Mexico’s Spiraling Violence http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/4885

The U.S. government, first under George W. Bush and now under Barack Obama, plays a crucial role in sustaining Calderon’s war with resources, training, and declarations of support. The war on drugs has been a dream come true for the Pentagon, allowing military strategists to fulfill objectives defined since the Security and Prosperity partnership of NAFTA was designed and signed in 2005.Washington has been pushing for closer military ties with Mexico since the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (2005) in order to protect its political and economic interests in those countries immediately bordering the USA. The Merida Initiative objectives involved cooperation against terrorism, against drugs,

and securing all national borders. The initiative includes provision of military and spying equipment to Mexico in order to increase territorial security and the subsequent militarization of the country. It was presented as a “shared responsibility” between the countries, and resulted in a series of programs being enacted in Mexico, without parallel measures being taken to tackle the problem of ultimate destination of the drugs: the USA.Mexico’s government, until the Merida Initiative, rejected the interference of its powerful neighbor in matters of national security. Since then, the Initiative, extended indefinitely by the Obama government, has ushered in a period of US interference without precedent.

It follows the model of the Plan Colombia, which has produced over a decade of militarization of that nation and the continued military presence of the USA on Colombian soil. There too, there are increased violations of human rights, population displacements, and appropriation of natural resources. Behind the rhetoric of the war against drugs, the aims of the Initiative are.

To protect the economic interests and investments of the United States and to gain access to the natural resources of Mexico.Impose the National Security Doctrine devised by the Bush administration which allows for the military presence – or the threat thereof – of the USA anywhere in the world in order to guarantee the stability of the system and thus to fold Mexico into the security zone of the USAIn practical terms, the Initiative breaks down the barriers that had been maintained throughout history by various Mexican administrations to ensure Mexican sovereignty.