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Column 122914 Brewer

Monday, December 29, 2014

Evo Morales Denounces Mexico, calling it
a 'Failed Model'
By Jerry Brewer
Evo Morales, the roguishly left Bolivian
president, petulantly snipped at Mexicos
leadership recently, saying, Organized crime is
above the state in Mexico.
Morales, in continuing rhetoric, said: I continue
to think that there is the failed free-market
model, which is regrettably subject to the rule of
the United States. Now there are profound
problems. We would not want to have these
types of problems in Bolivia organized crime
where it would seem that criminals are set above
the state. In some regions, drug trafficking
cannot be combated successfully even with
military bases.
However Morales, as did the late Hugo Chavez
of Venezuela and Ecuadors left leaning
President Rafael Correa, has essentially kicked
the U.S. DEA and U.S. military counterdrug
efforts out of his nation.
Even Argentina suspended cooperation for a
time, in 2011, after that government seized what
reportedly were unlawful guns and surveillance
equipment being brought into the country
aboard a U.S. military aircraft. Yet the massive
drug insurgency that followed prompted the
Argentine government to sign a series of
cooperation agreements with the U.S. in May of
2014 to combat the presence of drug trafficking
gangs.
Morales attributed the fight against drug

trafficking, and the same neoliberal economic

dependency, to the U.S. and Mexico.
However it appears that Morales may also have
a hidden agenda, apart from ignoring the
misery, death and destruction of families
brought on by drug use in those respective
nations, especially Argentina. The policies of
eradicating coca crops and a militarized strategy
of fighting organized crime groups
were provoking violence and instability,"
Morales added.
Ironically, at the 47th Mercosur Summit in
Argentina a few weeks ago, Morales solidarity
pledges referred to former leaders of Venezuela,
Argentina, Cuba and Brazil, saying Through
Hugo Chavez, Kirchner and Fidel Castro, these
integration processes have changed Bolivia's
history Bolivia will never forget them. Again,
he must have missed the lack of prosperity,
economy collapses, high violent crime rates, and
assorted human rights violations saturating
Venezuela and Cuba due to their tired socialist
and communist regimes.
Mexicos government was quick to respond to
Morales. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
answered the Bolivian presidents comments.
These repeated expressions promote a false
perception of regional division at a time when
Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico in
particular, are determined to build a space of
unity and dialogue in the figure of the
Community of Latin American and Caribbean
States (CELAC).
Morales continued to talk about Mexicos and
Colombias failed attempts to fight drug
trafficking and rationalized them to Bolivias
alleged efforts to eradicate coca cultivation and
seize cocaine and marijuana shipments. The
market for cocaine is generally in industrialized
and developing countries, Morales said. But
look at what is happening in Colombia, and
especially how it is in Mexico.
Morales was deeply influenced and built solid

relationships with Hugo Chavez and the Castro

brothers. He signed Bolivia to the Bolivarian
Alliance for the Americas. Morales, Chavez,
Maduro, and the Castros frequently alleged that
the U.S. CIA was plotting to assassinate
them. Each of those nations attempted to justify
massive spending on arms and their intelligence
networks, at much cost to their people and
quality of life. This poverty is extreme and
continues.
Mexicos history of attacks from these rogue
regimes even extends back to 2005. At the
Summit of the Americas in Argentina, Hugo
Chavez orchestrated his and Fidel Castros usual
dog and pony show with violent anti-U.S.
protests and rhetoric.
Chavez called then-Mexican President Vicente
Fox a puppy of the (U.S.) empire. This as Fox
had criticized Chavezs attempts to win his antifree trade agenda and sour the attending
nations consideration of the initiatives.
The verbal exchange between the two presidents
in the aftermath of the Summit set the stage, and
demonstrated the contrast for a comparison
between good and evil, with more than a
hemispheric split in opinion.
Fox announced that 29 countries supported the
continuation of negotiations toward free trade,
and boldly suggested that an agreement be made
without five opposing countries. And Chavez
reacted, not diplomatically but rather as a leftist
bully attempting to humiliate anyone who
opposed him.
Fox subsequently demanded an apology, and an
explanation from Chavez for the disrespect
demonstrated to his nation which he did not
get. This prompted both Mexico and Venezuela
to recall their respective ambassadors. During
and after the Summit several Latin American
presidents complained that their voices had
been virtually censored. Some even complained
of being unable to invite journalists to their
hotels for interviews, while Chavez and

Argentinas soccer legend Diego Maradona

paraded protestors prone to violence through
the streets of Mar del Plata, burning U.S. flags
and insulting a U.S. President.
It is clear that Mexico's struggle against
organized crime lies in the modernization of its
policing, security, and judicial reform for
successful prosecutions. Mexico, as well as
other countries in Latin America, is learning that
the organized crime-terror nexus has so much
more than drug trafficking issues to contend
with.

Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice

International Associates, a global threat
mitigation firm headquartered in northern
Virginia. His website is located at
www.cjiausa.org. TWITTER: CJIAUSA
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