Mexico’s tourist economy is going to continue to decline thanks to the efforts of the Drug Cartel’s. The latest incident targeted Mexican Schools. Five heads were delivered to a school in a wooden create with a note attached. The note stated that the people should thank the governor for continuing the war.
The Cartels want to be left alone; they want to be able to continue to produce their drugs without interference by the Mexican Government or by the United States. Not only do they want to be left alone to produce and sell their drugs, they are also “requesting” compensation by the government and local business, as a “thank you for not leaving heads at our door.” The Cartels are demanding teachers pay a portion of their salaries and schools pay kickbacks. This latest incident displays what the Cartels have in mind for anyone who refuses.
Schools have had to shut down due to these threats. About 75 schools were padlocked and shut down when teachers and administrators refused to come to work for fear that the Cartels would attack. Why do you think they are attacking schools? What is the political reason for it?
This incident is one of many occurring all over Mexico as the Drug Cartels try to convince the people and the government it is there way or no way. So what is their next step? The Mexican economy is already depressed, and now for fear of these Cartels their major source of income, tourism, is declining. It seems that the Cartels are doing things to directly affect tourism. If they don’t get their way will they start killing tourists? What can the Mexican Government do to control this problem? How can they ensure the safety of tourists if they cannot ensure the safety of their own people? If they do start killing American tourists what would the U.S. Government’s reaction be?
It is hard to believe that these drug cartels have targeted the school system in Mexico. This is a huge move for the drug cartels, showing that they are looking to alter the future of Mexico’s youth. I think by going after the school system they are saying that they do not care about educating the youth, but would rather have the youth get involved with their way of life.
It is completely unreasonable for the drug cartels to believe that the government and local businesses should compensate them when they are destroying the Mexican economy. Many tourists will fear visiting Mexico if they know they will not be safe from this drug-related violence. I think that the only way for this problem to be solved is for the government to go after these drug cartels. Unfortunately, it may be extremely difficult to wage a war against them when they obviously have a complete disregard for human life. The cartels will not hesitate to kill whomever they have to in order to get what they demand, but attacking them may be the only way to end their reign. I do not think these cartels would be willing to make any sort of negations, unless they receive astronomical compensations from all who wish to avoid their violence. Fighting violence with violence is never a good answer, but in a situation like this it is hard to think of another viable option.
I agree it is a shame that Mexican drug cartels are going after young children and schools. Its hard to believe that they actually expect to receive “compensation” for not killing these innocent people. Since teachers and young children have done nothing to offend/ try to hinder the drug cartels, it really is surprising that such schools would be targeted.
But, then again, perhaps it is not surprising since Mexican drug cartels are well known for being brutal, cold blooded killers. However, this being known, I think it is a terrible idea for any American tourists to visit Mexico at this time. Sure, this may hurt the tourism sector of Mexico, but pulling American tourists out of Mexico is completely necessary in order to avoid tragedies to visiting Americans. Until Mexico is able to put a stop to the drug cartels and their incessant violence, Americans should be kept out of Mexico.
While putting an end to the drug cartels will obviously not be an easy task, Mexico is aware that they do not have to face the daunting task alone. However, just yesterday (Monday, October 3, 2011), the Mexican government told the United States that they will not be accepting US Troops to help combat the drug cartels. Since Mexico has turned down any future possible US help, I hope this means that Mexico feels confident in fighting the problem alone. However, this is probably not the case, and it seems likely that violence will continue to rage in Mexico, spurred on by the drug cartels.
Unfortunately, terror and brutality are more and more becoming the everyday tools of large scale criminal enterprises. Getting the obvious response out of the way, this act was truly horrendous and those responsible for it should pay dearly. Based on the responses of teachers and other school staff, it is obvious that this sort of threat works; but at the same time one cannot help but wonder if it is counterproductive to the cartel’s, or any other criminal organizations, efforts to remain untouched.
In my past research as well prior classes on organized crime, the factor of publicity was always an interesting one. On one side, being public and notorious about one’s actions may be a good method of scaring the public into a blind eye, but in the long run it usually leads to that group’s downfall. For example, take the case of prohibition in the United States. During this period, organized crime was notorious and out in the open for quite some time and this was effective at keeping the public at bay for a while, but ultimately the publicity lead to police crackdowns and organized crime deteriorated back into the shadows. Keeping this concept in mind, one can only hope that as tragic as incidents like sending heads to a school are, they will lead the government to rise up against the cartels and punish them for their horrendous and immoral acts.
I think the difference between the US during prohibition and Mexico in the drug war, as the previous poster analogized, is in the state of the respective economies. During prohibition, there may have been some crooked police on the organized crime payroll – but overall the organization could be brought down through coordinated police efforts. In the case of Mexico, the economy is extremely depressed, people do not have positive economic outlook, and many police themselves are involved in the drug cartels. Given this situation, the level of coordinated effort required to combat the powerful cartels may not currently exist in Mexico, essentially giving free range to the Cartels to wield their reign of terror. A tragic situation, indeed, for our neighbors to the south.