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OOIDA asks “Is it racist to oppose the Mexican cross-border program?”

Mexican truckers take pride in their rides such as this Kenworth photographed in Laredo Texas. This is what opponents refer to as "dangerous", "sub standard Mexican junk"

That’s the question being posed on the Landline Now Media blog by Sandi Soendker, and it’s a valid question.

The obvious answer to the question is of course, no. However, in their absence of a credible argument opposing the cross border trucking program with Mexico, OOIDA and other opponents are knowingly and willfully preying on the ignorance and prejudices of their members and the public at large, to turn opinion against Mexican truckers.

So far once we can agree with OOIDA when Soendker writes;

If American truckers are opposed to cross-border trucking with Mexico, are they racists? If they are concerned with issues like safety, jobs, national security, fair treatment – is that racism? Concerns for other issues like immigration, customs, reduced tax revenue for roads, lack of clear enforcement – is that racism? Of course it isn’t.

The safety issue has been debunked. Mexican trucks and their drivers have been shown to be as safe, and in most cases safer, than their US and Canadian cousins.
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A Good Example of the drivel from Mark Reddig

The countdown has started to the opening day of cross-border trucking with Mexico.

And even as that date approaches, efforts by OOIDA to stop the program dead in its tracks continue as well.

Truckers and others are also hitting the phone lines, calling members of Congress, federal officials and more, trying to get the message across to a Congress bullied and bruised from the heavy-handed lobbying of the ATA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (an organization that clearly doesn’t deserve the name,) and the huge multinational companies that crave the cheap labor south of the border.

For some folks, it’s all a bit much. They are tired of having to fight this battle over and over, tired of the fact that even when Congress votes 411-3 to stop this idea, that the friends of big business keep bringing it back again and again, like some kind of monster in an old horror film that – no matter how many times you shoot it – just keeps shambling forward.

But this battle is too important. And those people should not be rewarded for their attempts to thwart the will of the American People, and of Congress.

We need to flood Capitol Hill with phone calls, letters, faxes and emails.

You’re likely to receive a response, but it very well may not say what you’d like to hear.

Don’t let it get you down or dissuade you from continuing this fight.
I recently called all three of the folks who represent me in Congress – my representative and both of my senators.

I received, in return, form letters. That’s not a big surprise.

However, what was a big surprise to me is that the members’ letters indicated that at least one of them is accepting this drivel from DOT that they’ve fixed all the problems and we’re good to move ahead with this.

Believe me, I will call and correct that error. I hope all of you will join me.

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Absent any proof, opponents continue to scare the hell out of Americans into thinking that 100 or so Mexican trucks will put tens of thousands of US truckers out of business and into the welfare line.

Ridiculous when you consider Canada has 37,000 or more trucks with free access to the US, and they have not cost us jobs. Landline Now host Mark Reddig doesn’t miss an opportunity to warn US truckers that 100 Mexican trucks will “destroy” the US trucking industry. And because of ignorance, bigotry and prejudice, people believe such an incredulous lie.

When they refer to “national security”, they want you to believe that terrorists are lining up to hitch a ride on the first Mexican trucks to cross the border while ignoring the fact that their are more than 25,000 Mexican drayage trucks who cross the border daily. They also pointedly ignore the fact that to our north, across one of the longest unsecured borders in the world, is the largest population of people from the middle east, the so called “New Canadians”, who can cross our border at will. And with a Canadian commercial license, they can do so in a big rig.

They talk of “fair treatment” which is nothing more than equal access. Many people don’t know that after we slammed the door in the face of the Mexicans in 2009, they continued to allow American carriers total access to their country. Four US carriers continue that access today.

OODA President Jim Johnston stood at a stakeholders meeting in 2009 before Secretary Ray LaHood and when asked about Canadians breaking our cabotage laws, shrugged his shoulders and said “It happens” and in the next breath insisted Mexican carriers should be barred because they “might” be inclined to break cabotage, notwithstanding the fact that if a Mexican breaks our cabotage laws, he is also violating his H2b visa and can have it cancelled and himself deported.

On the other end of the debate, we welcome pieces of crap such as this old FLD Freightliner from Canada into this country and onto our roads, without the least bit of worry about the safety and mechanical condition of the rig

They’ll have you believe that the Mexican carriers who will enroll in the program will be waiting to carry drugs and illegals into this country. 100 of the most closely monitored, strictly controlled trucks on our roads, while ignoring the report of the one of the largest cocaine busts in Nevada history, on a Canadian truck, a story which only garnered a mention on LandlineNow. Had it been a Mexican truck, all hell would have broken loose over at OOIDA.

OOIDA and other opponents have stooped as low as to turn to acknowledged hate groups such as FAIR, to spread their agenda against Mexico and their trucking industry, while keeping a safe distance from the results of their efforts. Using the hatred and bigotry of these fringe nutcases to get their message out. Disgusting!

Another Mexican Kenworth (KenMex) in Laredo Texas. How different is this from what you're driving?

So is it racist to oppose cross border trucking with Mexico? Not in the least if you have a valid reason and proof to back up your position. But to use the ignorance, prejudice and bigotry of some to promote hatred and violence against the Mexican truckers is decidedly racist.

Where’s the outrage? OOIDA not concerned about our porous borders – At least one of them

Only .08% or 35 miles of our 4000 mile border with Canada is secure, which can allow unknown amounts of drugs, terrorists and who knows what else to cross undetected, but this is not of concern to opponents of cross border trucking with Mexico. Can't offend our white, English speaking friends to the north now can we?

Mark Reddig is on the radio exhorting his listeners that the Cross Border Pilot Program with Mexico will “destroy” the US trucking industry.

The August issue of OOIDA’s in house rag, LAND LINE is being pimped on the same program with emphasis on their headline story DOT’s DOG & PONY SHOW, an article where they showcase their “expertise” on the southern border from their ivory tower in Grain Valley Missouri, 1000 miles from the source of their concern.

OOIDA has long been using the illogical argument that Mexican trucks should be banned from the US because they “might” bring drugs, illegals, WMD’s and terrorists into this country. Hogwash! Yet they gloss over and largely ignore a recently released report from Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police Intelligence Division showing that the problem is not restricted to the southern border exclusively.

From THETYEE.CA:

The trucking industry employs over 400,000 people in Canada, and the average fulltime driver earns $858 a week. The industry is dominated by small for-hire carriers and independent owner/operators whose main role is to haul freight for others.

These drivers are most vulnerable, because they are striving for economic viability due to the recession, more competition, and stricter new security and environmental rules. “This is an enriched opportunity for organized crime to offer financial incentives to supplement flagging incomes,” the report notes. The industry was also hit hard by skyrocketing gas prices last year.

The report also warns of a middleman broker who serves as the key link between criminal groups and truck drivers. This person is a specialist who recruits, pays, and sometimes terrorizes truckers into carrying illicit drugs, cash, and illegal migrants.

Money spent to transport illicit cargo is a small cost of doing business for criminal groups, but is a “significant incentive” for drivers. For example, a trucker can be paid $28,000 to move $12 million worth of cocaine from California to Montreal.

Besides cocaine and cash, the cargo can include illicit tobacco, marihuana, ephedrine, and Ecstasy, which are often packed in increasingly sophisticated compartments built into tractor trailers. Moving large amounts of cash may be the criminals’ peak of success, showing a high level of trust and elevated status. (Cocaine is the illicit product most often caught entering Canada at the border, while marijuana is the drug most often trucked within the country.)

Loads are often guaranteed, sometimes with money provided up front by the transporters. The trucker criminal “specialists” are held responsible for illicit cargo that has been lost, stolen or seized, often resulting in a nightmarish cost.

“For illicit cargo that is missing, the transporter is expected to provide compensation or risk harsh consequences, including extortion and violence,” the report says. “Violence associated to lost cargo includes beatings, kidnapping, and murder.

“Discipline is usually meted out from within the transportation group at the behest of the larger criminal organization or to deal with internal disputes. Loads stolen or seized from drivers provide leverage for further exploitation by crime groups, often resulting in an indentured arrangement in which the driver is drawn further into the criminal activity and required to move illicit commodities at no cost, to fulfill the debt.”

The ease by which trucking companies can be formed makes the industry especially attractive, which leads to a continued proliferation of “illicit trucking companies.” Criminal groups conceal their illicit activities through layers of company ownerships, name changes, transfers and disclosures.

They benefit from fragmented regulatory oversight, which is so complex that it is difficult for police to track at what point in the chain the criminal activity occurs. “Organized crime groups own and operate trucking companies in relative autonomy, without close government or industry scrutiny,” and all these factors give them a “considerable advantage” over the police.

Trucking crime occurs in every region. Three quarters of truck traffic that crosses the Canada-U.S. border pass through Ontario and Quebec, which have about 31,500 owner/operators. Most of the criminal groups the RCMP examined have companies based in Brampton and Mississauga.

Although British Columbia and Yukon (with 7,400 owner/operators) accounts for just 10 per cent of the cross-border truck traffic, B.C. is a major source for marijuana growing and export, and cocaine enters B.C. in multi-million dollar amounts.

More interdictions of commercial trucks means a short term inconvenience for criminals, forcing their shift to other modes, such as aircraft, boat, or the movement of more frequent and smaller loads. Doing so in private vehicles and rentals will increase the importance of warehousing.

Moreover, since smaller companies are finding cross-border trade less affordable (which some experts say might even challenge their ability to stay in business), criminal specialists may find ways to infiltrate and compromise larger trucking companies, in order to keep transporting their cargo abroad.

So again, where’s the outrage from OOIDA and other opponents of Cross Border Trucking? Where’s the demand to close the northern border to the drugs and who knows what else crossing the largely unsecured northern border?

In February, Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins, the two top senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee stated;

“The Department of Homeland Security has concluded that the risk of terrorist activity across our northern border is actually higher than across our southern border. The DHS could do a better job of border defense. The report also finds that less than 1 percent of the border is under operational control – less than 1 percent of our northern border.”

Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut independent and committee chairman, said that the lack of a strong defense along the northern border is “absolutely alarming” and that it leaves the American public “grossly underprotected” from terrorist attacks, drug smugglers and other illegal activity.

Again, where’s the outrage and demands to close the northern border and send the Canadian trucks back to Canada?

The Canadian trucking industry moves more than 70 per cent of goods into Canada from the United States and employs 400,000 people. Almost three-quarters of the cross-border traffic passes through points in Ontario and Quebec, which have close to 31,500 owner-operators, according to the report. This is far more than the 1,065 “certificated” or “legacy” carriers from Mexico, grandfathered in after the 1982 foreign carrier exclusion order was signed and significantly more than the approximately 25,000 Mexican trucks with OP-2 authority that operate exclusively within our commercial zones on the southern border.

MOVING CONTRABAND ACROSS THE SOUTHERN BORDER

OOIDA and others claim that the majority of contraband smuggled across the southern border comes by truck. Simply not true, as any CBP or Border Patrol official will tell you.

You see trucks impounded at the interior BP checkpoints, all of them US trucks driven by US truckers. Indeed, the RCMP report states truckers contracted to run a load of cocaine from California to Montreal enjoy a payday of $28,000 or more. The criminal organizations don’t need threats to find truckers willing to take the risk for a payday like that. Nor do they have any problem finding truckers running off the southern border looking for a little easy money, without considering the risks involved.

A good example of this can be found by reading the Border Patrols weekly blotters.

U.S. Border Patrol Weekly Blotter (07/27/2011)

• San Diego Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 35.5 pounds of methamphetamine, a Chrysler sedan, and arrested a United States Citizen (USC) at the traffic checkpoint near Pine Valley, California.
• Marfa Sector – Border Patrol agents seized a small amount of marijuana, a Cadillac sedan, a .38 caliber pistol, a .22 caliber rifle, 580 rounds of ammunition, and arrested two USCs at the traffic checkpoint near Sierra Blanca, Texas. Records checks revealed the handgun was reported stolen.
• Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 1,093 pounds of marijuana and a Chevrolet Suburban near Los Ebanos, Texas.
• Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 3,762 pounds of marijuana, a tractor-trailer, and arrested a USC at the traffic checkpoint near Falfurrias, Texas. A Border Patrol canine alerted to the trailer and a subsequent search by agents uncovered the marijuana.
• Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized a cargo truck and arrested a USC and 12 illegal aliens from Mexico at the traffic checkpoint near Falfurrias, Texas. A Border Patrol canine alerted to the vehicle and a subsequent search by agents uncovered the illegal aliens.
• Laredo Sector – Border Patrol agents arrested two nationals of Mexico, seven illegal aliens and seized a tractor-trailer at the traffic checkpoint near Laredo, Texas. The nationals of Mexico presented themselves for inspection and a Border Patrol canine alerted to the vehicle. A subsequent search by agents uncovered the illegal aliens concealed within the tractor.
• Laredo Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 1,373 pounds of marijuana and a Ford truck near Laredo, Texas.
• Rio Grande Valley Sector – Border Patrol agents seized 11,803 pounds of marijuana, a tractor-trailer, and arrested a USC at the traffic checkpoint near Falfurrias, Texas.

Only one instance of a Mexican national smuggling illegals, and those two will serve their time and be deported permanently with their visas revoked for life.

A “USC” is a United States Citizen for purposes of clarification.

And if that wasn’t enough to convince you consider the incidents CBP was involved in on one weekend in the San Diego Sector.

• At about 3:15 a.m. on Friday, July 22, a 37-year-old male Mexican citizen driving a blue 1988 Mitsubishi pickup truck arrived at the San Ysidro port of entry. The CBP officer referred the vehicle and driver for a more intensive screening; CBP officers screened the vehicle with an imaging device, similar to an x-ray, and detected anomalies with the pickup. CBP officers examined the vehicle and found 64 packages of marijuana, weighing a total of about 106 pounds, hidden in the sides of the truck bed, in the tail gate, and in the vehicle quarter panels.
• At about 6:00 a.m. Friday, July 22, a 42-year-old male Mexican citizen drove a gray 1994 Ford Aerostar to the San Ysidro port of entry. The CBP officer referred the driver and vehicle for an intensive inspection. A CBP officer with a narcotic detector dog screened the vehicle, and the canine alerted. CBP officers found eight packages of marijuana, weighing a total of eight pounds, hidden on top of the spare tire, which was suspended in its normal location under the vehicle.
• At about 3 p.m. on Friday, July 22, a 28-year-old male U.S. citizen driving a 1996 Ford Explorer arrived at the San Ysidro port of entry. While the driver was waiting in the lanes of traffic to approach the inspection booth, a CBP officer with a narcotic detector dog screened the vehicle, and the canine alerted. CBP officers inspected the vehicle and found 19 packages of methamphetamine hidden under the floor of the vehicle, weighing about 27 pounds.
• At about 3:15 p.m. on Friday, July 22, a 19-year-old female U.S. citizen driving a 1994 Nissan Maxima arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing. While the driver was talking with the CBP officer during her inspection, a CBP officer with a narcotic detector dog screened the vehicle, and the canine alerted. Upon conducting a further inspection, CBP officers found eight packages of marijuana, weighing almost 13 pounds, hidden inside the vehicle’s dashboard.
• At about 5:30 p.m. on Friday, July 25, a 28-year-old female U.S. citizen driving a silver 2001 Mitsubishi Montero arrived at the San Ysidro port of entry. The CBP officer referred the vehicle and driver for a more intensive screening, and CBP officers screened the vehicle with an imaging device, similar to an x-ray, and detected anomalies in the spare tire. A CBP officer with a narcotic detector dog also screened the vehicle, and the canine alerted. CBP officer removed 17 packages of marijuana, weighing a total of almost 85 pounds, from the spare tire.
• At about 9:30 p.m. on Friday, July 22, a 22-year-old male U.S. citizen driving a silver 1999 Dodge Intrepid arrived at the San Ysidro port of entry. While the driver was waiting in the lanes of traffic to approach the inspection booth, a CBP officer with a narcotic detector dog screened the vehicle, and the canine alerted. CBP officers screened the vehicle with an imaging device, similar to an x-ray, and noticed anomalies behind the back seat of the vehicle. CBP officers removed the vehicle’s back seat and discovered a compartment with 14 packages of marijuana, weighing about 37 pounds total, hidden inside.
• At about 5 p.m. Sunday, July 24, a 44-year-old male U.S. citizen driving a 2004 Chevy Silverado arrived at the border crossing in downtown Calexico. The CBP officer noted that the driver appeared nervous, and when inspecting the vehicle, tapped the gas tank and found it to be suspicious. CBP officers examined the vehicle further, including screening the vehicle with a narcotic detector dog, which alerted to the vehicle. CBP officers discovered 69 vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana hidden in the gas tank, weighing a total of about 155 pounds.

National Call to Action – Mexican Cross Border Trucking Proposal

This is a Mexican truck! No different from a truck owned by a US company

Time for readers and other interested parties to call their assorted Senators and Congress critters and ask them to support the proposed Cross Border Pilot Program with Mexico which would bring the United States into compliance with it’s international obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The legal retaliatory tariff’s Mexico but on 99 US export products has cost more than 25,000 Americans their jobs and agri business loss of more than 14% market share, most going to Canada.

To contact your Congressman and both of your Senators, call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, tell the operator that you want to speak with your Congressman and provide the operator with your home zip code.

Tell them to SUPPORT the cross-border trucking plan and save American jobs!

There are many different reasons why a trucking program with Mexico is a good idea.  The following are just a few things that public officials need to know:

• Mexico’s  regulatory standards of their trucking industry,while not exactly mirroring ours, is sufficient to insure their trucking companies and drivers can and will comply with our rules and regulations as proven in the previous cross border demonstration program. At present, the United States is working to raise regulatory standards in the US to reflect the standards in Mexico concerning medical requirements and CDL/Medical Card integration.
• Every year, US truckers are burdened with new safety, security and environmental regulations. Those regulations come with considerable compliance costs. Mexico-domiciled trucking companies and drivers will also be burdened with these exact same costs when operating in the United States in addition to the regulatory costs of operating in their own country.
• It has been determined that Mexico’s regulations and enforcement programs are  similar to those in the United States. Mexico has been a full member of CVSA since 1991.
• To ensure the safety and security of U.S. citizens, Mexico-domiciled trucking companies and truck drivers must will required to comply with the same level of safety, security and environmental standards that already apply to U.S.-based companies and drivers.
• Without complying with our international obligations made  with Mexico, thousands more  U.S. jobs will be lost if the cross-border trucking program is delayed or not initiated at this time.

CALL NOW AND KEEP CALLING UNTIL LAWMAKERS REALIZE JUST HOW BAD AN IDEA IT REALLY IS TO KEEP IGNORING OUR PROMISES AND FAILING TO INSTITUTE THE PROPOSED CROSS BORDER PILOT PROGRAM

Hoffa: Plan to Open Border to Unsafe Mexican Trucks Is Reckless

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa, responsible for the loss of more than 25,000 American jobs.

As expected, James P. Hoffa came out with the expected denouncement of FMCSA’s announced Cross Border Pilot Program with Mexico late this after noon, and Hoffa didn’t disappoint using his tired worn out mantra of “unsafe” Mexican trucks to lead off his rant.

And, as expected, he is using the targeted violence in Mexico as an excuse saying that his union members will vigorously oppose a dangerous plan to open the border to Mexico, a country ravaged by a drug war. “Vigorously oppose” we suppose means lining the pockets of the politicians he has in his pocket, er, corner, such as California Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr.

The entire silly, sophomoric rant is here if you care to look at it. Here’s some highlights though.

“Do Transportation Department officials read the news?” Hoffa said. “In the past week, eight people were killed in Ciudad Juarez within a half hour. A mass grave was discovered 80 miles from Brownsville, Texas, with 59 bodies in it. A federal prosecutor was kidnapped and murdered in Durango after she’d been on the job for a week. Five men were killed in Taxco during another kidnapping attempt.

“What is it about Mexico’s drug violence that DOT doesn’t understand?” Hoffa said.

So what does that have to do with qualified and professional drivers from vetted and reputable Mexican carriers being allowed into this country? What is it you don’t understand Mr. Hoffa?

Hoffa continues saying he also questions whether DOT officials know that the official U.S. unemployment rate is 8.8 percent. “This proposal threatens the jobs of thousands of American truck drivers and warehouse workers along the border.”

Actually, it threatens not one American job much less a union job. Border states are right to work states and the cross docking and forwarding facilities are non union shops, something we’re sure Hoffa would like to change and probably would have tried had his “Card Check” legislation gone through that would have taken the concept of the secret ballot away from the public.

And we would ask Mr. Hoffa what about the 25,000 and more jobs, the 15% market share lost to other countries in the agribusiness sector, as a result of the legal tariff’s imposed by Mexico in response to your continued corrupt opposition to the cross border program? What about that Hoffa?

Such a sad and pathetic, contemptible little man.

Speaking of which,

OOIDA ANNOUNCES ANOTHER “NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION”

OOIDA, realizing the end is near for their opposition to permitting the US to comply with their international obligations, is ramping up the rhetoric, this time with a call to action to pimp Rep. Duncan Hunters letter to colleagues calling for them to stop the Mexican truck program. It’s silly, stupid and an insipid attempt to rely upon the ignorance of their membership to continue to push their campaign of misinformation and lies.

Think it’s bad now folks? Wait until Wednesday when comments open.

Along the Border – Immeasurable fear overrules reality

MATAMOROS — Violence in this border city, residents say, is often left unreported by authorities yet exaggerated when caught on tape by the media, making it difficult to measure.

But if there is some certainty in the muddle of misinformation, many say it is this: Fear is ravaging the public perception of Matamoros. People no longer cross as frequently into the Mexican border city as they did in the past, and its retail businesses and restaurants are hurting.

“It is not to say that there have not been dangerous incidents, but we can say the same for this side of the border,” said Susan Ritter, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College. “These things (crimes and violent acts) get reported on and repeated and exaggerated, and on and on they go until everybody thinks it is gospel.”

Regardless of the case and regardless of where it occurs, Ritter says, “Generally, the fear is larger than the crime.”
Read more

Mexico to be represented in Rose Parade – First time in 40 years

In honor of the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence and 100 years since the country’s revolution, the Mexican government is sponsoring its first Rose Parade float in over 40 years.

“With this float we’re going to tell 40 million people watching on TV that it’s Mexico’s birthday,” said Juan Marcos Gutierrez-Gonzalez, the Mexican consul general in Los Angeles. “There’s no better way to do it.”
Read more

Mexico will decriminalize some drug use

MEXICO CITY — Could Mexican cities become Latin Amsterdams, flooded by drug users seeking penalty-free tokes and toots?

That is the fear, if somewhat overstated, of some Mexican officials, especially in northern border states that serve as a mecca for underage American drinkers.

The Mexican legislature has voted quietly to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of pot, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs, an effort that in the past has proved highly controversial.

There has been less protest this time around, in part because there hasn’t been much publicity.

Some critics have suggested that easing the punishment on drug possession sends the wrong message at a time when President Felipe Calderon is waging a bloody war on major narcotics traffickers. The battle between law enforcement authorities and drug suspects has claimed more than 11,000 lives in the past 2.5 years.

But it was Calderon himself who proposed the decriminalization legislation.

His reasoning: It makes sense to distinguish between small-time users and big-time dealers, while re-targeting major crime-fighting resources away from the former and toward the latter and their drug lord bosses.

“The important thing is … that consumers are not treated as criminals,” said Rafael Ruiz Mena, secretary general of the National Institute of Penal Sciences. “It is a public health problem, not a penal problem.”

The legislation was approved at the height of a swine-flu outbreak in Mexico that dominated the world’s attention. Meeting at times behind closed doors — the better to prevent the spread of disease, officials said — the lower and upper houses of Congress passed the bill on the last days of April. It awaits Calderon’s signature.

The bill says users caught with small amounts — five grams of marijuana, 500 milligrams of cocaine — clearly intended for “personal and immediate use” will not be criminally prosecuted. They will be told of available clinics and encouraged to enter a rehabilitation program.

As many as 40 milligrams of methamphetamine, a synthetic and especially harmful drug, are permitted, as are as many as 50 milligrams of heroin.

In May of 2006, then-President Vicente Fox, from Calderon’s right-wing party, vetoed a similar bill Congress had approved and that he initially supported. He backed down only under pressure from Washington, D.C., where the Bush administration complained decriminalization for even small amounts could increase drug use.

Political implications

But with less than a month to go before critical mid-term elections in which his party is struggling to maintain control of Congress, Calderon cannot afford to be seen as bowing to the U.S., analysts say. Already under intense criticism for the drug-related violence terrifying parts of the country, Calderon needs to maintain good relations with Congress, where much of the opposition voted in favor of the decriminalization initiative. He can’t suddenly go back on his own bill.

And so, political observers say, he probably will sign it into law. Calderon’s office did not comment for this story.

So far, the U.S. government has not publicly objected to the bill. Michele Leonhart, acting director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, however, said in April that legalization of drugs “would be a failed law enforcement strategy for both the U.S. and Mexico.”

Mexican government officials stress they are not talking about legalization, but decriminalization. Until now, courts decided on a case-by-case basis whether and how to punish first-time offenders. And standard criteria for quantities hadn’t existed.

Mexico is woefully underequipped to handle a booming drug-abuse problem. Recently, domestic consumption has soared. A 2007 study by the government found the number of “addicts” doubled in the previous five years.

Critics cite violence

The decriminalization legislation has received criticism from several officials of northern border states, who fear so-called “drug tourists” will flock to towns and cities already besieged by violence.

“Allowing the carrying of certain amounts of drugs will create more consumers,” said Oscar Villalobos Chavez, social development secretary for the State of Chihuahua, which borders Texas.

Mary Ellen Hernandez, director of the Rio Grande Safe Communities Coalition in El Paso, across the border from blood-soaked Juarez, said she worried decriminalization would lure Americans into a drug world they aren’t prepared for and increase violence on both sides of the border. “Already, the drugs that don’t come over into the U.S. are being handed out by dealers to younger and younger children (in Mexico), 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds, hooking them,” said Hernandez, whose agency specializes in drug prevention. “And then (the youths) steal to feed the habit.”

The fallacy of Mexico as a failing state

Yann Kerevel writes at Allterdestiny;

f anyone has been following headline’s in the U.S. press about Mexico in the last month or two, you might have noticed a lot of alarmist and sensationalist garbage being thrown around suggesting that Mexico is coming close to collapse, is a “failed state” or a “narco state.” Fox news has been spreading this message, along with a number of political commentators on the Sunday morning talk shows, and even Rolling Stone.

The violence in Mexico is worrying, and cause for concern, but the rhetoric seems to lead the uninformed to think Mexico is more like Somalia. It is definitely not.

Further following the above referenced article, we go to an article which appeared in the Wall Street Journal written by Stephen Haber, who is a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution and a professor of political science at Stanford University. The article written by Professor Haber entitled Latin America’s Quiet Revolution states in part,

Mexico — which is most decidedly not a failing state — there has been a quiet but substantial movement toward the creation of societies that are characterized by increased economic opportunity, social mobility and political democracy. This is not to say that Brazilians have achieved the same standard of living as the Dutch, or that the rule of law operates in Mexico as it does in Canada. It is to say, however, that these countries have undertaken a series of economic and political reforms that make them vastly different places than they were two decades ago…..

Mexico provides a similar example. From 1929 to 2000 a single party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), monopolized political power. After decades of corruption, economic mismanagement and arbitrary actions against the property rights of citizens — which included the expropriation of the entire banking system — the PRI was finally forced from power in 2000, when voters elected Vicente Fox, the presidential candidate of the center-right National Action Party (PAN). Voters again elected a PAN candidate, Felipe Calderón, in 2006.

Since 2000, PAN governments have enacted reforms that have enhanced the rule of law by establishing the legal principle of innocent until proven guilty, mandated government transparency through a freedom of information act, eased access to credit by increasing competition in financial services and encouraged homeownership via reforms to contract and banking law. Some sense of Mexico’s transformation can be gleaned from one fact: In order to run competitively in the 2006 election, leftist Andres Manuel López Obrador had to jettison most of his left-wing stances during the campaign in order to be competitive with the PAN — and he lost anyway.

Many of Mexico’s reforms are of a variety that only a CPA might find exciting. Not surprisingly, they have gone unnoticed in the foreign press. A 2001 reform allows banks to write mortgage contracts as bilateral trusts, in which the bank is both trustee and beneficiary, instead of as liens on property. This new form of contract means that a mortgagee can no longer default on a loan and prevent repossession for years on end by using the country’s notoriously inefficient bankruptcy courts, because the assets being collateralized are held by the trust and are not part of an individual’s bankruptcy estate. As a result, banks are more likely to make housing loans in the first place. Coupled to additional reforms that created a system of private housing accounts financed by payroll taxes, and that created a federal mortgage society that operates in a manner similar to Fannie Mae, homeownership has been placed within reach of millions of Mexican families.

Recent reforms have also encouraged competition in financial services. As a first step, the government allocated charters to nonbank financial intermediaries that could make housing and automobile loans. As a second step, it granted bank charters to retail giants, including American-owned Wal-Mart, thereby allowing families of modest means to open accounts and obtain credit to finance the purchase of consumer goods. The bottom line: Living standards, as measured by infant mortality rates, life expectancy and years of education, have all improved in Mexico over the past decade.

The Mexican state is weak when compared to the U.S., but incredibly strong when compared to places in Central Asia or Africa that are usually called failing states. There are no foreign troops on Mexican soil. There is no martial law. Garbage is picked up, streets are swept and children go to school. Middle-class couples take weekend getaways, and drive there on highways as good as those in the United States. After falling for a decade, Mexico’s homicide rate increased in 2008, because the Calderón government courageously decided to take on the drug traffickers. If it keeps rising, it may soon be as high as that of…Louisiana.

From the Foreign Policy Blog, we’re seeing similar analysis;

are we now in danger of painting the situation as more dire than it actually is? To be sure, a country that had more than 5,300 citizens killed in drug-related violence last year isn’t in good shape. But from reading recent U.S. commentary and analysis, you’d think Mexico is the next failed state. This isn’t sitting well with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and his government is pushing back against their country’s erroneous depiction as Pakistan south of the border.

Now, of course the Mexican government is supposed to say that things aren’t as bad as recent U.S. coverage would have us believe, but to some degree they have a point. I’m still horrified and alarmed about what’s going on in Mexico, but here are a few reasons to keep our feet on the ground — for now.

1.The narcogangs still seem to be largely focused on fighting each other, not on bringing down the Mexican state. They have stepped up attacks on Mexican officials, police, and the army, but more out of necessity because Calderon has taken the war to them. As yet, there is no alliance unifying all of the narcogangs into one force that seeks to challenge and topple the Mexican state. Now, this could still happen, and even if it didn’t Mexico could still be fatally compromised, but thus far the gangs are still mostly killing each other.

2. The gangs have no political agenda; their main goal remains selling dope. They are not providing basic services to Mexico’s citizens, nor are they trying to create a parallel system of political order to rival the Mexican state and erode its legitimacy in the eyes of the people. In fact, even if most Mexicans think the gangs are winning, they by all accounts still hate them and what they are doing to the country. In that sense, Mexico’s gangs are not a true insurgency. There are signs — literally, in this sense — that the gangs are beginning to compete for the allegiances of the Mexican people and wage a strategic communications battle against Calderon. This is a troubling development. But for now, these campaigns are not focused on advancing rival forms of gang-led governance; their goal is simply to brand their cartel opponents as illegitimate in the eyes of the Mexican people.

3. Calderon’s government is fighting for its life, but it hasn’t lost (yet). In fact, there is still a chance that the worsening trend of the past few years actually reflects a problem getting worse before it gets better. Calderon may yet break the backs of the gangs, and the recent surge in violence may reflect the increasingly desperate actions of cartels that, for the first time in Mexican history, are now up against an adversary that is not content merely to look the other way, but is instead willing to do what is necessary to reclaim his country. Even if he succeeds, for his troubles, Calderon will likely spend the rest of his life after government in exile from his own country out of fear for his life.

I know the alarmists and fear mongers such as Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck and others choose to ignore these facts as they don’t align with their agenda, but the state of the union of Mexico, is Good!

Another excellent source for information about Mexico is Latin Intelligence Blog They tackle some of the same issues as we do here and have many of the same concerns.

One article I thought particularly pertinent in view of Secretary Napolitano’s recent announcement to crackdown on weapons smuggling from the US into Mexico for the cartels, and the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre taking the position that they would oppose any effort to stop sales for this purpose, is this one entitled
Why is the United States backing Mexican drug gangs? and An Update on the Previous

This is not new news. The U.S. government recognizes that U.S.-purchased weapons are fueling Mexico’s violence. In fact, ATF acting director Michael Sullivan said last year that investigators have traced 90 to 95 percent of weapons seized in Mexico to the United States. William Hoover, Assistant Director for Field Operations at ATF said in a congressional testimony last year that “It is a major challenge for ATF to adequately identify and disrupt the illegal sources of firearms and ammunition, while participating in the interdiction of shipments firearms and ammunition destined for Mexico.”

What’s impressive is the lackluster response to such a serious problem. About 100 U.S. firearms agents and 35 inspectors patrol the border for gun smugglers, compared to 14,400 Border Patrol agents that patrol northward movements.