"The media often are the last to know things, because their wishes father their thoughts" - Columnist George Will, in The Washington Post, Jan. 3, 2013
Guadalajara -
In a "major analysis" of the Mexican drug war, and especially of the the much heralded "new" strategy of PRI president Enrique Peña Nieto, the New York Times arrived at an amazing conclusion today: there isn't one.
That will make big news in The Big Apple. Perhaps in Washington, too, where some in Congress remain confused about what's going on south of the border. U.S. freezes Mérida Initiative funds.
But for anybody who lives in this country, and who's been paying the slightest attention to what the Man himself has repeatedly said and done over the last nine months, the response will be, "O.K., so what else is new?"
The Times reporting on this important subject has been extremely misleading for months. Readers of MGRR knew as far back as June 11, 2012 that president Peña Nieto was not going to depart from Calderón's National Security Strategy - a term for the military based offensive against drug cartels and organized crime. New York Times got Mexican presidential candidates' drug war strategies wrong. The same Times reporter who authored the June 2012 article wrote today's, it should be noted.
It that wasn't enough, the PRI president-elect said so himself the day after he won the race (July 2). Where? On the op-ed pages of the paper. Enrique Peña Nieto's Manifesto makes New York Times.
If still there were doubts, Peña Nieto's drug war czar called a press conference a few days later, and told the world once more that his boss' strategy would mirror the previous PAN administration's, and actually throw more federal paramilitary forces into the fight. Security consultant elaborates on "new" Mexican drug war strategy - but is it?
To be sure, president Peña Nieto hinted during the spring 2012 presidential contest that he was going to abandon "Calderón's drug war," and follow another ill-defined route. But it was all a ruse. That's why MGRR wrote a week after the election that Mexican voters got suckered on drug war issues (July 8).
On Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012, while on the campaign trail, Peña Nieto publicly outed his drug war strategy in a way which could leave no one in doubt. He said that military units would remain charged with primary responsibility for domestic security until local and state police forces had been retrained, reequipped and above all, weeded of internal corruption. That, of course, was Calderón's strategy from almost the moment he took office until his last day in Los Pinos. Peña Nieto takes a stand: Mexican army will retain pivotal role in drug war.
That widely publicized campaign speech was delivered more than two months before the Times predicted the PRI standard bearer would quickly jettison the "failed and unpopular" strategy if elected.
More than three months after the election, on Sept. 6, the PRI transition team told a press conference that the Mexican armed forces would remain on the streets indefinitely. What part of that unequivocal announcement did the Times not understand?
In a report today entitled Unabated Violence Poses Challenge to Mexico’s New Anticrime Program, the Times writes that "The new Mexican president campaigned on a promise to reduce the violence spawned by the drug trade and organized crime, and to shift the talk about his nation away from cartels and killings." But the remaining 25 paragraphs of the the article lament that so far, Peña Nieto's approach to Mexico's extreme domestic security challenges is a perfect clone of Calderón's.
That shouldn't be the slightest surprise to anybody who has been attending class and taking careful notes. In January the respected U.S. consulting firm Stratfor reported Peña Nieto has no option but to follow Calderón's strategy. The Times writes as if it's dismayed by these simple realities. As recently as Feb. 4 it reported that details of the Mexican leader's national security plan were still "vague."
They're not, and they haven't been for eight or 10 months.
In a recent interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, the president repeated once again that Mexico's highly respected army and marines will not be returned to their quarters until it's absolutely safe to do so. Anybody who lives in this country, much less any professional who writes about it on a regular basis, surely understands that event is a long way off. Years, not days or weeks or months.
As for Peña Nieto's long awaited crime prevention program, the Times offered this analysis:
"Some experts see the rollout of the crime prevention program as more of a public relations move in the middle of a wave of violence than a well-crafted plan. 'It is not a program,' said Alejandro Hope, a security analyst and former Mexican intelligence agent. 'It is generic instructions launched from the stratosphere.' "
That summarizes it pretty well . . . leaving one to wonder why the author chose to caption his piece with a reference to "Mexico's New Anticrime Program," as if it were a bona fide change of course.
In any case, it's good to know that the powerhouse paper finally has figured out the drug war strategy of Mexico's new president, almost a year after Peña Nieto first announced it. Better late than never.
In the meantime, today is Mexican armed forces day. Perhaps the Times will look into those claims of human rights violations by the ejército mexicano. Human Rights Watch's latest condemnation of Mexican drug war reveals how little it understands conflict. It might be surprised by what it learns.
Feb. 19 - Spanish analysis of the Times' article, in Guadalajara's El Informador
Feb. 20 - At the close of a Mexico-Central America summit in San Jose, Costa Rica, participants agreed on two things: Honduras and Guatemala are being ravaged by drug traffickers, and 90% of the narcotics passing through the area are U.S. bound. President Peña Nieto told the conference that he was open to discussion of possible strategic adjustments, but in the meantime Mexican armed forces will remain the first line of defense in his country.
May 23 - Fiasco in Michoacán suggests little has changed under new government
Apr. 10 - Peña mantiene estrategia de seguridad de Calderón: Madero
Mar. 30 - The Washington Post has high praise for Enrique Peña Nieto
Mar. 11 - Enrique Peña Nieto's three smart decisions
Feb. 27 - Mexico's drug war disappearances: the "official government list" that proves nothing
Feb. 23 - Mexican officials dispute U.S. press reports on drug war disappearances
Feb. 22 - Much hype in Mexico's drug war, especially when Human Rights Watch comes to town
Feb. 17 - Guatemalan ambassador warns of growing Los Zeta drug cartel presence in his country
Protester in Mérida, Saturday, July 7, 2012. The photo insert on her sign says, "Este Pendejo No - This idiot no." A more colloquial translation of the word would be of the four letter variety.
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.
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