Poder y Negocios, 7/3/2009
June 8th, the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center, organized a conference to examine the state of relations between Mexico and the United States, to see if there has been qualitative changes and to anticipate what will come next. Many topics were well covered- the impact of the economic recession, the lack of competitiveness, the H1N1 virus, and the July 5th elections, among others- in particular, narcotrafficking and Felipe Calderón’s attempt to use the military to confront drug violence, dominated the discussion for three hours.
Calderón’s growing dependence on the use of military forces for work that corresponds to civil society, generated questions and comments by the panelists and the public audience. The audience insisted to know when the military will return to the barracks, but no one was able to respond with certainty, because it seems that no one knows, not even Calderón. Arturo Sarukhan, the Ambassador of Mexico, ventured to say that the “final aim” of the president is to reassign the armed forces and to make use of the police, “as quickly as it is operationally possible.”
Filed under: Security and the Rule of Law | Tagged: Arms Trafficking, Drug trafficking, Police, U.S.-Mexico Relations
