ABC News Discovers Cartels, Forgetting US Role in 'War on Drugs'
The ABC News piece offers a glimpse into the grisly reality of cartel violence in Michoacan, an undeniable tragedy. Yet, it presents this as an almost organic, internal Mexican issue. What the report omits is the US's foundational role in this 'war.' Decades of US 'War on Drugs' policies, from the militarization of borders to fueling demand for illegal substances, have directly amplified cartel
power and violence across the region. (See: The Mérida Initiative, a US-funded anti-drug aid package to Mexico, now widely critiqued for its failure and contribution to violence.) We're meant to gasp at the cartels' 'grip,' as if it emerged spontaneously from the soil, rather than being nurtured by a global drug trade where US consumers fuel the demand and US-manufactured weapons often arm the
traffickers. How many more 'exposés' will focus on symptoms while ignoring the massive, bipartisan policy failures that continue to feed the beast?