Tag Archives: drugs

International, Opinion

Tens of thousands of Mexicans continue to protest Drugs War

It’s interesting how the main stream U.S. media reported the number of Drugs War protesters, over the weekend, as in the “hundreds”.  It was tens of thousands!

Reports out of Mexico vary from 20,000 to 85,000.  The latest protests took place from May 5-8, in several Mexican cities.  The people were not only protesting drug gangs, but the police and military as well.

Most of the victims in the Drugs War have been innocent civilians, especially migrant workers from Central American countries.  Which, when you think about it, doesn’t make sense.  Why would drug dealers, police or military want to kill civilians and migrant workers?  So far many local police have been arrested in connection with the mass killings of migrant workers.  It makes you wounder if this is really a Drugs War.

Now the main stream U.S. media is running reports that Mexicans support their President’s Drugs War policy.  In actuality the percent of supporters is slightly down from 2010.  Makes you wonder why the U.S. media seems to be downplaying a war in Mexico that has killed more people than the wars in Afghanistan & Iraq combined, in the past few years.

 

International, Opinion

Mexicans don’t trust their government, cops or religion

An annual Enadis 2010 survey, released on April 12, reveals Mexicans don’t trust the police or religion.

The survey asked what Mexicans fear most. Number one was violent robbery, followed by violent act by drug gang, and at number three; being a victim of the police or other government enforcement agencies.  Gee, the government is a criminal organization?

The survey also asked Mexicans who they thought were the most intolerant.  The police came in with the most votes, followed by religious organizations.  Wow, the two groups that’re supposed to be protective and supportive of human rights are actually the worst violators of human rights?

I wonder if this War on Drugs has anything to do with it?

 

International, Opinion, U.S.

Iran says U.S. & Israel behind regional drug trafficking

“The Zionists and CIA agents in the region assist drug dealers at Iran’s joint borders with Afghanistan. These [so-called] advocates of human rights have undertaken the task of investing in the production of industrial drugs from traditional ones and supplying them to Iran’s market.”-Mohammad-Najjar, Interior Minister

The drug trade from Afghanistan has resulted in more than 3,700 Iranian counter-narcotics officers their lives, since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

The United Nations admits that before the U.S. invasion, the Taliban had actually reduced poppy production to some of the lowest levels in Afghanistan’s history.   Now, according to a 2010 UN report, Afghanistan accounts for 90% of the world’s illicit opium and heroin production.  What happened?  The U.S. used to blame the Taliban for the opium production, but the Taliban are no longer in power in Afghanistan, mmmm.

The United Nations also ranks Iran as have the best anti-drug enforcement record in the world.  Russia has also made claims about the U.S. being involved with the drug trade out of Afghanistan.

International

Anti-drug Police ‘Accidently’ shoot family on fishing trip

“I want them to answer for my son, please, we’re a humble family, I need my son alive, I want justice, how can they just murder my innocent son?”-victim’s father

Bolivian anti-drug police shot and killed a 13 year old boy, and wounded five others, including the boy’s brother.

The father of the killed boy said he sons were going on a fishing trip with relatives.

Witnesses say the police drove along side the victim’s vehicle and started shooting with M16s. No warning was given, and no attempt to pull them over was made. At least 27 rounds were fired into the vehicle.

Angry residents protested by blocking off the highway where the shooting took place.

Police say they thought the family were drug dealers. The Official Bolivian government statement is that the police claimed the family shot at them first. Typical.

 

 

International, U.S.

WikiLeaks forces U.S. Ambassador to Resign

WikiLeaks reveal documents that showed U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Carlos Pascual, had criticized Mexico’s handling of the Drug War.

Mexico’s President, Felipe Calderon, retaliated by pointing out that the various U.S. security forces, in Mexico, repeatedly fail to coordinate with each other and  actually view each other as competitors. This makes them useless to Mexican security forces fighting the drug gangs.

President Calderon also said, in a newspaper interview, that U.S. Ambassador Pascual is ignorant and continually distorts the facts.  Calderon says weapons being used by Mexican drug gangs are still coming from the United States. He has repeatedly asked the Obama administration to remove Pascual.

Hillary Clinton admitted that Pascual’s resignation is meant to keep attention away from Calderon’s accusations; “…to avert issues raised by President Calderon that could distract from the important business of advancing our bilateral interests”.