Some Calderón-watchers - the press among them - have been fooled into suggesting that Mexico´s president himself may be having second thoughts about his now five year old war against the drug cartels. While making an appearance on morning television in New York yesterday, Calderon continued to express his extreme disappointment with the U.S. failure to do its part in the war by curbing its own insatiable appetite for drugs. (Bolivian president Evo Morales said just the same thing in Havana on Monday). Calderon then added that if U.S. drug consumption is not reined in, perhaps we will have to consider "market alternatives" for supplying the demand - buzzwords for drug legalization.
But the nay-sayers, "peace talk" promoters and disciples of appeasement are all wrong. Felipe Calderón will fight until and including his last day in office to destroy the narco terrorism which threatens every single Mexican. Why? Because he is a principled leader, not just another flag waving politician (which abound here). Calderon's teaser comments yesterday were expressly designed to put the finger of partial responsibility right smack in the collective eye of the American public - and also to shut down those Republican fanatics who are forever talking about building bigger and more expensive security walls between the United States and Mexico.
Some commentators were naively drawn in by Calderón´s clever strategic ploy. One suggested yesterday that Calderón may be about to fold, given the increasing daily horrors in Mexico. Many in the press - both within and without Mexico - have rather openly become "peace and love" advocates. "No more blood!" they say. Great advice -now go meet with your local drug cartel leaders and see if you can get them to sign on. One commentator in this country even suggested yesterday in a public posting that perhaps Calderon himself should be charged with crimes. Disgusting.
Appeasement advocates should open their history books and read about a once popular British prime minister named Neville Chamberlain. In 1938 he got on a plane and flew to Berlin, "hat in hand," to meet with a little German corporal. The corporal suckered the P.M. into signing a "non-aggression" pact, and Chamberlain flew proudly back to London. At the airport press conference he waved the document around as if it were a trophy, smiling and proclaiming, "I believe this is peace in our time." Less than 12 months later that same corporal - Adolf Hitler - unleashed his Blitzkrieg against Europe.
Appeasement with monsters never works. The press in particular should know better.
Postscript 11:00 a.m. A few minutes ago I watched President Caldeorn's live remarks to today's opening session of the United Nations in New York. He touched upon a number of topics, but of course the primary one was the drug war here and the severe internal security challenges which Mexico is facing. He pointed out to the assembled diplomats that the drug cartels are not just ordinary criminals. Rather, they are true international terrorists who pose a very real threat to the world community. But Calderón´s comments will be like water off a duck's back with some. The appeasement crew would prefer to make an "arrangement" with the narcos, and let them run their businesses just below the radar (with a silent wink and nod from the government). In other words, the way it was done for decades before Calderón was elected in 2006. Some of the main spokesmen for this approach are in the press and academia. If the Mexican people are as smart as I think they are, they'll trash-can that advice.
Thanks for writing about this, the U.S. press was all over it yesterday, talking about how Calderon may want to "legalize" uck, anyone who knows ANYTHING about Calderon knows he would never do such a thing. Seems more like to me the U.S. is promoting their own agendas, attempting to ally supporters for the 2012 campaigns. Legalizing drugs is not the answer, that will only make Mexico turn into a free-for-all, undoubtedly resulting in massive amounts of more bloodshed.
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