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01/11/13 – The administration of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has launched a new security strategy just over a month after taking office on December 1. The strategy, which was outlined on December 17 at the National Council of Public Security (Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Pública), was published on January 10 in the Official Journal of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación). Although the president has made it clear that his administration will continue to uphold some of the security plans in place from his predecessor, former President Felipe Calderón (2006-2012), Peña Nieto nevertheless is differentiating his policies in an attempt to decrease the levels of violence that have plagued the country and, according to some estimates, have resulted in nearly 60,000 deaths in the past six years. Peña Nieto’s strategy will target six areas: planning, prevention, human rights protection, coordination, institutional transformation, and evaluation and feedback.

Among a wide range of proposed changes and upgrades to public security, the Peña Nieto administration, as outlined in Milenio, will first begin by implementing deadlines for federal, state, and local government institutions to comply with new security and safety related regulations, all of which are intended to target kidnapping and homicides. Second, the plan will focus on crime prevention, with the goal of creating a fund for the victims of violence, “making urban surroundings safer, working with society, and creating a supportive citizenry,” said Peña Nieto. To strengthen human rights protections in Mexico, the plan will address security forces’ behavior and conduct, particularly ensuring their use of legitimate force when attending to crimes and victims. For better security coordination among government institutes, the Secretary of the Interior (Secretaría de Gobernación, Segob) will oversee the creation of a new network, the System of Coordination and Cooperation (Sistema de Coordinación y Cooperación), which will divide the nation into five regions–Northwest, Northeast, West, Central, and Southeast. Within each zone, officials from Segob, the National Secretary of Defense (Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional, Sedena), the Secretary of the Navy (Secretaría de Marina, Semar), and the Attorney Generals Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) will share work responsibilities in an effort to better handle security situations that arise in each designated reason. Perhaps drawing the most attention in the new strategy is Peña Nieto’s plan to unify police forces, and introduce a “10,000-person national gendarmerie–a police force with military-style training and techniques–designed to patrol far flung areas where local law enforcement and military forces have failed to eradicate widespread crime,” describes ABC News and Univisión. Implementing feedback and evaluations on how effectively the strategy is reducing violence in Mexico is the last step in the new plan.

Peña Nieto has made it clear that he no longer wants to prioritize bringing down drug cartel leaders as his predecessor did. Despite the dramatic increase in ejecuciones (drug-related homicides) under the Calderón administration, a large number of high profile drug cartel leaders were indeed captured or killed under Calderón’s watch, including Arturo Beltrán Leyva; Édgar Valdez Villarreal, “La Barbie;” Iván Velázquez Cabellero, “Z-50;” Ramiro Pozos González, “El Molca;” Mario Cárdenas Guillén, “M-1;” and Carlos Oliva Castillo, “La Rana,” among many others. Nevertheless, with the new security strategy plan moving forward, Peña Nieto is hoping to “successfully bring peace to Mexico,” although in somewhat different ways than Calderón did.


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Originally Posted by Noticias

Peña Nieto has made it clear that he no longer wants to prioritize bringing down drug cartel leaders as his predecessor did. Despite the dramatic increase in ejecuciones (drug-related homicides) under the Calderón administration, a large number of high profile drug cartel leaders were indeed captured or killed under Calderón’s watch, including Arturo Beltrán Leyva; Édgar Valdez Villarreal, “La Barbie;” Iván Velázquez Cabellero, “Z-50;” Ramiro Pozos González, “El Molca;” Mario Cárdenas Guillén, “M-1;” and Carlos Oliva Castillo, “La Rana,” among many others. Nevertheless, with the new security strategy plan moving forward, Peña Nieto is hoping to “successfully bring peace to Mexico,” although in somewhat different ways than Calderón did.

I think that is a good plan. Simply targeting heads of cartels has not worked as before they could even hold a press conference to announce the capture/kill, a new head was in place. While it made great press the reality is that usually the new guy was much more ruthless than his predecessor resulting in leaving Mexico in an even worst position than before.

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

I think that is a good plan. Simply targeting heads of cartels has not worked as before they could even hold a press conference to announce the capture/kill, a new head was in place. While it made great press the reality is that usually the new guy was much more ruthless than his predecessor resulting in leaving Mexico in an even worst position than before.

Let's hope it gets results and they stay nimble enough to pivot if necessary.

And....the winner is....the drug cartels.
Ohhh welll....they said this would happen, and it did. The government is now giving tacit approval to flood the world with drugs. I wonder what their cut is?
Maybe they can show the pinheads in the US what the advantages of taxation would be?

Originally Posted by DENNIS

And....the winner is....the drug cartels.
Ohhh welll....they said this would happen, and it did. The government is now giving tacit approval to flood the world with drugs. I wonder what their cut is?
Maybe they can show the pinheads in the US what the advantages of taxation would be?

It's a global epidemic. The Mexican cartels have infiltrated most every world market with their trademark violence. The genie is out of the bottle and he's not going back in. It created wealth among the uneducated, under-productive and undisciplined. This is likely the only scenario they would ever get to be rich and they aren't in a hurry to go back to being poor tomorrow.

Originally Posted by DENNIS

And....the winner is....the drug cartels.
Ohhh welll....they said this would happen, and it did. The government is now giving tacit approval to flood the world with drugs. I wonder what their cut is?
Maybe they can show the pinheads in the US what the advantages of taxation would be?

Did you think the prior plan was working???

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

Did you think the prior plan was working???

The effort gave me more comfort than I will get from knowing the Mexican government is complicit in loading my country with poison while the US government sits there and allows it to happen.
Yes. In that respect, it was working.

Originally Posted by DENNIS

The effort gave me more comfort than I will get from knowing the Mexican government is complicit in loading my country with poison while the US government sits there and allows it to happen.
Yes. In that respect, it was working.

Then I guess you would have been happy with prohibition. The government followed a similar strategy with basically the same level of success...

I am of two minds about this, on one hand I think that most recreational drugs should be legalized, regulated and taxed. That would remove much of the profit margin created by their prohibition, ensure that the legally available drugs are free of contaminants, reduce state and federal costs for investigations, trials and incarcerations, and, provide a new source of revenue.

On the other hand, as I read Nieto's comments I am reminded of Neville Chamberlain's "peace in our time" speech upon his return to England in the 1930's having acquired Hitler's promise of non-aggression.

I have a feeling that history will be repeating itself once again...

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

Then I guess you would have been happy with prohibition. The government followed a similar strategy with basically the same level of success...

Well....since we're guessing...I'll take what you say as a willingness to accept the Mexico frame of mind which they apply to the illegal immigration issue, that it's not their problem....it's ours, and applying it to the drug transportation issue.....it's not their problem.....it's ours.
You may be willing to accept that sell-out to the highest bidder, but I'm not.

And....let's not be straying into historical issues while we have current problems to deal with.

Originally Posted by DENNIS

Well....since we're guessing...I'll take what you say as a willingness to accept the Mexico frame of mind which they apply to the illegal immigration issue, that it's not their problem....it's ours, and applying it to the drug transportation issue.....it's not their problem.....it's ours.
You may be willing to accept that sell-out to the highest bidder, but I'm not.

And....let's not be straying into historical issues while we have current problems to deal with.

Lots of blame to go around on this one on both sides of the border but finding who to blame is not what interests me - I'd rather find a realistic and obtainable solution. What we have lived through for the past six years can in no way be measured as a success with over 60,000 dead, new cartel bosses that are much more ruthless than before and drug trafficking continues on, hardly skipping a beat.

60,000 is more than we lost in Viet-Nam. This simply is not working and we have years of data and experience to back that up.

What do they call it when you keep doing the same thing expecting a different result???



Time for a new plan / ideas....

We need ALL the countries impacted by the Mexican-based cartels to work together. It's gone way beyond the USA and Mexico. I agree with BajaGringo that legalization is likely a part of the solution on the monetary side. Follow the money and tax it.

In the USA, only Colorado has a model for legalization and sale of marijuana that I support. The state itself grows the pot that is sold and has cameras at all points of interaction to keep everyone honest and on notice. They collect tax money and have a state revenue department specifically for marijuana dispensaries. They grow it, sell it and collect the tax from it. The only thing they haven't created is a safe payment system- it's still a dangerous all cash business.

But what can be done about bathtub garbage drugs like crystal meth? I suppose if you legalize and get the price of Coke down- it will keep people off the crazy drugs- meth, bath salts, "spice" etc.

a good discussion.

You're right Woooosh - no easy answers on this one but we need to start seriously considering other solutions. The current plan is like a game of Whack a Mole - impossible to win...

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

What we have lived through for the past six years can in no way be measured as a success with over 60,000 dead,

It's a roaring success if you consider human quality in the weave of a social fabric. The 60,000 were a septic element in society, so why mourn their loss? Would you mourn the loss of your attackers? I would hope not.

new cartel bosses that are much more ruthless than before and drug trafficking continues on, hardly skipping a beat.

....

That's pretty much my point. What with government protection through tacit approval of their activities, who's the new boss on the block?
It was government turning a blind eye to cartel activity that started this whole mess to begin with. The situation has come full circle............but that's our problem, isn't it. Everybody else will be counting dollars while we continue to count bodies.....which, by the way, our body count, never seems to be included in the stats. Why is that? It must be in the millions............but, that too is our problem.

Originally Posted by DENNIS

The effort gave me more comfort than I will get from knowing the Mexican government is complicit in loading my country with poison while the US government sits there and allows it to happen.
Yes. In that respect, it was working.

Poison? Tell that to the voters of Washington State and Colorado, who just voted to fully legalize marijuana. And for that matter the voters of Alaska, California, Connecticut, DV, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont, each of which permits medical marijuana.

A better question to ask would be why Americans have such an insatiable appetite for drugs and alcohol.

Originally Posted by TacosDePescado

Poison?

Yeah....Poison. The growers and cartels in Mexico couldn't care less about anyone's medical problems.

Originally Posted by DENNIS

It's a roaring success if you consider human quality in the weave of a social fabric. The 60,000 were a septic element in society, so why mourn their loss? Would you mourn the loss of your attackers? I would hope not.

Really? They were all a septic element? Sorry amigo but I know many casualties of this "war" who were not involved except as innocent victims. To lump all of them including law enforcement/military casualties into one pile with narco losses is simply wrong.The general public has paid a high price as well which explains their outcry. I understand it...

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

Really? They were all a septic element? Sorry amigo but I know many casualties of this "war" who were not involved except as innocent victims. To lump all of them including law enforcement/military casualties into one pile with narco losses is simply wrong.The general public has paid a high price as well which explains their outcry. I understand it...

Yes, if you add the cartel-associated businesses of extortion and kidnapping- many innocents have lost their lives. Not sure the 60,000 counts them all.

Originally Posted by Woooosh

Not sure the 60,000 counts them all.

Agreed...

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

Really? They were all a septic element? .

The vast majority were involved with drugs and/or their movement. Even those who were in the wrong place at the wrong time were probably there for reasons that would point to drugs. These are not innocents, by any means
Kidnapping and extortion are a different thing. That is a by-product of the drug war....not a symptom.