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Contents contributed and discussions participated by megan lemmen

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megan lemmen

Introduction to Gangs: Opposing Viewpoints - 0 views

ic.galegroup.com.references.herrickdl.org/...ReferenceDetailsWindow

gangs mexico drug

shared by megan lemmen on 28 Mar 11 - No Cached
    • megan lemmen
      megan lemmen on 28 Mar 11
       
      Response: There obviously is no place where we can draw a line to where the violence stops. The drug cartels are crossing over into America because this is where their drug market is; are we directly causing the violence and deaths in Mexico? Money should be used to stop drug addictions rather than to add to the violence. Why is the United States funding Mexico to create more violence with weapons and training? I agree that the United State's money should primarily be used to help weed out government corruption. The citizens of Mexico deserve our help, protection, and support. Questions:1) I'm curious as to how many innocent citizens have died in the US and Mexico due to these drug cartels? Not just the number dead-but solely innocent civilians.2) Has there been an improvement in the violence since the US gave money to help Mexico?3) How many gangs in the US are related to those in Mexico?4) Is the violence spreading across Mexico's other borders into Guatemala?
  • megan lemmen on 28 Mar 11
     
    Research Question: How does the Mexican drug war affect the government and people of Mexico? Source: "Introduction to Gangs: Opposing Viewpoints." Gangs. Ed. William Dudley and Louise I. Gerdes. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. Summary: Not only is the Mexican drug trade affecting Mexican citizens, but also those in America. The violence has crossed the borders and affected immigration patrol, gangs in the US, and other citizens. Mexico provides most of the cocaine and meth to the United States-about 90%. The expansion of the drug market has allowed for gangs to take higher risks for themselves, and thus higher risks for Mexicans and Americans. Because the United States is the main consumer of these drugs, we are fueling the violence. Politicians who were previously liberal on the border policy might become more conservative to protect their constituents. The US is giving money to Mexico to "help Mexico's military purchase weaponry and fund training" as well as "reform its judiciary system." Some believe that this money should actually be used to stop the government corruption instead. *the rest is on a sticky note on this page
megan lemmen

Mexico Finds Dozens Buried in Mass Graves - 0 views

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Mexico graves drug

shared by megan lemmen on 28 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • soldiers have found at least 51 bodies dumped in mass graves after what appeared to be a series of executions by drug gangs in northern Mexico.
  • The bodies were buried in several graves scattered over an area the size of three soccer fields in an isolated zone east of the city of Monterrey, Mexican officials said
  • There were so many bodies that the authorities were using refrigerated trucks to hold them.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Many of the dead, he said, appeared to have been tortured. ''Some were tied up with rope, others taped up with their hands bound with tape,'' he said. ''There are others with handcuffs. Most of them have tattoos.''
  • Photographs showed charred spots on the ground, suggesting some bodies may have been partially burned.
  • Mexico's drug cartels sometimes use corrosive liquids, fire and other methods to dispose of victims or make it harder to identify the bodies.
  • A state government spokesman said the bodies had been found both whole and in parts, with some buried in pits and others at or near the surface.
  • Officials said it appeared that the victims -- 48 men and 3 women -- had been dead about 15 days.
  • The area around Monterrey, Mexico's industrial capital and an important site for American investors, has become a central battleground in the country's drug wars over the past 18 months, with drug traffickers able to block roads and paralyze the city at will.
  • In May, investigators found 55 bodies in an abandoned silver mine shaft in the Pacific Coast state of Guerrero, near Taxco, a favorite tourist spot.
  • megan lemmen on 28 Mar 11
     
    Research Question: How does the Mexican drug war affect the government and people of Mexico? Source: Malkin, Elisabeth. "Mexico Finds Dozens Buried In Mass Graves." New York Times 25 July 2010: A10(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. Summary: Fifty-one bodies were found in mass graves in northern Mexico, east of Monterrey. This area is extremely industrial for Mexico and is a main point of violence for the drug wars. The bodies seemed to be tortured, tied up, or burned-they had been dead for approximately fifteen days. "There were so many bodies that the authorities were using refrigerated trucks to hold them." The bodies were found both whole and in parts, and at different depths in the ground.  Reflection: My first reaction was "Wow!" this seems like something from a CSI episode. Horrific mass-murders like these seem so distant to me. It's almost impossible to imagine digging up fifty-one bodies out in the middle of nowhere, finding them beaten and maimed. This is just one examle of the horrible violence that is occurring in Mexico.   Questions:1) Were these bodies of members of drug cartels?2) Have all of the bodies been identified?3) How many other instances like this have occurred?4) Was there any way to trace who killed these people?
megan lemmen

Drug Trafficking, Violence and Mexico's Economic Future - 0 views

knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm

trafficking drug violence

shared by megan lemmen on 08 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • In August, the bodies of 72 migrants were found in northern Mexico. They had been shot after refusing to work for a drug gang. Days later, a prosecutor and police officer investigating the crime disappeared.
  • Its largest market, the U.S., sources 90% of its cocaine from Mexico.
  • Drug trafficking is a lucrative activity for the Mexican cartels, generating estimated annual revenues of US$35 billion to US$45 billion for Mexico, with a profit margin of approximately 80%.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • Currently, seven powerful drug-trafficking organizations occupy different regions of Mexico -- La Familia Michoacán, the Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas, the Beltrán-Leyva Organization, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Tijuana Cartel, and the Juárez Cartel.
  • For example, the Mexican government is working to improve the effectiveness of its federal police force, planning to hire 8,000 additional police investigators during 2010, while at the same time trying to purge the force of corruption.
  • In August 2010, nearly 10% of the federal police were fired for failing lie detector, drug, or other tests that form the "trust control exams" designed to identify officers with ties to organized crime.
  • In addition, Plataforma México, a recent reform related to information management, aims to create real-time interconnectivity within Mexico's police force by developing a national crime database to facilitate tracking drug criminals.
  • More importantly, the government is taking the punishment of convicted drug criminals seriously and has increased extraditions to the U.S.
  • An estimated 7,000 people died in Mexico in 2009 as a result of the drug war -- significantly more than the 1,300 people who are believed to have died in 2005 before the war began. There were also an estimated 1,200 kidnappings in 2009.
  • Pemex, the state-owned petroleum company, has been a repeated target of the cartels. In 2010, the company experienced multiple kidnappings and theft by the cartels and corrupt employees. Reuters estimates that Pemex loses "US$750 million of fuel and oil from its pipelines each year" along with "valuable spare parts and equipment."
  • In August 2010, the far-reaching impact of Mexico's drug-related violence prompted Calderón to open debate on legalizing drugs.
  • For the past two years, American Chamber Mexico (AmCham) has conducted a survey of its members -- foreign and national managers -- to gauge their sentiment regarding corporate and personal security: 75% say their businesses have been affected by the country's insecurity.
  • Nearly 60% of the respondents felt less secure on a personal level in 2009 than in 2008; but the same respondents were equally divided as to whether their respective companies were more, less, or equally secure across the same period.
  • Of the third of the respondents who viewed their companies as being less secure than the year before, the most commonly noted contributing factors were the strengthening of organized crime activity, impunity in the judicial process, and activities associated with drug trafficking. Among those who felt their companies were more secure, 25% credited the work of the Mexican authorities, while 75% attributed the improvement to the results of efforts within their own companies.
  • As previously noted, vehicle armoring is a principal offering of the security industry, and it is not surprising that the growth of the market is most visible in this subsector. In Latin America, the armoring market has increased by 850% in the last eight years, and Mexico is now the second largest market after Brazil. Since 2008, the number of armored cars has increased by 25% in Mexico City and by 60% in the rest of the country. This market is expected to grow by 20% in 2011. Businesses have responded to this need: There are now 70 registered providers of armoring, compared to only three 15 years ago.
  • Kroll estimates the direct cost of insecurity to the government, businesses, and citizens to be US$65 billion, or 8% of GDP.
  • focuses
    • megan lemmen
      megan lemmen on 08 Mar 11
       
      Reflection: There is no possible way to completely eliminate corruption, even in the United States; the fact that Mexico realizes, however, that there is a problem is a step in the right direction. While it's great that Mexico is making efforts to decrease corruption in the police force and government, it's a task that will take a long time to complete. It's horrifying to think that a birthday party-a normal, friendly activity-could be so terribly interrupted by the drug cartel. As to legalizing the drugs, I think that it would cause more problems than it would solve. Yes, it would decrease the price of drugs and decrease the demand from drug cartel, but then how would they get their money? They would go to other means of earning a living; men who can be violent like this would have no problem getting money through other horrifying crimes. Questions:1) What are all of the positive and negative effects of legalizing drugs?2) Is there a better way to screen government and police officials in order to decrease corruption?3) What are other safety measures that the typical citizen can go through to be more safe?4) What else can be done to decrease the drug cartels?
  • megan lemmen on 08 Mar 11
     
    Research Question: How does the Mexican drug war affect the government and people of Mexico? Source: Duff, Devon, and Jen Rygler. "Drug Trafficking, Violence and Mexico's Economic Future."Knowledge @ Wharton. N.p., 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 28 Jan. 2011. . Summary: Mexico is making efforts to cleanse their police force by performing drug tests, lie detector tests, and other exams to make sure that the officers are being honest. There is also a new program called "Plataforma México" that will try to connect the police force better in order to catch criminals. Many Mexican businesses are suffering due to the violence; drug cartels are using theft or kidnapping to gain power or profit. A birthday party was even interrupted by the drug cartel-the violence is now affecting the citizens. Legalizing drugs has been considered as a means to decrease the price of drugs, and thus get rid of the drug cartels. Some think, though, that this will increase their violence in order to earn more of a profit. Private security has increased due to the lack of trust in Mexico's public security. Tourism has decreased, not only due to the violence but swine flu as well in 2009.  ***rest of info is sticky noted on this page
megan lemmen

Failure to curb drug war exposes Mexico's weakness - 1 views

www.chron.com/...7399732.html

drug failure

shared by megan lemmen on 08 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • Overall, the total number of people killed during the past four years is 30,196
  • Most of these deaths are attributed to disputes among the various drug cartels over control of the drug trade routes leading to lucrative U.S. drug markets.
  • The reason that the Mexican government has not been able to make any substantial progress is that the money generated from this illegal drug trade is estimated to be between $8.3 billion and $24.9 billion. This capital is used by criminal bosses to elect and influence officials at all levels of government.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • A clear example of Mexico's institutional weakness is the escape of 140 prisoners from a Nuevo Laredo state penitentiary. A convoy of buses and trucks reportedly drove off with the prisoners who exited the prison through a service entrance. This could only occur with the knowledge and benign approval of state and local officials.
    • megan lemmen
      megan lemmen on 08 Mar 11
       
      Reflection: This man has strong opinions, much like myself. Mexico would be better off with a government extreme makeover rather than our US dollars going to encourage lying, deceit, and a shaky judicial system. When people start using money to pay for their innocence, things start to get messy. Money talks, surely. Nothing significant is changing; we still see the death toll increasing drastically each month. More lives have been lost in Mexico than in Afghanistan-is that because the US isn't militarily involved yet, or because we are monetarily involved? Questions: 1) If the United States gets involved with our military, will we be fighting two wars?2) Is it worth it to continue sending our money to Mexico?3) Is the President really a problem, or are people just looking for someone to blame?4) Is it our job to restructure the government of Mexico?
  • megan lemmen on 08 Mar 11
     
    Research Question: How does the Mexican drug war affect the government and people of Mexico? Source: Valdez, Avelardo. "Failure to curb drug war exposes Mexico's weakness." Chron: Viewpoints, Outlook. N.p., 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 28 Jan. 2011. . Summary: More people have lost their lives in the drug war than in the war in Afghanistan; it's obvious that something is amiss here. Although many "famous" drug leaders have been caught, the problem still exists in Mexico. Again, we see that money is an issue; government officials are paid to help the criminals. The weak criminal justice system in Mexico allows for people to use their connections to avoid arrest, conviction, etc. President Calderon started this war even though it's obvious that they are incapable of winning under these circumstances. It may have been a political stunt to win votes for his campaign. The US should spend our money rebuilding the government instead of encouraging the government to become more corrupt. ***rest of info is on sticky note on this page
megan lemmen

Blowback: the Mexican drug crisis - 2 views

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blowback Mexican drug crisis

shared by megan lemmen on 15 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Calderon's continuing offensive has been underwritten by the United States in the form of the Merida Initiative, a security pact that funneled $830 million to Mexico in 2009 alone, making it the largest U.S. foreign aid program.
  • more than 26,000 people killed since 2007
  • U.S.-led attempts to contain drug trades in the 1980s and 1990s had two critical effects on Mexico, both unintended and unforeseen: first, to make drug commerce increasingly violent and menacing to U.S. interests, and second, to bring the center of dangerous trades closer and closer to its consumers and the prohibitionist apparatus within U.S. borders.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • As a result, 90% of the United States' cocaine supply now arrives across the long, intractable U.S.-Mexican border, handled by homegrown Mexican trafficker groups.
  • the main entry point for Colombian cocaine was Dade County, in south Florida, where some 80% of cocaine passed into the U.S. market.
  • By the mid-1980s, cocaine had some 22 million users in the United States.
  • SINCE THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, borderland towns like Tijuana, Nogales, and Juarez saw smuggling activities--first, banned patent drugs (including cocaine concoctions) and prohibited alcohol before World War II, then homegrown opiates and marijuana from the 1940s to the 1960s
  • By the 1970s, in this murky prehistory of Mexican drug organizations, the city of Culiacan, Sinaloa, emerged as the storied capital of Mexican drug trades, steeped in a vibrant regional outlaw and smuggling culture.
  • According to State Department estimates, a third of cocaine for the U.S. market entered through Mexico in 1989; by 1992, that figure reached one half, and by the late 1990s, 75% to 85%. (6) In the mid-1990s, the income generated by drug exporting in Mexico, led by this cocaine surge, ranged from $10 billion (according to U.S. officials) to $30 billion (Mexican figures)--either way exceeding Mexico's revenues from its largest legal commodity export, oil ($7.4 billion).
  • According to a 1994 study by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, overall trafficker bribes rose from between $1.5 million and $3.2 million in 1983 to $460 million in 1993, larger than the Mexican attorney general's entire budget. (8) Thousands of federal agents became active in facilitating drug trades during this time.
  • The apogee of this state exposure, in 1997, was the highly embarrassing discovery that the military chief of Mexico's equivalent of the DEA, General Gutierrez Rebollo, was in cahoots with the Juarez cartel, an incident sampled in the Hollywood drama Traffic. The U.S. war on cocaine had come home to roost. (9)
  • megan lemmen on 15 Feb 11
     
    Research Question: How does the Mexican drug war affect the government and people of Mexico? Source: Gootenberg, Paul. "Blowback: the Mexican drug crisis." NACLA Report on the Americas 43.6 (2010): 7+. Academic OneFile. Web. 28 Jan. 2011. Summary: There is a lot of history behind the drug cartels in Mexico. It all started with the "blowback" which means that the longer war on drugs has "unintended consequences" like an "escalation of violence" (Gootenberg). Cocaine originally came to the US through Florida from the Columbians; however, after the government began stopping this trade, most of the cocaine came to the US through Mexico. The amount of drugs, specifically cocaine, that come through Mexico has increased drastically over the last 40 years. This industry takes in more money than Mexico's largest export, oil. In addition to the drug cartel increasing, government officials have also been pulled into this money making industry. In 1997, General Gutierrez Rebollo was found to be helping the Juarez cartel.
megan lemmen

BBC News - Crunching numbers in Mexico's drug conflict - 0 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...world-latin-america-12194138

Cruching BBC Mexico

shared by megan lemmen on 15 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • According to the new database, the total number of people killed in the conflict between December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon came into power, and the end of 2010, stands at 34,612.
  • Last year was by far the bloodiest since Mr Calderon launched his head-on military confrontation with the cartels, with 15,273 deaths.
  • At least 89% of the fatalities are suspected gang members killed in turf wars between the different organisations that compete for control of trafficking routes into the US.
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • That one city of less than 1.5 million people was the location for more than 18% of the total number of deaths nationwide in the same period.
  • The state is home to Ciudad Juarez - the city across the border from El Paso, Texas - where 6,437 people have lost their lives in drug-related violence since late 2006.
  • In 2007, there were 244 drug-related deaths. The same figure for 2010 was of 4,427 victims - it grew by an astonishing 1,800%.
  • Meanwhile, in states like Tlaxcala, only 13 people have been killed in the conflict since 2006; in Yucatan, the total figure is 26.
  • In fact, 70% of the homicides, the database shows, have taken place in only 85 of the 2,500 municipalities around Mexico.
  • At least 12 mayors were killed by alleged gang members in 2010, while in the first two weeks of 2011, two more died in incidents related to the drugs conflict.
  • From a list of 37 "wanted" drug barons issued by the government in March 2009, 17 were captured or killed by government forces - including Arturo Beltran Leyva, head of the Beltran Leyva cartel, in December 2009 - while two were killed in clashes between criminal groups.
  • Security forces have confiscated almost 100,000 weapons from the cartels, while the value of the seized narcotics amounts to more than $10bn (£6.3bn).
  • Government security spokesman Alejandro Poire points out that the number of drug-related murders decreased by about 10% in the last quarter of 2010, and officials hope this will become a long-term trend.
  • In a recent nationwide survey by the National Statistics Bureau, more than 70% of respondents said they felt the overall security situation had worsened in 2010 compared to the previous year. More than 30% believed the situation would get worse in 2011.
  • Meanwhile, 41% admitted they did not feel safe to walk alone between 4pm and 7pm in the area where they lived.
  • megan lemmen on 15 Feb 11
     
    Research Question: How does the Mexican drug war affect the government and people of Mexico? Source: Miglierini, Julian. "Crunching Numbers in Mexico's Drug Conflict." BBC News. N.p., 14 Jan. 2011. Web. 28 Jan. 2011. <>. Summary: This article stated a number of facts that related to the number of killings since 2006 and their continued increase into 2010. The more shocking and accurate death tolls have recently been released, sending the Mexican government and people into more of a crisis than before. Not only have gang members been killed in the war against drug cartel, but civilians, police,and soldiers as well. This fight against drug cartel could possibly have increased the violence instead of diminishing it. The violence is not located all throughout Mexico; it occurs much more densely in certain areas like Ciudad Juarez, which accounts for 18% of the total number of deaths nationwide during a certain time period. Drug barons have been captured or killed, but so have mayors and journalists. The Mexican people do not feel safe; what can the government do about this?
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