It’s time
to take the gloves off and lay the responsibility for the bloodbath taking
place on a daily basis in Mexico where it belongs – U.S. drug users.
Mexican style Mafioso's are killing each other along with Mexican police
officers, judges, prosecutors, journalists and innocent bystanders be they
adults or children to gain transportation corridors from which to smuggle
illicit drugs into the waiting hands of U.S. drug users.
And how does U.S. media report such events? Report how lawless Mexico is.
And, for good measure, most articles insert the note “corrupt Mexican
lawmen” in the story. Hardly any report ever mentions the end user in the
U.S. as though that’s not the major part of the story unfolding before their
very noses, when in fact they are the very reason for the carnage.
"It would stop being a business if the United States didn't want drugs,"
Benjamin Arellano Felix, one of the most ruthless and merciless drug capos
responsible for hundreds of killings, told the Washington Post in a prison
interview after Mexican authorities apprehended him.
Corruption in Mexico is no different than it was during the prohibition era
in Chicago, New York, New Jersey and most major cities where the Mafia
fought for territorial rights to sell liquor smuggled from Canada. And
today, is there still one naïve U.S. citizen who believes there is no
official corruption in any town USA?
Yes, there is corruption in Mexico, more than a country deserves, but Mexico
does not have, or ever had, a monopoly. Like in the U.S. there is a fair
share, and steadily growing numbers of honest non corrupt officials
throughout Mexico.
During the U.S. prohibition era there were many non corrupt officers
throughout the US who valiantly fought to defend law and order; many fell
along with numerous innocent victims who were caught in the battles. This is
now happening in Mexico.
U.S. news media touches on the administration of President Calderon’s
declaration of war against organized crime in Mexico. This war is as real as
our war against terrorism, and as all wars, it causes
casualties. But
instead of celebrating the bravery and ultimate sacrifice by the many that
fall in the line of duty to keep drugs away from American families, news
reporting marks Mexico as “lawless.” What injustice, what lack of fair
reporting.
The recreational use of drugs, marijuana in particular, along with the more
dangerous addictive stimulant drugs, has over several decades become
entrenched in American culture greatly aided by Hollywood’s glamorizing drug
usage in films. Though Marijuana is the most used, in the 1970s, Cocaine
became the darling of the “successful” be they in the entertainment, sports
or professions. It was the high cost of cocaine that created the link
between U.S. users and Latin American producers; who originally used Mexico
as a transportation corridor when it became more difficult to use Florida’s
coast as entry points. This gave way to the Mexican capos and the beginning
of the reign of terror in Mexico – all to satisfy U.S. recreational drug
usage, eventually leading to addiction.
There should be no mistake, if Mexico loses the war against the drug
trafficking capos, the U.S. is the biggest loser as every year 17,000
American lives are lost to drugs; where over 60 percent of the jail
population is due to drug related crimes. And, where the annual cost, not
counting what states and municipalities spend, exceeds $200-billion. But the
biggest cost is in the lives and families destroyed and continuing fall into
an abyss of national decadence.
With “my drug use doesn’t harm anyone but me” users excuse their repugnant
behavior. But drug usage creates carnage, real people are being killed,
families destroyed, children left orphans, mothers left without children,
wives widowed in both Mexico and the U.S.
Pointing the finger at Mexico as the source of our problems has become all
too handy an excuse by our government, the news media and by far too many of
our citizens to avoid facing problems of our own making.
Patrick
Osio, Jr.,
was born in California. He lived and attended schools in Mexico City and
Los Angeles, California. He has lived in San Diego, California since 1982
with his wife of 44 years. Mr. Osio is an award-winning columnist with over
forty-years experience in the U.S. Hispanic and Mexican communities.
For over 15 years, he was a consultant to the private and public sector on
trans-border business and economic affairs. He is a frequent lecturer on
U.S.-Mexico issues, and is a frequent guest on television and radio talk
shows. He brings his business, political and cultural experience to bear in
his writing.
His monthly column, The Connection, written for the San Diego Metropolitan
Magazine, has won 5 awards for excellence from the San Diego Chapter of the
Society of Professional Journalists. Hispanic Media selected him as one of
the 100 best Hispanic Journalists in the United States in 2002. In 2003,
Hispanic Media selected Patrick as one of the 50 Most Influential Hispanic
Journalists in the United States. Also in 2003, the CCNMA honored Mr. Osio
with La Pluma Lifetime Achievement Award. The South San Diego Economic
Development Council awarded Mr. Osio with the Binational Community Award for
his many years in promoting binational economic development.
Mr. Osio is the Editor of HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com),
an Internet weekly publication and writes a weekly column. His articles are
distributed by Knight Ridder Tribune News Service to over 400 newspapers
throughout the United States. He is also a principal and Contributing Editor
to TransBorder Communications, a DVD and television program producer
promoting binational economic development. He wrote the story-line and
script for the Baja Real Estate Boom: Opportunities & Pitfalls, which was
used to open a one day conference at the University of California at Los
Angeles (UCLA). His articles have appeared in such newspapers as the Los
Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, The Houston Chronicle, Detroit Free Press,
San Diego Union-Tribune, El Paso Times, The New Mexican and numerous others
as well as in leading newspapers in Mexico. Contact at:Posiojr@hispanicvista.com
