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Column 082205 Brewer

Monday, August 22, 2005

Mexico — a drug dilemma victim or conduit?

By Jerry Brewer

Latin America’s narcotics industry, coupled with the

continuing threat of terrorist attacks, should be an
intense wakeup call to the world. These are true
threats, global menaces that are clearly on the move
and quickly gaining momentum with political
dimensions.

In the past a feared drug trade — and now an ugly

monster that has taken on the face and shape of
terrorism. A beast that has gotten past knocking at the
door on our southern borders with a sinister and still
secreted agenda.

Have we been blinded, with attention diverted to the

Middle East intentionally? Have our wide-open spaces
in this land of the free become chokepoints for
insurgent travel?

In 2002, when testifying before the Senate Judiciary

Subcommittee, State Department officials discussed a
link in the Western Hemisphere between various
terrorist groups and narcotics traffickers. As well, more
recent evidence indicates that Colombians no longer top
the list of drug trade kingpins of this hemisphere.
According to John Walters, The White House anti-drug
czar, “Colombians have pulled back. Today the
Mexicans have taken over and are running the
organized crime, and getting the bulk of the money.”

And lucrative northbound delivery routes of these

traffickers appear to be the leverage.

The ongoing battles of the Sinaloa versus Gulf cartels

(largely over Nuevo Laredo area pathways) are a clear
manifestation of the terrorist movement in Mexico.
The assassinations of Mexican police and government
officials, sightings of paramilitary commandos in Texas
and Arizona, and attacks by the latter on U.S. law
enforcement personnel show that these terrorists
possess sophisticated weaponry, strategic training,
battle zone skills, and worrisome daring.

Governors Bill Richardson (New Mexico) and Governor

Janet Napolitano (Arizona) have both declared states of
emergency along their borders. Richardson’s
declaration said the region “was devastated by the
ravages and terror of human smuggling, drug
smuggling, murder,” and related crimes.

When confronted with this, along with the temporary

closing of the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo, Mexican
President Vicente Fox was quick to remind the U.S. of
its enormous drug habit.

Fox is right. Estimates are that consumers in the U.S.

provide the cartels with anywhere from US$10 to
US$30 billion annually. That will buy lots of leading-
edge weapons and hired guns, and allow untold bribes
and payoffs as money from the U.S. paves the cross-
border entry routes with gold. Too, more must be done
to stem drug demand, use and sales in the U.S.

Critics are quick to call for the legalization of drugs, as

if this would deter the quest for U.S. dollars. The usual
scapegoat, but there will always be a vice or
contraband in demand for a heavy price, and that
includes human life. And there will always be suppliers
on demand.

So lets not be fooled — this by no means is just about

drugs. It is about power and money, trafficking in
humans, the sale of firearms and gunrunning, money
laundering and other financial crimes, and quite
possibly terrorist ideology and motive.

President Fox states that he wants mutual cooperation

in fighting these organized criminals, although Mexicans
insist that they alone can be directly involved within
their sovereign country. But is it reasonable to think
Mexico can sustain a fight on its own against groups
that are so well armed, trained and backed?

Looking further south, intelligence reports indicate that

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela may have
harbored and aided Colombian guerrillas, reports that
should be taken seriously. As well, the relationship and
shared agendas of Chavez and Cuba’s Fidel Castro
suggest the possibility of continued arming of
revolutionary cadres throughout Latin America.
The Russian media have reported that Chavez recently
ordered 100,000 Kalashnikov automatic weapons from
Moscow. Other assessments indicate that Venezuela’s
guard and police are already well armed — making one
suspect that the new weapons could be for clandestine
distribution and use. Along these lines, former
Colombian Justice Minister Fernando Londoño wrote in
Bogota’s El Tiempo, “Chavez and Castro know that
there is no dictatorship without arms.”

This all indicates that the potential for a Venezuelan

alliance with the world’s worst criminal organizations —
and terrorists — is conceivable. Furthermore, the
possibility of further aggression by Chavez against
neighboring governments cannot be ignored. And his
interest in rallying fellow anti-U.S. ideologues in Latin
America to move north, using allies and associates in-
between as they target this country must not be
disregarded.
——————————
Jerry Brewer, the Vice President of Criminal Justice
International Associates, a global risk mitigation firm
headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, is also a columnist
with MexiData.info. He can be reached via e-mail at
Cjiaincusa@aol.com jbrewer@cjiausa.org