How Would President Obrador’s Pacifist Vision Impact Mexico’s and U.S.’s Drug War?

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said recently he would like to disband the army and put national security in the hands of the new National Guard militarized police force. Although critics and the United States charged his vision was shortsighted especially with regards to Mexico’s Dur War, others lauded it as a more practical solution. Indeed, and for illegal drugs, the illegal market and militarized crackdowns accounts for far more violence than the drugs themselves. Outlawing drugs, with the consequent decrease in their supply, followed by the increase in their cost, generates the illegal market-and all the violence that follows from that.

Proponents say the same goes for the U.S. and its Drug War. Started under then President Ronald Reagan, every president has advanced Republican orthodoxy across the board, embracing a wider war on drugs. Never mind white officials in the Reagan Administration which escaped indictment or were given a pat on the wrist for cocaine trafficking in support of the Nicaraguan Contras. Thanks to a racially biased Drug War that mainly targets black and Hispanic users, and led to racial profiling, it was only a matter of time before American prisons filled beyond capacity. A military-industrial complex and drug-trafficking-to-prison pipeline meanwhile reaped billions.

The War on Drugs and Its Real Victims
As for Mexico and its army, critics of Mexico’s Drug War tell of armed units which behave as paramilitary death squads. Along with stalking the land, sowing terror with disappearances, torture, rape, and in some cases extrajudicial killings, compensation claims against the Mexican Army and government have gone unheard. Another thing that’s gone unheard is the same condition that America suffers from. To be sure, Mexico has its own overcrowding prisons to the extent that several major riots have now killed hundreds. Neither does this account for those who suffer the most, the women and children of those imprisoned.

Since the war on drugs victimizes mostly those who are young, poor and/or Indigenous, and benefits mostly Mexico’s army and organized crime, it might be said to be a war on the young, poor and/or Indigenous. It’s also a method of stimulating violence, and a very expensive means of subsidizing the military-industrial complex and Mexico’s elite rulers who receive kickbacks. This goes for boosting the employment of police, correction officers and border guards, and subsidizing the construction industry by promoting the building of more and more prison complexes. One could also wonder if it’s not a means to distract voters from economic problems.

The War on Drugs as a Distraction
Can the same be said of the U.S.? Critics of America’s Drug War says it too serves to distract a white middle class voting bloc from recognizing and ameliorating the real poverty and misery that’s endemic in the central-city ghettoes-which have now spread across rural areas. In the meantime, the U.S. has expanded its own Drug War into Latin America. In addition to building more military bases which are used as “launching pads” for more military action, the U.S. military has targeted community leaders, human rights and union activists, and environmentalists who may pose a threat to American business interests. The same is true of certain leaders.

In an interview with Mexico’s La Jornada, President Obrador said he favored guaranteeing the nation’s security through the National Guard. “If were up to me,” he said further, “I would get rid of the army and turn it into the National Guard, declare that Mexico is a pacifist country that does not need a military and that the defense of the nation, if necessary, would be done by all.” This would consequently follow the Latin American nations of Costa Rica and Panama, and other nations such as Japan. It would also help Mexico reinvest billions of dollars into education and social programs, making their country one more example of “people over profits and militarism.”

The War on Drugs and Institutional Violence
This is not to say that some question Obrador’s move to create the new National Guard. He’s already launched it with 70,000 members which he intends to grow to 150,000 units across Mexico. Since some were drawn from members of the armed forces and federal police, who have often been implicated in abuses during ongoing efforts to subdue drug gangs, there’s concern over more militarization of law enforcement. This goes for patrolling the country’s northern and southern borders in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands that Mexico do more to contain migrant flows and the war on drugs.

Still, Obrador acknowledges the importance of curbing such abuses. It entails “recognizing human rights” and the need “for there to be a different conduct in the National Guard.” In the meantime, the Mexican Drug War to reduce drug-related violence has backfired. In addition to causing more violence between the army and drug cartels, more civilians have died. Estimates set the death toll above 120,000 killed by 2013, not including some 27,000 missing. There’s also institutional violence among military personnel, elected officials and judges in the form of bribery, money laundering, even targeted killings, and in neglecting Mexico’s economically disadvantaged.

The War on Drugs and Health of the State
Would President Obrador’s pacifist vision to disband the army and establish a new pacifist constitution reduce drug-related violence? Possibly so, since it is “withdrawal” itself from addiction that can heighten aggressive and defensive actions. The assumption then that a “war on violence” requires a “war on drugs” may be mistaken. This goes for viewing addiction and drug related violence without considering other factors involved, such as unemployment or living in a corrupt system. Knowing this, the most effective way to prevent violence from drug use would be to either make sure it is available or to provide treatment centers.

For now, Mexico just saw a record number of murders in the first six months of the year, with an average 94 killings each day. The Mexico News Daily also noted that June saw the most murders of any month on record, with more than 3000 people killed. Drug violence has reached such a fever pitch that the National Guard has been sent into areas. Critics add that legalizing drugs would provide much tax revenue for education, job training and manufacturing. Meanwhile, the ongoing militarization of Mexico’s and the U.S.’s Drug Wars, with the very existence of weapons and armed forces, psychologically accustoms many to accept the ideology of militarism.

Surely the possibility of a different solution other than that of war is a viable option. To be sure, any kind of war-even a drug war-inevitably give rise to fear and hate. Nor are they always the health of the State. The same goes for Mexico’s and the U.S.’s war on drugs.

Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and www.WN.com/dallasdarling.