Searching for Answers in Mexico

March 27, 2009

President Barack Obama will be going to Mexico in April, the White House announced this week. And Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the U.S. is sending more federal agents to the border, along with high-tech surveillance equipment.

Mexico’s drug cartels have infiltrated more than 200 U.S. cities. Napolitano told a Senate panel this week that “the cartels have fingertips that reach throughout the United States.” Lawmakers were told that the drug cartels now represent the most serious organized crime threat in the U.S.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Mexico this week, and she immediately made headlines when she publicly acknowledged the role that the U.S. plays in the drug wars currently gripping the Mexican people. The U.S., says Clinton, “can’t control our appetite” for drugs, and can’t stop the flow of automatic weapons purchased legally in the U.S. and illegally smuggled south and into the hands of drug cartels.

For weeks now, headlines have declared the emergency situation: thousands dead, and violence spilling across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Prof. Bruce Bagley

More than seven thousand people have lost their lives in drug-war-related deaths since January, 2007, according to research by the University of San Diego’s Trans-border Institute. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has sent some forty-five thousand troops and another five thousand federal police officers to confront the drug cartels across Mexico.

Bruce Bagley has long-studied Mexico and the dilemmas of Mexican democracy and the dynamics of US-Mexican relations. His research focuses on drug trafficking and security issues. Professor Bagley serves as the Chair of the Department of International Studies at the University of Miami. And he spoke with Maria about a week in which all eyes were on Mexico.

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Maria’s interview with Prof. Bagley was edited for length to meet our broadcast requirements. An extended version of their conversation is available for you to hear. [Link will open a new window.]

The Question of Legalization At this week’s Virtual Town Hall sponsored by the White House, President Obama addressed the issue of legalization—actually, he dismissed the question before it was asked.

Has your administration given any serious thought to how legalizing marijuana could help solve the economic crisis? We could tax this green product and create an influx of cash while reducing violence created by the war of drugs & illegal trafficking”

We invite you to continue the conversation online at the Latino USA Blog. We welcome your feedback, your comments, your reflections, and your suggestions for continuing coverage of the issues in this week’s program.

The Peril of Transmigration

The chapel at Ixtepec

While many are focusing on the drug wars and border deaths, there’s other violence happening in Mexico that often goes un-reported: the violence against Central American immigrants. Mexico is a major transit obstacle for almost all immigrants from Central America.

Each year, hundreds of Central Americans cross the Southern Mexican border but never reach the country’s northern border. And we know this thanks largely to humanitarian groups in Mexico providing assistance to the migrants. Recently, contributor Shannon Young visited one of these migrant assistance centers to investigate the story about Central Americans who simply disappear.

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Sin Nombre

Cary Fukunaga

For Central Americans who attempt the passage through Mexico, northward, life is perilous. In fact, a criminal cottage industry has grown that preys on these vulnerable people. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than on top of Mexican trains that travel north. Latino USA’s Lily Percy reviews a new film, Sin Nombre. It’s the work of filmmaker Cary Fukunaga and tells the stories of “the nameless.”

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Watch a scene from Cary Fukunaga’s film “Sin Nombre.”

An Interview with Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Maria sat down this week with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. His policing tactics in the Phoenix area have earned him both the title, “Toughest Sheriff in America,” and the attention of the Department of Justice, which is investigating whether the Civil Rights of Latinos are being violated by Arpaio. Is the hard-line sheriff crossing the line when it comes to immigration enforcement? Watch Maria’s interview, courtesy of our colleagues at NOW on PBS. Also, in an extended clip, Maria and the Sheriff discuss the term “illegal aliens.”