The Drug War Has Destroyed Mexico

[Gdjjr]

When I was a kid growing up in Laredo,Texas, in the 1950s and 1960s, tourists from all over the country would come to Laredo to get a taste of “old Mexico.” Laredo is situated right on the border. The downtown area was connected to the downtown area of Nuevo Laredo with one international bridge. The two cities were essentially one large city separated by the Rio Grande, which serves as the international border.

Tourists would either walk or drive across the bridge for a day of shopping at the market, eat lunch and drink a beer at the Cadillac Bar, and eat dinner, have drinks, and take in a floor show at some nightclub. When I was in high school, that’s what we would also sometimes do on dates (sometimes without the knowledge or consent of our parents). It was all safe and secure. With the exception of sometimes having to pay a bribe to a cop for illegal parking, there were rarely any adverse incidents.

Not anymore. Nobody in his right mind would go into Nuevo Laredo except in a case of extreme necessity. That’s because everyone is now subject to the very real possibility of being killed or kidnapped by drug cartels and drug gangs or caught in the crossfire of drug turf battles.

Why the problem now and not back then?

One simple reason: The war on drugs or, to put it another way, drug illegality. The drug war destroyed the tourism business in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo. In fact, with the exception of well-secured tourist resorts on Mexican beaches, the drug war has essentially destroyed the tourism business across the country. My parents drove from Laredo to Acapulco for their honeymoon. No one in his right mind would do that today.

If you want to trouble yourself there are some numbers here.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

Thanks largely to American drug addicts.

 

[Tijn Von Ingersleben]

No...Mexicans have destroyed Mexico...now there are 35 million of them here...I will allow you to reach your own logical conclusion.

 

[Gdjjr]

Thanks largely to American drug addicts.

Which is no small part due to nanny statist who piss down peoples backs and tell them its raining. Oh, and making drugs illegal makes them cost more which increases crime to subsidize said addiction. Oh and alcohol has many more "legal" addicts and kills people everyday- and had you bothered reading the article you might have seen the part about prohibition here.
That worked out really well- for those willing to vye for the trade- illegally- SMH

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

No...Mexicans have destroyed Mexico...now there are 35 million of them here...I will allow you to reach your own logical conclusion.

It's just another America bashing thread

 

[Dick Foster]

When I was a kid growing up in Laredo,Texas, in the 1950s and 1960s, tourists from all over the country would come to Laredo to get a taste of “old Mexico.” Laredo is situated right on the border. The downtown area was connected to the downtown area of Nuevo Laredo with one international bridge. The two cities were essentially one large city separated by the Rio Grande, which serves as the international border.

Tourists would either walk or drive across the bridge for a day of shopping at the market, eat lunch and drink a beer at the Cadillac Bar, and eat dinner, have drinks, and take in a floor show at some nightclub. When I was in high school, that’s what we would also sometimes do on dates (sometimes without the knowledge or consent of our parents). It was all safe and secure. With the exception of sometimes having to pay a bribe to a cop for illegal parking, there were rarely any adverse incidents.

Not anymore. Nobody in his right mind would go into Nuevo Laredo except in a case of extreme necessity. That’s because everyone is now subject to the very real possibility of being killed or kidnapped by drug cartels and drug gangs or caught in the crossfire of drug turf battles.

Why the problem now and not back then?

One simple reason: The war on drugs or, to put it another way, drug illegality. The drug war destroyed the tourism business in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo. In fact, with the exception of well-secured tourist resorts on Mexican beaches, the drug war has essentially destroyed the tourism business across the country. My parents drove from Laredo to Acapulco for their honeymoon. No one in his right mind would do that today.

If you want to trouble yourself there are some numbers here.

I wouldn't put it that way. What actually killed it was simple corruption and greed, the drug war was simply the mechanism by which it was carried out. I noticed that corruption was a common denominator in every country that I visited that was settled by the Spanish and they were also mainly Catholic for whatever that's worth.

 

[dblack]

No...Mexicans have destroyed Mexico...now there are 35 million of them here...I will allow you to reach your own logical conclusion.

It's just another America bashing thread

Nah. Just a drug war bashing thread.

 

[Dr Grump]

I disagree to a point. The main issue, IMO, is a corrupt and useless Mexican govt. If the Mexican police and Federales had the same moral compass and fortitude of the vast majority of US law enforcement agencies, there wouldn't be a problem. As it is, they are severely underpaid - in some cases having to pay for their own firearms - and are therefore tempted by vast amounts of money from the Narcos...

 

[dblack]

I disagree to a point. The main issue, IMO, is a corrupt and useless Mexican govt. If the Mexican police and Federales had the same moral compass and fortitude of the vast majority of US law enforcement agencies, there wouldn't be a problem. As it is, they are severely underpaid - in some cases having to pay for their own firearms - and are therefore tempted by vast amounts of money from the Narcos...

But that ignores the fact that "the Narcos" are funded by us, by the drug war.

 

[theHawk]

So what have we learned from this thread?

Mexico is a shit hole. Thanks first and foremost to corrupt Latinos in Mexico, and secondly to idiotic drug users in the US.

 

[Dr Grump]

So what have we learned from this thread?

Mexico is a shit hole. Thanks first and foremost to corrupt Latinos in Mexico, and secondly to idiotic drug users in the US.

James Michener wrote a book called Caribbean. He waxed lyrical about why all Central and South American (ie Spanish/Portuguese) countries, and the Spanish-influenced Caribbean island nations were third-world shitholes (last word is mine, not his - the book was written in 1989) and yet most (but not all) of the British colonies - Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand - were first world. His reasoning was that in the most part - again not all - the British govenment usually chose the best person to do the job (ie govern), whereas most Spanish governors or whatever got their position due to nepotism as opposed to ability. This lead to a lot of incompetent administrators and corruption, which has gone on down the generations. Interesting perspective. True? Dunno...

 

[waltky]

Mexico is a good example...

... of what happens when cartels...

... take over the government.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Back in the day people chose not to use drugs. The dream of a good job, home and family were goals that people worked towards. Drugs and getting wasted was not as important as moving towards a future.

Now for many people getting high if not totally wasted is the only reason people have for waking up in the morning. That's the customer base for the drug dealers and it's growing.

 

[DustyInfinity]

So what have we learned from this thread?

Mexico is a shit hole. Thanks first and foremost to corrupt Latinos in Mexico, and secondly to idiotic drug users in the US.

James Michener wrote a book called Caribbean. He waxed lyrical about why all Central and South American (ie Spanish/Portuguese) countries, and the Spanish-influenced Caribbean island nations were third-world shitholes (last word is mine, not his - the book was written in 1989) and yet most (but not all) of the British colonies - Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand - were first world. His reasoning was that in the most part - again not all - the British govenment usually chose the best person to do the job (ie govern), whereas most Spanish governors or whatever got their position due to nepotism as opposed to ability. This lead to a lot of incompetent administrators and corruption, which has gone on down the generations. Interesting perspective. True? Dunno...

I had a neighbor from Mexico tell me that their is a caste like system there. You can tell by someone's last name where they are in life. She also talked about how desensitized people are by death and corruption. It is just a part of life.

 

[theHawk]

So what have we learned from this thread?

Mexico is a shit hole. Thanks first and foremost to corrupt Latinos in Mexico, and secondly to idiotic drug users in the US.

James Michener wrote a book called Caribbean. He waxed lyrical about why all Central and South American (ie Spanish/Portuguese) countries, and the Spanish-influenced Caribbean island nations were third-world shitholes (last word is mine, not his - the book was written in 1989) and yet most (but not all) of the British colonies - Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand - were first world. His reasoning was that in the most part - again not all - the British govenment usually chose the best person to do the job (ie govern), whereas most Spanish governors or whatever got their position due to nepotism as opposed to ability. This lead to a lot of incompetent administrators and corruption, which has gone on down the generations. Interesting perspective. True? Dunno...

Ummmm...yea....I’m sure that’s it....

 

[petro]

Thanks largely to American drug addicts.

Which is no small part due to nanny statist who piss down peoples backs and tell them its raining. Oh, and making drugs illegal makes them cost more which increases crime to subsidize said addiction. Oh and alcohol has many more "legal" addicts and kills people everyday- and had you bothered reading the article you might have seen the part about prohibition here.
That worked out really well- for those willing to vye for the trade- illegally- SMH

Folks who support the nanny state exist in both political parties. Prohibition and the control over a persons body is what behavioral control technicians from the right defend while the left wishes to control thought and speech.
The failed drug war has cost the US billions, filled our prisons, only emboldened the cartels, strengthened the black market, and had us happily destroy personal rights in the process.
40 years of failure to change behavior.
Time to try another approach.

 

[theHawk]

Back in the day people chose not to use drugs. The dream of a good job, home and family were goals that people worked towards. Drugs and getting wasted was not as important as moving towards a future.

Now for many people getting high if not totally wasted is the only reason people have for waking up in the morning. That's the customer base for the drug dealers and it's growing.

Yup, and then liberalism exploded in the 1960’s and it’s been downhill ever since.

 

[DustyInfinity]

I often marvel at how the English got kicked out of everyplace on earth, but the Spanish, they must have been real A-holes.

 

[MarathonMike]

I have seen Mexico deteriorate from a really interesting fun place to visit to official shit hole status. Yes drugs are mainly the reason but it is the corruption of the government that enabled the drug warlords and their cartels to grow so powerful. And they are not just about drugs, the cartels are big into human trafficking and gambling. Think of them as the Mafia on steroids.

It is true that America has played a role, certainly without the huge customer base they wouldn't be as big and powerful as they are. And drug policies have failed to accomplish much of anything. I don't know what the answer is because the government is so corrupt you never know who is owned by the Cartels and who isn't.

You can't imagine how inhuman they are. Sure ISIS beheads people, but death is instantaneous. The Cartels will cut off a victim's limbs and then send video tapes of them dying to their families and friends just to instill fear.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

When I was a kid growing up in Laredo,Texas, in the 1950s and 1960s, tourists from all over the country would come to Laredo to get a taste of “old Mexico.” Laredo is situated right on the border. The downtown area was connected to the downtown area of Nuevo Laredo with one international bridge. The two cities were essentially one large city separated by the Rio Grande, which serves as the international border.

Tourists would either walk or drive across the bridge for a day of shopping at the market, eat lunch and drink a beer at the Cadillac Bar, and eat dinner, have drinks, and take in a floor show at some nightclub. When I was in high school, that’s what we would also sometimes do on dates (sometimes without the knowledge or consent of our parents). It was all safe and secure. With the exception of sometimes having to pay a bribe to a cop for illegal parking, there were rarely any adverse incidents.

Not anymore. Nobody in his right mind would go into Nuevo Laredo except in a case of extreme necessity. That’s because everyone is now subject to the very real possibility of being killed or kidnapped by drug cartels and drug gangs or caught in the crossfire of drug turf battles.

Why the problem now and not back then?

One simple reason: The war on drugs or, to put it another way, drug illegality. The drug war destroyed the tourism business in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo. In fact, with the exception of well-secured tourist resorts on Mexican beaches, the drug war has essentially destroyed the tourism business across the country. My parents drove from Laredo to Acapulco for their honeymoon. No one in his right mind would do that today.

If you want to trouble yourself there are some numbers here.

We went to the Cadillac Bar back in the 80s.
We walked across the bridge because we didn't want to take a chance with our car in Mexico.
About 60,000 people have been killed in the drug cartel war.
Legalizing pot might stop some of the violence.