Rule of Law in Mexico
The Miami Herald reprinted a Los Angeles Times story by Times editor Denise Dresser.How would your students evaluate the thesis in Dresser's article?
Calderón's risky war on drug trafficking
"Who would have thought that Felipe Calderón, Mexico's mild-mannered, wonkish and uncharismatic president, would morph into an action hero? Clad in military fatigues, at the helm of an increasingly active and visible army, Calderón has declared an all-out war against Mexico's two main scourges: drug trafficking and the organized-crime networks it has spawned. This is a bold move and one fraught with risk. If Calderón wins, he will strengthen his presidency and ensure Mexico's long-term stability and national security. If he loses, he could imperil both...
"He must prove that he can establish the authority many Mexicans believe he didn't gain legitimately and use it to govern in an effective way...
"This will not be easy... Cocaine traffickers spend as much as $500 million on bribery, which is more than double the budget of the Mexican attorney general's office...
"In the face of police corruption, Calderón has turned to the military to take on the anti-drug effort... As a result of its expanded role, the military is becoming the supreme authority -- in some cases the only authority -- in parts of some states...
"Over the last decade, Mexico's transition to democratic rule has cast a glaring light on the country's limited rule of law. Often judges, prosecutors and state officials have been unable to withstand the corrupting influence of the drug trade...
"So, while Calderón's efforts are to be applauded, they must also be accompanied by comprehensive measures that entail more than soldiers on the streets and photo-ops of the president dressed in olive green. The prospects for a stable, less insecure Mexico will be contingent on Calderón's capacity to enact a major overhaul of the country's judiciary and law-enforcement apparatus. In other words, he needs to fight not only drug traffickers but the political networks that protect them..."
posted by Ken Wedding @ 11:25 AM
1 Comments:
The article was uninspired and shallow. There is no analysis other than stating the obvious. Nothing is gained through reading this tepid work other than what one would have gleamed from reading tabloid head-lines.
In fact, I suspect that, as a tactic to fill space in a hastily requested column, the writer did nothing other than research (and then summarize) newspaper head-lines from the last 3 months, with a few platitudes sprinkled in for good measure.
Post a Comment
<< Home