mexican Model Worth the Pain?" Wall Street Journal. 8 Mar. 1999, Eastern edition: ABI/INFORM Global, ProQuest. Web. 14 Nov. 2010.

"Rich is rich and poor is poor." Economist 357.8194 (2000): 11-13. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.

Sanders, Bernie. "The View From Mexico." Nation 278.4 (2004): 13. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.

Uchitelle, Louis. "Low Mexico Jobless Rate Is Deceptive.(Financial Desk)." New York Times. 9 Mar. 1993. Academic OneFile. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.

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