| | |  Editorials | December 2008 
U.S. Must Keep Eye on Violence in Mexico
 Times-Call
go to original
While Americans have been barraged by bad news from the financial and manufacturing sectors of the economy, our neighbors to the south have been fighting more than tough times.
Pervasive violence and corruption in Mexico has been a large drain on the entire economy and sent some portions of the impoverished country to failed-government status.
A report by Mexican President Felipe Calderon last week stated that 11,500 government workers have been sanctioned in the past two years for acts of corruption. They have been fined $300 million for their misdeeds.
Calderon said corruption was found in the state-owned oil conglomerate Pemex, the customs agency and other public works agencies.
In a country where bribes are often paid for the most mundane of government and sometimes private tasks, the toll on private wealth is astounding. The group Transparency Mexico estimated that in 2007, every person in the country paid $24 in bribes, totaling $2.6 billion.
On the violence front, the border cities are turning into lawless messes. Juarez, right across the border from El Paso, Texas, recorded 58 murders on a single day in November. Teachers were warned by organized criminals to pay protection money or their students would face the consequences.
In Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, rival gangs have taken to beheading their captives.
While the United States rightly has focused on failed states such as Afghanistan that sponsor terrorism, the same recipe is boiling right on our doorstep.
The next administration will have to pay close attention to the situation on the ground, offering help where appropriate, to ensure the battles and corruption south of the border dont trickle to the north. |
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us