Mexico's President, Felipe Calderon, speaking to The Globe and Mail's editorial board on May 28, 2010.The Globe and Mail
With 28,000 dead, and a country terrorized by the drug cartels' relentless violence, Mexico's war on drugs has reached a crisis point.
President Felipe Calderon must continue to reform Mexico's public institutions, including the police and the judiciary, to root out corruption and fortify their ability to do investigative and prosecutorial work.
Despite an aggressive assault against the traffickers, more narcotics than ever are flowing out of Mexico, and the cartels have become criminal empires, involved in extortion and kidnapping.
Mr. Calderon has shown flexibility and political savvy by asking the public – and his critics – for input into alternative strategies.
With an election in 2012, the president doesn't want the legacy of his administration to be car bombs and grisly beheadings. As the body count rises, so too does political support for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, which ruled for most of the 20th century.
Changes in the law to permit public and oral trials of defendants, including drug suspects, must be implemented.
Mr. Calderon's plan to abolish 1,200 municipal police departments and strengthen 32 state police forces under a federal command is also a good one. Municipal police officers' low levels of education and pay make them easy prey for traffickers.
Though personally opposed to legalization, Mr. Calderon recently initiated a debate about this as well. Marijuana comprises 60 per cent of the annual drug trade. If the government were in charge of its sale and distribution, the ability of drug cartels to bribe politicians and police officers would be much less.
However, as Mr. Calderon pointed out, the legalization of drugs in Mexico would have no impact on the illicit trade and market without a similar plan in the U.S. This is unlikely to happen any time soon.
The President would be wiser to focus instead on much-needed institutional reforms. His decision to deploy 45,000 army troops to re-establish order in border cities has led to charges of human rights violations against the soldiers. An independent tribunal must investigate these complaints, and the army must be held to account.
Above all, Mexico should not be tempted to return to the strategy employed in the past by the PRI: turning a blind eye to the drug cartels in exchange for their co-operation in limiting violence.
Tackling vast criminal enterprises is an undertaking that will take years to yield results. Mr. Calderon should not abandon his fundamental belief that the state must stand up to the drug traffickers.