Cameron: Could the new Mexican President, Enrique Peña Nieto, end the War on Drugs?

By:
Maxwell Cameron
/
11 July, 2012
By: Maxwell Cameron
Professor, Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions, University of British Columbia

Could and should. Why should Mexico pay such a human price for the failure of the United States to control its own drug consumption?

Calderon declared the war on drugs in 2006 because his margin of victory was so narrow that he needed a bold measure to legitimate his presidency. The war was supposed to rally the country behind him. But Mexico was unprepared for the violence and militarization that Calderon’s “war” unleashed.

By de-escalating the conflict Peña Nieto can quickly reduce the bloodshed. The problem is that the PRI is a notoriously corrupt party, and the drug trade is now deeply embedded in Mexican society. It provides employment and cash in a country that needs both. So while Peña Nieto could end a senseless war, the drug problem is not going away. Drugs are a social and economic problem that can’t be solved through phony “wars.”

The bottom line is there will be no change until U.S. policy changes.

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