State Department warns of travel to Mexico

[TexasTowelie]

The U.S. State Department has issued a new travel warning for Mexico, superseding last April’s warning.

The department warned U.S. citizens traveling to Mexico of cartel violence stemming from drug trafficking, specifically noting violent struggles among the criminal organizations for control of trafficking routes.

The warning references a rising number of carjackings, kidnappings and gun battles throughout Mexico.

<<snip>>

The warning, broken down by region, advises citizens to defer any nonessential travel to Tamaulipas. U.S. government employees are not allowed to travel for personal reasons on highways outside the cities of Matamoros, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo due to the risk of armed robberies and carjackings.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/warns-136737-department-mexico.html

Cross-posted in Texas Group

[zbdent]

1. Don't drink the water ...

Hell, in certain "frackin'" places in the U.S., don't drink the water ...

[stockholmer]

2. end the fucking 'war' on drugs

[tech_smythe]

5. this has nothing to do with our war on drugs

it's about the drug cartels in mexico.
even if we legalized pot tomorrow there'd still be a huge demand for mexican weed.

true legalizing pot would greatly reduce that demand, but this is about internal power.
the same as the mafia wars here were about power.
the cartels aren't JUST pushing weed, they're pushing other drugs, prostitution, guns, people, and lord knows what else.

I wonder if this situation will get to the point where the UN has to step in...


we can't allow this to go on indefinitely, for multiple reasons.

[stockholmer]

6. I completely disagree, plus I never singled out weed

Just like prohibition of alcohol (which was totally supported by the US gangsters and the global bankers (see the Bronfman and Kennedy family history on this), when a government outlaws a product, they then set a multivariate set of power and profit matrices. The police state now has millions of non-violent users in its maw (for profit and social control), the price of 'illegality' makes the risk/reward ratio so great that hundreds of billions are at stake, thus leading to the cartels. This is the essense of gangster capitalism.

The military industrial complex profits in billions (all you need do is look at the new announcement of drones, http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002287989 high tech weapon and surveillance systems, snooper laws, etc, to see this), civil liberties are trampled upon, and a 'track-trace-database' society is thrust upon the population (with the convienent excuses of the war on drugs and also the war on terrorism oftentimes conflated as reasons for this). The system churns along, crushing the populace in its wake, the banksters sit back, reveling in their power, wealth, and abilty to steer mass societies for their interests.


Wachovia (now Wells Fargo under Warren Buffett) laundered $378.4 BILLION in drug cartel money, yet paid a fine of only $160 million.

That is equal to laundering a million dollars, and paying a 423 dollar fine. A speeding ticket is more than that in certain cities. Buffett was completely involved in the negotiations to lower the fines.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/04/wachovia-paid-trivial-fine-for-nearly-400-billion-of-drug-related-money-laundering.html

[tech_smythe]

7. im lost where do we disagree?

we seem to be talking cross points...
we agree the drug was needs to end
but that's not going to stop whats going on now

[stockholmer]

9. IMHO, the 'war on drugs' (all drugs) is the primary cause of the violence in Mexico

End the hundreds of billions in profit that the cartels earn as a direct result of their 'product' being hyper-inflated in price through the artificial scarcity that illegality puts into play, and they are out of business the next day.

Of course, the banks, the military industrial complex, the for-profit prison complex, and the surveillance society wing of the state will NEVER allow this.

Perhaps I am the one missing your point. If so, I apologise for my misreading.

cheers

[expatriate2mex]

16. It WAS the primary cause.

Last edited Fri Feb 10, 2012, 06:57 PM - Edit history (1)

At one time I would have agreed with you but legalizing mj would not end it now. The Narcos have expanded greatly in the last few years and there is far more to it. They have pretty much taken over illegal immigration, this includes people from south of us. They have expanded that to include holding people and demanding more money from their families, this includes mexican's and other Nationals. Wonder why there is a big drop in illegal immigration? This is a big reason no matter what people up there say. Still a lot of money in it now.

Extortion. This is probably the fastest growing area and why things are heating up in places like guadalajara. It's always been a drug distribution area but extortion is expanding. I know of business that have closed for this reason. I am usiung guad as an example, it's not just there.

Child trafficking. Doesn't get mentioned much, but they own a lot of it. Probably all before it's over like illegal immigration.

Roadblocks. It doesn't make the news as much but they set up roadblocks a lot for robbing, carjacking, etc. They hit busses also, the bus lines normally does not even report them.

Harder drugs. nothing to say here.

If pot were legalized they would still get rich selling below legal prices, I'm sure the traffic would decrease but there would be increased problems in the other areas. No offense, but these guys are in no way going to say "aw shucks, we lost" and go home. It will never happen.

Just for info I am not in a tourist or high foreigner area, I am a dual citizen (born in mexico) far from the "elite" areas. I go on what is really happening, not what the mexican government puts out or even worse what makes it to the english media.

They have a police force and military paid for, it would be a shame to let that go to waste.

[stockholmer]

17. again (no offence to you) I DID NOT say it was WEED only, no idea where this comes from

[expatriate2mex]

18. OK, none taken, but he idea comes from knowing the only thing that would even possibly be legalized

is pot. Even if drugs were all legalized the would not quit. There is still very much to made in the other areas and there would be fighting over it.

One of the reasons. Income

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ukti.gov.uk%2Fdownload%2Ffile%2F181980.html&ei=hBMaT-iWF8mq2QX4mdDZCw&usg=AFQjCNH2QMiXfjSFJ_m8uyUABq-7ZRUpLw&sig2=YhnXdVXti2e0Yu3RSknaaw

Here is a report from July 2011 in english, 46% make less than 2,100 pesos a month urban or 1300 pesos a month rural. They are below the poverty level for mexico.

.................................................2008 (million people).............2010 (million people)

Neither poor nor vulnerable...........19.7......................................21.8
Income vulnerable.........................4.9........................................6.5
Social shortages vulnerable.........36.2......................................32.3
Moderate Poverty........................37.2......................................40.3
Extreme Poverty.........................11.7......................................11.7
TOTAL POPULATION.................109.7....................................112.6

This part I am going on memory on, bit I believe the upper 10% starts at incomes of between 6,000 anf 7,000 pesos a month. there are, of course, well to do but they are a small percentage at the top.

My point is that it would take a lot more than just ending the war on drugs to make these guys go back to these income stats. They get far too much from other areas. Even selling drugs below what the legal prices are alone would be would make them rich by our standards. Now they are beyond rich.

An exchange rate of 13-1 (roughly) will give an idea of income.

Many stores here sell at very close to us prices, especially us originated chains. Others like liverpool charge more. The minimum wage they pay is something like 64 pesos a day, around 5.00. Just thought i would toss that in.

[stockholmer]

19. thank you for adding all the additional info, it really is spannered down in Mexico, grrrrr

Also, I guess I make too large a leap when I assume that it would be more than just ganja legalised in the US if the war on drugs were to end. A violent shame all around, eh?

BTW, my drug of choice is a nice glass of mid-tier Pomerol red, say a Château Nénin 1995. jummmi



skål!

[expatriate2mex]

20. Yes, it is certainly a shame as Mexico is beautiful and many good people.

I am with you on the wine, wish I could have a glass with you.

Cheers!

[Uncle Joe]

8. That's not what this former special agent with U.S. Immigration and Custom Service believes

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/153755/how_legal_pot_could_save_thousands_of_lives_hint%3A_stop_feeding_the_mexican_death_cartels_/?page=1

" As the marathon to legalize marijuana plows forward, a key to winning over many of the leftover prohibitionists might lie within two questions: exactly how significant is the illicit pot trade in the violence south of the border, and what are the long-term implications for Americans as a result of Mexico’s indefinite narco war? Being a former federal agent who has worked on the border and enforced the U.S.’s drug laws, I know that neither of these can be answered with exact precision, but one can hope that illustrating the obvious will at least get us closer to the finish line.

(snip)

Let’s forget the speculation and get to certainties: what is plain as day is the fact that the demand for cannabis sativa is responsible for more deaths in Mexico than anything else—and after half a decade of unrelenting bloodshed—the body count just recently surpassed the 50,000 mark. Personally, that’s a bitter pill to swallow considering 50 percent of Americans now believe marijuana should be outright legalized, according to Gallup’s most recent poll from October 2011.

For over forty years, ganja has been the steadiest and most reliable source of income for Mexican traffickers, and it’s still the primary substance that lures most wannabe sicarios into the drug running game. Most green-horn dope peddlers don’t get their start by transporting tons of coke at a time; rather, they have to earn their stripes by moving up the marijuana food chain—and many don’t make it past that point in their careers to begin with.

Most followers tuned in to the legalization debate are already well aware of weed’s contribution to the chaos, yet there are still millions of unaware Americans who automatically assume it’s the costlier drugs at the heart of the violence. Obviously heroin, meth, and cocaine are significant players in their own right, but by they’re nowhere near the bread and butter that pot is to the cartels. This is further illustrated by the fact that the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has consistently reported a drop in cocaine shipments from Mexico, and additional studies have shown that the use of the three aforementioned drugs is on the decline in the United States (meanwhile, marijuana consumption continues to rise)."

There is much more on the link, his argument seems most logical to me.

[russspeakeasy]

3. If you need a "warning" to stay out of Mexico, it had better be verbal,

because you're too stupid to read.

[Johnson20]

10. LOL. n/t

[rocktivity]

4. I read a story about a guy who got kidnapped, ransomed and released

The kidnappers decided that since the ransom had been paid quickly, they hadn't asked for enough money. So they chased down the car the victim had left in, ran it off the road, and kidnapped the victim AGAIN!


rocktivity

[NMDemDist2]

11. State Dept link

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_5665.html

[TexasTowelie]

12. Thank you for the link.

I don't have any travel plans for Mexico, but I'm certain that others will be interested.

[TBF]

13. I'd say .... I won't even go to Padre anymore. nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. Harper's had an interesting article about drug violence in Juarez (across from El Paso)

in the January 2012 issue, which is available online.

It says a lot that goes against the conventional wisdom.

http://harpers.org/archive/2012/01/0083753

[PavePusher]

15. The military has restricted off-duty travel to Mexico for some time. Someone's behind the curve. nt