Transcript Mexican Drug Cartells

Mexico
By: Alex Piasecki,
Jack Wright,
And Max Frey
Mexico in General
 Considered a “developing nation” but close to
“developed”
 Exports are on the rise, much foreign investment
 Cheap labor draws investment from many
multinational corps.
 Despite becoming a wealthier nation, most of nation’s
population remains poor/in poverty
 Has been struggling to gain economic independence
Comp Gov Concepts
 Power – The Power of Mexico lies with President
Calderon (commands military, dictates legislation,
often has influence over congress)
 Legitimacy – Provided by the Constitution of 1917
 Similar to US constitution, President has wider powers
 Political Culture has been typically consensual, but has
become more polarized and more conflictual
 Social cleavages are split by economic status, affects
voting greatly.
Government Structure and
Elections
Federal Republic- State and Local Gov’t weak
Three Branches- Executive, Legislative, Judicial
Executive and Legislative are directly elected; Judicial is
appointed.
Executive: Felipe Calderon
-President since 2006
-Holds a sexenioA non-renewable 6
year term.
-Elected by a plurality
System (received about
1/3 of the votes).
Legislative Branch- Senate
Dual system: Plurality and Proportional
Each state has 3 senators; two elected by majority, one is
whichever party has the seconds highest number of
votes. 32 additional seats are proportional to the votes
cast for each party.
Legislative Branch- Chamber of
Deputies
300 seats chosen by plurality (single member districts),
200 by proportional.
Judiciary Branch
Constitution of 1917 does not allow judicial review, and is
easily amended.
Presidents control the court: although they are
appointed, all judges resign at the end of each sexenio.
Most judges are corrupt, especially locally.
Parties: Multi-Party system
Three dominant parties:
1. PRI- founded by coalition of elites. Corporatist
structure, woven with interest groups. Patron-Client
system dominates, especially in rural areas.
2. PAN- More religion, less government involvement
3. PRD- Leftward opposition to PRI. Poorly defined
platform.
Recent Elections
2000-First time the PRI has lost control of executive
since 1920 (PAN victory).
2006- Virtual tie between Calderon and Obrador. After
recounts, Calderon won. Legislative: PRI lost heavily.
2009 (midterms)- PRI got back a lot of seats.
Current Event- Drug Violence
Spiraling Out of Control on
Northeast Border
Small cities once considered safe from drug related
violence have been targeted recently--result of the
Gulf and Los Zetas war.
Military not involved-- residents believe they want
the Gulf Cartel to take out the Los Zetas.
USA responded by warning travelers again to avoid
Mexico.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4HUlpLaEO0
The Unfortunate Reality
General Facts
 Mexico is a major producer and transit country
 Provides 90% of all cocaine into the US
 One of the highest kidnapping rates in the world
 About 70 people each month
 From 2000 to 2006, 79,000 people were arrested on
drug related charges
 1,500 of AFI’s 7,000 agents are under investigation for
corruption
The Cartels
 Gulf Cartel- centered around Tamaulipas(south of Texas)
 Sinaloa – headed by Jauquin Guzman, rated in Forbes as
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one of the richest Billionaires
Tijuana- Controls San Diego corridor, and provides 40% of
all cocaine into the US
Juarez- Across boarder of El Paso Texas, recently very
violent area
Colima- Methamphetamine Kings
Oaxaca-Largest Marijuana trafficers
Valencia – Controls Central Mexico
Cartel trafficking Buisnesses
Methamphetamines
Marijuana
Guns
Human
Mexican Cartel Dominions
Military arms
 Zetas- Large Ex military group from the Mexican Army
 Controlled by Gulf Cartel

Special opps, collection, enforcement, assassinations
 Negros and Pelones- heavily armed enforcers
 Controlled by Sinaloa Cartel

Major attacks on cops, intimidation, and assasinations
 American and Mexican Gangs
 Employed loosely by all cartels, not trustworthy
Areas of influence in the US
Effect
 Mexico
 Mexico is dependant on their army

Army is gaining a lot of control
 Large amount of Deaths
 Tourist industry hurt from kidnappings and Intimidation
 World
 North America- Increased violence in southern US boarder
and in Vancouver , Can
 Africa- Large importing into West Africa
 Europe- large shipments from West Africa are trafficked into
most Western European countries
Reactions
 President Calderon
 Crack down on Cartels in arrests
 Police Purges
 Large increases in size of Police force
 Platform Mexico- Unify and Increase knowledge of
police force
 US
 Provide large amounts of money
 Extradite as many drug lords as possible
Discussion Questions
 The Current policy on Drug Trafficking is eradication,
do you agree with this stance, or should the
governments focus on other aspects?
 Should the drug war be addressed as a war or as a
problem of foreign policy?
 How should Mexico deal with their large Police
Corruption problem?
 It has been suggested that there are unwritten
agreements between the Mexican Government, the US
Government, and some of the Drug Cartels. What do
you think of this?
 What do you suggest to help close the expanding the
gap between the rich and poor?
Bibliography
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/15/mexican-
drug-war-10-shock_n_187361.html
 http://statealliancepartnership.org/Resources/CRS%2
0Report%20to%20Congress%20%20Mexico's%20Drug%20Cartels.pdf
 http://deadlinelive.info/2011/04/15/deadline-liveexclusive-sinaloa-drug-cartel-controlled-andprotected-by-both-mexican-and-u-s-governments/