Or the unwitting "demonic" rule by demand of every superpower





Mexico can't win its war on drugs, on violent crime, and on immigration flux, because it's not responsible for their existence. Everything in Central and North America gravitates towards the US, including illegal business. The war on drugs only resulted in the destabilization of Mexico, aggravated by the massive presence of firearms north of the border, leaking into Mexico. Everyone wants to go to the US, and therefore Mexico has become a ground for transportation of drugs and people in the US, tearing it apart in the process.









What in the US makes Mexico so weak, and how much is the US responsible for those factors of lawlessness?





The US complains about the mass immigration from Mexico. But it doesn't realize that it is the cause of this immigration. The US is currently the richest country on earth, and one of the richest per capita. It is also one of the largest country, with a sizeable population. This population, because of its standard of living, will not want to perform certain kind of jobs, trends seen in most countries, especially since those menial jobs, in unregulated America, are poorly paid. This leaves jobs that will be done solely by people who can't do other jobs, or for whom the pay is already considered good enough. In practice, it means that only immigrants will take those jobs. It creates a labour drain from all the countries where access to the US isn't impossible, and who have lower standard of living, where even the small pay that is offered to them is considered enough. It means that the whole of Central American immigrants, and most of South American immigrants, will be attracted towards the US. Mexico is no exception, with millions going to the US, searching for a better life. However, not only do they suffer from this migration, they also suffer from the migration from the other countries to the US. Such migration is not done legally, and now, not only are there people smuggled across the Mexican-American border, but also across Mexico, and from beyond. This means that gangs, who are able to enrich themselves from such a traffic, will grow. It also destabilize Mexico by having a flow of immigrants from other countries, in a place without that many opportunities, and a saturated workforce, especially since those immigrants are very temporary, they won't contribute much to the economy. As a matter of fact, Mexico built a wall in its southern border, to try to limit this migration. The situation is particularly dire because, as foreign population build up, in transit to the US, gangs from their countries come to Mexico. It is the first pillar for Mexico's destabilization, but surprisingly it's the least urgent one, others far outweighing the immigration and emigration crisis Mexico suffers from.

The US population, and therefore it has an immense demand, including in illegal things. In particular, drug is a big market, with epidemics of certain ones spreading in poorer neighbourhood. It was intensified by the "war on drugs" that pushed the market in the hand of powerful gangs, because the risk was too high for little dealers, it also meant that, as it is customary in many gangs, the drug abuse spread starting with the gang members. To boost demand, gangs, in addition to providing drugs for recreational use by mostly richer people and hippies, also made their own rank members use this, providing a new market of poorer people with daily interactions with drugs. All this affected Mexico greatly. First the flow of cocaine goes through Mexico, from the Southern American countries that produce it, to go to the US. There were some bypass made, using homemade submarines, and, occasionally, airplanes, but it remains a major trade route for it. This means violent gangs, but also, as said before, an increased number of drug users and drug addicts, through the presence of the gang themselves. And cocaine is not the only drug coming from South America anymore. Gangs often act like regular businesses, they tend to expand and diversify. The import of Heroin, and particularly cannabis, from other continents, is prohibitively expansive. The gang will rather produce it locally. But to be able to produce it massively locally you need areas of lawlessness, with strong gang control (Poppy and marijuana are plants who can grow easily in several places). This was provided with the previous cocaine trade and the human trafficking. Now Mexico is infamous for black tar heroin, and the grip of the gangs on the country keeps strengthening. With weed legalisation, the effects of this drug trade were muted, and as it progresses throughout the US, the production is re-localised in the US to make the whole ordeal legal. This negates the gangs a crucial market, and will make their reach and power smaller, and makes them less profitable. They are losing a market where they controlled the production, the transport, and most of the distribution, keeping an enormous margin.

However, there are other consequences from US domestic policies. Private healthcare makes prescription expensive, and a common wisdom about opiates led to them being massively prescribed throughout the years. Some consider pharmaceuticals strong lobbying of doctors and congress responsible for this but it is also possible that paid research influenced the scientific consensus on those drugs. This means overprescription of drugs that live you addicted. When you don't have the money anymore, you have to use ersatz and replacements instead. This is what heroin becomes. It is one of the reason why there is a surge in Heroin produced in Latin America, in place of Afghanistan, which is the leading producer. It also reinforces the power of the gangs, and given heroin assured illegality, it is poised to live on as a source of funding for them. Where they relied before on very impoverished and crime ridden neighbourhood, by introducing drugs to their gang members, they can now expand to more rural places, where there is not the human concentration for crimes, and in more affluent neighbourhood as well, through opiates as replacements of medical opiates. Expanding their consumer base, along with their territorial control, only help them in their production bases, such as Mexico. Thankfully, Mexico doesn't have the same policies as the US regarding healthcare, there is therefore no opiates epidemics through overprescription, but it has over areas where it followed the US, for the worst.

Mexico has its own "war on drugs", which is as inefficient as in the US, it, in fact, proved counterproductive, by creating in effects a thriving free market of drugs. There was a monopoly by a cartel over drugs in Mexico, and Mexico meticulously ripped this gang apart, but the demand in the US was still high, and what happened was a gang war to determine who would succeed this cartel. As everytime a cartel attained a too dominating position it was targeted by the federal police in the US and Mexico, there was no winner, and gang wars kept going. Now Mexico as more than half a dozen very strong cartel, each dominating a region (state), and they use their power violently trough Mexico.

This escalation proved the worst thing for Mexico. Now several cartels have power, and money, thanks to the still high demand in the US, this in effect created a state of terror in Mexico, with tens of thousands killed every year by cartels who try to show their powers and don't hesitate to fund themselves through over means, as they keep expanding. Kidnappings are not infrequent in Mexico for this reason. Those cartels are also taking over other illegal traffics like prostitution, given they were already smuggling people over the border, they can now use this to provide cheap labour to their own brothels, whether the persons implicated are willing or not. We now hear of beheadings in Mexico, and regular massacres because of how strong the cartels have become, but the people are fighting back, bloodily.





Another thing that keeps Mexico back is violence. The violence was started by the gangs, as another mean in their illegal arsenal, and it has now spread in the Mexican society. With their powers, gang have successfully corrupted several officials, including entire states, and several police stations, going as far as recruiting people before they are cops, paying them to become a cop, and then have a trusted agent inside, even the most elite, police force. With this, and local politicians as corrupted, going to extreme length to stay in position, violent repressions is the law, whether for opposing officials, or to ensure a silent local population. This created a circle of violence, as locals took up arms to defend themselves, through militias, and vigilantism. There are now strong local forces, whose sole aim is to protect their local populations. But they use the same methods as the cartel, and assassinate, kidnap, or torture suspected gang members. All this is fuelled by an endless supply of weapons in Mexico, another way domestic policies in the US screw Mexico over.

It was recently found, after a study, that most of the weapons in Mexico used by gangs were from the United States. The lax gun laws allow for an enormous number of guns north of the border, and it is not hard to cut off their serial numbers so that they could be smuggled to Mexico without risk. This is one of the reason of the high power of the Mexican cartels, as they are as well armed, if not better, as Mexico's police, and even army. It is not the sole factor in their strength, but is the reason why violence is so widespread, and why, now, with the vigilante groups, the death toll keeps escalating. The locals fight the cartel, who fight another cartel, to expand its territory control, who is helped by the Mexican corrupt officials, who are on the kill list of a third cartel. This is a complex situation, rendered more volatile by the US influence, not the the least by the influence of dark forces like the Central Intelligence Agency.

The CIA is known for legal and illegal actions throughout te world. But it needs to pay for those illegal actions, as additional budget. It had already sold weapons to Iran in the 80s for the purpose of funding over illegal operations, this is not new that they use illegal means to fund illegal acts. It is reported that they are involved in drug trafficking in Mexico, as a mean to fund the illegal part of their budget, though it remains controversial because of CIA denial. Several whisteblowers have confirmed the CIA involvement. It is not the first time a federal US agency interferes with the Cartels, often trying to help one over the other, or using dubious methods to arrest them. This includes gun walking, a federal program by the ATF to put legal weapons in the illegal Mexican market, to track them, it ended with 1400 additional guns in the end of cartels. It also includes a deal between the US government and the Sinaloa cartel, where it is protected in exchange of eliminating its rivals.

All this US direct and indirect involvement just increases the violence in Mexico, destabilizing the country further. But it also has some other ways where it destabilizes the country, financially.





Mexico can't compete with the US, as the US is the first economic power. But in addition to troubles to export quality goods, they are getting outpaced in other financial and economic areas as well. Although, with the new trend of always searching for cheaper labour, there are more and more US companies' factories in Mexico, increasing the number of low paid jobs. This doesn't totally negate the immigration to the US as US jobs remain better paid, often with a better standard of living, that said, with people retiring, there is now a net immigration of Mexicans, from the US to Mexico. But a big part why Mexico is not in a good shape is its government, which is where the US outpacing Mexico cruelly shows.

The US has a ruthless banking sector, who has little regard for ethics, as shown multiple times, with the sell of deficient financial products before the 2009 crisis, betting against products sold to clients (Goldman Sachs), giving credits to people you know can't pay (Subprimes), and a number of other shady practices like illegally opening new accounts without the client's knowledge (Wells Fargo). It is therefore not surprising to learn that cartels use big American banks to launder their money and then keep it to the US. This is a net loss for Mexico, especially because this money is illegal, and could (should) be seized. It is somewhat counterbalanced by the remittance of the Mexican who are working in the US, but, because gangs are not cash starved, it only furthers the gangs power and violence in Mexico.

With this climate, there is no way Mexico can export very high quality good in quantity, as the cartels will immediately by interested in stealing them, and it doesn't have the necessary investment because of its instability. It doesn't leave much for the Mexican government to have enough taxes on to fight poverty and crime, and it is not enough to replace the remittances by the Mexicans in the US. The simpler products are already produced in Mexico by US companies, which means that the amount that stays in Mexico remains small. There is a dynamic electronics sector, but the part that are by domestic companies are still overwhelmingly for the domestic market, that means that it's limited by Mexico's poverty and isn't exported much, so it doesn't add foreign cash to the economy. It leaves services, that are gangrened by gang's racket and intimidation, mostly can't be a net cash flow into the economy (as it's domestic demand), and are poorly taxed (because of gang's involvement) apart from tourism, and raw materials.

Mexico's tourism work because it is so much cheaper than the US, and the US is a great basis for tourism demand, however, with everything that was outlined before, it is clear that Mexico can't have optimum tourism now, there is too much violence and instability. It still works, and is a great portion of Mexican economy, but can't be the only important sector in those conditions, especially for taxes. It leaves us with raw material export who also needs to be strong for a good Mexican budget. Luckily, the gulf of Mexico is full of oil. Despite cartels smuggling oil that is the property of the state company, it's taxed high enough to be a great contributor to Mexico. That's where the US puts Mexico to what it is now, a growing, but still poor nation, with a not strong enough government with an insufficient budget. The US shale industry crashed the oil prices, thanks to surproduction, and bankruptcies not affecting the production, and that leaves the Mexico part of the taxes covered by oil, as half what it was in 2010, and even less. It is not enough when you are fighting ever more powerful cartels, endemic corruption, and an immigration, though reducing, to you neighbouring country.





The US is not directly responsible for everything that was just said, but most of it stems from US policies, or its influence on Mexico. The large proportion of Mexican in the US is due to stricter border control, as it is now preferable for Mexicans to stay in the US, rather than working seasonally, but it is mostly not its fault, except when they propped up juntas and murderous regime in South America, if there is an immigration flow going through Mexico. Its policies or absence of regulations like the drug war, and having a private healthcare dominated by predatory pharmaceuticals companies is the start of the power of the gangs, however it's not totally because of the US that Mexico also adopted the war on drugs strategy, and there would still be demand nonetheless, even if the US did everything right, with Mexico staying on the path of the cocaine trade, and still being a cheaper, less policed neighbour of the US. What gets really indefensible is the meddling the US is secretly and covertly doing in the cartels' fight for power against each over. Helping a cartel, or trading with them only inflates a problem, which is already putting Mexico in an uncomfortable situation and is the reason for the current corruption and violence. Finally the US can't do anything about its trading power, though it could help render its economy, and companies, more ethical, as they fuel an already tensed situation, or profit from it without giving enough back to Mexico.

In the end, a lot of the way the US destabilizes Mexico are inherent to its status of a superpower, but if doesn't rectify what it can, there will remain a high incentive for Mexicans to emigrate to the the US, and Mexico's growth will be stunted with very high crime, making it a security threat to keep things as they are and shackling Mexico's future to US policies.





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