|
|
 |
Fox Calls on Mexico to legalize drugs
By José Luis
Sierra
New America Media
Apr 07, 2011
Traducción al español
SAN DIEGO, Calif.—Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said Wednesday
that “nobody is going to be able to stop drug trafficking” from Mexico
to the United States. He insisted that the only way to solve the problem
would be for his country to legalize the consumption of drugs, while the
US government must cut off the flow of guns to Mexico, crack down on
money laundering, and reduce drug use at home.
During a 40-minute keynote address at the joint convention of the
Interamerican Press Society and the American Society of News Editors (ASNE),
taking place in San Diego this week, Fox also urged the governments of
both countries to renew talks aimed at reaching an agreement on
immigration and said that criss-crossing the US-Mexican border with
fences will not stop the flow of undocumented immigrants or benefit the
economies of either country.
“The Berlin wall didn’t work… the Chinese wall didn’t work,” said Fox,
who served as president from 2000-2006. He said Mexico, the US and
Canada are part of “an [economic] strategic team that could help each
other to deal with the present economic crisis” and added that none
could afford not to work together.
“Mexico alone buys more products and services from the US than Germany,
Italy, France and England,” Fox said. “We also have an economic exchange
that exceeds the total of the rest of Latin America… We can’t continue
to be seen as the ugly duckling by this country[the U.S.],” he added.
Walking a fine line between being diplomatic and speaking bluntly, Fox
reiterated past comments about the need to legalize drugs as the only
way to erode the multibillion-dollar drug market that has contributed to
drug violence and the deaths of nearly 40,000 people in Mexico over the
past four years.
While insisting that he was not criticizing current President Felipe
Calderon’s tactics, Fox also called on his successor’s government to end
the Mexican army’s role in the drug wars and return soldiers to their
garrisons. He said the best way to improve public safety is creating a
more professional and better-trained police force.
“The army is not prepared to act as police, neither is it trained to
deal with issues of human rights,” Fox said, alluding to a report
released last week by the Mexican Human Rights Commission. The report
revealed that during the four years since Calderon ordered the military
to patrol the streets of the most violent cities, such as Juarez and
Reynosa, complaints of human rights violations have skyrocketed.
“We can’t fight violence with violence,” Fox said, citing numerous
studies, as well as the precedents of other Latin countries, in support
of some sort of legalization.
“Look at Portugal. That country not only legalized the use of marijuana
but all illegal drugs, and not only managed to reduce violence but also
consumption by as much as 25 percent,” he said. Fox also cited the surge
in violence during the U.S. Prohibition of the 1930s, which subsided
after alcohol consumption was legalized again.
“If someone wants to kill himself/herself, well that is his or her
problem,” Fox said. “Every year thousands die for consuming alcohol or
tobacco—more then the death victims so far registered for drug use.”
But the former Mexican president cautioned that legalization alone would
not end the violence and that current and future governments must work
hard to improve the economic conditions of the Mexican people, provide
better opportunities for jobs and education, and push for major reforms
to the justice system.
“We have to create the conditions so the young people in Mexico don’t
feel tempted to work for the drug cartels for $1,000 a month because
there are no more options,” Fox said.
|
