cannabisnews.com: The Mexican Certification Riddle!





The Mexican Certification Riddle!
Posted by FoM on February 17, 1999 at 18:30:34 PT

Perhaps Congress and President Clinton ought to do away with the charade of certifying other nations as allies in the war against drugs. That would end the annual ritual of putting a happy face on Mexico's dismal efforts, which ought to be galling to all Americans.
As the New York Times made clear on Sunday, Mexico's attempts at cracking down on its illicit drug trade have been pathetic. Evidence shows officials south of the border are become more corrupt, not less. Several times over the past year, U.S. agents have provided Mexican authorities with the exact locations of major drug traffickers. Each time, the Mexican authorities either waited too long or mishandled the information.Last spring, Mexican military intelligence knew the whereabouts of two of the most notorious members of a Cancun drug ring, yet no attempt was made to capture them. Meanwhile, three senior Mexican agents who were trained by U.S. officials to fight drugs failed to pass lie detector tests about their own involvement in the trade. Overall, the number of heroin and cocaine seizures by Mexican authorities has dropped significantly in recent years. Even marijuana seizures are down from a year ago.The evidence ought to be clear to any member of Congress considering whether to certify Mexico as a drug ally. It ought to be especially clear to representatives from Utah, a state that can trace much of its violent crime to a Mexican drug pipeline that uses major interstate highways to spread illegal substances to the rest of the United States. Fully two-thirds of the cocaine in the United States comes from Mexico.But decertification would bring on a host of unrelated consequences. If the United States were to punish Mexico for its drug corruption, Mexico no longer would qualify for low-interest loans from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Bank. Anti-American sentiment would blossom, and the Mexicans would consider it a diplomatic slap in the face.In part, that reaction would be justified. Many Latin American nations see the U.S. drug certification process as hypocritical. That's because the drug trade in those countries would be far less lucrative if the demand for illegal drugs wasn't so high in the United States. U.S. officials have a hard time showing a lot of progress on that front, too.No one should ignore the value of keeping Mexico as a close friend and ally. Not only does it share a border with the United States, Mexico now is the second largest foreign market for U.S. goods, behind Canada, thanks to NAFTA.President Clinton's short trip to Mexico this week was designed to strengthen that relationship and put a good face on Mexican drug efforts. Congress next has to decide whether to recertify Mexico as a drug ally.Instead, they ought to do away with the whole process and find a better standard that measures the war on drugs domestically as well as internationally. The annual drug-certification charade does nothing to clean up a drug culture that could destroy both nations.
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